DNA damage in earthworms from highly contaminated soils: assessing resistance to arsenic toxicity by use of the Comet assay.

Earthworms native to the former mine site of Devon Great Consols (DGC), UK reside in soils highly contaminated with arsenic (As). These earthworms are considered to have developed a resistance to As toxicity. The mechanisms underlying this resistance however, remain unclear.

Somatic mutations in p85alpha promote tumorigenesis through class IA PI3K activation.

Members of the mammalian phosphoinositide-3-OH kinase (PI3K) family of proteins are critical regulators of various cellular process including cell survival, growth, proliferation, and motility. Oncogenic activating mutations in the p110alpha catalytic subunit of the heterodimeric p110/p85 PI3K enzyme are frequent in human cancers. Here we show the presence of frequent mutations in p85alpha in colon cancer, a majority of which occurs in the inter-Src homology-2 (iSH2) domain.

Introducing a true internal standard for the Comet assay to minimize intra- and inter-experiment variability in measures of DNA damage and repair.

The Comet assay (CA) is a sensitive/simple measure of genotoxicity. However, many features of CA contribute variability. To minimize these, we have introduced internal standard materials consisting of 'reference' cells which have their DNA substituted with BrdU.

Selective management of patients with acute biliary pancreatitis.

Background: Detection of common bile duct (CBD) stones in patients with acute biliary pancreatitis (ABP) proves challenging. We hypothesized that grouping clinically significant predictors would increase reliability of detection.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 144 consecutive patients who presented to a single tertiary care institution from 2002 to 2007 with ABP.

Patterns of adaptation in patients living long term with advanced cancer.

Background: With improved treatment, increasing proportions of patients with advanced cancer are surviving longer with their disease: into a second year after diagnosis and beyond. These longer term survivors face continuing challenges in selecting and shifting personal life goals and goals of care over years (rather than months) of life with incurable cancer. Studies are needed to explore adaptation over time in patients who are living longer term with late-stage cancer, including anxiety, depression, and spiritual well being, which are conceptualized as indicators of psychospiritual well being in patients with advanced cancer.

Novel liver-specific TORC2 siRNA corrects hyperglycemia in rodent models of type 2 diabetes.

The transcription factor TORC2 [transducer of regulated cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB) activity 2] is a major regulator of hepatic gluconeogenesis and is increased in hyperglycemic rodent models. Because chronic hyperglycemia and increased hepatic glucose production, via increased gluconeogenesis, is a key feature of type 2 diabetes, an effective in vivo method to efficiently knock down TORC2 could provide a potential therapy for treating hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes. To assess this, primary mouse hepatocytes, high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice, and Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats were treated with a siRNA against TORC2 (siTORC2), which was delivered via a novel lipid nanoparticle system, or control siRNA (siCON).

SIP1 protein protects cells from DNA damage-induced apoptosis and has independent prognostic value in bladder cancer.

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to cancer metastasis. Two ZEB family members, ZEB1 and ZEB2(SIP1), inhibit transcription of the E-cadherin gene and induce EMT in vitro. However, their relevance to human cancer is insufficiently studied.

Clostridium hydrogeniformans sp. nov. and Clostridium cavendishii sp. nov., hydrogen-producing bacteria from chlorinated solvent-contaminated groundwater.

Four hydrogen-producing, aerotolerant, anaerobic bacterial strains isolated from chlorinated solvent-contaminated groundwater were characterized using a polyphasic approach. Three of the strains, designated BL-18, BL-19 and BL-20(T), were found to be identical in 16S rRNA gene sequences and in phenotypic properties. Cells of these strains are Gram-positive-staining, spore-forming, motile rods with peritrichous flagella.

Childhood maltreatment among community dwelling adult Latinas.

There is a lack of research about childhood maltreatment among adult Latinas in the United States. The aim of this secondary analysis was to explore the occurrence and co-occurrence of maltreatment during childhood in a community-dwelling sample of adult Latinas. Participants were 62 women ages 18-45 who read and spoke English, attended work or school on a regular basis, and had no health or functional interferences with daily living.

Discovery of potent competitive inhibitors of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase with in vivo pharmacodynamic activity and efficacy in a mouse melanoma model.

A hydroxyamidine chemotype has been discovered as a key pharmacophore in novel inhibitors of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Optimization led to the identification of 5l, which is a potent (HeLa IC(50) = 19 nM) competitive inhibitor of IDO. Testing of 5l in mice demonstrated pharmacodynamic inhibition of IDO, as measured by decreased kynurenine levels (>50%) in plasma and dose dependent efficacy in mice bearing GM-CSF-secreting B16 melanoma tumors.

Establishing treatment fidelity in a coping and communication support telephone intervention for aging patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers.

A randomized controlled trial of a nurse-delivered coping and communication support (CCS) intervention tailored to the preferences of middle-aged and older patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers is tested for its value in improving outcomes for quality cancer care. An intervention study must be reliably delivered to estimate the accuracy of findings or make valid conclusions about the outcomes of research. The purpose of this article was to describe methodology for ensuring treatment fidelity in this patient-centered CCS intervention.

Family caregiver engagement in a coping and communication support intervention tailored to advanced cancer patients and families.

We describe family caregiver (FCG) participation in a tailored coping and communication support intervention for advanced cancer patients and families. Preliminary descriptive data on characteristics and patterns of early engagement in the intervention for 132 FCGs are presented. Engagement assessed at an initial in-person meeting and the following 6 weeks includes problems raised, strategies used, and initiation, frequency, and mode of contact.

Production of hydrogen by Clostridium species in the presence of chlorinated solvents.

Although anaerobic bioremediation of chlorinated organic contaminants in the environment often requires exogenous supply of hydrogen as an electron donor, little is known about the ability of hydrogen-producing bacteria to grow in the presence of chlorinated solvents. In this study, 18 Clostridium strains including nine uncharacterized isolates originating from chlorinated solvent contaminated groundwater were tested to determine their ability to fermentatively produce hydrogen in the presence of three common chlorinated aliphatic groundwater contaminants: 1,2-dichloroethane (DCA), 1,1,2-trichloroethane (TCA), and tetrachloroethene (PCE). All strains produced hydrogen in the presence of at least 7.

A neural code for three-dimensional object shape in macaque inferotemporal cortex.

Previous investigations of the neural code for complex object shape have focused on two-dimensional pattern representation. This may be the primary mode for object vision given its simplicity and direct relation to the retinal image. In contrast, three-dimensional shape representation requires higher-dimensional coding derived from extensive computation.

Examining the relationship between a childhood history of sexual abuse and later dissociation, breast-feeding practices, and parenting anxiety.

The purpose of this study is to compare Mexican American adolescent mothers with and without childhood sexual abuse (CSA) histories to examine the influence of CSA on dissociation, selection of infant feeding method, and intimate parenting anxiety. Participants are 78 English-speaking adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age and recruited from the southwestern United States. Nearly one third of the sample ( n = 24, 30.

Gene transfer to hemophilia A mice via oral delivery of FVIII-chitosan nanoparticles.

Effective oral delivery of a non-viral gene carrier would represent a novel and attractive strategy for therapeutic gene transfer. To evaluate the potential of this approach, we studied the oral gene delivery efficacy of DNA polyplexes composed of chitosan and Factor VIII DNA. Transgene DNA was detected in both local and systemic tissues following oral administration of the chitosan nanoparticles to hemophilia A mice.

Cancer in the elderly.

As the population expands, over the period from 2000 to 2050, the number and percentage of Americans over age 65 is expected to double. This population expansion will be accompanied by a marked increase in patients requiring care for disorders with high prevalence in the elderly. Since cancer incidence increases exponentially with advancing age, it is expected that there will be a surge in older cancer patients that will challenge both healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals.

Interaction of duration of homelessness and gender on adolescent sexual health indicators.

Purpose: The purpose of this analysis was to determine the effects of duration of homelessness and gender on personal and social resources, cognitive-perceptual factors, and sexual health behaviors among homeless youth.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of data collected at baseline from 461 homeless adolescents who participated in a sexual health intervention study was done.

Method: Data were collected via laptop computers from homeless adolescents (mean age=19.

Protecting youth from early and abusive sexual experiences.

School-age children and adolescents often are exposed to explicit sexual messages and activities that are confusing and that may be detrimental to their health and well-being. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that place youth at risk for abusive sexual experiences and early sexual activity (sexual debut) and to discuss strategies that can protect them from these potentially harmful experiences. A resilience framework guides the discussion of risk and protective factors at the individual, family, and community levels.

Instrument line-shape modeling and correction for off-axis detectors in fourier-transform spectrometry.

Spectra measured by off-axis detectors in a high-resolution Fourier-transform spectrometer are characterized by frequency scaling, asymmetry and broadening of their line shape, and self-apodization in the corresponding interferogram. For a narrow-band input spectrum and a specified detector geometry, a formalism is presented that accounts for these effects with separate terms. Some of the terms are used to correct the larger off-axis effects as part of the calibration.

The challenges of studying childhood sexual abuse among adolescent mothers.

Sexual abuse researchers are faced with many challenges. This article begins with a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of topic sensitivity and describes difficulties specific to the study of childhood sexual abuse among adolescent mothers. In the last part of this article, suggestions for diminishing the difficulties and factors to consider when planning future studies are discussed.

Coagulopathic patients with traumatic intracranial bleeding: defining the role of recombinant factor VIIa.

Background: The combination of coagulopathy and intracranial bleeding (ICB) is a well-recognized cause of morbidity and mortality in the neurosurgical patient because of the risk of hematoma expansion. Although recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) has been shown to be useful in intracerebral hemorrhage, its use in other forms of ICB such as subdural hematomas (SDHs) has rarely been described.

Methods: The clinical and laboratory features of a prospectively followed up case-series of 15 patients with traumatic ICB (mainly isolated SDHs) and coagulopathy international normalized ratio (INR) >1.

A single Mahaim fiber causing both antidromic and orthodromic reciprocating tachycardia.

We describe the case of a 56-year-old woman referred for electrophysiological (EP) testing for medically refractory supraventricular arrhythmias. During the EP study, the patient was found to have a right free wall atriofasicular (Mahaim type) accessory pathway and an inducible left bundle morphology preexcited tachycardia secondary to antidromic reciprocating tachycardia. The patient also had an inducible narrow complex orthodromic reciprocating tachycardia (ORT).

The effects of cancer-related pain and fatigue on functioning of older adult, long-term cancer survivors.

This research examines the fatigue and pain reported by a sample of long-term (5 years), older adult (>or=60 years) survivors of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. It also examines the importance of cancer and age-related factors as correlates of pain and fatigue as well as the relationship between pain and fatigue and functional difficulty. Data were derived from 321 in-person interviews with a sample of survivors randomly selected from a tumor registry at a comprehensive cancer center.

Structural studies of neuropilin/antibody complexes provide insights into semaphorin and VEGF binding.

Neuropilins (Nrps) are co-receptors for class 3 semaphorins and vascular endothelial growth factors and important for the development of the nervous system and the vasculature. The extracellular portion of Nrp is composed of two domains that are essential for semaphorin binding (a1a2), two domains necessary for VEGF binding (b1b2), and one domain critical for receptor dimerization (c). We report several crystal structures of Nrp1 and Nrp2 fragments alone and in complex with antibodies that selectively block either semaphorin or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) binding.