[Disorders of executive consciousness].

Unlabelled: Executive function is a higher order cognitive capacity that involves memory, perception and performance of complex tasks. Disorders of the executive functions are sign of lesions in the prefrontal cortex, involving the prefrontal-striatal-thalamic networks and the parietal association areas. According to signs and localization, five basic prefrontal syndromes are recognised.

Mechanistic studies of dUTPases.

The essential enzyme dUTPase is responsible for preventive DNA repair via exclusion of uracil. Lack or inhibition of the enzyme induces thymine-less cell death in cells performing active DNA synthesis, serving therefore as an important chemotherapeutic target. In the present work, employing differential circular dichroism spectroscopy, we show that D.

[Treatment of atrial fibrillation with intraoperative radiofrequency ablation in one stage with valvular surgery].

Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent chronic arrhythmia, with significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality risk. Poor remission rate with medical treatment and the outstanding efficacy of Cox-maze procedure inspired the less invasive intraoperative radiofrequency ablation therapy in patients undergoing open heart surgery. In June 2003 the first maze procedure in Hungary with the Medtronic Cardioblate surgical ablation system, with mitral and tricuspid valvuloplasty in a patient suffering from mitral and tricuspid insufficiency with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, was performed in our institution.

[In vivo confocal corneal microscopy after keratoplasty].

Background: Seven eyes with clear grafts after penetrating keratoplasty were examined with in vivo confocal corneal microscopy in 1999. Our aim was the confocal microscopic investigation of the subclinical changes in clear grafts after long-term follow-up.

Methods: The preoperative diagnoses were keratoconus (two), granular corneal dystrophy (two), pseudophakic bullous keratopathy due to ACL (two), and corneal ulcer (one).

Electrospray ionization fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry of human alpha-1-acid glycoprotein.

The ultrahigh resolution and sensitivity of electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ESI-FTICR) mass spectrometry have for the first time been exploited for the characterization of highly sialylated glycoproteins, using human alpha-1-acid glycoprotein as the model compound. An alternative approach to the widely used high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) assays is described. This new method does not require any enzymatic or chemical digestion (removal of sialyl groups or deglycosylation), chemical derivatization (introduction of chromophore groups), or preliminary chromatographic separation (HPLC or electrophoresis).

Liquid chromatographic and mass spectrometric analysis of human serum acid alpha-1-glycoprotein.

Human serum acid alpha-1-glycoprotein (AGP, orosomucoid) content of healthy individuals and cancer patients was measured, isolated and purified using a protocol of fast and biocompatible sample preparation, ion exchange and dye-ligand affinity chromatographic methods. In comparison to the healthy individuals significantly higher serum AGP levels were found in a wide spectrum of cancer patients, indicating its diagnostic value in the malignant disease. Oligosaccharide content of AGP samples was separated following PNGase F enzyme digestion and analysed by RP-HPLC and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

A first generation physical map of the medaka genome in BACs essential for positional cloning and clone-by-clone based genomic sequencing.

In order to realize the full potential of the medaka as a model system for developmental biology and genetics, characterized genomic resources need to be established, culminating in the sequence of the medaka genome. To facilitate the map-based cloning of genes underlying induced mutations and to provide templates for clone-based genomic sequencing, we have created a first-generation physical map of the medaka genome in bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones. In particular, we exploited the synteny to the closely related genome of the pufferfish, Takifugu rubripes, by marker content mapping.

Combined off-pump coronary artery by-pass and right upper lobectomy for lung cancer through median sternotomy.

Patients who smoke are at risk of both coronary artery disease and lung cancer, but concomitant lesions of the heart and lung are uncommon. Management of these concomitant lesions is controversial because of the systemic side-effects of a cardiopulmonary by-pass (CPB) and the difficult approach of the lung. An off-pump coronary artery by-pass (OPCAB) can be a successful procedure in the combined treatment of lung cancer and cardiac disease.

Halogenated secondary metabolites from Laurencia obtusa.

A new sesquiterpene (1), and a halogenated C15 acetogenin (2), a stereoisomer of neoisoprelaurefucin were isolated from Laurencia obtusa. Four known compounds laurencienyne (3), rogiolenyne B (4), obtusenol (5), and (3E)-dactomelyne (6) were also isolated from this alga. Rogiolenyne B (4) and (3E)-dactomelyne (6) were found for the first from this species.

The fractal dimension as a measure of the quality of habitats.

Habitat fragmentation produces isolated patches characterized by increased edge effects from an originally continuous habitat. The shapes of these patches often show a high degree of irregularity: their shapes deviate significantly from regular geometrical shapes such as rectangular and elliptical ones. In fractal theory, the geometry of patches created by a common landscape transformation process should be statistically similar, i.

Altered active site flexibility and a structural metal-binding site in eukaryotic dUTPase: kinetic characterization, folding, and crystallographic studies of the homotrimeric Drosophila enzyme.

dUTPase is responsible for preventive DNA repair via exclusion of uracil. Developmental regulation of the Drosophila enzyme is suggested to be involved in thymine-less apoptosis. Here we show that in addition to conserved dUTPase sequence motifs, the gene of Drosophila enzyme codes for a unique Ala-Pro-rich segment.

The effect of food abundance on territory size and population density of juvenile steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Optimal territory size models predict a decrease in territory size with increasing food abundance. However, most of these models may not be applicable to juvenile salmonids in streams, because they defend contiguous territories at high densities. The optimal size of a contiguous territory is predicted to (1) be independent of food abundance when food is rare and (2) decrease only when food abundance is high enough to induce a reduction in territory size below the contiguous optimum.

Genes responsible for anaerobic fumarate and arginine metabolism are involved in growth suppression in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in vitro, without influencing colonisation inhibition in the chicken in vivo.

From a collection of over 2800 Salmonella enterica subspecies Enterica serotype Typhimurium F98 Tn5-TC1 insertion mutants 14 were identified as expressing growth-non-suppressive phenotype under strict anaerobic conditions. Sequence analysis of regions flanking the Tn insertions revealed that most of the selected mutants were defective in genes contributing to the anaerobic fumarate uptake and generation (insertions in dcuA, dcuB and aspA), or to the anaerobic L-arginine utilisation pathway (insertions in STM4467 encoding a putative arginine deiminase, and in between speF encoding ornithine decarboxylase and kdpE coding a response regulator protein). Mutants defective in flagellum synthesis (flhA) were also identified.

Brominated sesquiterpenes from the red alga Laurencia obtusa.

Four new sesquiterpenes, (8R)-8-bromo-10-epi-beta-snyderol (1), (8S)-8-bromo-beta-snyderol (2), 5-bromo-3-(3'-hydroxy-3'-methylpent-4'-enylidene)-2,4,4-trimethylcyclohexanone (3), and the epoxide 4, have been isolated from the chloroform-methanol extract of Laurencia obtusa, together with the three known compounds alpha-snyderol (5), alpha-snyderol acetate (6), and stigmasterol. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated through spectroscopic analyses. Compound 1 showed antimalarial activity, with IC(50) values of 2700 and 4000 ng/mL against the D6 and W2 clones of Plasmodium falciparum, respectively.

Electrospray mass spectrometric investigation of the binding of cis-parinaric acid to bovine beta-lactoglobulin and study of the ligand-binding site of the protein using limited proteolysis.

The binding property of parinaric acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid, to bovine beta-lactoglobulin, has been studied by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Stable complexation was observed under acidic conditions in a molar ratio of 1:1. Competitive complexation experiments were performed using saturated and unsaturated fatty acid standards with different chain lengths and number of double bonds to study the specificity of the interaction.

Validation of an HPLC method for the determination of ciprofloxacin in human plasma.

A simple HPLC method with fluorescence detection of ciprofloxacin in human plasma was developed and validated. After protein precipitation, chromatographic separation of ciprofloxacin in plasma was achieved at 35 degrees C with a C18 column and acetonitrile-phosphate mixture, pH 3, as mobile phase. Quantitative determination was performed by fluorimetry after excitation at 278 nm.

The study of codeine-gluthetimide pharmacokinetic interaction in rats.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay with native fluorescence detection was developed for the simultaneous quantification of codeine and its two metabolites, morphine and morphine-3-glucuronide (M-3-G), in rat plasma. Solid-phase extraction was used to separate codeine and its metabolites from plasma constituents. Extraction efficiencies of codeine, morphine and M-3-G from rat plasma samples were 97, 92 and 93%, respectively.

Effect of hemodialysis on the deformability and lipid peroxidation of erythrocytes in chronic renal failure.

Deformability and lipid peroxidation (LP) have been compared in erythrocytes of 45 chronic hemodialysis patients and 30 healthy subjects. The relative cell transit time (RCTT), correlating negatively to deformability, was measured using a St. George filtrometer.

A comparative study of hemorheological parameters in transient ischemic attack and acute ischemic stroke patients: possible predictive value.

A complete neurological and laboratory assessment was made of 31 transient ischemic attack (TIA) and 33 acute ischemic stroke patients. Laboratory parameters were compared with 33 age- and sex-matched controls. Erythrocyte deformability was characterised by determining the relative cell transit time (RCTT) with a St.

Growth and colonization suppression of Salmonella enterica serovar Hadar in vitro and in vivo.

Growth suppression in Salmonella enterica serovar Hadar (S. Hadar) was investigated, in vitro under strict anaerobiosis and in vivo in the intestine of the day-old chicken. Stationary-phase cultures of 20 S.

Fatty acid composition of Dracunculus vulgaris Schott (Araceae) seed oil from Turkey.

Dracunculus vulgaris Schott is only one taxon of the genus Dracunculus (Araceae) in Turkey. The tubers and the fruits with the seeds of D. vulgaris have long been in use for the treatment of rheumatism and hemorrhoids, respectively.

Early-onset carotid atherosclerosis is associated with increased intima-media thickness and elevated serum levels of inflammatory markers.

Background And Purpose: Several factors have been held responsible for the development of atherosclerosis. To avoid the masking effect of age, we evaluated correlates of carotid atherosclerosis in patients <55 years of age.

Methods: Plasma lipids, oxidative resistance of low-density lipoprotein, homocysteine, inflammatory markers, plasma viscosity, and red cell deformability were measured in fasting blood samples of 100 subjects: 45 patients with >30% stenosis of the internal carotid artery, 20 patients with carotid occlusion, and 35 control subjects.

Induced chirality upon binding of cis-parinaric acid to bovine beta-lactoglobulin: spectroscopic characterization of the complex.

Binding of the polyunsaturated cis-parinaric acid to bovine beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) was studied by circular dichroism (CD), electronic absorption spectroscopy and mass spectrometry methods. Upon protein binding, the UV absorption band of parinaric acid is red shifted by ca. 5 nm, showing hypochromism and reduced vibrational fine structure, suggesting that the ligand binds as a monomer in non-planar geometry.