Effect of Using Triclosan-Impregnated Polyglactin Suture to Prevent Infection of Saphenectomy Wounds in CABG: A Prospective, Double-Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of triclosan-coated suture for the reduction of infection in saphenectomy wounds of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

Methods: A total of 508 patients who underwent saphenectomy in CABG surgery were included in a prospective, randomized, double-blind trial from February/2011 to June/2014. Patients were randomized into the triclosan-coated suture group (n= 251) and the conventional non-antibiotic suture group (n=257).

Insoluble Off-Pathway Aggregates as Crowding Agents during Amyloid Fibril Formation.

The study of drug candidates for the treatment of amyloidosis and neurodegenerative diseases frequently involves in vitro measurements of amyloid fibril formation. Macromolecular crowding and off-pathway aggregation (OPA) are, by different reasons, two important phenomena affecting the scalability of amyloid inhibitors and their successful application in vivo. On the one hand, the cellular milieu is crowded with macromolecules that drastically increase the effective (thermodynamic) concentration of the amyloidogenic protein.

Spectral Sensitivity Measured with Electroretinogram Using a Constant Response Method.

A new method is presented to determine the retinal spectral sensitivity function S(λ) using the electroretinogram (ERG). S(λ)s were assessed in three different species of myomorph rodents, Gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus), Wistar rats (Ratus norvegicus), and mice (Mus musculus). The method, called AC Constant Method, is based on a computerized automatic feedback system that adjusts light intensity to maintain a constant-response amplitude to a flickering stimulus throughout the spectrum, as it is scanned from 300 to 700 nm, and back.

What Can the Kinetics of Amyloid Fibril Formation Tell about Off-pathway Aggregation?

Some of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the accumulation of amyloid fibrils in organs and tissues. Although the pathogenic role of these fibrils has not been completely established, increasing evidence suggests off-pathway aggregation as a source of toxic/detoxicating deposits that still remains to be targeted. The present work is a step toward the development of off-pathway modulators using the same amyloid-specific dyes as those conventionally employed to screen amyloid inhibitors.

Enzyme kinetics: the whole picture reveals hidden meanings.

The methodology adopted by Michaelis and Menten in 1913 is still routinely used to characterize the catalytic power and selectivity of enzymes. These kinetic measurements must be performed soon after the purified enzyme is mixed with a large excess of substrate. Other time scales and solution compositions are no less physiologically relevant, but fall outside the range of applicability of the classical formalism.

Ascorbic acid protects against anxiogenic-like effect induced by methylmercury in zebrafish: action on the serotonergic system.

To evaluate the protector effect of ascorbic acid (AA) against anxiogenic-like effect induced by methylmercury (MeHg) exposure, adult zebrafish were treated with AA (2 mg g(-1), intraperitoneal [i.p.]) before MeHg administration (1.

Fluorinated beta-sheet breaker peptides.

The aggregation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) has been linked to the formation of neuritic plaques, which are pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. We synthesized peptides containing fluorinated amino acids and studied their effect on the Aβ aggregation. The peptides were based on the sequence LVFFD, in which valine was substituted by either 4,4,4-trifluorovaline or 4-fluoroproline, or the phenylalanine at position 3 was replaced by 3,4,5-trifluorophenylalanine.

Nitric oxide as a regulatory molecule in the processing of the visual stimulus.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a highly reactive gas with considerable diffusion power that is produced pre- and post synaptically in the central nervous system (CNS). In the visual system, it is involved in the processing of the visual information from the retina to superior visual centers. In this review we discuss the main mechanisms through which nitric oxide acts, in physiological levels, on the retina, lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and primary visual cortex.

Using water-soluble chitosan for flavour microencapsulation in food industry.

The aim of this work is to investigate the possibility of producing flavour microparticles, by means of water-soluble chitosan, considering all the advantages of this natural polymer (non-toxic, biocompatibility, biodegradability, anticholesterolemic), with or without a crosslinking agent (tripolyphosphate (TPP)). The microparticles were prepared by spray drying and characterized by their particle size, surface morphology and zeta potential. Structural analysis of the surface of the particles was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

A generic crystallization-like model that describes the kinetics of amyloid fibril formation.

Associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, or prion diseases, the conversion of soluble proteins into amyloid fibrils remains poorly understood. Extensive "in vitro" measurements of protein aggregation kinetics have been reported, but no consensus mechanism has emerged until now. This contribution aims at overcoming this gap by proposing a theoretically consistent crystallization-like model (CLM) that is able to describe the classic types of amyloid fibrillization kinetics identified in our literature survey.

The topography of cone photoreceptors in the retina of a diurnal rodent, the agouti (Dasyprocta aguti).

The presence, density distribution, and mosaic regularity of cone types were studied in the retina of the diurnal agouti, Dasyprocta aguti. Longwave-sensitive (L-) and shortwave-sensitive (S-) cones were detected by antibodies against the respective cone opsins. L- and S-cones were found to represent around 90 and 10% of the cone population, respectively.

Thyroid hormone action is required for normal cone opsin expression during mouse retinal development.

Purpose: The expression of S- and M-opsins in the murine retina is altered in different transgenic mouse models with mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor (TR)-beta gene, demonstrating an important role of thyroid hormone (TH) in retinal development.

Methods: The spatial expression of S- and M-opsin was compared in congenital hypothyroidism and in two different TR mutant mouse models. One mouse model contains a ligand-binding mutation that abolishes TH binding and results in constitutive binding to nuclear corepressors.

Voronoi analysis uncovers relationship between mosaics of normally placed and displaced amacrine cells in the thraira retina.

Although neuronal dynamics is to a high extent a function of synapse strength, the spatial distribution of neurons is also known to play an important role, which is evidenced by the topographical organization of the main stations of the visual system: retina, lateral geniculate nucleus, and cortex. The coexisting systems of normally placed and displaced amacrine cells in the vertebrate retina provide interesting examples of retinotopic spatial organization. However, it is not clear whether these two systems are spatially interrelated or not.