Development of phenotypic and transcriptional biomarkers to evaluate relative activity of potentially estrogenic chemicals in ovariectomized mice.

Background: Concerns regarding potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have led to a need for methods to evaluate candidate estrogenic chemicals. Our previous evaluations of two such EDCs revealed a response similar to that of estradiol (E2) at 2 hr, but a less robust response at 24 hr, similar to the short-acting estrogen estriol (E3).

Objectives: Microarray analysis using tools to recognize patterns of response have been utilized in the cancer field to develop biomarker panels of transcripts for diagnosis and selection of treatments most likely to be effective.

Effects of hormonally active agents on steroid hormone receptor expression and cell proliferation in the myometrium of ovariectomized macaques.

Hormone replacement therapy and selective estrogen receptor modulators have been controversial treatment options for postmenopausal women because of their potential health benefits and/or risks. In this study, we determine the effects of the hormonally active compounds, conjugated equine estrogens (CEE), medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), CEE + MPA, and tamoxifen (TAM) on the myometrium of ovariectomized macaques. Immunoexpression of estrogen receptor-α (ERα), progesterone receptor (PR), and Ki-67 in the myometrium is assessed.

Predictive validity of the mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (mcex): do medical students' mCEX ratings correlate with future clinical exam performance?

Background: The degree to which scores on the mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (mCEX), a feedback tool, correlate with performance on future clinical skills examinations is unknown.

Method: Medicine clerkship students in 2006 and 2007 completed eight mCEX cards and took an end-of-clerkship standardized patient (SP) exam and an end-of-year multidisciplinary SP exam. Pearson correlations estimated relationships between average mCEX scores and scores on the SP exams.

Effect of diet and animal care/housing protocols on body weight, survival, tumor incidences, and nephropathy severity of F344 rats in chronic studies.

Diet is an important environmental factor affecting body weight, survival, and age-related diseases of rodents. The NIH-07 open formula diet was the diet used in the National Toxicology Program's (NTPs) rodent carcinogenicity studies from 1980 to 1994. In 1994 the NTP began using a new diet designated the NTP-2000 diet.

The genome of herpesvirus of turkeys: comparative analysis with Marek's disease viruses.

The complete coding sequence of the herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) unique long (U(L)) region along with the internal repeat regions has been determined. This allows completion of the HVT nucleotide sequence by linkage to the sequence of the unique short (U(S)) region. The genome is approximately 160 kbp and shows extensive similarity in organization to the genomes of Marek's disease virus serotypes 1 and 2 (MDV-1, MDV-2) and other alphaherpesviruses.