Public Health.

Background: This study aimed to assess associations between socioeconomic condition and cognitive function among Puerto Rican adults residing in the greater Boston Area.

Methods: We assessed the relationship between a score of social condition, encompassing education, income-to-poverty ratio, perceived stress, food security, and psychological acculturation, and cognitive function in a cohort of Puerto Rican Adults residing in the greater Boston area. The score was assessed over more than 12 years of follow-up and ranged from 0 (best social condition) to 15 (poorest social condition).

Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease Identified in Veterans in the United States.

Background: Diagnostic codes can be instrumental for case identification in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research; however, this method has known limitations and cannot distinguish between disease stages. Clinical notes may offer more detailed information including AD severity and can complement diagnostic codes for case identification.

Objective: To estimate prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD using diagnostics codes and clinical notes available in the electronic healthcare record (EHR).

Rule-Based Identification of Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's Disease Using Clinical Notes from the United States Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

Background: Early identification of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a clinical and research imperative. Use of diagnostic codes for MCI and AD identification has limitations. We used clinical notes to supplement diagnostic codes in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System (VAHS) electronic health records (EHR) to identify and establish cohorts of Veterans recorded with MCI or AD.

Genetic ablation or chemical inhibition of phosphatidylcholine transfer protein attenuates diet-induced hepatic glucose production.

Unlabelled: Phosphatidylcholine transfer protein (PC-TP, synonym StARD2) is a highly specific intracellular lipid binding protein that is enriched in liver. Coding region polymorphisms in both humans and mice appear to confer protection against measures of insulin resistance. The current study was designed to test the hypotheses that Pctp-/- mice are protected against diet-induced increases in hepatic glucose production and that small molecule inhibition of PC-TP recapitulates this phenotype.

Probing the specificity determinants of amino acid recognition by arginase.

Arginase is a binuclear manganese metalloenzyme that serves as a therapeutic target for the treatment of asthma, erectile dysfunction, and atherosclerosis. In order to better understand the molecular basis of inhibitor affinity, we have employed site-directed mutagenesis, enzyme kinetics, and X-ray crystallography to probe the molecular recognition of the amino acid moiety (i.e.

Small-molecule inhibitors of phosphatidylcholine transfer protein/StarD2 identified by high-throughput screening.

Phosphatidylcholine transfer protein (PC-TP, also referred to as StarD2) is a highly specific intracellular lipid-binding protein that catalyzes the transfer of phosphatidylcholines between membranes in vitro. Recent studies have suggested that PC-TP in vivo functions to regulate fatty acid and glucose metabolism, possibly via interactions with selected other proteins. To begin to address the relationship between activity in vitro and biological function, we undertook a high-throughput screen to identify small-molecule inhibitors of the phosphatidylcholine transfer activity of PC-TP.

X-ray crystallographic studies of substrate binding to aristolochene synthase suggest a metal ion binding sequence for catalysis.

The universal sesquiterpene precursor, farnesyl diphosphate (FPP), is cyclized in an Mg(2+)-dependent reaction catalyzed by the tetrameric aristolochene synthase from Aspergillus terreus to form the bicyclic hydrocarbon aristolochene and a pyrophosphate anion (PP(i)) coproduct. The 2.1-A resolution crystal structure determined from crystals soaked with FPP reveals the binding of intact FPP to monomers A-C, and the binding of PP(i) and Mg(2+)(B) to monomer D.

X-ray crystal structure of aristolochene synthase from Aspergillus terreus and evolution of templates for the cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate.

Aristolochene synthase from Aspergillus terreus catalyzes the cyclization of the universal sesquiterpene precursor, farnesyl diphosphate, to form the bicyclic hydrocarbon aristolochene. The 2.2 A resolution X-ray crystal structure of aristolochene synthase reveals a tetrameric quaternary structure in which each subunit adopts the alpha-helical class I terpene synthase fold with the active site in the "open", solvent-exposed conformation.

Spectroscopic studies of the interaction of ferrous bleomycin with DNA.

Bleomycin is an antibiotic used in cancer chemotherapy for its ability to achieve both single- and double-strand cleavage of DNA through abstraction of the deoxyribose C4'-H. Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) and X-ray absorption (XAS) spectroscopies have been used to study the interaction of the biologically relevant FeIIBLM complex with DNA. Calf thymus DNA was used as the substrate as well as short oligonucleotides, including one with a preferred 5'-G-pyrimidine-3' cleavage site [d(GGAAGCTTCC)2] and one without [d(GGAAATTTCC)2].