Thermodynamic, structural, and nanomechanical properties of a fluorous biphasic material.

The dynamics of the amphiphilic semifluorinated F(CF2)12(CH2)12H (F12H12) alkane that undergoes two condensed phase transitions have been investigated by Brillouin light spectroscopy, shear rheometry, small- (SAXS) and wide-angle (WAXS) X-ray scattering, and thermodynamic PVT measurements. The solid (I)-solid (II) transition (Ts) is marked by a stronger temperature dependence of the sound velocity in phase II and by a 2 orders of magnitude drop of the shear modulus. Between the Ts and the melting transition (Tm), the presence of two phonons implies a coexistence of solid (II) and amorphous (liquid) regions in the submicrometer range at thermal equilibrium as revealed by the SAXS pattern of a single reflection superimposed on a very broad amorphous halo.

Incidence of protein on actin bridges between endothelium and smooth muscle in arterioles demonstrates heterogeneous connexin expression and phosphorylation.

Although much physiology in resistance vessels has been attributed to the cytoplasmic connection between endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), little is known of the protein expression between the two cell types. In an attempt to identify the proteins between ECs and VSMCs, mouse cremaster arterioles were stained with phalloidin-Alexa 594 and viewed on a confocal microscope that resolved "actin bridges" within the internal elastic lamina between ECs and VSMCs. To determine the incidence of protein, the pixel intensity from the antibodies on actin bridges were compared with the pixel intensity from antibodies within ECs or VSMCs.

Knowledge integration: conceptualizing communications in cancer control systems.

Objective: This paper was prepared by the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) Working Group on Translational Research and Knowledge Transfer. The goal was to nurture common ground upon which to build a platform for translating what we know about cancer into what we do in practice and policy.

Methods: Methods included expert panels, literature review, and concept mapping, to develop a framework that built on earlier cancer control conceptualizations of communications that have guided researchers and end users.

The RAST Server: rapid annotations using subsystems technology.

Background: The number of prokaryotic genome sequences becoming available is growing steadily and is growing faster than our ability to accurately annotate them.

Description: We describe a fully automated service for annotating bacterial and archaeal genomes. The service identifies protein-encoding, rRNA and tRNA genes, assigns functions to the genes, predicts which subsystems are represented in the genome, uses this information to reconstruct the metabolic network and makes the output easily downloadable for the user.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: physiologic tests, quantitative CT indexes, and CT visual scores as predictors of mortality.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate quantitative computed tomographic (CT) indexes, pulmonary function test results, and visual CT scoring as predictors of mortality and to describe serial changes in quantitative CT indexes over 12 months in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained at all participating institutions. One hundred sixty-seven patients (110 men, 57 women; mean age, 63 years +/- 9 [standard deviation]) with IPF were enrolled in a clinical trial.

Immune complex-bearing follicular dendritic cells deliver a late antigenic signal that promotes somatic hypermutation.

We reasoned that immune complex (IC)-bearing follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) promote somatic hypermutation (SHM). This hypothesis was tested in murine germinal center reactions induced in vitro by coculturing 6-day (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl) acetyl-primed but unmutated lambda+ B cells, chicken gamma-globulin (CGG) memory T cells, FDCs, and ICs (anti-CGG plus NP-CGG). Mutations in primed lambda+ B cells were obtained only when both FDCs and immunogen were present.

Atherogenic lipoprotein parameters in patients with aggressive periodontitis.

Background And Objective: Certain types of chronic infection increase the plasma level of very-low-density lipoprotein, leading to formation of the particularly atherogenic low-density lipoprotein subclass, small dense low-density lipoprotein. In the present study, we examined whether aggressive forms of periodontitis are associated with these atherogenic lipoprotein parameters.

Material And Methods: Twelve healthy control subjects without periodontitis, 12 subjects with localized aggressive periodontitis and 12 subjects with generalized aggressive periodontitis were studied.

Genomic minimalism in the early diverging intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia.

The genome of the eukaryotic protist Giardia lamblia, an important human intestinal parasite, is compact in structure and content, contains few introns or mitochondrial relics, and has simplified machinery for DNA replication, transcription, RNA processing, and most metabolic pathways. Protein kinases comprise the single largest protein class and reflect Giardia's requirement for a complex signal transduction network for coordinating differentiation. Lateral gene transfer from bacterial and archaeal donors has shaped Giardia's genome, and previously unknown gene families, for example, cysteine-rich structural proteins, have been discovered.

Multiwell micromechanical cantilever array reader for biotechnology.

We use a multiwell micromechanical cantilever sensor (MCS) device to measure surface stress changes induced by specific adsorption of molecules. A multiplexed assay format facilitates the monitoring of the bending of 16 MCSs in parallel. The 16 MCSs are grouped within four separate wells.

Deleterious mutations can surf to high densities on the wave front of an expanding population.

There is an increasing recognition that evolutionary processes play a key role in determining the dynamics of range expansion. Recent work demonstrates that neutral mutations arising near the edge of a range expansion sometimes surf on the expanding front leading them rather than that leads to reach much greater spatial distribution and frequency than expected in stationary populations. Here, we extend this work and examine the surfing behavior of nonneutral mutations.

Brief exposure of 0.05% chlorhexidine does not impair non-osteoarthritic human cartilage metabolism.

Jet lavage with chlorhexidine 0.05% is an effective means of wound decontamination with 99% of bacteria removed or killed after 1min. Reports of chondrolysis following exposure to concentrations of >0.

Arrays of microlenses with variable focal lengths fabricated by restructuring polymer surfaces with an ink-jet device.

We report of a method for fabricating two-dimensional, regular arrays of polymer microlenses with focal lengths variable between 0.2 and 4.5 mm.

Orthodontists' and surgeons' opinions on the role of third molars as a cause of dental crowding.

Introduction: Despite a substantial body of literature refuting an association between third molar eruption and crowding of the anterior dentition, the issue continues to be controversial.

Methods: A survey was developed to evaluate and compare the current opinions of orthodontists (n = 393) and oral and maxillofacial surgeons (n = 458) regarding the link between third molars and the development of anterior crowding.

Results: A smaller percentage of orthodontists than surgeons believed that maxillary (P <.

Influence of chin prominence on esthetic lip profile preferences.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of chin prominence on preferred lip position in profile.

Methods: Five "male" and 5 "female" silhouette profiles differing only in the degree of mandibular retrognathism or prognathism (-25 degrees, -18 degrees, -11 degrees, -4 degrees , and +3 degrees facial contour angles) were created. Using a computer animation program, the evaluators moved the upper and lower lips independently into the positions they deemed to be the most esthetic for each profile.

Alcohol use disorders increase the risk for mechanical ventilation in medical patients.

Background: Annually, more than 300,000 patients receive mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit in the United States. The hospital mortality for ventilated patients may approach 50%, depending on the primary diagnosis. In trauma and surgical patients, a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD) is common and is associated with a prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation.

Periodontal services rendered by general practitioners.

Background: There are few reports in the dental literature regarding the types of periodontal services offered by general practitioners (GPs). The purpose of this study was to determine the specific nature of periodontal services rendered by GPs and to investigate whether certain variables affect GPs' practice patterns.

Methods: A 13-item survey was mailed to a random sample of 600 dentists practicing in the state of Virginia.

An aflagellate mutant Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 1A strain displays altered invasion of epithelial cells, persistence in macrophages, and cytokine secretion profiles in vitro.

Despite being classically defined as non-pathogenic, there is growing evidence that biotype 1A Yersinia enterocolitica isolates may be aetiological agents of disease in humans. In previous studies, a potential link between motility and the ability of biotype 1A strains to invade cultured epithelial cells was observed. In an attempt to further investigate this finding, a flagella mutant was constructed in a human faecal Y.

Toward the automated generation of genome-scale metabolic networks in the SEED.

Background: Current methods for the automated generation of genome-scale metabolic networks focus on genome annotation and preliminary biochemical reaction network assembly, but do not adequately address the process of identifying and filling gaps in the reaction network, and verifying that the network is suitable for systems level analysis. Thus, current methods are only sufficient for generating draft-quality networks, and refinement of the reaction network is still largely a manual, labor-intensive process.

Results: We have developed a method for generating genome-scale metabolic networks that produces substantially complete reaction networks, suitable for systems level analysis.

Differential platelet-activating factor synthesis by monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes from subjects with localized aggressive periodontitis.

Background And Objective: Platelet-activating factor is elevated in localized aggressive periodontitis. We previously demonstrated that the elevated level of platelet-activating factor in localized aggressive periodontitis is at least partially attributable to low levels of platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase, the enzyme that catabolizes platelet-activating factor. The objective of this study was to determine if platelet-activating factor synthesis was also elevated in localized aggressive periodontitis.

Issues concerning the large scale cryopreservation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for immunotherapy trials.

Immunotherapy of cancer is being developed as an alternative or adjuvant to conventional therapies such as: surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment. Immunotherapy laboratories routinely process and prepare for injection large numbers of anti-tumor effector cells. The process of cryopreservation is critical to the success of immunotherapy.

Characterization of tccP2 carried by atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) comprise an important group of paediatric pathogens. Atypical EPEC have reservoirs in farm and domestic animals where they can be either commensal or pathogenic; serogroup O26 is dominant in humans and animals. Central to intestinal colonization by EPEC is the translocation of the type III secretion system effector Tir into enterocytes, which following phosphorylation (Tir-Yp) recruits Nck to activate the N-WASP actin signalling cascade.

Prevalence and impact of alcohol and other drug use disorders on sedation and mechanical ventilation: a retrospective study.

Background: Experience suggests that patients with alcohol and other drug use disorders (AOD) are commonly cared for in our intensive care units (ICU's) and require more sedation. We sought to determine the impact of AOD on sedation requirement and mechanical ventilation (MV) duration.

Methods: Retrospective review of randomly selected records of adult patients undergoing MV in the medical ICU.

Environmental regulation and colonization attributes of the long polar fimbriae (LPF) of Escherichia coli O157:H7.

The ability of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to colonize the intestinal epithelia is dependent on the expression of intimin and other adhesins. The chromosome of E. coli O157:H7 carries two loci encoding long polar fimbriae (LPF).

Anti-cardiolipin and increased serum adhesion molecule levels in patients with aggressive periodontitis.

Background: We observed that a significant proportion of patients with periodontitis have elevated serum levels of beta2-glycoprotein-I-dependent anti-cardiolipin (anti-CL). These prothrombotic autoantibodies, commonly found to be elevated in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and the antiphospholipid syndrome, are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as fetal involution, prematurity, and low birth weight, and with cardiovascular sequelae, such as atherosclerosis, stroke, and myocardial infarction. Anti-CL is known to promote vascular inflammation and thrombosis.

Reliability and validity of the subjective component of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society clinical rating scales.

This study evaluates the criterion validity of the subjective component of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) clinical rating scales by correlating scores obtained with these rating scales to scores obtained with the Foot Function Index (FFI) in patients with foot and ankle conditions. To date, the AOFAS scoring scales have not been shown to provide valid information despite their popularity. The FFI, on the other hand, has previously been shown to provide valid information in regard to conditions affecting the foot and ankle.