title stringlengths 0 901 | abstract stringlengths 3 9.89k | PMID int64 22 25.3M | embedding listlengths 768 768 |
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Left atrial thrombus in a neonate with normal heart after sustained supraventricular tachycardia. | Left Atrial Thrombus is uncommon in neonates. We present a neonate who had Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia (PSVT), whose echocardiography revealed a large left atrial thrombus which resolved later with treatment. Supra Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT) is not an uncommon event in infants with an incidence of 1:2500. | 25,177,615 | [
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Congential lumbar hernia with malrotation of left kidney and hydronephrosis in an infant: a rare presentation. | Congenital Lumbar hernia was previously known as Lumbocostovertebral syndrome. This syndrome consists of the presence of hemivertebrae, rib defects, abdominal wall anomalies and hypoplasia of the abdominal musculature. This case report describes a 40-hour-old infant with malrotation of left kidney and hydronephrosis in association with congenital lumbar hernia. Various congenital renal anomalies like renal pyelectasis, bilateral renal agenesis and pelviureteric junction obstruction, malascended kidneys, hypospadiasis have been reported in association with this disease. Malrotation has only been reported in adults so far. However ours is the first ever case in literature to report malrotation of kidney in association with this syndrome in neonatal age group. Treatment of this condition is done usually by mesh hernioplasty. Presence of this condition must prompt the surgeon to carry out all possible investigations to rule out various other congenital orthopedic, neurological, and urological anomalies. | 25,177,616 | [
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Effect of traditionally used neem and babool chewing stick (datun) on streptococcus mutans: an in-vitro study. | There are various plants, which are used as chewing sticks in different parts of the world. Several studies have been reported on the antimicrobial effects of chewing sticks on oral bacteria. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of traditionally used neem and babool chewing sticks (datun) extracts on Streptococcus mutans. The present invitro study was conducted to assess effectiveness of 5%, 10%, and 50% neem and babool extract on Streptococcus mutans. The ditch plate method was used to test the antimicrobial activity. Ditches were prepared on blood agar plates with the help of punch having 6mm diameter. The plates were left for 1h at room temperature and then incubated at 37°C for 48h and examined for zone of inhibition. There was no zone of inhibition observed with 5% babool and neem aqueous extract. There was significant difference in mean diameter of zone of inhibition of 10% neem and babool extract (p-value 0.001 < 0.05). Similarly the mean difference in 50% neem and babool extract was found to be significant (p-value < 0.001). Both neem and babool extracts had antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus mutans, while antimicrobial activity was significantly higher in neem aqueous extract than babool aqueous extract. | 25,177,629 | [
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A Comparison of Dimensional Accuracy of Addition Silicone of Different Consistencies with Two Different Spacer Designs - In-vitro Study. | Dimensional accuracy of impression materials is crucial for the production of working casts in Fixed Prosthodontics. The accurate replication of tooth preparations and their arch position requires impression materials that exhibit limited distortion. This study was conducted to comparatively evaluate the dimensional accuracy of additional silicones by comparing two different techniques and spacer designs, by measuring the linear changes in interpreparation distance. The impressions were made from a stainless steel master die simulating a three unit bridge. A total 80 die stone (type IV, Ultrarock) models were obtained from the impressions made using two different parameters. The two different parameters are Multimix and Monophasic technique and different spacer designs. The interpreparation distance of the abutments in the casts was measured using a travelling microscope. Each sample was measured thrice and the mean value was calculated. The results obtained were statistically analysed and the values fall within the clinically acceptable range. The most accurate combination is multimix technique with spacer design which uses less bulk of impression material. | 25,177,635 | [
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Comparison of the Debonding Characteristics of Conventional and New Debonding Instrument used for Ceramic, Composite and Metallic Brackets - An Invitro Study. | Debonding procedure is time consuming and damaging to the enamel if performed with improper technique. Various debonding methods include: the conventional methods that use pliers or wrenches, an ultrasonic method, electrothermal devices, air pressure impulse devices, diamond burs to grind the brackets off the tooth surface and lasers. Among all these methods, using debonding pliers is most convenient and effective method but has been reported to cause damage to the teeth. Recently, a New Debonding Instrument designed specifically for ceramic and composite brackets has been introduced. As this is a new instrument, little information is available on efficacy of this instrument. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the debonding characteristics of both "the conventional debonding Pliers" and "the New debonding instrument" when removing ceramic, composite and metallic brackets. One Hundred Thirty eight extracted maxillary premolar teeth were collected and divided into two Groups: Group A and Group B (n = 69) respectively. They were further divided into 3 subGroups (n = 23) each according to the types of brackets to be bonded. In subGroups A1 and B1{stainless steel};A2 and B2{ceramic};A3 and B3{composite}adhesive precoated maxillary premolar brackets were used. Among them {ceramic and composite} adhesive pre-coated maxillary premolar brackets were bonded. All the teeth were etched using 37% phosphoric acid for 15 seconds and the brackets were bonded using Transbond XT primer. Brackets were debonded using Conventional Debonding Plier and New Debonding Instrument (Group B). After debonding, the enamel surface of each tooth was examined under stereo microscope (10X magnifications). Amodifiedadhesive remnant index (ARI) was used to quantify the amount of remaining adhesive on each tooth. The observations demonstrate that the results of New Debonding Instrument for debonding of metal, ceramic and composite brackets were statistically significantly different (p = 0.04) and superior from the results of conventional debonding Pliers. The debonding efficiency of New Debonding Instrument is better than the debonding efficiency of Conventional Debonding Pliers for use of metal, ceramic and composite brackets respectively. | 25,177,639 | [
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Assessing oral candidal carriage with mixed salivary glucose levels as non-invasive diagnostic tool in type-2 diabetics of davangere, karnataka, India. | The health of oral tissues is known to be related to salivary flow and its composition which may be altered in diabetic patients. The purpose of this study is to correlate mixed salivary glucose levels and oral candidal carriage and to assess the prevalence of candidal carriage in diabetics and controls. Thirty adults with type-2 diabetes and 30 without diabetes (control subjects), aged 30-60 yr, participated in the study. Unstimulated saliva was collected and investigated for glucose levels (using glucose oxidase method) and colony-forming units (CFU) of Candida, this was stained with two stains, periodic acid-schiff stain and Grocott Gomori stain. In the present study mixed salivary glucose concentration in diabetics was significantly higher (p<0.01) compared to the controls. Diabetics with intraoral candidal carriage had higher salivary glucose levels (mean = 12.76±5.85 mg/dl) compared to cases where Candida was not isolated. The diabetics without intraoral candidal carriage had lower salivary glucose levels (mean = 5.36±2.24 mg/dl). This relationship could be seen in controls (non-diabetics) also. Diabetics showed an oral candidal carriage rate of 80% which was significantly higher compared to nondiabetics who showed an oral candidal carriage rate of 40%. Mixed salivary glucose levels were significantly higher in diabetics. The possible high salivary glucose level could predispose to oral candidal infection. So saliva can be used as a quick, non-invasive tool to assess the oral candidal status and possible infection. | 25,177,643 | [
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The role of virtual articulator in prosthetic and restorative dentistry. | Virtual reality is a computer based technology linked with the future of dentistry and dental practice. The virtual articulator is one such application in prosthetic and restorative dentistry based on virtual reality that will significantly reduce the limitations of the mechanical articulator, and by simulation of real patient data, allow analyses with regard to static and dynamic occlusion as well as to jaw relation. It is the purpose of this article to present the concepts and strategies for a future replacement of the mechanical articulator by a virtual one. Also, a brief note on virtual reality haptic system has been highlighted along with newly developed touch enabled virtual articulator. | 25,177,664 | [
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Classification & prevalence of dental surface defects in areas of gingival recession- a clinical study. | Apical migration of the gingival margin beyond the cement-enamel junction (CEJ) is called as gingival recession. Various classifications of gingival recession have been proposed to evaluate different degrees of damage to periodontal tissues, but do not consider the condition of the exposed root surface: presence of an identifiable CEJ and presence of root abrasion. Sometimes these lesions may be associated with enamel abrasion. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to propose the new classification of dental surface defects in gingival recession area. Two factors were evaluated to set up a classification system: presence (A) or absence (B) of CEJ and presence (+) or absence (-) of dental surface discrepancy caused by abrasion (step). Four classes (A+, A-, B+, and B-) were identified on the basis of these variables. The classification was used on 1,000 gingival recessions to examine the distribution of the four classes. Out of 1,000 exposed root surfaces, 380 showed an identifiable CEJ associated with step (Class A+, 38%); 280 an identifiable CEJ without any associated step (Class A-, 28%); 200 an unidentifiable CEJ with a step (Class B+, 20%); and 140 an unidentifiable CEJ without any associated step (Class B-, 14%). The proposed classification describes the dental surface defects that are of paramount importance in diagnosing gingival recession areas which might help in selecting the definite treatment approach. | 25,177,665 | [
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Comparative transcriptome analysis of leaves and roots in response to sudden increase in salinity in Brassica napus by RNA-seq. | Amphidiploid species in the Brassicaceae family, such as Brassica napus, are more tolerant to environmental stress than their diploid ancestors.A relatively salt tolerant B. napus line, N119, identified in our previous study, was used. N119 maintained lower Na(+) content, and Na(+)/K(+) and Na(+)/Ca(2+) ratios in the leaves than a susceptible line. The transcriptome profiles of both the leaves and the roots 1 h and 12 h after stress were investigated. De novo assembly of individual transcriptome followed by sequence clustering yielded 161,537 nonredundant sequences. A total of 14,719 transcripts were differentially expressed in either organs at either time points. GO and KO enrichment analyses indicated that the same 49 GO terms and seven KO terms were, respectively, overrepresented in upregulated transcripts in both organs at 1 h after stress. Certain overrepresented GO term of genes upregulated at 1 h after stress in the leaves became overrepresented in genes downregulated at 12 h. A total of 582 transcription factors and 438 transporter genes were differentially regulated in both organs in response to salt shock. The transcriptome depicting gene network in the leaves and the roots regulated by salt shock provides valuable information on salt resistance genes for future application to crop improvement. | 25,177,691 | [
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Cardiovascular involvement in autoimmune diseases. | Autoimmune diseases (AD) represent a broad spectrum of chronic conditions that may afflict specific target organs or multiple systems with a significant burden on quality of life. These conditions have common mechanisms including genetic and epigenetics factors, gender disparity, environmental triggers, pathophysiological abnormalities, and certain subphenotypes. Atherosclerosis (AT) was once considered to be a degenerative disease that was an inevitable consequence of aging. However, research in the last three decades has shown that AT is not degenerative or inevitable. It is an autoimmune-inflammatory disease associated with infectious and inflammatory factors characterized by lipoprotein metabolism alteration that leads to immune system activation with the consequent proliferation of smooth muscle cells, narrowing arteries, and atheroma formation. Both humoral and cellular immune mechanisms have been proposed to participate in the onset and progression of AT. Several risk factors, known as classic risk factors, have been described. Interestingly, the excessive cardiovascular events observed in patients with ADs are not fully explained by these factors. Several novel risk factors contribute to the development of premature vascular damage. In this review, we discuss our current understanding of how traditional and nontraditional risk factors contribute to pathogenesis of CVD in AD. | 25,177,690 | [
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Peripheral neuropathy and tear film dysfunction in type 1 diabetes mellitus. | To compare tear film metrics in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) and healthy controls and investigate the association between peripheral neuropathy and ocular surface quality. Dry eye symptoms were quantified in 53 patients with type 1 DM and 40 age-matched controls. Ocular examination included tear film lipid layer thickness grading, tear film stability and quantity measurement, and retinal photography. DM individuals additionally underwent a detailed neuropathy assessment. Neither mean age nor dry eye symptom scores differed significantly between the DM and control groups (P = 0.12 and P = 0.33, resp.). Tear lipid thickness (P = 0.02), stability (P < 0.0001), and quantity (P = 0.01) were significantly lower in the DM group. Corneal sensitivity was also reduced in the DM group (P < 0.001) and tear film stability was inversely associated with total neuropathy score (r = -0.29, P = 0.03). The DM group exhibited significantly reduced tear film stability, secretion, and lipid layer quality relative to the age-matched control group. The negative correlation between tear film parameters and total neuropathy score suggests that ocular surface abnormalities occur in parallel with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. | 25,177,708 | [
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Soil-borne microbial functional structure across different land uses. | Land use change alters the structure and composition of microbial communities. However, the links between environmental factors and microbial functions are not well understood. Here we interrogated the functional structure of soil microbial communities across different land uses. In a multivariate regression tree analysis of soil physicochemical properties and genes detected by functional microarrays, the main factor that explained the different microbial community functional structures was C : N ratio. C : N ratio showed a significant positive correlation with clay and soil pH. Fields with low C : N ratio had an overrepresentation of genes for carbon degradation, carbon fixation, metal reductase, and organic remediation categories, while fields with high C : N ratio had an overrepresentation of genes encoding dissimilatory sulfate reductase, methane oxidation, nitrification, and nitrogen fixation. The most abundant genes related to carbon degradation comprised bacterial and fungal cellulases; bacterial and fungal chitinases; fungal laccases; and bacterial, fungal, and oomycete polygalacturonases. The high number of genes related to organic remediation was probably driven by high phosphate content, while the high number of genes for nitrification was probably explained by high total nitrogen content. The functional gene diversity found in different soils did not group the sites accordingly to land management. Rather, the soil factors, C : N ratio, phosphate, and total N, were the main factors driving the differences in functional genes across the fields examined. | 25,177,716 | [
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Antioxidant properties of Berberis aetnensis C. Presl (Berberidaceae) roots extract and protective effects on astroglial cell cultures. | Berberis aetnensis C. Presl (Berberidaceae) is a bushy-spiny shrub common on Mount Etna (Sicily). We demonstrated that the alkaloid extract of roots of B. aetnensis C. Presl contains prevalently berberine and berbamine, possesses antimicrobial properties, and was able to counteract the upregulation evoked by glutamate of tissue transglutaminase in primary rat astroglial cell cultures. Until now, there are no reports regarding antioxidant properties of B. aetnensis C. Presl collected in Sicily. Air-dried, powdered roots of B. aetnensis C. Presl were extracted, identified, and quantified by HPLC. We assessed in cellular free system its effect on superoxide anion, radicals scavenging activity of antioxidants against free radicals like the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical, and the inhibition of xanthine oxidase activity. In primary rat astroglial cell cultures, exposed to glutamate, we evaluated the effect of the extract on glutathione levels and on intracellular production of reactive oxygen species generated by glutamate. The alkaloid extract of B. aetnensis C. Presl inhibited superoxide anion, restored to control values, the decrease of GSH levels, and the production of reactive oxygen species. Potent antioxidant activities of the alkaloid extract of roots of B. aetnensis C. Presl may be one of the mechanisms by which the extract is effective against health disorders associated to oxidative stress. | 25,177,720 | [
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Heavy traffic feasible hybrid intracycle and cyclic sleep for power saving in 10G-EPON. | Energy consumption in optical access networks costs carriers substantial operational expense (OPEX) every year and is one of contributing factors for the global warming. To reduce energy consumption in the 10-gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (10G-EPON), a hybrid intracycle and cyclic sleep mechanism is proposed in this paper. Under heavy traffic load, optical network units (ONUs) can utilize short idle slots within each scheduling cycle to enter intracycle sleep without postponing data transmission. In this way, energy conservation is achieved even under heavy traffic load with quality of service (QoS) guarantee. Under light traffic load, ONUs perform long cyclic sleep for several scheduling cycles. The adoption of cyclic sleep instead of intracycle sleep under light traffic load can reduce unnecessary frequent transitions between sleep and full active work caused by using intracycle sleep. Further, the Markov chain of the proposed mechanism is established. The performances of the proposed mechanism and existing approaches are analyzed quantitatively based on the chain. For the proposed mechanism, power saving ability with QoS guarantee even under heavy traffic and better power saving performance than existing approaches are verified by the quantitative analysis. Moreover, simulations validate the above conclusions based on the chain. | 25,177,727 | [
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Oligopeptide-decorated liquid crystal droplets for detecting proteases. | We prepared the bioactive liquid crystal (LC) droplets by decorating an oligopeptide at the LC/aqueous interface to stabilize the LC droplets. These LC droplets can be used to detect proteases through the specific cleavage of protease on an oligopeptide leading to a bipolar-to-radial transition of LC configuration inside the droplets. | 25,177,752 | [
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Ring-opening polymerization for hyperbranched polycationic gene delivery vectors with excellent serum tolerance. | In order to improve the transfection efficiency (TE) and biocompatibility, we synthesized a series of hyperbranched cationic polymers by ring-opening polymerization between diepoxide and several polyamines. These materials can condense plasmid DNA efficiently into nanoparticles that have much lower cytotoxicity than those derived from bPEI. In vitro transfection experiments showed that polymers prepared from branched or cyclic polyamine (P1 and P5) exhibited TE several times higher than 25KDa bPEI. More significantly, serum seemed to have no negative effect on P1-P5 mediated transfection. On the contrary, the TE of P1 improved, even when the serum concentration reached 70%. Several assays demonstrated the excellent serum tolerance of such polycationic vectors: bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption assay revealed considerably lower protein adsorption of P1-P5 than PEI; P1 showed better DNA protection ability from degradation by DNase I than PEI; flow cytometry results suggested that any concentration of serum may not decrease the cellular uptake of P1/DNA polyplex; and confocal laser scanning microscopy also found that serum has little effect on the transfection. By using specific cellular uptake inhibitors, we found that the polyplexes enter the cells mainly via caveolae and microtubule-mediated pathways. We believe that this ring-opening polymerization may be an effective synthetic approach toward gene delivery materials with high biological activity. | 25,177,769 | [
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Predicting order and disorder for β-peptide foldamers in water. | Following a quantitative validation approach, we tested the AMBER ff03 and GAFF force fields with the TIP3P explicit water model in molecular dynamic simulations of β-peptide foldamers. The test sequences were selected to represent a wide range of folding behavior in water: compact helix, strand mimetic geometry, and the state of disorder. The combination AMBER ff03-TIP3P successfully predicted the experimentally observed conformational properties and reproduced the NOE distances and backbone (3)J coupling data at a good level. GAFF was unable to produce folded structures correctly due to its biased torsion potentials. We can recommend AMBER ff03-TIP3P for simulations involving β-peptide sequences in aqueous media including ordered and disordered structures. | 25,177,775 | [
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Modified Anderson-Darling test-based target detector in non-homogenous environments. | A constant false alarm rate (CFAR) target detector in non-homogenous backgrounds is proposed. Based on K-sample Anderson-Darling (AD) tests, the method re-arranges the reference cells by merging homogenous sub-blocks surrounding the cell under test (CUT) into a new reference window to estimate the background statistics. Double partition test, clutter edge refinement and outlier elimination are used as an anti-clutter processor in the proposed Modified AD (MAD) detector. Simulation results show that the proposed MAD test based detector outperforms cell-averaging (CA) CFAR, greatest of (GO) CFAR, smallest of (SO) CFAR, order-statistic (OS) CFAR, variability index (VI) CFAR, and CUT inclusive (CI) CFAR in most non-homogenous situations. | 25,177,800 | [
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[Cost-effectiveness of apixaban compared to other new oral anticoagulants in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation]. | Atrial fibrillation is associated with development of thromboembolic events. New oral anticoagulants (apixaban, rivaroxaban and dabigatran) are recommended for antithrombotic therapy in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) with moderate and high risk of stroke. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness ratio of apixaban compared to dabigatran and rivaroxaban in patients with NVAF from the Russian Federation national health care system perspective. This analysis used a Markov model that allowed estimation of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for apixaban compared to rivaroxaban and dabigatran 110 mg and 150 mg over lifetime horizon for patients with NVAF. The model enclosed cardiovascular event rates based on the results of the indirect treatment comparison that combined data from the randomized clinical trials comparing clinical effectiveness and safety of apixaban, rivaroxaban and dabigatran with warfarin (ARISTOTLE, ROCKET-AF, RE-LY). The following cardiovascular events were considered: ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, systemic embolism, intracranial hemorrhage, other major bleeds, clinically relevant non-major bleeds and myocardial infarction. Direct medical costs were determined based on the rates of the compulsory national medical insurance system. The price of the new oral anticoagulants was taken as a weighted average tender price for the year 2013. In the model both costs and benefits (quality-adjusted life years and life-years) were discounted at 3.5%. Cost-effectiveness threshold was set at 1.4 million rubles per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained and corresponded to the three times GDP per capita in 2013 in the Russian Federation. In the base case analysis it was demonstrated that apixaban compared to dabigatran 110 mg and 150 mg and rivaroxaban provided additional 0.101, 0.060 and 0.072 life years as well as additional 0.063; 0.038 and 0.041 QALYs respectively. Over lifetime horizon apixaban compared to dabigatran 110 mg and 150 mg and rivaroxaban required additional treatment costs equal to 22.78; 31.18 and 6.70 thousands rubles, respectively. With that estimated incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for apixaban compared to dabigatran 110 mg and 150 mg and rivaroxaban was 362.60, 805.54 and 162.45 thousands rubles per QALY correspondingly. Apixaban provided increased life expectancy compared to other new anticoagulants and may be considered as a cost-effective alternative to dabigatran 110 mg and 150 mg and rivaroxaban from the Russian Federation national health care system perspective. | 25,177,813 | [
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[Cardioprotective effects of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists]. | In this paper we discuss pathogenetic mechanisms of cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus by glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. Results of experimental studies and randomized clinical studies are presented, and perspectives for using GLP-1 agonists in patients with diabetic cardiovascular complications are described. | 25,177,820 | [
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Flupenthixol versus low-potency first-generation antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia. | Antipsychotic drugs are the core treatment for schizophrenia. Treatment guidelines state that there is no difference in efficacy between antipsychotic drugs, however, low-potency antipsychotic drugs are sometimes perceived as less efficacious than high-potency compounds by clinicians, and they also seem to differ in their side effects. To review the effects in clinical response of flupenthixol and low-potency antipsychotics for people with schizophrenia. We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (July 2010). Randomised controlled trials that compared flupenthixol with first-generation low-potency antipsychotic drugs for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like psychosis. We extracted data independently. For continuous data, we calculated mean differences (MD) based on a random-effects model. The review currently includes one randomised trial from mainland China with 153 participants that lasted two months and compared flupenthixol with chlorpromazine. The exact methods of sequence generation and allocation concealment were not reported, and medication was provided in an open manner. There were no data on the outcomes that we had a priori selected for a 'Summary of findings' table.There was no significant difference between flupenthixol and chlorpromazine in the participants' general mental state at endpoint as measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) total score (1 randomised controlled trial (RCT), n = 153, MD 2.20 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.25 to 5.65). Chlorpromazine was associated with significantly less dizziness (1 RCT, n = 153, MD 0.12 95% CI 0.01 to 0.23); dystonia (1 RCT, n = 153, MD 0.29 95% CI 0.13 to 0.45); unsteady gait (1 RCT, n = 153, MD 0.46 95% CI 0.28 to 0.64); reduced facial expression (1 RCT, n = 153, MD 0.27 95% CI 0.09 to 0.45); restlessness (1 RCT, n = 153, MD 0.69 95% CI 0.45 to 0.93); rigidity (elbow) (1 RCT, n = 153, MD 0.48 95% CI 0.28 to 0.68); and tremor (1 RCT, n = 153, MD 0.56 95% CI 0.34 to 0.78). Chlorpromazine produced more dryness of mouth than flupenthixol (1 RCT, n = 153, MD -0.14 95% CI -0.25 to -0.03). The evidence base of flupenthixol versus low-potency first-generation antipsychotics is currently restricted to one randomised comparison with chlorpromazine. The few reported data do not suggest a difference in efficacy, but flupenthixol appeared to produce more movement disorders and dizziness, while chlorpromazine was associated with the anticholinergic side effect - dryness of mouth. More trials are needed to make conclusions about the relative effects of flupenthixol and low-potency antipsychotics. | 25,177,834 | [
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Lyotropic liquid crystal phases of phytantriol in a protic ionic liquid with fluorous anion. | The phase behaviour of phytantriol in the protic ionic liquid (PIL) 1-methylimidazolium pentadecafluorooctanoate (MImOF) and four different MImOF-water compositions was investigated by small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS), cross polarised optical microscopy (CPOM) and infrared spectroscopy (IR). MImOF is a distinct protic ionic liquid in that it contains a fluorocarbon anion and a hydrocarbon cation. This leads to MImOF having an unusual liquid nanostructure, such that it contains fluorocarbon, hydrocarbon and polar domains. No lyotropic liquid crystal phases were observed for phytantriol in neat MImOF. However, on addition of water, lamellar, cubic Ia3¯d and micellar phases were observed for specific MImOF-phytantriol-water compositions at room temperature, and up to 60 °C. The phase behaviour for phytantriol in the solvent mixture of 25 wt%-MImOF-75 wt%-water was the most similar to the phytantriol-water phase diagram. Only this MImOF-water composition supported the Ia3¯d cubic phase, which had a lattice parameter between 100-140 Å compared to 86-100 Å in deionised water, indicating significant swelling due to the MImOF. IR spectroscopy showed that a percentage of the water molecules were hydrogen bonded to the N-H of the MIm cation, and this water decreased the hydrogen bonding present between the cation and anion of the ionic liquid. This investigation furthers our understanding of the interaction of ionic liquids with solutes, and the important role that the different IL nanostructures can have on influencing these interactions. | 25,177,837 | [
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Titanium and zirconium complexes of the N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-1,4-diaza-butadiene ligand: syntheses, structures and uses in catalytic hydrosilylation reactions. | We report here a number of dianionic 1,4-diaza-1,3-butadiene complexes of titanium and zirconium synthesised by a salt metathesis reaction. The reaction of either CpTiCl3 or Cp2TiCl2 with the dilithium salt of N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-1,4-diaza-1,3-butadiene [; abbreviated (Dipp)2DADLi2] afforded the mono-cyclopentadienyl titanium complex [η(5)-CpTi((Dipp)2DAD)Cl] () bearing a dianionic ene-diamide ligand, while the analogous reaction of zirconocene dichloride (Cp2ZrCl2) with the dilithium salt gave the bis-cyclopentadienyl zirconium complex [Cp2Zr{(Dipp)2DAD}] (). The metal dichloride complexes [Ti((Dipp)2DAD)Cl2] () and [{(Dipp)2DADZrCl(μ-Cl)}2(κ(3)-Cl)(Li)(OEt2)2] () were obtained by the reaction of and anhydrous metal tetrachloride in a 1 : 1 molar ratio in diethyl ether at room temperature. Meanwhile, the homoleptic titanium complex [Ti{((Dipp)2DAD)}2] () was isolated in good yield by the treatment of with TiCl4 in a 1 : 2 molar ratio in diethyl ether. The complexes and were further reacted with neosilyl lithium to afford mono- and bis-alkyl complexes of titanium [η(5)-CpTi{(Dipp)2DAD}(CH2SiMe3)] () and zirconium [Zr{(Dipp)2DAD}(CH2SiMe3)2] () respectively. Molecular structures of the complexes , , and in the solid states were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The solid state structures of all the complexes reveal that the metal ions are chelated through the amido-nitrogen atoms and the olefinic carbons of the [(Dipp)2DAD](2-) moiety, satisfying the σ(2),π coordination mode. Compound was used as a catalyst for the intermolecular hydrosilylation reaction of a number of olefins, and moderate activity of catalyst was observed. | 25,177,841 | [
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[Adverse effects with ambulatory intravenous immunoglobulin administration in adult patients with common variable immunodeficiency]. | Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is the most frequent symptomatic primary immunodeficiency, affecting 1:25,000-75,000 people. It is characterized by the absence or decrease antibody production. Treatment for CVID consists on human immunoglobulin administration, and the intravenous route is the most common route for administration, at 400-800 mg/kg of weight every 3-4 weeks. Adverse effects associated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) use occur in 25% of all infusions, with severe adverse reactions presenting in less than 1% of all patients. Acute renal failure can occur as a severe adverse reaction, which presents 1-10 days after starting IVIg treatment. In our center we implemented an ambulatory scheme for IVIg administration, which allows its administration in an average of 3 hours, without severe adverse effects. To describe adverse effects and to evaluate the frequency of renal failure secondary to ambulatory IVIg administration in patients with common variable immunodeficiency. A descriptive and prospective study was done including adult patients con definitive diagnosis of common variable immunodeficiency, receiving IVIg at replacement dose every 3 weeks. All patients were evaluated with clinical exploration, somatometry, serum creatinine, albumin and urea determination, 24 hours creatinine clearance, glomerular filtration rate with CKD-EPI, and immediate renal function associated with accumulated IVIg. Results were analyzed with descriptive statistics. We determined adverse effects in 25 patients with common variable immunodeficiency (15 women and 10 men, average age 36.7 years), during a 10 months period (January-September 2013). During this period 284 IVIg infusions were administered using our scheme, frequency of adverse effects were 12.9%, with 5.2% of early adverse effects and 7.7% late adverse effects, all being mild to moderate, in some cases required analgesic and/or antihistamine administration, without having to stop the IVIg infusion. In the renal function study 19 patients were included (12 women and 7 men, average age 36 years, average weigh 58.74 kg and average height 1.60 m), evaluated from January 2009 to October 2013. Average serum creatinine was 0.76 ± 0.18 mg/dL, average serum urea was 28.6 ± 7.6 mg/dL, none patient presenting acute renal failure. Glomerular filtration rate was determined with CKD-EPI formula, and the average was 116 ± 34 mL/min/1.73 m2, finding chronic renal failure in 4 patients. Average 24 hours creatinine clearance was 98.64 ± 22 mL/min/1.73 m2, with chronic renal failure data in 6 patients. There were no severe adverse effects with this ambulatory IVIg scheme (anaphylaxis, acute renal failure). We did not find data of acute renal failure secondary to IVIg administration in this population, but we did find data of chronic renal failure secondary to IVIg administration through 24 hours creatinine clearance in 6 patients. No relation was found between accumulated IVIg dose in the last 5 years and decreased glomerular filtration rate. Another benefit worth of mentioning with this scheme is the reduction in costs for the health institution and to the patient. | 25,177,848 | [
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Eosinophilic gastroenteritis | The eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a disease of unknown etiopathogenesis and rare presentation, with several clinical symptoms, ranging from mild episodes until nonspecific abdominal acute episodes of intestinal obstruction, which some times make it necessary urgent surgical treatment. This wide symptomatic range seems to be conditioned by the degree of eosinophilic infiltration of the intestinal wall and the number of layers involved. This paper reports the case of a patient who, due to the diagnosis difficulties, illustrates in a single patient the intestinal and respiratory anatomo-clinical diversity and the evolution of the eosinophilia both intestinal and peripheral. Patient was sent to our service with diagnoses of bronchial asthma, chronic allergic rhinitis and chronic anemia. | 25,177,855 | [
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[Value of Fatty acids in formation of thrombotic status in patients with ischemic heart disease]. | Interrelation between fatty acids and platelet aggregation has been a subject of interest for cardiologists in the terms of thrombogenic status. In order to study this problem we observed 42 patients with ischemic heart disease and 30 healthy persons. In patients we found elevation of arachidonic acid and lowering of docosahexaenic acid levels. Hypoxemic assay revealed in these patients lowering of prostacyclin and antithrombin III levels. In the pathogenesis of disturbances of platelet aggregation in patients with ischemic heart disease alteration of structure of platelets with increased quantity of phosphatidyl ethanolamine and corresponding change of thrombocyte asymmetry resulted in conformational reorganization of proteins and lipids. | 25,177,882 | [
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[Functional state of right ventricular myocardium in patients with acute pulmonary embolism before and after thrombolytic therapy]. | We present in this paper results of assessment of functional state of right ventricular (RV) myocardium in 38 patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) before and after endovascular recanalization of pulmonary arteries supplemented with thrombolytic therapy. According to echocardiography data RV dysfunction was detected in 60.5% of cases, while an elevated concentration of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in blood plasma was observed in all patients. None of the patients had elevated level of troponin I. An increased concentration of BNP in blood plasma with normal troponin level in patients with acute PE was indicative of a hidden RV dysfunction due to its dilatation, acute volume or pressure overload without evidence of myocardial damage. Implications. All patients with acute pulmonary embolism who are hemodynamically stable, but have elevated levels of plasma BNP should undergo thrombolytic therapy (TLT) with the aim of early recanalization of pulmonary arteries and elimination of RV dysfunction. Early thrombolytic recanalization of the pulmonary arteries not only provides restoration of impaired RV function, but also prevents formation of post embolic chronic pulmonary hypertension and improves clinical prognosis. | 25,177,884 | [
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[Pulse wave velocity and pulse pressure in patients with arterial hypertension]. | The article is devoted to assessment of pulse pressure (PP) in female postmenopausal patients and patients with arterial hypertension (AH) older than 55 years. It is shown that in postmenopausal women even aged 55 years or less PP is one of most important parameters associated with target organ damage. Conclusion about presence of elevated vascular wall stiffness in these women as in elderly patients can be made at PP more or equal 60 mm Hg. In elderly patients both with isolated systolic AP and 1-2 degree systolic-diastolic monotherapy with indapamide 1,5 mg retard allows not only to achieve clear-cut hypotensive effect but in both variants of AH to lower PP. This can substantially decrease degree of cardiovascular risk without crossing bottom borders of diastolic AP lowering. The latter is especially important for elderly patients with isolated systolic AH. | 25,177,885 | [
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[Delirium and dementia]. | Delirium and dementia as organically caused mental disorders exhibit similarities in the clinical and neurological sense and often occur together. The existence of one appears to increase the risk for the development of the other. Although delirium is a very common disorder especially among the elderly, it is often not recognized. For the diagnosis of delirium, an exact family and case history including medication, clinical examination and determination of routine laboratory values are not infrequently necessary. Causal treatment of delirium is possible and not necessarily complicated. Both non-medicative and medicative measures are available for the symptomatic treatment. The non-medicative measures are to a large extent applied by nursing staff and comprise, among others, orientation guidance and attaining a balance between perceptual overload and deprivation. A good knowledge of symptomatology is decisive, also from the prevention point of view (nurses specialized in delirium). For symptomatic medicative treatment neuroleptic agents appear to be favorable. With regard to extrapyramidal side effects atypical neuroleptics are better than the typical ones. The use of cholinesterase inhibitors is not robustly supported by the literature. The use of benzodiazepines is rather discouraged except for the treatment of withdrawal delirium. Preparations with short half-lives and absence of active metabolites can be used as accompanying measures for a short time. Prevention appears to be extremely important for which the treating personnel require a good knowledge of risk factors and their management. The occurrence of delirium among cases of alpha-synucleinopathies represents a special case. Both international and German guidelines on the management of delirium are available. | 25,177,901 | [
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[Quality assurance in outpatient neurological rehabilitation: measuring the effects of rehabilitation with the competency rating scale]. | So far, there are only few studies concerning the outcome of outpatient neurological rehabilitation in Germany. Considering the statutory obligations of quality assurance there is an urgent need of appropriate instruments to assess the rehabilitation outcome. The aim of this study was to assess the appropriateness of the Competency Rating Scale (CRS), which was used to measure rehabilitation outcome, and to collect data of the effects of outpatient neurological rehabilitation as a measure of rehabilitation outcome. The basis of this study was data collected between 2008 and 2011. During that period the data of all patients of an outpatient neurological rehabilitation center were consecutively collected. There were no exclusion criteria. To measure rehabilitation outcome patients' self ratings with the CRS were used. To check the appropriateness of the CRS the dropout rate and the missing values were analysed. In addition, the patients' self ratings were compared with the data of a near relative rating with the CRS. On examining the entire group of patients, statistically significant improvements over time were found in the motor as well as in the cognitive-psychosocial areas. The analysis of the data with regard to the appropriateness of the CRS showed considerable ceiling effects and a high dropout rate. Differences between the self and the near relative ratings could be detected. For the overall group of patients positive effects of outpatient neurological rehabilitation can be proven. The assessment instrument used in this study is only partially suitable for assessing the outcome of outpatient neurological rehabilitation. The comparison of self and near relative ratings can systematically be used in the therapy process. | 25,177,904 | [
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Thermodynamics at the nanoscale: phase diagrams of nickel-carbon nanoclusters and equilibrium constants for phase transitions. | Using reactive molecular dynamics simulations, the melting behavior of nickel-carbon nanoclusters is examined. The phase diagrams of icosahedral and Wulff polyhedron clusters are determined using both the Lindemann index and the potential energy. Formulae are derived for calculating the equilibrium constants and the solid and liquid fractions during a phase transition, allowing more rational determination of the melting temperature with respect to the arbitrary Lindemann value. These results give more insight into the properties of nickel-carbon nanoclusters in general and can specifically be very useful for a better understanding of the synthesis of carbon nanotubes using the catalytic chemical vapor deposition method. | 25,177,915 | [
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Prospecting of popcorn hybrids for resistance to fall armyworm. | The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is the pest that causes the greatest economic losses for both common corn and popcorn crops, and the use of resistant plant genotypes is an important tool for integrated pest management. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the damage caused by S. frugiperda on single-cross popcorn hybrids under field conditions with natural infestation as well as to study the effect of 11 popcorn hybrids on the S. frugiperda life cycle under laboratory conditions. A completely randomized block design with 4 replicates was used for the field experiment, and a completely randomized design with 10 replicates was used for the laboratory experiment. In the field experiment, the damage caused by fall armyworm, grain yield, and popping expansion were quantified, and a diallel analysis was performed to select the best hybrids. For the laboratory experiment, caterpillars were obtained from laboratory cultures kept on an artificial diet and were fed with leaves from the 11 hybrids. Hybrids P7.0 x P9.4, P7.1 x P9.6, P7.2.0 x P9.3, P7.4.0 x P9.1 and P7.4.1 x P9.4 exhibited negative specific combining ability for injury by fall armyworm and positive specific combining ability for yield and popping expansion. In the laboratory experiment, the hybrids influenced the mean larval stage duration, mean larval mass, final larval mass, pupal stage duration, mean pupal mass, and adult longevity. | 25,177,934 | [
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0.183649,
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Visualization and body distribution of [¹³¹I]-herceptin in nude mice with BT-474 breast carcinoma. | The study aimed to investigate the bio-distribution and radio-immuno-imaging features of [(131)I]-herceptin in nude mice with BT-474 breast carcinoma. [(131)I]-Herceptin was administrated by tail intravenous injection to the nude mice with BT-474 breast carcinoma. Radiocounting was performed at 4, 12, 24, 48, and 96 h after administration. The activity ratio in the tumor tissue and non-tumor tissue (T/NT) and the radiocounting percentage per gram tissue to the injected dose (%ID/g) were calculated. The nude mice with BT-474 breast carcinoma were also visualized continuously by single photon emission computed tomography at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 96 h after the injection of [(131)I]-herceptin. Nude mice with MDA-MB-231 used as the control group were subjected to the same analyses. Clear tumor images were obtained after the injection of [(131)I]-herceptin in nude mice with BT-474 breast carcinoma. The images were the clearest at 24 h after the injection and remained clear even at 96 h. The T/NT ratio and %ID/g in the tumor tissues of nude mice with BT-474 were both significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.01). [(131)I]-Herceptin displays tumors clearly in the nude mice with BT-474 and accumulates well in the tumor tissues. | 25,177,959 | [
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Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of brain injury after nasopharyngeal cancer radiation in early delayed reaction. | This study aimed to investigate the value of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) imaging in assessing nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy during the early delayed reaction period. Eighty cases of nasopharyngeal cancer treated with radiotherapy within the same period underwent MRS imaging before or after radiotherapy. Of the 80 cases, 47 underwent MRS imaging on the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 12th months after radiotherapy. The trends of the primary metabolite concentration at different time points were monitored and compared with the corresponding data after radiotherapy. Repeated measures analysis of variance was performed. At the end of radiotherapy, the N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr), choline (Cho)/Cr, and NAA/Cho ratios were reduced to the lowest levels after 3 months. However, increasing trends were observed from the 4th to the 12th month. On the 12th month, stable levels were reached with statistically significant differences (F = 316.02, 53.84, 286.68; P < 0.01). MRS reflected the radiation injury-repair process in the brain of a nasopharyngeal cancer patient during early delayed reaction. This non-invasive monitoring of changes in brain tissue metabolite concentrations provides valuable information for prognosis. | 25,177,964 | [
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Cells of the rectum of Bombyx mori affected by experimental inoculation with Alphabaculovirus. | Bombyx mori is an insect whose cocoon is used in the sericulture industry, which is an important activity in parts of southern Brazil. When parasitized by Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) of the genus Alphabaculovirus (alphaBV), it develops nuclear polyhedrosis disease. In Brazil, an alphaBV was isolated from larvae of B. mori and various target tissues were identified. However, how this geographic viral isolate affects the rectum of silk moths was unknown. The rectum, a component of the cryptonephric system, acts to absorb water and mineral salts, and its importance for the metabolic balance of insects provoked interest in analyzing how it is affected by BmMNPV infection. Fifth instar B. mori larvae were inoculated with a viral suspension, and from the second to the ninth day post-inoculation, segments of the rectum (anterior and anal canal) were examined using light microscopy. The cryptonephric epithelial cells in the anterior region revealed no evidence of infection. However, from the fifth day post-inoculation, cells of the anal canal showed cytopathologies characteristic of alphaBV. Infection of the anal canal and other surrounding tissues led to tissue disorganization, with accumulation of polyhedra in the perinephric space and compartmentalization of the cryptonephric system, promoting changes in the fecal pellets, signalling physiological changes. These observations contribute to our understanding of the infectious cycle of BmMNPV in B. mori. | 25,177,968 | [
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Diffraction-limited storage rings - a window to the science of tomorrow. | This article summarizes the contributions in this special issue on Diffraction-Limited Storage Rings. It analyses the progress in accelerator technology enabling a significant increase in brightness and coherent fraction of the X-ray light provided by storage rings. With MAX IV and Sirius there are two facilities under construction that already exploit these advantages. Several other projects are in the design stage and these will probably enhance the performance further. To translate the progress in light source quality into new science requires similar progress in aspects such as optics, beamline technology, detectors and data analysis. The quality of new science will be limited by the weakest component in this value chain. Breakthroughs can be expected in high-resolution imaging, microscopy and spectroscopy. These techniques are relevant for many fields of science; for example, for the fundamental understanding of the properties of correlated electron materials, the development and characterization of materials for data and energy storage, environmental applications and bio-medicine. | 25,177,975 | [
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First multi-bend achromat lattice consideration. | By the beginning of 1990, three third-generation synchrotron light sources had been successfully commissioned in Grenoble, Berkeley and Trieste (ESRF, ALS and ELETTRA). Each of these new machines reached their target specifications without any significant problems. In parallel, already at that time discussions were underway regarding the next generation, the `diffraction-limited light source (DLSR)', which featured sub-nm rad electron beam emittance, photon beam brilliance exceeding 10(22) and the potential to emit coherent radiation. Also, at about that time, a first design for a 3 GeV DLSR was developed, based on a modified multiple-bend achromat (MBA) design leading to a lattice with normalized emittance of ℇx = 0.5 nm rad. The novel feature of the MBA lattice was the use of seven vertically focusing bend magnets with different bending angles throughout the achromat cell to keep the radiation integrals and resulting beam emittance low. The baseline design called for a 400 m ring circumference with 12 straight sections of 6 m length. The dynamic aperture behaviour of the DLSR lattice was estimated to produce > 5 h beam lifetime at 100 mA stored beam current. | 25,177,977 | [
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Lattice design challenges for fourth-generation storage-ring light sources. | Third-generation low-emittance storage-ring light sources based on double- and triple-bend cells and undulator magnets have been in operation around the world for more than two decades. On the horizon is a new generation based on the multi-bend achromat (MBA) lattice concept promising two to three orders of magnitude higher brightness than is available in today's sources. In this paper, the challenges inherent in designing MBA lattices, as well as potential solutions, are described. Topics covered include lattice concepts, scaling of storage-ring performance, brightness optimization, nonlinear dynamics, beam lifetime and injection schemes. | 25,177,982 | [
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On the characterization of ultra-precise X-ray optical components: advances and challenges in ex situ metrology. | To fully exploit the ultimate source properties of the next-generation light sources, such as free-electron lasers (FELs) and diffraction-limited storage rings (DLSRs), the quality requirements for gratings and reflective synchrotron optics, especially mirrors, have significantly increased. These coherence-preserving optical components for high-brightness sources will feature nanoscopic shape accuracies over macroscopic length scales up to 1000 mm. To enable high efficiency in terms of photon flux, such optics will be coated with application-tailored single or multilayer coatings. Advanced thin-film fabrication of today enables the synthesis of layers on the sub-nanometre precision level over a deposition length of up to 1500 mm. Specifically dedicated metrology instrumentation of comparable accuracy has been developed to characterize such optical elements. Second-generation slope-measuring profilers like the nanometre optical component measuring machine (NOM) at the BESSY-II Optics laboratory allow the inspection of up to 1500 mm-long reflective optical components with an accuracy better than 50 nrad r.m.s. Besides measuring the shape on top of the coated mirror, it is of particular interest to characterize the internal material properties of the mirror coating, which is the domain of X-rays. Layer thickness, density and interface roughness of single and multilayer coatings are investigated by means of X-ray reflectometry. In this publication recent achievements in the field of slope measuring metrology are shown and the characterization of different types of mirror coating demonstrated. Furthermore, upcoming challenges to the inspection of ultra-precise optical components designed to be used in future FEL and DLSR beamlines are discussed. | 25,177,985 | [
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Partially coherent X-ray wavefront propagation simulations including grazing-incidence focusing optics. | X-ray beamlines in modern synchrotron radiation sources make extensive use of grazing-incidence reflective optics, in particular Kirkpatrick-Baez elliptical mirror systems. These systems can focus the incoming X-rays down to nanometer-scale spot sizes while maintaining relatively large acceptance apertures and high flux in the focused radiation spots. In low-emittance storage rings and in free-electron lasers such systems are used with partially or even nearly fully coherent X-ray beams and often target diffraction-limited resolution. Therefore, their accurate simulation and modeling has to be performed within the framework of wave optics. Here the implementation and benchmarking of a wave-optics method for the simulation of grazing-incidence mirrors based on the local stationary-phase approximation or, in other words, the local propagation of the radiation electric field along geometrical rays, is described. The proposed method is CPU-efficient and fully compatible with the numerical methods of Fourier optics. It has been implemented in the Synchrotron Radiation Workshop (SRW) computer code and extensively tested against the geometrical ray-tracing code SHADOW. The test simulations have been performed for cases without and with diffraction at mirror apertures, including cases where the grazing-incidence mirrors can be hardly approximated by ideal lenses. Good agreement between the SRW and SHADOW simulation results is observed in the cases without diffraction. The differences between the simulation results obtained by the two codes in diffraction-dominated cases for illumination with fully or partially coherent radiation are analyzed and interpreted. The application of the new method for the simulation of wavefront propagation through a high-resolution X-ray microspectroscopy beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA) is demonstrated. | 25,178,000 | [
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X-ray-induced reduction of Au ions in an aqueous solution in the presence of support materials and in situ time-resolved XANES measurements. | Synchrotron X-ray-induced reduction of Au ions in an aqueous solution with or without support materials is reported. To clarify the process of radiation-induced reduction of metal ions in aqueous solutions in the presence of carbon particles as support materials, in situ time-resolved XANES measurements of Au ions were performed under synchrotron X-ray irradiation. XANES spectra were obtained only when hydrophobic carbon particles were added to the precursor solution containing Au ions. Changes in the shape of the XANES spectra indicated a rapid reduction from ionic to metallic Au in the precursor solution owing to synchrotron X-ray irradiation. In addition, the effects of the wettability of the carbon particles on the deposited Au metallic spots were examined. The deposited Au metallic spots were different depending on the relationship of surface charges between metal precursors and support materials. Moreover, a Au film was obtained as a by-product only when hydrophilic carbon particles were added to the precursor solution containing the Au ions. | 25,178,005 | [
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High-dynamic-range coherent diffractive imaging: ptychography using the mixed-mode pixel array detector. | Coherent (X-ray) diffractive imaging (CDI) is an increasingly popular form of X-ray microscopy, mainly due to its potential to produce high-resolution images and the lack of an objective lens between the sample and its corresponding imaging detector. One challenge, however, is that very high dynamic range diffraction data must be collected to produce both quantitative and high-resolution images. In this work, hard X-ray ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging has been performed at the P10 beamline of the PETRA III synchrotron to demonstrate the potential of a very wide dynamic range imaging X-ray detector (the Mixed-Mode Pixel Array Detector, or MM-PAD). The detector is capable of single photon detection, detecting fluxes exceeding 1 × 10(8) 8-keV photons pixel(-1) s(-1), and framing at 1 kHz. A ptychographic reconstruction was performed using a peak focal intensity on the order of 1 × 10(10) photons µm(-2) s(-1) within an area of approximately 325 nm × 603 nm. This was done without need of a beam stop and with a very modest attenuation, while `still' images of the empty beam far-field intensity were recorded without any attenuation. The treatment of the detector frames and CDI methodology for reconstruction of non-sensitive detector regions, partially also extending the active detector area, are described. | 25,178,008 | [
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Chemical biology of genomic DNA: minimizing PCR bias. | The exquisite selectivity of chemical reactions enables the study of rare DNA bases. However, chemical modification of the genome can affect downstream analysis. We report a PCR bias caused by such modification, and exemplify a solution with the synthesis and characterization of a cleavable aldehyde-reactive biotinylation probe. | 25,178,041 | [
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Multiple optical properties of a naphthoquinone pigment: 2-methyl-3-(hydroxyphenylthio)-1,4-naphthalenedione. | Naphthoquinone pigments 2-methyl-3-(4- or 2-hydroxyphenylthio)-1,4-naphthalenedione show characteristic optical properties in solution and in the solid state. The position of the OH group in the pigment leads to varied optical properties, including a characteristic colour, in the solid state. The pigment with a 2-OH substituent displays solvatochromism in solution, and that with a 4-OH substituent displays optical chirality in the solid state. | 25,178,051 | [
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Effect of apitherapy formulations against carbon tetrachloride-induced toxicity in Wistar rats after three weeks of treatment. | The human body is exposed nowadays to increasing attacks by toxic compounds in polluted air, industrially processed foods, alcohol and drug consumption that increase liver toxicity, leading to more and more severe cases of hepatic disorders. The present paper aims to evaluate the influence of the apitherapy diet in Wistar rats with carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity, by analyzing the biochemical determinations (enzymatic, lipid and protein profiles, coagulation parameters, minerals, blood count parameters, bilirubin levels) and histopathological changes at the level of liver, spleen and pancreas. The experiment was carried out on six groups of male Wistar rats. Hepatic lesions were induced by intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride (dissolved in paraffin oil, 10% solution). Two mL per 100 g were administered, every 2 days, for 2 weeks. Hepatoprotection was achieved with two apitherapy diet formulations containing honey, pollen, propolis, Apilarnil, with/without royal jelly. Biochemical results reveal that the two apitherapy diet formulations have a positive effect on improving the enzymatic, lipid, and protein profiles, coagulation, mineral and blood count parameters and bilirubin levels. The histopathological results demonstrate the benefits of the two apitherapy diet formulations on reducing toxicity at the level of liver, spleen and pancreas in laboratory animals. | 25,178,061 | [
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The use of the ex vivo Chandler Loop Apparatus to assess the biocompatibility of modified polymeric blood conduits. | The foreign body reaction occurs when a synthetic surface is introduced to the body. It is characterized by adsorption of blood proteins and the subsequent attachment and activation of platelets, monocyte/macrophage adhesion, and inflammatory cell signaling events, leading to post-procedural complications. The Chandler Loop Apparatus is an experimental system that allows researchers to study the molecular and cellular interactions that occur when large volumes of blood are perfused over polymeric conduits. To that end, this apparatus has been used as an ex vivo model allowing the assessment of the anti-inflammatory properties of various polymer surface modifications. Our laboratory has shown that blood conduits, covalently modified via photoactivation chemistry with recombinant CD47, can confer biocompatibility to polymeric surfaces. Appending CD47 to polymeric surfaces could be an effective means to promote the efficacy of polymeric blood conduits. Herein is the methodology detailing the photoactivation chemistry used to append recombinant CD47 to clinically relevant polymeric blood conduits and the use of the Chandler Loop as an ex vivo experimental model to examine blood interactions with the CD47 modified and control conduits. | 25,178,087 | [
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A high-performance reduced graphene oxide/ZnCo layered double hydroxide electrocatalyst for efficient water oxidation. | Tailoring high performance, stable, and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for water oxidation is of fundamental importance for the development of promising energy conversion and storage technologies. In this work, we report a remarkably simple and efficient approach for the preparation of ZnCo-layered double hydroxides and reduced graphene oxide (RGO/ZnCo-LDH) nanocomposites via a facile one-pot coprecipitation method. The resulting RGO/ZnCo-LDH complex investigated for the first time as a catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) exhibits higher electrocatalytic activity (with onset overpotential ∼330 mV in 0.1 M KOH) and excellent stability than pristine ZnCo-layered double hydroxides and commercial Pt/C, making it a highly efficient nonprecious metal-based novel LDH composite electrocatalyst for OER. | 25,178,089 | [
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Low DEFB4 copy number and high systemic hBD-2 and IL-22 levels are associated with dermatophytosis. | Dermatophytes initiate dermatophytosis, but susceptibility to infection is dictated by host genetic factors, although the role of some of these-such as human beta-defensin 2 (hBD-2) genomic (DEFB4) copy number (CN) variation and its induction by IL-22-remains unclear. This was investigated in this cross-sectional study in 442 unrelated Caucasian subjects, including 195 healthy controls and 247 dermatophytosis patients who were divided into five subgroups according to clinical presentation. DNA samples were evaluated for DEFB4 CN variation by relative quantification using the comparative CT method, and serum hBD-2 and IL-22 levels were determined by ELISA. DEFB4 CN in patients was significantly lower and, except in the tinea cruris subgroup, serum hBD-2 levels were higher than in controls. The positive correlation between hBD-2 levels and DEFB4 CN observed in controls was not detected in patients, who also had higher serum IL-22 levels that were positively correlated with hBD-2 levels. Moreover, unlike in control subjects, the serum IL-22 level was negatively correlated with DEFB4 CN in patients. Taken together, these findings suggest an association between decreased DEFB4 CN, elevated serum hBD-2 and IL-22 levels, and dermatophytosis, underscoring a gene/cytokine interaction in the occurrence of this infection. | 25,178,103 | [
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Prototropic transformation and rotational-relaxation dynamics of a biological photosensitizer norharmane inside nonionic micellar aggregates. | The effect of variation of the size of headgroup as well as the length of hydrocarbon tail of nonionic surfactants on the photophysics and rotational-relaxation dynamics of a promising biological photosensitizer, norharmane, (NHM) has been investigated. The series of nonionic micelles employed for the study belongs to Triton X family (allowing the variation in poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) chain length) and Tween family (providing access to vary the alkyl chain length of the surfactant tails). The spectral deciphering of the photophysics of the drug (NHM) within the series of the nonionic micelles reveals remarkable influence of binding of the drug with the micelles on the prototropic equilibrium which is notably favored toward the neutral species of the drug over the cationic counterpart. The strength of drug-micelle binding interaction as well as the extent of transformation of the cation ⇌ neutral prototropic equilibrium is found to be enormously governed by the variation of the headgroup size and the alkyl chain length of the surfactants. To this end, the equilibrium constant (Keq) and free energy change (ΔG) for cation ⇌ neutral prototropic transformation of the drug as a function of the micellar parameters have been meticulously explored from emission studies and comprehensively rationalized under the provision of the micellar hydration model, that is, the differential extents of water penetration to micellar units as a function of varying thickness of the palisade layer and hence a variation in the polarity of the micellar microenvironments. The significant enhancement in steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of NHM in micellar environments compared to that in bulk aqueous buffer phase substantiates the location of the drug in motionally constrained regions introduced by the nonionic micelles. Further, all these lines of arguments are effectively corroborated from time-resolved fluorescence experiments with particular emphasis on time-resolved anisotropy decay study of the drug within the micellar aggregates. | 25,178,117 | [
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The role of carbon monoxide signaling in the responses of plants to abiotic stresses. | Whether carbon monoxide (CO) exerts toxic or protective effect is dependent on the concentration and location of CO in animals. Similarly, it has been increasingly evident that CO also is involved in diverse physiological processes in plants, from seed germination and dormancy to stomatal closure to regulation of multiple environmental stresses. In this review, we focus on CO synthesis and the role of CO in plant responses to abiotic stresses, such as salinity, drought, cadmium and mercury. In general, abiotic stresses induce CO production in plants. CO can alleviate oxidative damage by improving the activities of antioxidative enzymes and antioxidant metabolism. In addition, cross talk between CO signaling and other signaling molecules including nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) also is discussed. | 25,178,167 | [
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Japanese Guideline for Adult Asthma 2014. | Adult bronchial asthma (hereinafter, asthma) is characterized by chronic airway inflammation, reversible airway narrowing, and airway hyperresponsiveness. Long-standing asthma induces airway remodeling to cause intractable asthma. The number of patients with asthma has increased, and that of patients who die from asthma has decreased (1.5 per 100,000 patients in 2012). The aim of asthma treatment is to enable patients with asthma to lead a normal life without any symptoms. A good relationship between physicians and patients is indispensable for appropriate treatment. Long-term management with antiasthmatic agents and elimination of the causes and risk factors of asthma are fundamental to its treatment. Four steps in pharmacotherapy differentiate between mild and intensive treatments; each step includes an appropriate daily dose of an inhaled corticosteroid, varying from low to high. Long-acting β2-agonists, leukotriene receptor antagonists, and sustained-release theophylline are recommended as concomitant drugs, while anti-immunoglobulin E antibody therapy has been recently developed for the most severe and persistent asthma involving allergic reactions. Inhaled β2-agonists, aminophylline, corticosteroids, adrenaline, oxygen therapy, and others are used as needed in acute exacerbations by choosing treatment steps for asthma exacerbations depending on the severity of attacks. Allergic rhinitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, aspirin-induced asthma, pregnancy, asthma in athletes, and cough-variant asthma are also important issues that need to be considered. | 25,178,175 | [
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Efficient generation of genetically distinct pigs in a single pregnancy using multiplexed single-guide RNA and carbohydrate selection. | Manipulating the pig genome to increase compatibility with human biology may facilitate the clinical application of xenotransplantation. Genetic modifications to pig cells have been made by sequential recombination in fetal fibroblasts and liver-derived cells followed by cross-breeding or somatic cell nuclear transfer. The generation of pigs for research or organ donation by these methods is slow, expensive and requires technical expertise. A novel system incorporating the bacterial nuclease Cas9 and single-guide RNA targeting a 20 nucleotide site within a gene can be expressed from a single plasmid leading to a double-strand break and gene disruption. Coexpression of multiple unique single-guide RNA can modify several genetic loci in a single step. We describe a process for increasing the efficiency of selecting cells with multiple genetic modifications. We used the CRISPR/Cas system to target the GGTA1, CMAH and putative iGb3S genes in pigs that have been naturally deleted in humans. Cells lacking galactose α-1,3 galactose (α-Gal) were negatively selected by an IB4 lectin/magnetic bead. α-Gal negative multiplexed single-guide RNA-treated cells were used for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and transferred to fertile sows. We examined the levels of α-Gal and Neu5Gc expression of 32 day fetuses and piglets and analyzed the targeted genes by DNA sequencing. Liver-derived cells treated with multiple single-guide RNA and selected for an α-Gal null phenotype were significantly more likely to also carry mutations in simultaneously targeted genes. Multiplex single-guide RNA-treated cells used directly for SCNT without further genetic selection produced piglets with deletions in the targeted genes but also created double- and triple-gene KO variations. CRISPR/Cas-treated cells grew normally and yielded normal liters of healthy piglets via somatic cell nuclear transfer. The CRISPR/Cas system allows targeting of multiple genes in a single reaction with the potential to create pigs of one genetic strain or multiple genetic modifications in a single pregnancy. The application of this phenotypic selection strategy with multiplexed sgRNA and the Cas9 nuclease has accelerated our ability to produce and evaluate pigs important to xenotransplantation. | 25,178,170 | [
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Japanese Guideline for Allergic Rhinitis 2014. | Like asthma and atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis is an allergic disease, but of the three, it is the only type I allergic disease. Allergic rhinitis includes pollinosis, which is intractable and reduces quality of life (QOL) when it becomes severe. A guideline is needed to understand allergic rhinitis and to use this knowledge to develop a treatment plan. In Japan, the first guideline was prepared after a symposium held by the Japanese Society of Allergology in 1993. The current 7th edition was published in 2013, and is widely used today. To incorporate evidence based medicine (EBM) introduced from abroad, the most recent collection of evidence/literature was supplemented to the Practical Guideline for the Management of Allergic Rhinitis in Japan 2013. The revised guideline includes assessment of diagnosis/treatment and prescriptions for children and pregnant women, for broad clinical applications. An evidence-based step-by-step strategy for treatment is also described. In addition, the QOL concept and cost benefit analyses are also addressed. Along with Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact of Asthma (ARIA), this guideline is widely used for various clinical purposes, such as measures for patients with sinusitis, childhood allergic rhinitis, oral allergy syndrome, and anaphylaxis and for pregnant women. A Q&A section regarding allergic rhinitis in Japan was added to the end of this guideline. | 25,178,177 | [
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Pregnancy outcomes of induced labor in women with previous cesarean section: a systematic review and meta-analysis. | To systematically review the literature about maternal and neonatal outcomes following induction of labor (IOL) and spontaneous labor (SL) in women with previous cesarean section (PCS). PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane library searches; January 2000-February 2013. women attempting labor after PCS, singleton term pregnancies. Women undergoing IOL were compared with women in SL. Method for induction, mode of delivery, uterine rupture/dehiscence, post-partum hemorrhage, emergency hysterectomy and any maternal or neonatal morbidity and mortality were analyzed. MOOSE guidelines were followed. Interstudies heterogeneity was tested. A random effect model was generated if heterogeneity was >25 %. Pooled odds ratio with 95 % confidence interval (OR, 95 % CI) were calculated. Eight articles included 4,038 women with IOL (23.2 %) and 13,374 women with SL (76.8 %). IOL was associated with a lower incidence of vaginal delivery (OR 0.66; 95 % CI 0.55-0.80) and higher rates of cesarean section (OR 1.52; 95 % CI 1.26-1.83), uterine rupture/dehiscence (OR 1.62; 95 % CI 1.13-2.31), and post-partum hemorrhage (OR 1.57; 95 % CI 1.20-2.04), although hysterectomy was similar between the two groups (OR 2.60; 95 % CI 0.52-13.1). Neonatal morbidity was similar after IOL or SL (OR 1.13; 95 % CI 0.75-1.69). Induction of labor increases the risk of uterine rupture/dehiscence and of repeat cesarean section. | 25,178,187 | [
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Exploring land developer perspectives on conservation subdivision design and environmentally sustainable land development. | Insight into land developers' perspectives on alternative residential developments and the barriers they experience in trying to develop them can be crucial in efforts to change environmentally damaging low-density, large-lot, and automobile-dependent residential patterns. Using a semi-structured interview instrument followed by short surveys, I examined the views of 16 developers in Waukesha County, WI, USA, a county that has experienced significant development pressures and widespread implementation of conservation subdivision design. The land developer investigation focused on conservation subdivision design familiarity and implementation, and identified a number of barriers that developers experienced in implementing the design. While the majority of the developers appeared familiar with the design and had experience developing conservation subdivisions, their motivations for developing them varied, as did their on-site conservation practices. The barriers included the lack of land use regulations supporting the design, economic factors, community opposition, and a lack of knowledge about sustainable residential development practices. Strategies to promote more environmentally sustainable residential land development patterns include providing a more supportive institutional environment, enacting different regulations and guidelines for natural resources protection, and offering education on ecologically sound development and planning practices. | 25,178,188 | [
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Supercritical fluid extraction as a preparation method for mass spectrometry of dried blood spots. | The potential of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) as a preparation method for mass spectrometry of dried blood spots (DBS) was examined. SFE is generally used for the extraction of hydrophobic compounds, but hydrophilic metabolites such as amino acids, amines, and nucleic-acid-related metabolites could be extracted by adding a low level of methanol as a modifier. Under the optimized conditions, over 200 metabolites were detected from a dried serum spot, of which over 160 metabolites could be analyzed stably (RSD <20%). These results show that SFE is an effective extraction method of metabolites with a wide range of polarity in DBS. | 25,178,194 | [
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Medicaid expenditures on psychotropic medications for maltreated children: a study of 36 States. | Children with histories of abuse or neglect are the most expensive child population to insure for their mental health needs. This study aimed to quantify the magnitude of Medicaid expenditures incurred in the purchase of psychotropic drugs for these children. Children (N=4,445) participating in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) and from households under investigation for suspected child abuse and neglect were linked to their Medicaid claims from 36 states. Expenditures on psychotropic medications between the NSCAW sample and a propensity score-matched comparison sample of Medicaid-enrolled children were compared in a two-part regression of logistic and generalized linear models. Children in the NSCAW sample had twice the odds of psychotropic drug use and $190 higher mean annual expenditures on psychotropic drugs than children in the comparison sample. Increased expenditures on antidepressants and antimanic drugs were the primary drivers of these increased expenditures. Male gender and white race-ethnicity were associated with significantly increased expenditures. Children in primary care case management had $325 lower expenditures than those in fee-for-service Medicaid. Among NSCAW children alone, male gender, older age, being in poorer health, and scoring in the clinical range of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) all increased expenditures on psychotropic drugs. Medicaid agencies should focus their cost containment strategies on antidepressants and antimanic drugs, consider expanding primary care case management arrangements, and expand use of instruments such as the CBCL to identify and treat high-need children. | 25,178,250 | [
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Characterization of membrane protein interactions by isothermal titration calorimetry. | Understanding the structure, folding, and interaction of membrane proteins requires experimental tools to quantify the association of transmembrane (TM) helices. Here, we introduce isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to measure integrin αIIbβ3 TM complex affinity, to study the consequences of helix-helix preorientation in lipid bilayers, and to examine protein-induced lipid reorganization. Phospholipid bicelles served as membrane mimics. The association of αIIbβ3 proceeded with a free energy change of -4.61±0.04kcal/mol at bicelle conditions where the sampling of random helix-helix orientations leads to complex formation. At bicelle conditions that approach a true bilayer structure in effect, an entropy saving of >1kcal/mol was obtained from helix-helix preorientation. The magnitudes of enthalpy and entropy changes increased distinctly with bicelle dimensions, indicating long-range changes in bicelle lipid properties upon αIIbβ3 TM association. NMR spectroscopy confirmed ITC affinity measurements and revealed αIIbβ3 association and dissociation rates of 4500±100s(-1) and 2.1±0.1s(-1), respectively. Thus, ITC is able to provide comprehensive insight into the interaction of membrane proteins. | 25,178,257 | [
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Identification of exonic nucleotide variants of the thyroid hormone responsive protein gene associated with carcass traits and Fatty Acid composition in korean cattle. | The thyroid hormone responsive protein (THRSP) gene is a functional gene that can be used to indicate the fatty acid compositions. This study investigates the relationships of exonic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the THRSP gene and fatty acid composition of muscle fat and marbling score in the 612 Korean cattle. The relationships between fatty acid composition and eight SNPs in the THRSP gene (g.78 G>A, g.173 C>T, g.184 C>T, g.190 C>A, g.194 C>T, g.277 C>G, g.283 T>G and g.290 T>G) were investigated, and according to the results, two SNPs (g.78 G>A and g.184 C>T) in exon 1 were associated with fatty acid composition. The GG and CC genotypes of g.78 G>A and g.184 C>T had higher unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) content (p<0.05). In addition, the ht1*ht1 group (Val/Ala haplotype) in a linkage disequilibrium increased MUFAs and marbling scores for carcass traits (p<0.05). As a result, g.78 G>A and g.184 C>T had significantly relationships with UFAs and MUFAs. Two SNPs in the THRSP gene affected fatty acid composition, suggesting that GG and CC genotypes and the ht1*ht1 group (Val/Ala haplotype) can be markers to genetically improve the quality and flavor of beef. | 25,178,286 | [
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Modest rise in chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing did not increase case detection in a clinical HIV cohort in Ontario, Canada. | We described patterns of testing for chlamydia and gonorrhoea infection among persons in specialty HIV care in Ontario, Canada, from 2008 to 2011. We analysed data from 3165 participants in the OHTN Cohort Study attending one of seven specialty HIV care clinics. We obtained chlamydia and gonorrhoea test results via record linkage with the provincial public health laboratory. We estimated the proportion of participants who underwent testing annually, the positivity rate among those tested and the proportion diagnosed with chlamydia or gonorrhoea among all under observation. We explored risk factors for testing and diagnosis using multiple logistic regression analysis. The proportion tested annually rose from 15.2% (95% CI 13.6% to 16.7%) in 2008 to 27.0% (95% CI 25.3% to 28.6%) in 2011 (p<0.0001). Virtually all were urine-based nucleic acid amplification tests. Testing was more common among men who have sex with men (MSM), younger adults, Toronto residents, persons attending primary care clinics and persons who had tested in the previous year or who had more clinic visits in the current year. We observed a decrease in test positivity rates over time. However, the annual proportion diagnosed remained stable and in 2011 this was 0.97% (95% CI 0.61% to 1.3%) and 0.79% (95% CI 0.46% to 1.1%) for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, respectively. Virtually all cases were among MSM. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing increased over time while test positivity rates declined and the overall proportion diagnosed remained stable, suggesting that the modest increase in testing did not improve case detection. | 25,178,285 | [
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Determination of Sperm Sex Ratio in Bovine Semen Using Multiplex Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction. | Gender selection is important in livestock industries; for example, female calves are required in the dairy industry. Sex-sorted semen is commonly used for the production of calves of the desired gender. However, assessment of the sex ratio of the sorted semen is tedious and expensive. In this study, a rapid, cost effective and reliable method for determining the sex ratio was developed using a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. In this assay, the X and Y chromosome-specific markers, i.e., bovine proteolipid protein (PLP) gene and sex-determining region Y (SRY) were simultaneously quantified in a single tube. The multiplex real-time PCR assay was shown to have high amplification efficiencies (97% to 99%) comparable to the separated-tube simplex real-time PCR assay. The results obtained from both assays were not significantly different (p>0.05). The multiplex assay was validated using reference DNA of known X ratio (10%, 50%, and 90%) as templates. The measured %X in semen samples were the same within 95% confidence intervals as the expected values, i.e., >90% in X-sorted semen, <10% in Y-sorted semen and close to 50% in the unsorted semen. The multiplex real-time PCR assay as shown in this study can thus be used to assess purity of sex-sorted semen. | 25,178,292 | [
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Traditional chinese medicine prescriptions enhance growth performance of heat stressed beef cattle by relieving heat stress responses and increasing apparent nutrient digestibility. | The present aim was to investigate the effects of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions (TCM) on body temperature, blood physiological parameters, nutrient apparent digestibility and growth performance of beef cattle under heat stress conditions. Twenty-seven beef cattle were randomly divided into three groups as following; i) high temperature control (HTC), ii) traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions I+high temperature (TCM I) and iii) traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions II+high temperature (TCM II) (n = 9 per group). The results showed that the mean body temperature declined in TCM II treatment (p<0.05). Serum T3 and T4 levels with TCM I and TCM II treatments elevated (p<0.05), and serum cortisol levels of TCM I treatments decreased (p<0.05), compared with the HTC group. Total protein, albumin, globulin in TCM II treatments elevated and blood urea nitrogen levels of both TCM treatments increased, but glucose levels of both TCM treatments decreased, compared with the HTC group (p<0.05). The apparent digestibility of organic matter and crude protein with TCM I treatment increased, and the apparent digestibility of acid detergent fiber elevated in both TCM treatments (p<0.05). Average daily feed intake was not different among three groups, however average daily gain increased and the feed:gain ratio decreased with both TCM treatments, compared with the HTC group (p<0.05). The present results suggest that dietary supplementation with TCM I or TCM II improves growth performance of heat stressed beef cattle by relieving heat stress responses and increasing nutrient apparent digestibility. | 25,178,304 | [
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Risk stratification and rapid geriatric screening in an emergency department - a quasi-randomised controlled trial. | To determine if risk stratification followed by rapid geriatric screening in an emergency department (ED) reduced functional decline, ED reattendance and hospitalisation. This was a quasi-randomised controlled trial. Patients were randomised by the last digit of their national registration identity card (NRIC). Odd number controls received standard ED care; even number patients received geriatric screening, followed by intervention and/or onward referrals. Patients were followed up for 12 months. There were 500 and 280 patients in the control and intervention groups. The intervention group had higher Triage Risk Screening Tool (TRST) scores (34.3% vs 25.4% TRST ≥3, p = 0.01) and lower baseline Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL) scores (22.84 vs 24.18, p < 0.01). 82.9% of the intervention group had unmet needs; 62.1% accepted our interventions. Common positive findings were fall risk (65.0%), vision (61.4%), and footwear (58.2%). 28.2% were referred to a geriatric clinic and 11.8% were admitted. 425 (85.0%) controls and 234 (83.6%) in the intervention group completed their follow-up. After adjusting for TRST and baseline IADL, the intervention group had significant preservation in function (Basic ADL -0.99 vs -0.24, p < 0.01; IADL -2.57 vs +0.45, p < 0.01) at 12 months. The reduction in ED reattendance (OR0.75, CI 0.55-1.03, p = 0.07) and hospitalization (OR0.77, CI0.57-1.04, p = 0.09) were not significant, however the real difference would have been wider as 21.2% of the control group received geriatric screening at the request of the ED doctor. A major limitation was that a large proportion of patients who were randomized to the intervention group either refused (18.8%) or left the ED before being approached (32.0%). These two groups were not followed up, and hence were excluded in our analysis. Risk stratification and focused geriatric screening in ED resulted in significant preservation of patients' function at 12 months. National Healthcare Group (NHG) Domain Specific Review Board (DSRB) C/09/023. Registered 5th March 2009. | 25,178,312 | [
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Impact of the control for corrupted diffusion tensor imaging data in comparisons at the group level: an application in Huntington disease. | Corrupted gradient directions (GD) in diffusion weighted images may seriously affect reliability of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based comparisons at the group level. In the present study we employed a quality control (QC) algorithm to eliminate corrupted gradient directions from DTI data. We then assessed effects of this procedure on comparisons between Huntington disease (HD) subjects and controls at the group level. Sixty-one HD patients in early stages and forty matched healthy controls were studied in a longitudinal design (baseline and two follow-ups at three time points over 15 months), in a multicenter setting with similar acquisition protocols on four different MR scanners at four European study sites. A QC algorithm was used to identify corrupted GD in DTI data sets. Differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) maps at the group level with and without elimination of corrupted GD were analyzed. The elimination of corrupted GD had an impact on individual FA maps as well as on cross-sectional group comparisons between HD subjects and controls. Following application of the QC algorithm, less small clusters of FA changes were observed, compared to the analysis without QC. However, the main pattern of regional reductions and increases in FA values with and without QC-based elimination of corrupted GD was unchanged. An impact on the result patterns of the comparison of FA maps between HD subjects and controls was observed depending on whether QC-based elimination of corrupted GD was performed. QC-based elimination of corrupted GD in DTI scans reduces the risk of type I and type II errors in cross-sectional group comparison of FA maps contributing to an increase in reliability and stability of group comparisons. | 25,178,314 | [
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Experimental morphologic and radiologic study of the integration of bone grafts into the host tissue and of the dynamics of the graft-receptor interface. | Bone is the second tissue in terms of number of transplants after blood. There is an increased trend of incidence of severe bone lesions with comminuted fractures, with significant lack of substance, as well as an increased incidence of cancer types combined with therapeutic advances in recent decades, allowing for large surgical interventions that affect the bones and create significant defects in bone and contribute to the overall increase in the number and complexity of bone transplants. Autografts may be used singly or in various combinations, with significantly better effects than other implant materials. Use of autografts is limited by complications from the receptor site, mainly related to infections and undetectable necrotic areas on initial microscopic examination, which prevent proper incorporation of autografts, but also those of the donor situs. The aim of the study was to assess the integration of tibial bone grafts into the femur of Wistar rats by radiologic exam and histological evaluation. We concluded that the fixing of the graft to the host tissue may be subject to some microenvironment influences. The presence of the periosteum on the grafts is certainly an asset during transplantation. We confirm once again that the ability of transplanted periosteum of osteoformation and reactivation. Our observations regarding the contribution of bone marrow endorse the view of its active role in bone formation. | 25,178,333 | [
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Primary ciliary dyskinesia diagnosed by electron microscopy in one case of Kartagener syndrome. | Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is associated with abnormalities in the structure of a function of motile cilia, causing impairment of muco-ciliary clearence, with bacterial overinfection of the upper and lower respiratory tract (chronic oto-sino-pulmonary disease), heterotaxia (situs abnormalities), with/without congenital heart disease, abnormal sperm motility with male infertility, higher frequency of ectopic pregnancy and female subfertility. The presence of recurrent respiratory tract infections in the pediatric age requires differentiation between primary immunodeficiency, diseases with abnormal mucus (e.g., cystic fibrosis) and abnormal ciliary diseases. This case was hospitalized for recurrent respiratory tract infections and total situs inversus at the age of five years, which has enabled the diagnosis of Kartagener syndrome. The PCD confirmation was performed by electron microscopy examination of nasal mucosa cells through which were confirmed dynein arms abnormalities. The diagnosis and early treatment of childhood PCD allows a positive development and a good prognosis, thus improving the quality of life. | 25,178,347 | [
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Croton insularis introduces the seco-casbane class with EBC-329 and the first casbane endoperoxide EBC-324. | Investigation of Croton insularis afforded the first in class seco-casbane diterpene, EBC-329. A highly oxidised casbane, EBC-324, was also isolated. The structural motif within EBC-324, which consists of an epoxidised hemi-acetal endoperoxide, is new to the casbane family. | 25,178,400 | [
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Amyloid β and Tau Alzheimer's disease related pathology is reduced by Toll-like receptor 9 stimulation. | Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, and currently, there is no effective treatment. The major neuropathological lesions in AD are accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) as amyloid plaques and congophilic amyloid angiopathy, as well as aggregated tau in the form of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). In addition, inflammation and microglia/macrophage function play an important role in AD pathogenesis. We have hypothesized that stimulation of the innate immune system via Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonists, such as type B CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), might be an effective way to ameliorate AD related pathology. We have previously shown in the Tg2576 AD model that CpG ODN can reduce amyloid deposition and prevent cognitive deficits. In the present study, we used the 3xTg-AD mice with both Aβ and tau related pathology. The mice were divided into 2 groups treated from 7 to 20 months of age, prior to onset of pathology and from 11 to 18 months of age, when pathology is already present. We demonstrated that immunomodulatory treatment with CpG ODN reduces both Aβ and tau pathologies, as well as levels of toxic oligomers, in the absence of any apparent inflammatory toxicity, in both animal groups. This pathology reduction is associated with a cognitive rescue in the 3xTg-AD mice. Our data indicate that modulation of microglial function via TLR9 stimulation is effective at ameliorating all the cardinal AD related pathologies in an AD mouse model suggesting such an approach would have a greater chance of achieving clinical efficacy. | 25,178,404 | [
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Oxidative stress protection and glutathione metabolism in response to hydrogen peroxide and menadione in riboflavinogenic fungus Ashbya gossypii. | Ashbya gossypii is a plant pathogen and a natural overproducer of riboflavin and is used for industrial riboflavin production. A few literature reports depict a link between riboflavin overproduction and stress in this fungus. However, the stress protection mechanisms and glutathione metabolism are not much explored in A. gossypii. In the present study, an increase in the activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase was observed in response to hydrogen peroxide and menadione. The lipid peroxide and membrane lipid peroxide levels were increased by H2O2 and menadione, indicating oxidative damage. The glutathione metabolism was altered with a significant increase in oxidized glutathione (GSSG), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione S transferase (GST), and glutathione reductase (GR) and a decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in the presence of H2O2 and menadione. Expression of the genes involved in stress mechanism was analyzed in response to the stressors by semiquantitative RT-PCR. The messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of CTT1, SOD1, GSH1, YAP1, and RIB3 were increased by H2O2 and menadione, indicating the effect of stress at the transcriptional level. A preliminary bioinformatics study for the presence of stress response elements (STRE)/Yap response elements (YRE) depicted that the glutathione metabolic genes, stress genes, and the RIB genes hosted either STRE/YRE, which may enable induction of these genes during stress. | 25,178,419 | [
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A Study on the Cost and Proportion of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Total Healthcare Cost among Elderly in the Last 6 Months of Life. | To evaluate the cost and proportion of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) in the total healthcare costs among the elderly in the last 6 months of life. The care-giving families of 301 persons older than 65 years, who died between July 1st and December 31st of 2001, and were also registered in Self-Employed Health Insurance Programs in Seoul, were interviewed. The cost of CAM was 1.09 million Won, which as a proportion of the total healthcare cost was 38.1%. The elderly aged between 65 and 69 year-old, male, living with their spouse, Buddhist and having cancers had higher CAM costs in an ANOVA and simple regression analysis. After controlling of various factors, age was the only significant factor associated with the cost of CAM. The elderly above 80 years old, female, bereaved and Buddhist had higher proportional CAM costs, and the elderly having cancers or cardiovascular diseases had lower proportional CAM costs in an ANOVA and simple regression analysis. After adjusting for various factors, the elderly above 85 years old, female and Buddhist had higher proportional CAM costs, and the elderly having cancers had lower proportional CAM costs. The very old and Buddhist, and/or the ill with no clear diagnosis, may depend more on CAM. Further research will be needed on the meaning and impact of CAM and their costs to public health and the total healthcare system. | 25,178,445 | [
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Factors associated with cervical cancer screening in busan, Korea. | Cervical cancer is the second most frequent cancer among women in Busan. The Pap smear test could have a significant effect on detecting cervical cancer, and enhancing their rate of use is an important strategy for reducing the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the factors associated with the past use of the Pap smear test in Korean women. A population-based survey was carried out in Busan between November 1999 and March 2000. 1, 673 participants were randomly selected from 2, 684 women in Busan, using a 2-stage cluster sampling method, and interviewed in their homes. Their socio-demographic characteristics, smoking, drinking, familial cancer history, Pap smear screening history, reproductive and menstrual factors, sexual habits and use of contraceptive methods data were collected by a trained interviewer using a questionnaire. The use of the screening test was defined by a self-report from the participants on how many times they had had a Pap smear test in their lifetime, and when they had received their latest examination. Of the 1, 673 respondents (62.3% response rate), 57.6% had had a Pap smear test during her life (mean number, 2.3). Among the health examination participants (1, 064), 961 (90.3%) reported having sexual experience and 70.9% of these had had a Pap smear test. In a multiple logistic regression analysis, statistically significant relationships were observed for age groups and the Pap smear test rate (odds ratio, OR for 35-44 years=2.45; OR for 45-54 years=3.41; OR for 55 years=2.60; reference, under 34 years). The married or cohabiting women were more likely to have used the Pap smear test than those separated or widowed (OR=1.73). Among the reproductive behavioral measures, the number of births (OR for 3 births=4.22; OR for 2 births=3.95; OR for 1 births=3.38; reference, 0 births) and husband's extra-marital affairs (OR=1.50) were associated with the rates of use of Pap smear tests. It appears that the most important contributing factors to cervical cancer screening were age, marital status and number of births. A positive association was also observed for the husband's extra-marital affairs. This study enabled us to systematically assess the relationship between Pap smear rates and risk factors for cervical cancer. It is hoped that this study will make a significant contribution to the accumulating scientific evidence on the identification of factors associated with cervical cancer screening in Korea. | 25,178,448 | [
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Viral miRNAs in plasma and urine divulge JC polyomavirus infection. | JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) is a widespread human polyomavirus that usually resides latently in its host, but can be reactivated under immune-compromised conditions potentially causing Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML). JCPyV encodes its own microRNA, jcv-miR-J1. We have investigated in 50 healthy subjects whether jcv-miR-J1-5p (and its variant jcv-miR-J1a-5p) can be detected in plasma or urine. We found that the overall detection rate of JCPyV miRNA was 74% (37/50) in plasma and 62% (31/50) in urine. Subjects were further categorized based on JCPyV VP1 serology status and viral shedding. In seronegative subjects, JCPyV miRNA was found in 86% (12/14) and 57% (8/14) of plasma and urine samples, respectively. In seropositive subjects, the detection rate was 69% (25/36) and 64% (23/36) for plasma and urine, respectively. Furthermore, in seropositive subjects shedding virus in urine, higher levels of urinary viral miRNAs were observed, compared to non-shedding seropositive subjects (P < 0.001). No correlation was observed between urinary and plasma miRNAs. These data indicate that analysis of circulating viral miRNAs divulge the presence of latent JCPyV infection allowing further stratification of seropositive individuals. Also, our data indicate higher infection rates than would be expected from serology alone. | 25,178,457 | [
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N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed double acylation of enones with benzils. | Thiazolium carbene-catalyzed reaction of aromatic 1,2-diketones with enones in aprotic solvents gave double acylation products in good yields, whereas hydroacylation products formed by Stetter reaction were not detected at all. These results suggested the generation of aroyloxyenamine species from the 1,2-diketones instead of hydroxyenamines (Breslow intermediates). | 25,178,473 | [
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Spatial optimization of residential care facility locations in Beijing, China: maximum equity in accessibility. | The residential care system is rapidly developing and plays an increasingly important role in care for the elderly in Beijing. A noticeable disparity in the accessibility to existing residential care facilities, however, is demonstrated in existing studies. The spatial optimization of residential care facility (RCF) locations is urgently needed to promote equal access to residential care resources among the elderly population. A two-step floating catchment area method with an additional distance-decay function is adopted to measure accessibility to residential care facilities. The spatial optimization model is developed to maximize equity in accessibility by minimizing the total square difference between the accessibility score of each demand location and the weighted average accessibility score. The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method is implemented for the solution. The optimized RCF layouts improve equal spatial access to residential care resources with very low accessibility standard variation (0.0066). A relatively large number of beds (51% of the total beds) to be located in the suburban districts between the central and periphery districts of Beijing are optimized. A smaller number of beds to be located in the central and periphery districts (33% and 16% respectively) are optimized. The gaps between the existing and optimized layouts suggest that more RCF beds (5961 beds) are needed in suburban districts, while the RCF beds in some subdistricts located in the central and periphery districts are oversupplied (5253 and 1584 surplus beds respectively). The optimized results correspond to the municipal special plan proposed by the Beijing government. The optimization objective of this study is different from traditional facility location optimization models, and the method is efficient in maximizing equal access to residential care facilities. This method can support knowledge-based policy-making and planning of residential care facilities. | 25,178,475 | [
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Technical advances toward an endoscopic-phototransducer approach to investigation of velopharyngeal physiology. | This study aimed to examine the response characteristics of a new generation phototransducer and to test new recording and processing procedures when used with endoscopy to track velopharyngeal closure during normal speech. Integrated phototransducer-endoscopy response linearity was laboratory tested using a wide range of simulated velopharyngeal orifice areas. In vivo speech testing was completed to determine the effect of endoscope to light receptor distance on measurements documenting variations in normal velopharyngeal closure. Phototransducer response linearity was excellent (r = .99) provided an indirect (reflected light) orientation was used between the endoscope and the light-sensing fiber coupled with the phototransducer. Phototransducer response time exceeded expected velopharyngeal movement rates by an order of magnitude. In vivo speech measurements were affected by the distance between the light-emitting endoscope and the light-receiving tip of the light-sensing fiber. Data normalization to a light-out condition effectively controlled for this expected phenomenon. Patterns of velopharyngeal valving during speech were found to be stable and appropriate given the phonetic content of the utterance. Technological and data-processing advances support further exploration of an integrated phototransducer-endoscopic approach to studying velopharyngeal closure for speech. Additional studies involving normal speakers are under way. | 25,178,486 | [
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Recovery in knee range of motion reaches a plateau by 12 months after total knee arthroplasty. | The primary aim of this study was to identify the time point at which improvements in knee range of motion reach a plateau, if any. The secondary aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the improvements in knee range of motion and patient-reported outcomes [Oxford knee score (OKS) and SF-36]. The hypothesis is that there is a time point at which the recovery in the knee range of motion after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) plateaus. A prospective study of 145 patients who underwent TKA was conducted. All TKAs were performed by the same surgeon. OKS and SF-36 scores were measured preoperatively and at 6, 12, and 24 months. Range of motion was measured preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. This study shows that for surgeon/therapist reported range of motion, a plateau in recovery was reached at 12 months after TKA. It was also found that range of extension is significantly correlated with OKS, whereas range of flexion was not significantly correlated with OKS. Knowledge of when patients fully recover after TKA will allow appropriate counseling of patients during preoperative consultation. Also, this knowledge will enable surgeons/therapists to better monitor the rehabilitation progress of TKA patients, and make adjustments to the rehabilitation protocol. In addition, our study shows that objective surgeon-/therapist-measured outcome (range of motion) has a significant correlation with subjective patient-reported outcomes (OKS). Hence, both outcome measures should be employed in the postoperative monitoring of patient progress. Prospective case series, Level IV. | 25,178,534 | [
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Outcome of definitive fractionated radiation followed by exenteration of the nasal cavity in dogs with sinonasal neoplasia: 16 cases. | Local control is a major challenge in treating canine nasal tumours. Surgical cytoreduction prior to radiation therapy has not been shown to offer a survival advantage. Only one study has previously evaluated the outcome when surgery is performed after radiation, which demonstrated an improved survival time compared with radiation alone. The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcome of surgery after definitive radiation on survival times in dogs with sinonasal tumours. Medical records were retrospectively reviewed for dogs with nasal tumours that received definitive radiation followed by surgery. Information obtained from medical record review included signalment, diagnosis, treatment and outcome. The median survival time was 457 days. No long-term side effects were observed. These findings suggest that exenteration of the nasal cavity following definitive radiation for treatment of dogs with nasal tumours is well-tolerated and provides a similar survival duration to previous reports of radiation alone. | 25,178,539 | [
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Clinical behavior of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma is less aggressive than that of clear cell renal cell carcinoma, independent of Fuhrman grade or tumor size. | Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) is the third most common subtype of RCC, after clear cell (ccRCC) and papillary RCC. Its lower incidence and frequent exclusion from clinical trials might be why chRCC characteristics have not been extensively studied. The aim of our study was to examine tumor characteristics and long-term prognosis of chRCC compared to ccRCC. We collected 4,210 evaluable patients subjected to surgery for chRCC (n = 176) or ccRCC (n = 4,034) at five centers in Germany (University Hospitals of Hannover, Homburg/Saar, Mainz, Ulm, and Marburg) between 1990 and 2010. Patients with chRCC were significantly younger (mean, 60.1 vs. 62.1 years) and tended to be more frequently female (43.8 vs. 36.5 %). Although Fuhrman grade and median tumor diameter were not significantly different, significantly fewer patients with chRCC than with ccRCC presented with high tumor stage or metastasis at diagnosis (18.5 vs. 43.8 %). Moreover, significantly more chRCC patients were treated with partial nephrectomy (41.5 vs. 26.2 %). Accordingly, 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates were 83.2 % for chRCC against 75.8 % for ccRCC patients (p = 0.014, log rank). However, in multivariate analysis, chromophobe subtype was not confirmed as a significant positive prognostic factor for RCC (HR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.63-1.24; p = 0.48 Cox regression). This is one of the largest studies to date showing that chRCC is associated with a significantly lower risk of locally invasive tumor growth and metastatic disease than ccRCC. We conclude that the clinical behavior of chRCC is less aggressive than that of ccRCC, independent of Fuhrman grade or tumor size. | 25,178,561 | [
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Stabilization of cellular RNA in blood during storage at room temperature: a comparison of cell-free RNA BCT(®) with K3EDTA tubes. | Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels in blood cells are important in disease diagnosis, prognosis and biomarker discovery research. Accurate measurements of intracellular mRNA levels in blood cells depend upon several pre-analytical factors, including delays in RNA extraction from blood after phlebotomy. Dramatic changes in mRNA expression levels caused by delays in blood sample processing may render such samples unsuitable for gene expression analysis. This study was conducted to evaluate a blood collection tube, cell-free RNA-BCT(®) (RNA-BCT), for its ability to stabilize mRNA expression level in blood cells post-phlebotomy using indicator mRNAs in reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) assays. Blood samples from presumed healthy donors were drawn into both RNA-BCT and K3EDTA tubes and maintained at room temperature (18-22°C). The samples were processed to obtain white blood cells (WBCs) at days 0, 1, 2 and 3. Total cellular RNA was extracted from WBCs and mRNA concentrations were quantified by RT-qPCR for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), c-fos, and p53 transcripts. While blood cells isolated from K3EDTA tubes showed significant changes in cellular mRNA concentrations for GAPDH, c-fos, and p53, these mRNAs concentrations were stable in blood drawn into RNA-BCT. The reagent in the RNA-BCT device stabilizes cellular mRNA concentrations for GAPDH, c-fos and p53 for at least three days at room temperature. | 25,178,583 | [
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Socio-demographic characteristics, types and Slit Skin Smear (SSS) of the leprosy patients: a hospital based study. | This study was aimed to identify the socio-demographic profile, to know the types and to find out the Slit Skin Smear (SSS) result associated with leprosy. It was a descriptive type of cross sectional study. Total 62 patients having clinical features of leprosy, attending in Department of Neurology of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH) and Mymensingh Tuberculosis and Leprosy Hospital, Mymensingh from January 2010 to December 2011 were included. Patients underwent a detailed clinical evaluation followed by laboratory investigations. Out of 62 cases, the results showed that the mean age of leprosy patients were 37.8±14.6 years with the age range 12-80 years and the peak incidence was between 20-40 years. The frequency of male and female was 70.9% and 29.1% respectively with M: F of 2.4:1. From rural area 74.2% leprosy patients and 25.8% patients were from urban area and mainly day-labours (25.8%) and housewife (24.2%) by occupation. Married was 87.1% of patients and 12.9% were unmarried. Twenty one percent (21%) leprosy patients were found contact with leprosy. It was observed in this study that, 35.5% patients were PB (Pauci Bacillary) group and 64.5% of the patients were in MB (Multi Bacillary) group. Lepromatous Leprosy (LL) patients were (17.7%) and Borderline Lepromatous (BL) patients were (11.3%). Patients with Tuberculoid Type (TT) were (3.2%) and patients with Borderline Tuberculoid (BT) were (61.3%). The result of Slit skin smear (SSS) examination was negative in 59.7% patients and positive in 40.3%. | 25,178,593 | [
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Comparative efficacy of pregabalin and therapeutic ultrasound versus therapeutic ultrasound alone on patients with post stroke shoulder pain. | The study was designed to compare the efficacy of pregabalin, an anticonvulsant on pain behavior of stroke patients with shoulder pain in a comparative study with ultrasound therapy and ultimately to recommend a better treatment option to improve pain and function in post stroke shoulder pain. This study was carried out in a private neurology Hospital in Dhaka during January to December 2010. Data were collected from 70 post stroke patients with shoulder pain and were divided into two groups. The patients in Group A were treated with pregabalin 100mg twice daily along with therapeutic ultrasound 10 minutes daily and group B were treated with therapeutic ultrasound alone for the same dose and duration. Pain free range of motion exercise was given to both groups as the therapeutic exercise. Pain parameters in the form of VAS were measured at one and two weeks and were compared. Seventy one percent of the patients were male with 80% were above 60 years old. Pain scoring in VAS of 100 was 21.32±6.01 in group A and 41±4.58 in groups B at the end of two weeks assuming the pretreatment VAS of all patients as 100. Marked improvement in shoulder pain were observed in both groups and Group A had better improvement in pain than group B. Therapeutic ultrasound when given with pregabalin found to have added benefit over therapeutic ultrasound alone in post stroke shoulder pain. Differences were statistically significant. | 25,178,596 | [
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Hyperglycemia is a predictor of mortality and morbidity in low birth weight newborn. | Early onset of hyperglycemia is common among low birth weight neonates. Increased risk for death and major morbidities has been observed among hyperglycemic low birth weight infants. This prospective observational study was done to find out hyperglycemia as a predictor of increased morbidity and mortality in the low birth weight sick newborn and was conducted among the hospitalized newborn of Special Care Baby Unit (SCABU), BIRDEM hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh from July 2009 to December 2009. A total of 198 LBW neonates were included in this study. One third (30.8%) LBW neonates were found hyperglycemic. The mean gestational age was 33.2±3.6 weeks and mean birth weight was 1535.8±780gm in the hyperglycemic neonates. In this study, highest prevalence of hyperglycemia was observed in birth weight <1000gm (38.46%) and in gestational age ≤28 weeks (46.15%). Apnoea, confirmed sepsis and suspected sepsis, confirmed necrotizing enterocollitis (NEC) and neonatal jaundice showed statistically significant association with hyperglycemia than that of non hyperglycemic group. Mortality of neonates in hyperglycemic group was higher (31.15%) than that of non hyperglycemic neonates (10.22%) and the difference in mortality between two groups were found statistically significant (p<0.002). From this study it can be concluded that hyperglycemia in early neonatal period is related to increased morbidity and mortality in low birth weight newborn. | 25,178,599 | [
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Outcome of early active mobilization in flexor tendon repair in zone II in hand. | Early controlled motion programs after flexor tendon repair in zone II of hand are designed to minimize adhesion formation by promoting the excursion of repaired tendons. The flexor tendon surgery especially in zone II is complicated. It is simplest in the newly injured and unscarred digit and the results of correctly rehabilitated primary repair are likely to be the best attainable. We conducted a study including 18 patients with 52 digits involving 80 flexor tendons in zone II to observe and record the result of the primary or delayed primary repair with early active mobilization protocol. Thirteen (72.22%) patients were below 30 years of age. Sixteen cases (88.89%) were sustained injury by sharp instrument either accidentally or by assault. Ring and little finger were involved in 50% instances. The repair was done with the modified Kessler core suture technique with locking epitendinous sutures with a knot inside the repair site, using polypropylene 4-0 and 6-0 sutures. The final assessment was done at 6 months post repair using the Louisville system of Lister et al. 61.54% (n=32) digits were shown excellent result whereas good results were seen in 23% (n=12) digits. Fair was shown 7.69% (n=4) digits and 7.69% (n=4) digits were shown poor results. P value was <0.001 by Z test which is significant. Complications included tendon rupture in 3(5.77%) cases (one thumb, one ring and one little finger) and contracture in 4(7.69%) cases whereas superficial infection and flap necrosis was seen in one (1.92%) case each. The primary or delayed primary repair of cut flexor tendons in zone II using the modified Kessler core suture and epitendinous suture with early active mobilization protocol has been given good result, with minimal complications. | 25,178,603 | [
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Role of transvaginal sonography (TVS) in the detection of endometrial hyperplasia. | Transvaginal sonography is superior to transabdominal sonography in most cases of pelvic pathology. A cross sectional study was done with forty patients to evaluate the clinical usefulness of transvaginal ultrasonography (TVS) in pre, peri and post menopausal women suspected to have endometrial hyperplasia.. The study was carried out January 2007 to November 2008 for a period of two years. The patients having endometrial hyperplasia diagnosed by TVS were correlated with histopathological diagnosis. Of total 40 cases, 18(45.0%) cases were endometrial hyperplasia and 22(55.0%) were negative for endometrial hyperplasia respectively in TVS findings. Only 2 cases were found as negative for endometrial hyperplasia in histopathology among the all suspected endometrial hyperplasia, which were diagnosed by TVS. On the other hand 17(42.5%) cases were endometrial hyperplasia and 23(57.5%) cases were negative for endometrial hyperplasia in histopathological findings. Among 22 negative for endometrial hyperplasia cases which were diagnosed by TVS, 1 case was endometrial hyperplasia and the rest 21 cases were negative for endometrial hyperplasia in histopathological findings. The validity of TVS in diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia were studied by calculating sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, which were 94%, 92%, 93%, 89% and 96% respectively. As the TVS findings of the present study correlated well with the histopathology findings and the validity test values were higher than observed by others, it can be concluded that TVS is sensitive and accurate modality in the evaluation of endometrial hyperplasia. | 25,178,606 | [
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Exploring the mechanism of Grignard metathesis polymerization of 3-alkylthiophenes. | In this study we have investigated computationally the mechanism of polymerization of 2,5-dibromo 3-butylthiophene via the GRIM method, with the focus on the origin of the head to tail (HT) selectivity. To this end, first the Grignard reagent underwent oxidative addition to the monomer to afford the 2-bromo-5-chloromagnesio-3-butylthiophene (intermediate I1) or the 2-chloromagnesio 5-bromo-3-butylthiophene (intermediate I2) regioisomers. Then intermediates I1 and I2 were polymerized catalytically to a series of regiospecific poly-3-butylthiophenes using the commonly used Ni(dppp)Cl2 [dppp: 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino) propane] and Pd(dppp)Cl2 catalysts. Due to the asymmetric nature of I1 and I2 that act as the active monomeric species, 6 coupling modes may occur. The whole energy profile of all modes has been studied by considering a three-stage mechanism, including coordination, transmetalation, and reductive elimination, to compare quantitatively the ability of so-called catalysts in selective coupling of desired isomers to produce regioregular poly-3-butylthiophene. Finally, to quantify the steric role of the dppp in regioselectivity, analysis of the buried volume in terms of steric maps was performed. | 25,178,627 | [
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Energetics of spinels in the Fe-Ti-O system at the nanoscale. | The energetics of nanosized Fe/Ti spinel oxides was studied using high-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry. The mixing properties of the solid solution in the system were obtained, and through comparison to macroscopic materials the effect of particle size on the thermodynamics was assessed. The surface energies of the nanosized materials are similar within the errors regardless of the composition, and are consistent with those determined for other spinels. The enthalpies of oxidation to hematite plus rutile of the iron titanium spinels follow a linear trend with the Fe(2+) content, which allows them to be calculated for any composition or particle size. The heat of formation of the macroscopic and nanosized titanomagnetites was fit as a polynomial function and the numerical coefficients are presented. The enthalpies of mixing in the titanomagnetite and titanomaghemite solid solutions are similar at the macroscopic and nanoscale. | 25,178,637 | [
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Detection of aneuploidy from single fetal nucleated red blood cells using whole genome sequencing. | The objective of the study was to detect aneuploidy in single fetal nucleated red blood cells (FNRBCs) from placental villi using whole genome amplification (WGA) and next generation sequencing. Three single FNRBCs per sample were manually picked from villi collected from ten women undergoing elective first-trimester termination of pregnancy, and one or two cells were picked from each of four aneuploid chorionic villus samples. Following WGA and addition of adaptor and index sequences, samples were sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq. Leading and trailing 15 bases were trimmed, and reads were aligned to the human reference genome. Z-scores were calculated to determine deviation of the mean of the test from reference samples, with a score of 3 used as the threshold for classification of a particular chromosome as trisomic. We successfully made correct diagnoses from ten single cells isolated from villi from two cases of trisomy 21 (one case from a single cell and one from two cells), two cases of trisomy 18 (two cells each), and a case of trisomy 15 (three cells). With their faithful representation of fetal genome, diagnosis using single FNRBCs provides a definitive result compared with non-invasive prenatal testing using cell-free fetal DNA, and is a safer alternative to invasive amniocentesis. | 25,178,640 | [
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Deliverability of the Resolute Integrity stent and a post hoc comparison of radial and femoral access: the DELIVER study. | DELIVER (DELiverability of the Resolute Integrity Stent in All-Comer Vessels and Cross-OvER stenting) was a prospective, multicenter, all-comers registry to assess the deliverability of the Resolute Integrity™ zotarolimus-eluting stent (R-ZES). Patients (n=7740 patients, 10449 lesions) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and deemed suitable for R-ZES implantation were enrolled and treated according to standard practice of the participating centers in 30 countries. Outcomes included delivery success and in-hospital target lesion failure (TLF), major adverse cardiac event (MACE), and Academic Research Consortium definite/probable stent thrombosis. We performed a post hoc analysis comparing deliverability, in-hospital clinical outcomes and resource utilization with radial vs. femoral access. A high proportion of the population had complex disease (71%): mean lesion length was 26.7±17.5 mm, 35% of lesions were moderately/severely calcified and 17% were bifurcated. Femoral and radial accesses were used in 53% and 46% of patients, respectively. Patients treated using femoral access had more complex coronary artery disease. Primary delivery success was 98.9% and did not differ by approach. Radial access was associated with lower stent and balloon utilization, but higher guide catheter utilization, lower procedure duration, and contrast administered compared with femoral access. In-hospital TLF and MACE occurred in 1.6% of patients; definite or probable stent thrombosis occurred in 0.2%. Clinical outcomes did not differ by vascular access. R-ZES was found to be highly deliverable in a complex, all-comers, international population, regardless of whether radial or femoral access was used. In-hospital outcomes were excellent with very low risk of complications. | 25,178,669 | [
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Variation of guest selectivity within [Fe4L4](8+) tetrahedral cages through subtle modification of the face-capping ligand. | We report here the host-guest behaviour of two isoelectronic [Fe4L4](8+) tetrahedral cages that differ only in the nature of their face-capping ligand and possess either triazine (L1) or benzene (L2) cores. Crystallography reveals these hosts to be flexible and adaptable, while NMR spectroscopy shows them to be selective and discriminating in their host-guest behaviour. | 25,178,679 | [
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Estimation of loss of quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) for patients with operable versus inoperable lung cancer: adjusting quality-of-life and lead-time bias for utility of surgery. | This study attempts to quantify the difference in loss of quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) for patients with operable and inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A cohort consisting of 1652 pathologically verified NSCLC patients with performance status 0-1 was monitored for 7 years (2005-2011) to obtain the survival function. This was further extrapolated to lifetime, based on the survival ratios between patients and age- and sex-matched referents simulated from the life tables of the National Vital Statistics of Taiwan. Between 2011 and 2012, EuroQol 5-dimension questionnaires were used to prospectively measure the quality-of-life (QoL) of a 518 consecutive, cross-sectional subsample. We adjusted the lifetime survival function by the utility values of QoL for the cancer cohort to obtain the QALE, while that for the age and sex-matched referents were adjusted to the values collected from the 2009 National Health Interview Survey, and the difference between them was the loss-of-QALE. The QALE for patients with operable and inoperable NSCLC were 11.66±0.18 and 1.43±0.05 quality-adjusted life year (QALY), with the corresponding loss-of-QALE of 5.25±0.18 and 14.24±0.05 QALY, respectively. The lifetime utility difference for patients with operable and inoperable NSCLC was 9.00±0.18 QALY, after adjustment for QoL and lead-time bias. The utility gained from surgical operation for operable lung cancer is substantial, even after adjustment for lead-time bias. Future studies should compare screening programs with treatment strategies when carrying out cost-utility assessments to improve patients' values. | 25,178,685 | [
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Impact of treatment site in adolescents and young adults with central nervous system tumors. | Adolescents and young adults (AYAs; aged 15-39 years) have inferior survival in comparison with younger (aged 0-14 years) cancer patients. Impact of care at specialized centers such as National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers (NCICCC) for AYAs of all ages or the Children's Oncology Group (COG) for AYAs aged 15 to 21 years with central nervous system (CNS) tumors remains unstudied. We constructed a cohort of 560 children and 784 AYAs with CNS tumors reported to the Los Angeles cancer registry from 1998 to 2008. Cox and logistic regression models were used, with two-sided P values from Wald χ(2) tests. In Cox regression analysis restricted to World Health Organization (WHO) grade II tumors, patients of all ages saw worse outcome if not treated at NCICCC/COG sites (non-NCICCC/COG vs NCICCC/COG: hazard ratio [HR] =1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09 to 2.72). Furthermore, the worse outcome for AYAs compared with children (HR = 1.90; 95% CI = 1.21 to 2.98; P = .005) was abrogated (HR = 1.35; 95% CI = 0.79 to 2.29; P = .27) by care at NCICCC/COGs. Those less likely to receive care at NCICCC/COG sites included young AYAs (aged 15-21 years vs children: odds ratio [OR] = 0.23; 95% CI = 0.11 to 0.48; P < .001) and older AYAs (aged 22-39 years) with low socioeconomic status (OR = 0.39; 95% CI = 0.17 to 0.89; P = .02), public/no insurance (OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.12 to 0.71; P < .01), and distance to care greater than 5 miles (OR = 0.29; 95% CI = 0.15 to 0.57; P < .001). Population-based data reveal that care at NCICCC/COG sites mitigates inferior outcome in AYAs with WHO grade II CNS tumors compared with children. Compared with children, AYAs are less likely to receive care at NCICCC/COGs. Insurance, socioeconomic status, and distance serve as barriers to care at NCICCCs for older AYAs. | 25,178,694 | [
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The transactional relationship between parenting and emotion regulation in children with or without developmental delays. | Researchers have identified numerous internal and external factors that contribute to individual differences in emotion regulation (ER) abilities. To extend these findings, we examined the longitudinal effects of a significant external predictor (parenting) on children's ER abilities in the context of an internal predictor (intellectual functioning). We used cross-lagged panel modeling to investigate the transactional relationship between parenting and ER in children with or without developmental delays (DD) across three time points in early and middle childhood (age 3, 5, and 8). Participants were 225 families in the Collaborative Family Study, a longitudinal study of young children with or without DD. Child ER ability and maternal scaffolding skills were coded from mother-child interactions at ages 3, 5, and 8. Compared to children with typical development (TD), children with DD were significantly more dysregulated at all time points, and their mothers exhibited fewer scaffolding behaviors in early childhood. In addition, cross-lagged panel models revealed a significant bidirectional relationship between maternal scaffolding and ER from ages 3 to 5 in the DD group but not the TD group. These findings suggest that scaffolding may be a crucial parenting skill to target in the early treatment of children with ER difficulties. | 25,178,703 | [
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Quarrelsome family environment as an enhanced factor on child suicidal ideation. | Suicide is a leading cause of death in adolescents, and develops through a process leading from depression to suicidal ideation and self-injury. In this study, we analyzed and compared suicidal ideation among elementary school children from distinct families and school-related backgrounds. We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate suicidal ideation in elementary school children in Miaoli County of Western Taiwan. Our study included 979 eligible participants and collected data, including suicidal ideation, depression scores, demographic characteristics, and family and school variables. The results revealed that 175 students (17.9%) exhibited depression, and 146 students (14.9%) had contemplated suicide. A quarrelsome family environment was found to be an important independent factor in child suicidal ideation after controlling for depression status. Children living in quarrelsome families showed a 3.7-fold risk of suicidal ideation compared with children in a harmonious family. Among boys living in quarrelsome family environments, suicidal ideation risk was 7.4-fold higher than for girls living in harmonious families. A 27-fold high increased suicidal ideation risk was also observed among the depressed children who living in the quarrelsome family environment, compared with the non-depressed in the harmonious family environment. This study provides novel evidence indicating the enhanced effects of a quarrelsome family environment combined with depression symptoms and among boys on suicidal ideation. These findings suggest of quarrels in a family environment playing an important role on elementary school children's psychological development, and may help parents in improving their mental health. | 25,178,707 | [
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Motor skill assessment in children with Down Syndrome: relationship between performance-based and teacher-report measures. | of previous studies show a large interindividual variability with regard to motor skills and motor abilities in children with Down Syndrome (DS). In order to provide detailed information for intervention, adequate assessment methods seem to be necessary to address the child's unique motor profile. Typically, children are either examined using a bottom-up (performance-based assessment of motor skills) or a top-down approach (e.g. client-report measure), but rarely both approaches. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between standardized performance-based, and teacher-report measures of children's motor performance. The performance- and process-based assessment Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2), and the teacher-based Movement Assessment Battery - Checklist (MABC-C) for young children were used to assess the motor performance of 18 children with DS (11 boys, 7 girls) aged 7-11 years (M = 9.06, SD = 0.96) and an age- and sex-matched sample of typically developing (TD) 18 children (11 boys, 7 girls; M = 8.99, SD = 0.93). TD children achieve consistently better results compared to children with DS, both in the TGMD-2 and MABC-C, which differ significantly in most cases. When gender differences were examined for the TGMD-2 scores, boys with DS were better performers of the run, gallop, leap, and catch, as well as the locomotor and object-control skill sum scores, whereas girls of the TD group were more proficient in these areas. TD children achieve significantly better results in 21 out of 28 items of Section A+B of the MABC-C, compared to the children with DS; whereas there are no significant differences for Section C (non-motor factors). Our results show more significant relationships between TGMD-2 and MABC-C sub- and overall scores for the TD sample compared to the children with DS. The correlations range between r = -.21 and -.65 for TD children and between r = -.15 and -.65 for the children with DS. The correlations between both approaches show that the combination of both methods could be useful in getting a more detailed picture of the child's individual motor profile in order to create tailor-made therapies and interventions, both for children with DS and TD children. | 25,178,711 | [
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Accurate mass searching of individual lipid species candidates from high-resolution mass spectra for shotgun lipidomics. | With the increased mass accuracy and resolution in commercialized mass spectrometers, new developments on shotgun lipidomics could be expected with increased speed, dynamic range, and coverage over lipid species and classes. However, we found that the major issue by using high mass accuracy/resolution instruments to search lipid species is the partial overlap between the two-(13) C-atom-containing isotopologue of a species M (i.e., M+2 isotopologue) and the ion of a species with one less double bond than M (assigned here as L). This partial overlap alone could cause a mass shift of the species L to the lower mass end up to 12 ppm around m/z 750 as well as significant peak broadening. We developed an approach for accurate mass searching by exploring one of the major features of shotgun lipidomics data that lipid species of a class are present in ion clusters where neighboring masses from different species differ by one or a few double bonds. In the approach, a mass-searching window of 18 ppm (from -15 to 3 ppm) was first searched for an entire group of species of a lipid class. Then accurate mass searching of the plus one (13)C isotopologue of individual species was used to eliminate the potential false positive. The approach was extensively validated through comparing with the species determined by the multi-dimensional MS-based shotgun lipidomics platform. The newly developed strategy of accurate mass searching enables the overlapped L species to be identified and the corresponding peak intensities to be acquired. We believe that this novel approach could substantially broaden the applications of high mass accurate/resolution mass spectrometry for shotgun lipidomics. | 25,178,724 | [
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Dyslipidaemia: cardiovascular prevention--end of the road for niacin? | The recently published HPS2–THRIVE study has shown that the addition of extended release niacin to statin therapy in patients with well-controlled levels of LDL cholesterol does not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and might even increase harm. Consequently, the use of niacin to increase levels of HDL cholesterol is not recommended. | 25,178,730 | [
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Contribution of ethnic group and socioeconomic status to degree of disability in rheumatoid arthritis in Chilean patients. | The aim of this study was to estimate the contributions of ethnic group and socioeconomic status as social determinants related to disability and disease activity in Chilean Mapuche and non-Mapuche patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Descriptive cross-sectional study with a stratified hospital-based sample of 189 patients in treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. We assessed disability as categorical variable with the Health Assessment Questionnaire, disease activity with the Disease Activity Score instrument, and socioeconomic status with a standard questionnaire used by the Chilean government. Measures of association, stratified analyses and a multiple logistic regression model were used to analyze the data using the Stata 12.1 software package. Low socioeconomic status (annual income below US$ 7,200) is associated with disability (OR 3.87 CI 1.68-9.20) and Mapuche ethnic identity also contributes to disability (OR 2.48, CI 1.09-5.89). Relevant but not statistically significant in multivariable models were variables such as age, gender and place of residence. RA patients with a low socioeconomic status have almost three times the odds of having a moderate to high disability, independent of their ethnic group, gender or place of residence. Therefore, healthcare efforts should be aimed at promoting early diagnosis and prompt treatment among populations with high levels of poverty, which in the region of the Araucanía means primarily indigenous rural areas. | 25,178,741 | [
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Correction of MS data for naturally occurring isotopes in isotope labelling experiments. | Mass spectrometry (MS) in combination with isotope labelling experiments is widely used for investigations of metabolism and other biological processes. Quantitative applications-e.g., (13)C metabolic flux analysis-require correction of raw MS data (isotopic clusters) for the contribution of all naturally abundant isotopes. This chapter describes how to perform such correction using the software IsoCor. This flexible, user-friendly software can be used to exploit any isotopic tracer, from well-known ((13)C, (15)N, (18)O, etc.) to unusual ((57)Fe, (77)Se, etc.) isotopes. It also provides options-e.g., correction for the isotopic purity of the tracer-to improve the accuracy of quantitative isotopic studies, and allows automated correction of large datasets that can be collected with modern MS methods. | 25,178,792 | [
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Diagnostic Utility of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for Identifying Full and Partial PTSD in Active-Duty Military. | The aim of this study was to determine optimally efficient cutoff scores on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) for identifying full posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and partial PTSD (P-PTSD) in active-duty Marines and Sailors. Participants were 1,016 Marines and Sailors who were administered the PCL and Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) 3 months after returning from Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. PCL cutoffs were tested against three CAPS-based classifications: full PTSD, stringent P-PTSD, and lenient P-PTSD. A PCL score of 39 was found to be optimally efficient for identifying full PTSD. Scores of 38 and 33 were found to be optimally efficient for identifying stringent and lenient P-PTSD, respectively. Findings suggest that the PCL cutoff that is optimally efficient for detecting PTSD in active-duty Marines and Sailors is substantially lower than the score of 50 commonly used by researchers. In addition, findings provide scores useful for identifying P-PTSD in returning service members. | 25,178,804 | [
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Attractive particle interaction forces and packing density of fine glass powders. | We study the packing of fine glass powders of mean particle diameter in the range (4-52) μm both experimentally and by numerical DEM simulations. We obtain quantitative agreement between the experimental and numerical results, if both types of attractive forces of particle interaction, adhesion and non-bonded van der Waals forces are taken into account. Our results suggest that considering only viscoelastic and adhesive forces in DEM simulations may lead to incorrect numerical predictions of the behavior of fine powders. Based on the results from simulations and experiments, we propose a mathematical expression to estimate the packing fraction of fine polydisperse powders as a function of the average particle size. | 25,178,812 | [
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