Accumulation of ordered ceramide-cholesterol domains in farber disease fibroblasts.

Farber disease is an inherited metabolic disorder caused by mutations in the acid ceramidase gene, which leads to ceramide accumulation in lysosomes. Farber disease patients display a wide variety of symptoms with most patients eventually displaying signs of nervous system dysfunction. We now present a novel tool that could potentially be used to distinguish between the milder and more severe forms of the disease, namely, an antibody that recognizes a mixed monolayer or bilayer of cholesterol:C16-ceramide, but does not recognize either ceramide or cholesterol by themselves.

Antimicrobial Brazilian Propolis (EPP-AF) Containing Biocellulose Membranes as Promising Biomaterial for Skin Wound Healing.

Among remarkable discoveries concerning propolis, such as antifungal, antiviral, and antioxidant activities, its anti-inflammatory, and mainly its antibacterial, properties deserve special attention when skin wound healing is concerned. Based on this and knowing the distinctive performance of bacterial (BC) membranes on wound healing, in this work it is proposed to demonstrate the potent antimicrobial activity and wound healing properties of a novel propolis containing biocellulose membrane. The obtained propolis/BC membrane was able to adsorb propolis not only on the surface, but also in its interstices demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and thermogravidimetric assays.

Additive value of magnetic resonance coronary angiography in a comprehensive cardiac magnetic resonance stress-rest protocol for detection of functionally significant coronary artery disease: a pilot study.

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is a state-of-the-art noninvasive modality for detection of myocardial ischemia and coronary artery disease. Magnetic resonance coronary angiography (MRCA) allows visualization of the coronary tree, but its incremental value as part of a CMR protocol including MPI and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) is not well established. We aimed to evaluate the additive diagnostic value of a 3-dimensional whole-heart MRCA integration into a 1.

Isolated cryptococcal osteomyelitis in an immune-competent host: a case report.

Cryptococcus neoformans is a ubiquitous organism that often causes opportunistic infections in immune-compromised patients. The pulmonary and central nervous systems are most commonly affected. Osseous involvement is infrequent and is usually associated with disseminated systemic infection.

Osteosarcoma in Adult Patients Living with HIV/AIDS.

Background. HIV infection has reached epidemic proportions in South Africa, with an estimated prevalence of 21.5% in adults living in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Evaluation of a Propolis Water Extract Using a Reliable RP-HPLC Methodology and In Vitro and In Vivo Efficacy and Safety Characterisation.

Since the beginning of propolis research, several groups have studied its antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. However, most of these studies have only employed propolis ethanolic extract (PEE) leading to little knowledge about the biological activities of propolis water extract (PWE). Based on this, in a previous study, we demonstrated the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities of PWE.

Ras signal triggers β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) expression.

It has recently been discovered that the Drosophila β-amyloid protein precursor like (Appl) gene, the ortholog of the human β-Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) gene, is transcriptionally activated by receptor tyrosine kinase activity that involves Ras/MAPK signaling in vivo. This regulation is specifically controlled in photoreceptor neurons of the Drosophila retina. This suggests that some cases of Alzheimer disease, those which have been associated with high expression of the APP gene, may involve Ras signal transduction.

Body ownership and attention in the mirror: insights from somatoparaphrenia and the rubber hand illusion.

The brain receives and synthesises information about the body from different modalities, coordinates and perspectives, and affords us with a coherent and stable sense of body ownership. We studied this sense in a somatoparaphrenic patient and three control patients, all with unilateral right-hemisphere lesions. We experimentally manipulated the visual perspective (direct- versus mirror-view) and spatial attention (drawn to peripersonal space versus extrapersonal space) in an experiment involving recognising one's own hand.

Polarization and interference effects in ionization of Li by ion impact.

We present initial-state selective fully differential cross sections for ionization of lithium by 24 MeV O8+ impact. The data for ionization from the 2s and 2p states look qualitatively different from each other and from 1s ionization of He. For ionization from the 2p state, to which in our study the m(L)=-1 substate predominantly contributes, we observe orientational dichroism and for 2s ionization pronounced interference which we trace back to the nodal structure of the initial-state wave function.

Association between UCP2 A55V polymorphism and risk of cardiovascular events in patients with multi-vessel coronary arterial disease.

Background: UCP2 (uncoupling protein 2) plays an important role in cardiovascular diseases and recent studies have suggested that the A55V polymorphism can cause UCP2 dysfunction. The main aim was to investigate the association of A55V polymorphism with cardiovascular events in a group of 611 patients enrolled in the Medical, Angioplasty or Surgery Study II (MASS II), a randomized trial comparing treatments for patients with coronary artery disease and preserved left ventricular function.

Methods: The participants of the MASS II were genotyped for the A55V polymorphism using allele-specific PCR assay.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation and requirements of pacing over time.

Background: A permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation is common after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). We sought to evaluate requirements of pacing and incidence of pacemaker dependency during the first year after TAVI.

Methods: From August 2007 until May 2011, 65 patients underwent TAVI with self-expandable prosthesis.

Anti-dyskinetic effect of the neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitor is linked to decrease of FosB/deltaFosB expression.

Rodents with lesion of dopaminergic pathway when receiving repeated l-3,4-dihydroxiphenylalanine (l-DOPA) treatment develop abnormal involuntary movements called dyskinesia. We demonstrated that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors mitigate l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in rodents. The aim of the present study was to verify if the in vivo preferential neuronal NOS (nNOS) inhibitor 7-nitroindazole (7-NI) affect the expression of the transcription factor FosB/ΔFosB in the lesioned striatum, an indicator of neuronal activity associated with dyskinesia.

A comparative study of the modulatory effects of (-)-cubebin on the mutagenicity/recombinogenicity induced by different chemical agents.

(-)-Cubebin (CUB) is a lignan isolated from dry seeds of Piper cubeba. We aimed to assess its genotoxic potential and influence on chromosomal damage (frequency of micronuclei - MN) induced by doxorubicin (DXR) in V79 cells and by urethane (URE) in somatic Drosophila melanogaster cells. Our findings indicate an absence of a CUB-mediated genotoxic effect at the concentrations tested.

Direct comparison of cardiac magnetic resonance and multidetector computed tomography stress-rest perfusion imaging for detection of coronary artery disease.

Objectives: This study sought to compare the diagnostic performance of a multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) integrated protocol (IP) including coronary angiography (CTA) and stress-rest perfusion (CTP) with cardiac magnetic resonance myocardial perfusion imaging (CMR-Perf) for detection of functionally significant coronary artery disease (CAD).

Background: MDCT stress-rest perfusion methods were recently described as adjunctive tools to improve CTA accuracy for detection of functionally significant CAD. However, only a few studies compared these MDCT-IP with other clinically validated perfusion techniques like CMR-Perf.

Prolactin gene expression in primary central nervous system tumors.

Background: Prolactin (PRL) is a hormone synthesized in both the pituitary gland and extrapituitary sites. It has been associated with the occurrence of neoplasms and, more recently, with central nervous system (CNS) neoplasms. The aim of this study was to evaluate prolactin expression in primary central nervous system tumors through quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry (IH).

[Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis associated with Vibrio cholerae non-O1, non-O139 bacteremia].

Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative bacilli with curved, comma shape that belongs to the family Vibrionaceae. The antigenic structure consists of a flagellar H antigen and a somatic O antigen (used to classify V cholerae in various serogroups). Serogroups 01 and 0139 have caused epidemics of cholera.

New genus and new species of Chauliodinae (Insecta: Megaloptera: Corydalidae) from Brazil.

A new genus and new species of Chauliodinae are described and illustrated, Puri gen. nov. and P.

Mycobacterium fragae sp. nov., a non-chromogenic species isolated from human respiratory specimens.

Three isolates of a slow-growing, non-chromogenic mycobacterium were grown from three sputum samples of a patient from the north-eastern Ceará state in Brazil. Identification at species level could not be obtained with PCR restriction analysis of the hsp65 gene. In order to characterize the isolates we carried out phenotypic and genotypic tests.

Preliminary evaluation of the toxic effects of the antifouling biocide Sea-Nine 211™ in the soft coral Sarcophyton cf. glaucum (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) based on PAM fluorometry and biomarkers.

Sea-Nine 211™ is a new biocide specifically formulated for antifouling paints and being considered to have a low environmental impact. Even with a short environmental half-life, this compound can cause toxic effects on marine organisms. This study used PAM fluorometry and biomarkers of oxidative stress (GST, CAT and LPO) to monitor potential toxic effects of Sea-Nine 211™ on fragments of the soft coral Sarcophyton cf.

The relationship between acceptance, catastrophizing and illness representations in chronic pain.

Background: Cognitive- and acceptance-based approaches are used to help people live with chronic pain. Little is known about how these constructs relate to each other. In this study, we examined how cognitive representations of chronic pain relate to interpersonal styles such as catastrophizing and the behavioural process of acceptance of chronic pain.

Emotion coupling and regulation in anorexia nervosa.

Objective: The present study sought to investigate emotion regulation strategies in people with anorexia nervosa (AN) and whether the theoretical concept of 'emotion coupling' between anger and disgust could help to explain some of the specific eating disorder symptomatology in people with AN.

Method: This 'emotion coupling' hypothesis was tested using a mood induction procedure within laboratory conditions, where individuals with AN (n = 22) were matched with control participants (n = 19). Participants completed a bank of different measures prior to the study, and these included measures of eating pathology, core beliefs about the self and others, and emotion regulation strategies.

Carrier-bound fibrin sealant compared to oxidized cellulose application after liver resection.

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the incidence of post-operative complications between those patients that received TachoSil to the transection surface of the liver vs. those that received Surgicel.

Methods: Retrospective study of a prospective database in a tertiary hospital.

Cardiac magnetic resonance myocardial perfusion imaging for detection of functionally significant obstructive coronary artery disease: a prospective study.

Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance myocardial perfusion imaging (CMR-MPI) is considered a state of the art non-invasive modality for the detection of reversible ischemia. Recent studies have shown its utility in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) and superiority over other established techniques. However, only a few studies compared CMR-MPI against the invasive standard including fractional flow reserve (FFR) and clinical validation in non-specialized centers is scarce.