Aspirin exerts high anti-cancer activity in -mutant colon cancer cells.

Evidence suggests that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) may improve patient survival in -mutant colorectal carcinoma, but not in -wild-type carcinoma. However, whether aspirin directly influences the viability of -mutant colon cancer cells is poorly understood. We conducted experiments to test our hypothesis that the anti-proliferative activity of aspirin might be stronger for -mutant colon cancer cells than for -wild-type colon cancer cells.

Apathy in rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder is common and under-recognized.

Background And Purpose: Apathy is an important neuropsychiatric feature of Parkinson's disease (PD), which often emerges before the onset of motor symptoms. Patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) have a high probability of developing PD in future. Neuropsychiatric problems are common in RBD, but apathy has not previously been detailed in this key prodromal population.

Implantable loop recorders in the real world: a study of two Canadian centers.

Purpose: Implantable loop recorders (ILRs) are increasingly being used for ambulatory electrocardiography. We sought to evaluate ILR indications, diagnostic yield, ILR-guided interventions, and complications in two Canadian centers.

Methods: This was a retrospective study using electronic medical records to identify ILR implants at Queen's University and the University of Manitoba.

Discrepancies between Perceived and Measured Cognition in Kidney Transplant Recipients: Implications for Clinical Management.

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in kidney transplant (KT) recipients and affects quality of life, graft survival, morbidity, and mortality. Failure to identify patients with cognitive impairment can withhold appropriate and timely intervention. This study determines whether measured cognition with standard screening tools offers any advantage over perceived cognition in screening transplant patients for cognitive impairment.

Sensitive and Accurate Quantitation of Phosphopeptides Using TMT Isobaric Labeling Technique.

Phosphorylation is an essential post-translational modification for regulating protein function and cellular signal transduction. Mass spectrometry (MS) combined with isobaric tandem mass tags (TMTs) has become a powerful platform for simultaneous, large-scale phospho-proteome site identification and quantitation. To improve the accuracy of isobaric tag-based quantitation in complex proteomic samples, MS3-based acquisition methods such as Synchronous Precursor Selection (SPS) have been used.

Association Between Inflammatory Diet Pattern and Risk of Colorectal Carcinoma Subtypes Classified by Immune Responses to Tumor.

Background & Aims: Dietary patterns affect systemic and local intestinal inflammation, which have been linked to colorectal carcinogenesis. Chronic inflammation can interfere with the adaptive immune response. We investigated whether the association of a diet that promotes intestinal inflammation with risk of colorectal carcinoma was stronger for tumors with lower lymphocytic reactions than tumors with higher lymphocytic reactions.

Quality Improvement Project: Replacing the Numeric Rating Scale with a Clinically Aligned Pain Assessment (CAPA) Tool.

CAPA is a multifaceted pain assessment tool that was adopted at a large tertiary Midwest hospital to replace the numeric scale for adult patients who could self-report their pain experience. This article describes the process of implementation and the effect on patient satisfaction scores. Use of the tool is supported by the premise that pain assessment entails more than just pain intensity and that assessment is an exchange of meaning between patients and clinicians dependent on internal and external factors.

The MEMbrane Protein Single ShoT Amplification Recipe: MemStar.

Here, we present a simple overexpression condition for high-throughput screening of membrane proteins in Escherichia coli. For the vast majority of bacterial membrane protein targets tested the MEMbrane protein Single shoT Amplification Recipe-MemStar-leads to high production yields of target protein. The use of MemStar has facilitated structural studies of several transport proteins.

White matter damage in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

Background: Patients treated with dialysis have high rates of brain infarcts, brain atrophy, and white matter disease. There are limited data regarding the presence of more subtle damage to brain white matter.

Methods: In the Cognition and Dialysis Study, we compared brain structure using diffusion tensor imaging in hemodialysis (HD) patients to individuals without known kidney disease, using tract based spatial statistics (TBSS) to compare Fractional Anisotropy (FA) and Mean Diffusivity (MD).

Antibody Responses to and and Prospective Risk of spp. Infection Postpartum.

AbstractPostpartum women may have an altered susceptibility to and . The relationship between naturally acquired malarial immunity and susceptibility to malaria postpartum is yet to be determined. IgG levels were measured against and antigens from delivery in 201 postpartum and 201 nonpregnant controls over 12 weeks.

Distinct Motivational Effects of Contingent and Noncontingent Rewards.

When rewards are available, people expend more energy, increasing their motivational vigor. In theory, incentives might drive behavior for two distinct reasons: First, they increase expected reward; second, they increase the difference in subjective value between successful and unsuccessful performance, which increases contingency-the degree to which action determines outcome. Previous studies of motivational vigor have never compared these directly.

The impact of fever on corrected QT interval.

Aims: We were interested in the impact of fever on the QT interval as information on this subject is limited.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, single centre study over a two year period, ending December 31st, 2013. Participants were identified using an electronic chart review of emergency department records linked to an ECG data base.

Age-associated changes in the blood-brain barrier: comparative studies in human and mouse.

Aims: While vascular pathology is a common feature of a range of neurodegenerative diseases, we hypothesized that vascular changes occur in association with normal ageing. Therefore, we aimed to characterize age-associated changes in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in human and mouse cohorts.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry and Evans blue assays were used to characterize BBB dysfunction (tight junction protein expression and serum plasma protein accumulation), vascular pathology (pericyte loss and vascular density) and glial pathology (astrocyte and microglial density) in ageing neurological control human prefrontal cortex (a total of 23 cases from 5 age groups representing the spectrum of young adult to old age: 20-30 years, 31-45 years, 46-60 years, 61-75 years and 75+) and C57BL/6 mice (3 months, 12 months, 18 months and 24 months, n = 5/6 per group).

Long-term use of antibiotics and risk of colorectal adenoma.

Objective: Recent evidence suggests that antibiotic use, which alters the gut microbiome, is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. However, the association between antibiotic use and risk of colorectal adenoma, the precursor for the majority of colorectal cancers, has not been investigated.

Design: We prospectively evaluated the association between antibiotic use at age 20-39 and 40-59 (assessed in 2004) and recent antibiotic use (assessed in 2008) with risk of subsequent colorectal adenoma among 16 642 women aged ≥60 enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study who underwent at least one colonoscopy through 2010.

Dietary Patterns and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: Analysis by Tumor Location and Molecular Subtypes.

Background & Aims: Western and prudent dietary patterns have been associated with higher and lower risks of colorectal cancer (CRC), respectively. However, little is known about the associations between dietary patterns and specific anatomic subsites or molecular subtypes of CRC.

Methods: We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards models to examine the associations between Western and prudent dietary patterns and CRC risk in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and Nurses' Health Study.

Dissecting the proton transport pathway in electrogenic Na/H antiporters.

Sodium/proton exchangers of the family mediate the transport of protons in exchange for sodium to help regulate intracellular pH, sodium levels, and cell volume. In electrogenic Na/H antiporters, it has been assumed that two ion-binding aspartate residues transport the two protons that are later exchanged for one sodium ion. However, here we show that we can switch the antiport activity of the bacterial Na/H antiporter NapA from being electrogenic to electroneutral by the mutation of a single lysine residue (K305).

ASPirin Intervention for the REDuction of colorectal cancer risk (ASPIRED): a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Although aspirin is recommended for the prevention of colorectal cancer, the specific individuals for whom the benefits outweigh the risks are not clearly defined. Moreover, the precise mechanisms by which aspirin reduces the risk of cancer are unclear. We recently launched the ASPirin Intervention for the REDuction of colorectal cancer risk (ASPIRED) trial to address these uncertainties.

Cognitive Decline and Its Risk Factors in Prevalent Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in patients treated with hemodialysis. The trajectory of cognitive function and risk factors for cognitive decline remain uncertain in this population.

Study Design: Longitudinal cohort.

Association of Dietary Patterns With Risk of Colorectal Cancer Subtypes Classified by Fusobacterium nucleatum in Tumor Tissue.

Importance: Fusobacterium nucleatum appears to play a role in colorectal carcinogenesis through suppression of the hosts' immune response to tumor. Evidence also suggests that diet influences intestinal F nucleatum. However, the role of F nucleatum in mediating the relationship between diet and the risk of colorectal cancer is unknown.

A Prospective Study of Smoking and Risk of Synchronous Colorectal Cancers.

Objectives: Cigarette smoking has been linked to somatic genetic and epigenetic aberrations, including CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP)-high, microsatellite instability (MSI)-high and BRAF mutation. These molecular features have been associated with synchronous primary colorectal cancers (CRCs). Thus, we examined the hypothesis that smoking might be associated with the risk of synchronous CRCs.

Association between Soluble Klotho and Change in Kidney Function: The Health Aging and Body Composition Study.

CKD appears to be a condition of soluble klotho deficiency. Despite known associations between low soluble klotho levels and conditions that promote kidney damage, such as oxidative stress and fibrosis, little information exists regarding the longitudinal association between soluble klotho levels and change in kidney function. We assayed serum soluble -klotho in 2496 participants within the Health Aging and Body Composition study, a cohort of older adults.

The role of interfacial lipids in stabilizing membrane protein oligomers.

Oligomerization of membrane proteins in response to lipid binding has a critical role in many cell-signalling pathways but is often difficult to define or predict. Here we report the development of a mass spectrometry platform to determine simultaneously the presence of interfacial lipids and oligomeric stability and to uncover how lipids act as key regulators of membrane-protein association. Evaluation of oligomeric strength for a dataset of 125 α-helical oligomeric membrane proteins reveals an absence of interfacial lipids in the mass spectra of 12 membrane proteins with high oligomeric stability.

Integrating mass spectrometry with MD simulations reveals the role of lipids in Na/H antiporters.

Na/H antiporters are found in all kingdoms of life and exhibit catalysis rates that are among the fastest of all known secondary-active transporters. Here we combine ion mobility mass spectrometry and molecular dynamics simulations to study the conformational stability and lipid-binding properties of the Na/H exchanger NapA from Thermus thermophilus and compare this to the prototypical antiporter NhaA from Escherichia coli and the human homologue NHA2. We find that NapA and NHA2, but not NhaA, form stable dimers and do not selectively retain membrane lipids.

Tunable Broadband Nanocarbon Transparent Conductor by Electrochemical Intercalation.

Optical transparent and electrical conducting materials with broadband transmission are important for many applications in optoelectronic, telecommunications, and military devices. However, studies of broadband transparent conductors and their controlled modulation are scarce. In this study, we report that reversible transmittance modulation has been achieved with sandwiched nanocarbon thin films (containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO)) via electrochemical alkali-ion intercalation/deintercalation.