HPV vaccines and cancer prevention, science versus activism.

The rationale behind current worldwide human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programs starts from two basic premises, 1) that HPV vaccines will prevent cervical cancers and save lives and, 2) have no risk of serious side effects. Therefore, efforts should be made to get as many pre-adolescent girls vaccinated in order to decrease the burden of cervical cancer. Careful analysis of HPV vaccine pre- and post-licensure data shows however that both of these premises are at odds with factual evidence and are largely derived from significant misinterpretation of available data.

Initial adjustments within a new river channel: Interactions between fluvial processes, colonizing vegetation, and bank profile development.

A conceptual model of the morphological development of the riparian margins of newly cut river channels is presented, suggesting early feedbacks between vegetation growth and bank form. To test the model, observations of long and cross profiles, bank sediment and seed deposition, and bank vegetation development were collected over the first 2 years of river flows through a reach of the River Cole, West Midlands, UK. The newly created channel had a sinuous planform and varying asymmetric trapezoidal cross section in sympathy with the planform.

[1,10]-Phenanthrolin-2-yl ketones and their coordination chemistry.

A synthetic protocol involving the Friedländer reaction of 8-amino-7-quinolinecarbaldehyde followed by potassium dichromate oxidation was applied to 2,3,4-pentanetrione-3-oxime and 1-(pyrid-2'-yl)propane-1,2-dione-1-oxime to provide the ligands di-(phenathrolin-2-yl)-methanone (1) and phenanthrolin-2-yl-pyrid-2-yl-methanone (8), respectively. Ligand 1 complexed as a planar tetradentate with Pd(II) to form [Pd(1)](BF4)2 and with Ru(II) and two 4-substituted pyridines (4-R-py) to form [Ru(1)(4-R-py)2](PF6)2 where R = CF3, CH3, and Me2N. With [Ru(bpy)2Cl2], the dinuclear complex [(bpy)2Ru(1)Ru(bpy)2](PF6)4 was formed (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine).

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) - a long-term follow-up study in head and neck cancer patients.

Many patients with head and neck cancer experience problems related to swallowing. A retrospective study of 156 consecutive patients who received a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) at a teaching hospital is presented. The results showed that 42% had complications.

Synthesis and stereochemical properties of chiral square complexes of iron(II).

The hexadentate, and ditopic ligand 2,5-bis([2,2']bipyridin-6-yl)pyrazine yields a chiral, tetrameric, square-shaped, self-assembled species upon complexation with Fe2+ ions. The racemate of this complex was resolved with antimonyl tatrate as the chiral auxiliary. The purity of the enantiomer was determined by NMR spectroscopy, by using a chiral, diamagnetic shift reagent, and by circular dichroism (CD).

Orally inoculated Escherichia coli strains colonize the gut and increase bacterial translocation after stress in rats.

Coliforms are the members of the indigenous gut flora that most often translocate to mesenteric lymph nodes. Very few strains of Escherichia coli found in cecal contents of rats are able to translocate. The present study investigated the role of the composition of the gut flora for the occurrence of bacterial translocation.

Allopurinol as prophylaxis against pouchitis following ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis. A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study.

Background: Pouchitis is the major long-term complication of restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis (UC). Allopurinol is a scavenger of oxygen-derived free radicals, which it is suggested play a role in the development of UC and pouchitis. The first aim was to test the hypothesis that the incidence of pouchitis can be reduced by prophylactic Allopurinol, and secondly to evaluate if Allopurinol influences the overall pouch function.

Designed Molecules for Self-Assembly: The Controlled Formation of Two Chiral Self-Assembled Polynuclear Species with Predetermined Configuration.

Squaring the cycle: Ligand L has been developed for the fabrication of chiral molecular squares, which can also be considered as circular helicates. By using a chirally modified ligand, one of the two forms of the complex can be generated selectively. bpy=2,2'-bipyridin-6-yl.

Predetermined chirality at metal centers of various coordination geometries: a chiral cleft ligand for tetrahedral (T-4), square-planar (SP-4), trigonal-bipyramidal (TB-5), square-pyramidal (SPY-5), and octahedral (OC-6) complexes.

Two tetradentate bispinene-bipyridine type ligands, each with six stereogenic carbon centers, were synthesized from (-)-alpha-pinene. Their ability to predetermine chiral configurations at metal centers was studied. The two diastereoisomers, L1 and L2, differ in their absolute configuration at the bridgehead position.

Local short-chain fatty acids supplementation without beneficial effect on inflammation in excluded rectum.

Background: Rectal instillation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), important nutrients for the colorectal mucosa, has been suggested to be of therapeutic value in distal intestinal inflammation.

Methods: In this study nine patients with Hartmann-closed rectum after colectomy for acute colitis were investigated. In a double-blind crossover trial an enema containing SCFA or a placebo solution was administered twice daily for 3 weeks.

Stereoselective Synthesis of Coordination Compounds: Self-Assembly of a Polymeric Double Helix with Controlled Chirality.

Its information content is infinitely smaller than that of DNA, but its structure (see picture) ressembles the double-stranded helix produced by nature. This self-assembled, configurationally predetermined coordination polymer is built up from enantiopure chiral bipyridine-type ligands and silver ions.

Bulking fibre prevents translocation to mesenteric lymph nodes of an efficiently translocating Escherichia coli strain in rats.

Background: starvation for 24 h prior to experimental haemorrhage increases bacterial translocation in rats. Forty-eight hours starvation alone causes pronounced microbiological changes in caecal contents and a marked increase in bacterial adherence to caecal epithelium. The aim of the present study was to examine whether bulking fibre prevents these microbiological changes induced by starvation, i.

Increased protein synthesis after acute IGF-I or insulin infusion is localized to muscle in mice.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of acute administration of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) or insulin on in vivo protein synthesis in muscle and other organs in fasted mice and to compare this response with that produced by feeding. Recombinant IGF-I (3.3 nmol prime, 3.

Hormonal regulation of protein metabolism in relation to nutrition and disease.

This paper examines the role of hormones in the normal responses of muscle protein synthesis to nutrient intake and the use of hormones to improve the effects of nutritional therapies in patients with protein-wasting conditions. In growing rats, the increase in muscle protein synthesis after feeding seems to be mediated by the rise in plasma insulin and also by an enhanced sensitivity of the muscle to insulin brought about by the amino acid leucine. In adult rats, however, the responsiveness of muscle to both feeding and insulin is much reduced, suggesting that changes in protein degradation play an important role in the response to feeding.

Evaluation of the lactulose/mannitol and 51Cr-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid/14C-mannitol methods for intestinal permeability.

Background: We earlier compared the lactulose/mannitol and 51Cr-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)/14C-mannitol methods for intestinal permeability We have now investigated an increased number of control subjects, with special regard to the influence of urinary volume, sex, age, and smoking on marker excretion, and patients with intestinal disorders, with special regard to correlations between markers.

Methods: The 0- to 6-h urinary excretion of orally administered markers was measured in 65 control subjects and in 70 patients.

Results: In the control group excretion of mannitol and 14C-mannitol (small-pore permeability markers) was strongly correlated to urinary volume, whereas such correlation was weak for lactulose and absent for 51Cr-EDTA (large-pore permeability markers).

Selective translocation of coliform bacteria adhering to caecal epithelium of rats during catabolic stress.

Adult conventional rats were starved for 48 h with or without haemorrhage at 24 h, and translocation of caecal coliforms to mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) was measured. Translocation was detected in three of 11 rats without haemorrhage, in 6 of 11 starved and sham-operated rats and in 12 of 22 rats after haemorrhage. In contrast, only one of 13 non-instrumented and fed control rats showed translocation.

Starvation increases the number of coliform bacteria in the caecum and induces bacterial adherence to caecal epithelium in rats.

Objective: To investigate the impact of starvation for 24 and 48 h on the number of coliform bacteria in the caecal contents, on the mucosal adherence of coliform bacteria, and on bacterial translocation in rats.

Design: Open prospective study.

Setting: University departments of surgery and microbiology, Sweden.

Perineal excision of the rectum.

An intersphincteric and perimuscular approach was employed for perineal excision of the rectum in 33 patients who had previously undergone total colectomy with preservation of the rectum. Laparotomy was avoided in 28 of the 29 patients who had had closure of the rectal stump with ileostomy. Of the four patients (two with ileorectal anastomoses and two with sigmoid mucous fistulas) for whom laparotomy was planned, this was considered to be much less extensive than would otherwise have been required.

Hyperosmotic glucose infusion during hemorrhage does not reduce bacterial translocation in 24 hour-starved rats.

Food deprivation 24 h before stress increases bacterial translocation in hemorrhage. Presently it tested whether hyperosmolality, induced by exogenous glucose infusion to improve plasma refill, prevents or reduces bacterial translocation after experimental hemorrhage in 24 h food-deprived rats. Rats were given an i.

Food deprivation increases bacterial translocation after non-lethal haemorrhage in rats.

Objective: To investigate whether brief fasting before the induction of hypotension by non-lethal haemorrhage may induce translocation of enteric bacteria to mesenteric lymph nodes or blood in rats.

Design: Laboratory experiment.

Setting: University departments of surgery and microbiology, Sweden.

Glutamine supplementation does not prevent bacterial translocation after non-lethal haemorrhage in rats.

Objective: To find out whether supplementation of an enteral diet with glutamine would reduce translocation of bacteria to mesenteric lymph nodes or blood after major haemorrhage in rats.

Design: Open randomised study.

Setting: University departments of surgery and microbiology, Sweden.

Composition and diversity of intestinal coliform flora influence bacterial translocation in rats after hemorrhagic stress.

Coliform bacteria are the most frequently reported bacteria to translocate after hemorrhage. We investigated the correlation between composition and diversity of the cecal coliform flora and the degree of translocation in a rat model of hemorrhagic stress. Two groups of nine rats each were bled to 60 and 50 mm Hg mean arterial blood pressure, respectively.