Cryopreservation of seeds of Neonotonia wightii Wight and Arn: a strategy for conservation, dormancy breaking and preservation of nutritional status.

Background: N. wightii (Leguminosae) is valued as a cover crop and as a potential source of protein in food insecure countries. However, plantlet establishment is limited by physical dormancy.

Ce/Pumice and Ni/Pumice as heterogeneous catalysts for syngas production from biomass gasification.

This work presents a study of synthesis and characterization of catalysts-based cerium and nickel supported on the pumice stone (Ce/Pumice and Ni/Pumice) to be used in the gasification process of an invasive species present in the Canary Islands, such as Pennisetum setaceum to obtain syngas. Specifically, the effect of the metal impregnated on the pumice, and the effect of catalyst on the gasification process was studied. For this purpose, the composition of the gas was determined and the results obtained were compared with those obtained in non-catalytic thermochemical processes.

Parameterization and Application of the General Amber Force Field to Model Fluoro Substituted Furanose Moieties and Nucleosides.

Molecular mechanics force field calculations have historically shown significant limitations in modeling the energetic and conformational interconversions of highly substituted furanose rings. This is primarily due to the gauche effect that is not easily captured using pairwise energy potentials. In this study, we present a refinement to the set of torsional parameters in the General Amber Force Field () used to calculate the potential energy of , , and -fluorinated nucleosides.

Workup and Management of Thyroid Nodules.

Thyroid nodules are extremely common findings with a low likelihood of harboring a clinically significant malignancy. Ultrasound is highly sensitive at identifying which nodules warrant further workup with fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. FNA should be performed based on US findings and risk categories.

Exposure of Teramnus labialis (L.F.) Spreng Seeds to Liquid Nitrogen Does Not Affect Nutritional Status of Field Grown Adult Plants.

Background: Teramnus labialis (L.f.) Spreng is a potentially important legume species, and can be used as an animal feed and to enhance soil physicochemical characteristics.

Determining the Prognosis of Bell's Palsy Based on Severity at Presentation and Electroneuronography.

Objective: To examine the demographics of Bell's palsy and determine how House-Brackmann (HB) grade at nadir and electroneuronography (ENoG) results correlate with HB grade after recovery and development of synkinesis.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary care military medical center.

Structural modeling and analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 cell entry inhibitor camostat bound to the trypsin-like protease TMPRSS2.

The type II transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS2 facilitates the entry of coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, into host cells by cleaving the S/S interface of the viral spike protein. Based on structural data derived from X-ray crystallographic data of related trypsin-like proteases, a homology model of TMPRSS2 is described and validated using the broad spectrum COVID-19 drug candidate camostat as a probe. Both active site recognition and catalytic function are examined using quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics molecular dynamic (QM/MM MD) simulations of camostat and its active metabolite, 4-(4-guanidinobenzoyloxy) phenylacetate (GBPA).

Reconstructive Options During Nonfunctional Laryngectomy.

Objective: A paucity of data exists regarding surgical outcomes for patients undergoing total laryngectomy for a dysfunctional larynx. Herein, we present the largest study evaluating the method of closure on postoperative fistula rate and swallowing ability.

Method: We performed a retrospective review of patients undergoing total laryngectomy for a dysfunctional larynx after primary radiation or chemoradiation therapy for laryngeal carcinoma from 1998 to 2020.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Dexamethasone as a Prophylactic Treatment for Subglottic Stenosis in a Rabbit Model.

Objective: Iatrogenic injury is a common cause of subglottic stenosis (SGS). We investigated the role of pre-injury dexamethasone as a preventive treatment for iatrogenic subglottic stenosis.

Methods: 16 New Zealand White rabbits were used in an IACUC approved study.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Balloon Dilation in Treatment of Subglottic Stenosis With a Rabbit Model.

Objectives: Identify the effects of balloon dilation duration and topical ciprofloxacin-dexamethasone application in treatment of subglottic stenosis.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Animal research facility.

Data on a genome-wide association study of type 2 diabetes in a Maya population.

Maya communities have been shown to exhibit type 2 diabetes (T2D) with high prevalence compared with Mexican mestizo populations. Furthermore, some variants associated with the risk for T2D have been described. In this study, we describe the results of a pilot genome wide association study (GWAS) using 817,823 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to identify candidate variants for replication in future studies.

Role of Water Hydrogen Bonding on Transport of Small Molecules inside Hydrophobic Channels.

We conducted a systematic analysis of water networking inside smooth hyperboloid hydrophobic structures (cylindrical, barrel, and hourglass shapes) to elucidate the role of water hydrogen bonding on the transport of small hydrophobic molecules (ligands). Through a series of molecular dynamics simulations, we established that a hydrogen-bonded network forming along the centerline resulted in a water exclusion zone adjacent to the walls. The size of the exclusion zone is a function of the geometry and the nonbonded interaction strength, defining the effective hydrophobicity of the structure.

Prediction of Ligand Transport along Hydrophobic Enzyme Nanochannels.

Buried active sites of enzymes are connected to the bulk solvent through a network of hydrophobic channels. We developed a discretized model that can accurately predict ligand transport along hydrophobic channels up to six orders of magnitude faster than any other existing method. The non-dimensional nature of the model makes it applicable to hydrophobic channel/ligand combination.

Simulation of the Bottleneck Controlling Access into a Rieske Active Site: Predicting Substrates of Naphthalene 1,2-Dioxygenase.

Naphthalene 1,2-dioxygenase (NDO) has been computationally understudied despite the extensive experimental knowledge obtained for this enzyme, including numerous crystal structures and over 100 demonstrated substrates. In this study, we have developed a substrate prediction model that moves away from the traditional active-site-centric approach to include the energetics of substrate entry into the active site. By comparison with experimental data, the accuracy of the model for predicting substrate oxidation is 92%, with a positive predictive value of 93% and a negative predictive value of 98%.

In Silico Identification of Bioremediation Potential: Carbamazepine and Other Recalcitrant Personal Care Products.

Emerging contaminants are principally personal care products not readily removed by conventional wastewater treatment and, with an increasing reliance on water recycling, become disseminated in drinking water supplies. Carbamazepine, a widely used neuroactive pharmaceutical, increasingly escapes wastewater treatment and is found in potable water. In this study, a mechanism is proposed by which carbamazepine resists biodegradation, and a previously unknown microbial biodegradation was predicted computationally.

Fusion proteins in head and neck neoplasms: Clinical implications, genetics, and future directions for targeting.

Fusion proteins resulting from chromosomal rearrangements are known to drive the pathogenesis of a variety of hematological and solid neoplasms such as chronic myeloid leukemia and non-small-cell lung cancer. Efforts to elucidate the role they play in these malignancies have led to important diagnostic and therapeutic triumphs, including the famous development of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor dasatinib targeting the BCR-ABL fusion. Until recently, there has been a paucity of research investigating fusion proteins harbored by head and neck neoplasms.

Efficacy of combined antiparasitic therapy with praziquantel and albendazole for neurocysticercosis: a double-blind, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Neurocysticercosis causes a substantial burden of seizure disorders worldwide. Treatment with either praziquantel or albendazole has suboptimum efficacy. We aimed to establish whether combination of these drugs would increase cysticidal efficacy and whether complete cyst resolution results in fewer seizures.

Microbiota from Litopenaeus vannamei: digestive tract microbial community of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei).

Bacteria capable of producing different extracellular enzymes of potential relevance in digestive processes were isolated from the stomach, hepatopancreas and intestine of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. A total of 64 strains with proteolytic activity were isolated and grouped into 16 clusters based on morphological characteristics: 4 groups were isolated from the intestine; 5 from the hepatopancreas; and 7 from the stomach. Molecular methods (16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing) and phenotypic criteria (Gram stain, catalase and oxidase tests, cell and colony morphology) were used to identify strains, which corresponded to Pseudoalteromonas and Vibrio genera.

[Umbilical artery blood gases of term neonates at altitude].

In order to determine the normal values of arterial blood gases in the umbilical artery of term infants at 3400 m altitude, a cross-sectional study was conducted. It was performed in the umbilical artery blood of 300 term infants, with an adequate gestational age and whose birth took place between January 2010 and December 2011 at the Essalud National Hospital Adolfo Guevara Velazco (Cusco, Peru). It was found that the average pH of healthy term infants was 7.

High frequency of spinal involvement in patients with basal subarachnoid neurocysticercosis.

Objective: To determine the frequency of spinal neurocysticercosis (NCC) in patients with basal subarachnoid NCC compared with that in individuals with viable limited intraparenchymal NCC (≤20 live cysts in the brain).

Methods: We performed a prospective observational case-control study of patients with NCC involving the basal cisterns or patients with only limited intraparenchymal NCC. All patients underwent MRI examinations of the brain and the entire spinal cord to assess spinal involvement.

First-trimester screening for neural tube defects using alpha-fetoprotein.

Objective: To assess the potential value of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) at 11-13 weeks' gestation in early screening for fetal neural tube defects (NTDs).

Methods: Maternal serum AFP at 11-13 weeks' gestation was measured in 32 cases of fetal NTDs, including 18 cases of acrania and 14 cases of spina bifida, and 1,500 unaffected controls. The measured serum AFP was converted into multiple of the expected median (MoM) after adjustment for gestational age and maternal characteristics and Mann-Whitney test was used to determine the significance of difference in the mean MoM of serum AFP in the NTD group to that in the controls.

Thyroid cancer and thyroiditis in Salta, Argentina: a 40-yr study in relation to iodine prophylaxis.

The natural history of thyroid cancer and thyroiditis in relation to iodine prophylaxis in the region of Salta, Argentina, where goiter is common was investigated over a time span of 40 yr. For analysis of thyroid cancer, the specimens were divided into two periods. The first 15 yr (59 cases), including 5 yr before prophylaxis, was compared with the second 25 yr (182 cases), a period well after salt iodination.

[Wilson's disease: a clinical case is presented with neuropsychiatric dominant form and probable physiopathology interpretation with magnetic resonance of the brain].

Case Report: A clinical case of Wilson's disease is presented. She was a 26 years old woman who began to show psychological symptoms, and later developed neurological signs such as asymmetrical hand tremor, parkinsonism, dystonia and later dysphagia and mutism. The ophthalmological examination found a Kayser Fleischer ring in the Descemet membrane.

[Wilson'S disease: dominant neuropsychiatric form. Case presentation and its physiopathologic interpretation based upon magnetic resonance of the encephalon].

This is a presentation of a clinical case of Wilson s disease. The patient is a 26 year old woman who began to evidence psychological symptoms, which were later accompanied by neurological manifestations such as asymmetrical hand tremor, parkinsonism, dystonia and later on, dysphagia and mutism. The ophthalmological examination found a Kayser Fleischer ring in Descemet s membrane.

Mechanisms of dimer and trimer formation from ultraviolet-irradiated alpha-tocopherol.

Alpha-Tocopherol (alpha-TH) undergoes ultraviolet (UV)-induced photooxidation on the surface of mouse skin to produce a dihydroxydimer, a spirodimer, and trimers as the major products. To study the photochemistry involved, we UV-irradiated alpha-TH in a thin film on a glass petri dish. Photooxidation yielded a mixture of dihydroxydimer, spirodimer, and trimers.