Robust monolithic silica-based on-chip electro-osmotic micro-pump.

A robust, compact, on-chip, electro-osmotic micro-pump (EOP) for micro-flow analysis, based on parallel, encased, 10 x 0.1 mm I.D.

Nicotinic acid receptor agonists differentially activate downstream effectors.

Nicotinic acid remains the most effective therapeutic agent for the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis resulting from low high density lipoprotein cholesterol. The therapeutic actions of nicotinic acid are mediated by GPR109A, a Gi protein-coupled receptor, expressed primarily on adipocytes, Langerhans cells, and macrophage. Unfortunately, a severe, cutaneous flushing side effect limits its use and patient compliance.

RAD001 (Everolimus) delays tumor onset and progression in a transgenic mouse model of ovarian cancer.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is thought to play a critical role in regulating cell growth, cell cycle progression, and tumorigenesis. Because the AKT-mTOR pathway is frequently hyperactivated in ovarian cancer, we hypothesized that the mTOR inhibitor RAD001 (Everolimus) would inhibit ovarian tumorigenesis in transgenic mice that spontaneously develop ovarian carcinomas. We used TgMISIIR-TAg transgenic mice, which develop bilateral ovarian serous adenocarcinomas accompanied by ascites and peritoneal dissemination.

Analogues of acifran: agonists of the high and low affinity niacin receptors, GPR109a and GPR109b.

Recently identified GPCRs, GPR109a and GPR109b, the high and low affinity receptors for niacin, may represent good targets for the development of HDL elevating drugs for the treatment of atherosclerosis. Acifran, an agonist of both receptors, has been tested in human subjects, yet until recently very few analogs had been reported. We describe a series of acifran analogs prepared using newly developed synthetic pathways and evaluated as agonists for GPR109a and GPR109b, resulting in identification of compounds with improved activity at these receptors.

Double chambered right ventricle in 9 cats.

Background: Double-chambered right ventricle (DCRV) is a frequently recognized cardiac congenital abnormality in humans. It has been described in dogs and in 1 cat. However systemic description of clinical and echocardiographic features of the disease in cats is currently lacking from the veterinary literature.

Skull base osteomyelitis leading to lateral medullary syndrome in a child.

Skull base osteomyelitis (SBO) arising from the sphenoidal paranasal air sinus infection without associated external otitis is rare. Initially SBO may have headache as the only symptom with cranial neuropathies occurring later. We report a 10-year-old immunocompetent girl with headache and chronic sinusitis, who developed a lateral medullary syndrome following streptococcal milleri sphenoidal osteomyelitis.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy changes following haemopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.

X-linked cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy is an aggressive, rapidly progressive disorder resulting in considerable morbidity and, left untreated, mortality. Patients typically present before the age of 10 years with progressive symptomatology including ataxia, spasticity, and focal neurological deficits. Current therapeutic options are limited, the treatment of choice being haemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

Perceptions and predictors of children's credibility of a unique event and an instance of a repeated event.

Perceptions of children's credibility were studied in two experiments wherein participants watched a videotape of a 4- to 5- or a 6- to 7-year old child report details of a play session that had been experienced once (single-event) or was the last in a series of four similar play sessions (repeat-event). The child's report was classified as high or low accurate. In Experiments 1 and 2, reports of repeat-event children were judged to be less believable on several measures.

Involvement of the anterior lobe of the cerebellar vermis in perinatal profound hypoxia.

Background And Purpose: We report abnormal high T2 signal intensity in the anterior lobe of the cerebellar vermis that we believe was the result of profound hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in the perinatal period in term infants. We tested the hypothesis that this sign was associated with other signs of significant perinatal hypoxic damage.

Methods: Thirty patients with clinically and radiologically confirmed perinatal profound hypoxia close to term were included in the study.

Capillary ion chromatography of inorganic anions on octadecyl silica monolith modified with an amphoteric surfactant.

A reversed-phase monolithic silica based capillary column (Onyx C(18), 150 mm x 0.1 mm) was modified with the amphoteric surfactant, N-dodecyl-N,N-(dimethylammonio)undecanoate (DDMAU) and evaluated for the separation and determination of inorganic anions using on-column capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C(4)D). The chromatographic performance of the column was evaluated and under optimal conditions separation efficiencies of 56,200 plates per meter or 7025 plates per column (at detection point) were observed (for iodide).

Methods of calculating prostate-specific antigen velocity.

Objectives: Numerous methods of calculating PSA velocity (PSAV) are used and have the potential to produce differing PSAV results from the same PSA data. We calculated PSAV using three common methods and compared differences between the methods and their predictive value for prostate cancer diagnosis.

Methods: From a population-based database of PSA results, men with initial PSA<10.

BatMon II: children's category norms for 33 categories.

Four hundred forty-eight children 3-12 years of age generated category exemplars for 33 distinct categories. The percentage of the participants reporting each exemplar, the percentage of the participants reporting each exemplar first, the percentage of the participants reporting each exemplar across age groups (3-5 years, 6-8 years, and 9-12 years), and the mean rank of each exemplar are presented. A full version of the 29 category norms may be downloaded from www.

The 'ABC for life' programme - teaching basic life support in schools.

Background: Less than 1% of the general public know how to assess or manage someone who has collapsed. It has been estimated that if 15-20% of the population were capable of performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), mortality of out of hospital cardiac arrest could be decreased significantly. Training basic life support (BLS) skills to school children would be the most cost effective way of achieving this goal and ensuring that a large proportion of the population acquire basic life saving skills.

Inflamed solitary caecal diverticulum - it is not appendicitis, what should I do?

We describe three cases that presented with symptoms suggestive of appendicitis but were found at operation to have an inflamed solitary caecal diverticulum. All were treated successfully with diverticulectomy or inversion of the diverticulum. We wish to highlight this diagnosis and its surgical management so that informed decisions can be made if this is first encountered in the operating theatre.

Mullerian Inhibiting Substance enhances subclinical doses of chemotherapeutic agents to inhibit human and mouse ovarian cancer.

Mullerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS), a biological modifier that causes regression of Mullerian ducts in male embryos, is effective as a single agent in vitro and in vivo against human and mouse ovarian cancer cell lines expressing MIS type II receptor; however, little is known about how recombinant human MIS (rhMIS), now being scaled for preclinical trials, could be used in combination with cytotoxic or targeted chemotherapeutic agents. Mouse serous and endometrioid ovarian carcinoma cell lines were tested in vitro against rhMIS alone and with doxorubicin, paclitaxel, or cisplatin as agents in clinical use. Because MIS releases FK506 binding protein (FKBP12), which activates the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) downstream of Akt, rhMIS and rapamycin combinations were tested.

Children's memory for complex autobiographical events: does spacing of repeated instances matter?

Often, when children testify in court they do so as victims of a repeated offence and must report details of an instance of the offence. One factor that may influence children's ability to succeed in this task concerns the temporal distance between presentations of the repeated event. Indeed, there is a substantial amount of literature on the "spacing effect" that suggests this may be the case.

Evaluation of capillary ion exchange stationary phase coating distribution and stability using radial capillary column contactless conductivity detection.

The use of radial (across) capillary column capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection is demonstrated as a simple and rapid technique for visualisation of stationary phase longitudinal coverage and coating stability in capillary ion exchange chromatography.

Langerhans cells release prostaglandin D2 in response to nicotinic acid.

Nicotinic acid, used for atherosclerosis treatment, has an adverse effect of skin flushing. The flushing mechanism, thought to be caused by the release of prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)), is not well understood. We aimed to identify which cells mediate the flushing effect.

The effects of vitamin C supplementation on symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 8 days of vitamin C (VC) supplementation on elbow flexor delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) to 8 days of placebo ingestion.

Methods: For 3 days prior to an exercise bout (2 x 20 eccentric elbow extensions), and for 5 days after, a treatment group ingested 3 x 1000 mg/day of VC versus 3 x 50 mg/day of glucose ingestion for the placebo group over the same time period. All subjects were prescreened via dietary recall to exclude any subjects with habitual VC consumption greater than 400 mg/day.

Assessment of blood supply to intracranial pathologies in children using MR digital subtraction angiography.

Background: MR digital subtraction angiography (MR-DSA) is a contrast-enhanced MR angiographic sequence that enables time-resolved evaluation of the cerebral circulation.

Objective: We describe the feasibility and technical success of our attempts at MR-DSA for the assessment of intracranial pathology in children.

Materials And Methods: We performed MR-DSA in 15 children (age range 5 days to 16 years) referred for MR imaging because of known or suspected intracranial pathology that required a dynamic assessment of the cerebral vasculature.

Effects of sensory-level high-volt pulsed electrical current ondelayed-onset muscle soreness.

Ten healthy males and ten healthy females aged 21.5 +/- 3.2 years (mean +/- s) participated in the study, which was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of sensory level-high volt pulsed electrical current (HVPC) on delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

Ovarian cancer side population defines cells with stem cell-like characteristics and Mullerian Inhibiting Substance responsiveness.

The recent identification of "side population" (SP) cells in a number of unrelated human cancers and their normal tissue sources has renewed interest in the hypothesis that cancers may arise from somatic stem/progenitor cells. The high incidence of recurrence attributable to multidrug resistance and the multiple histologic phenotypes indicative of multipotency suggests a stem cell-like etiology of ovarian cancer. Here we identify and characterize SP cells from two distinct genetically engineered mouse ovarian cancer cell lines.

Efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of muscle damage.

Background: Numerous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents have been identified in tart cherries.

Objective: To test the efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of exercise induced muscle damage.

Methods: This was a randomised, placebo controlled, crossover design.

An archival analysis of actual cases of historic child sexual abuse: A comparison of jury and bench trials.

Logistic regression analyses were used to predict verdicts from 466 Canadian jury and 644 Canadian judge-alone criminal trials involving delayed or historic allegations of child sexual abuse. Variables in regard to the complainant and offence were selected from the legal, clinical, and experimental literatures, including mock juror research. Of six variables that had been related to decisions reached in mock juror research concerning delayed allegations of child sexual abuse (i.