Training content and potential impact on performance: a comparison of young male and female endurance-trained runners.

The purpose of the present investigation was to compare the content of 8 weeks of training in young endurance-trained male and female runners and study the potential impact of this training content on performance. Fourteen men and 11 women performed two criterion exercises until exhaustion on an outdoor track before and after the 8-week training period. The first test was a graded exercise to determine maximal aerobic velocity (Mav), the velocity at the lactate concentration threshold (v-Tlac), and the velocity at delta 50 (v delta50: the velocity halfway between Mav and v-Tlac).

Irrigants in non-surgical endodontic treatment.

This paper highlights that one of the main goals of root canal treatment is the elimination of microorganisms from the contaminated root canal system. Instrumentation alone will not allow for adequate debridement and disinfection of the complex and diverse root canal system. Chemomechanical debridement is required.

Further evaluation of the synthetic peptide vaccine S3Pvac against Taenia solium cysticercosis in pigs in an endemic town of Mexico.

Taenia solium cysticercosis is a parasitic disease frequently affecting human health and the pig industry in many developing countries. A synthetic peptide vaccine (designated S3Pvac) against porcine cysticercosis has been developed previously as an aid to interrupt transmission and has been shown to be effective. The results of the present study support the effectiveness of the vaccine under endemic field conditions.

Neurocysticercosis: clinical, radiologic, and inflammatory differences between children and adults.

Background: Human neurocysticercosis (NC) is caused by Taenia solium larvae lodged in the central nervous system. NC is clinically heterogeneous, ranging from asymptomatic infection to severely incapacitating and even fatal presentations. Although NC affects adults and children, age-related factors have not been thoroughly studied.

Exo-beta-D-glucosaminidase from Amycolatopsis orientalis: catalytic residues, sugar recognition specificity, kinetics, and synergism.

Catalytic residues and the mode of action of the exo-beta-D-glucosaminidase (GlcNase) from Amycolatopsis orientalis were investigated using the wild-type and mutated enzymes. Mutations were introduced into the putative catalytic residues resulting in five mutated enzymes (D469A, D469E, E541D, E541Q, and S468N/D469E) that were successfully produced. The four single mutants were devoid of enzymatic activity, indicating that Asp469 and Glu541 are essential for catalysis as predicted by sequence alignments of enzymes belonging to GH-2 family.

Endodontic diagnosis: clinical aspects.

The objectives of this article are to review classic and current concepts on endodontic diagnosis, to describe the current classification of the pulp and periradicular diseases and to present and discuss the diagnostic tools available for endodontic diagnosis. The "SOAP" approach to endodontic diagnosis is a very efficient and simple method to accomplish accurate diagnosis. SOAP serves as a mnemonic to guide the clinician in data collection and stands for: Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan.

Subarachnoidal and intraventricular human neurocysticercosis: application of an antigen detection assay for the diagnosis and follow-up.

Background: Neurocysticercosis (NC) is a parasitic disease of the central nervous system caused by the larval stage of Taenia solium. Although imaging studies are recommended for diagnosis and follow-up of patients, their high cost and restricted availability limit their use. Among various immunological tests, the detection of HP10 antigen in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) has proved to be a useful tool for the diagnosis of NC in the case of viable but not dead parasites.

Efficacy of retreatment techniques for a resin-based root canal obturation material.

Resilon/Epiphany obturation system is emerging as an alternative to gutta-percha (GP). The efficacy of retreatment techniques for Resilon removal has not been determined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two commonly used retreatment techniques in the removal of Resilon.

A depressed peripheral cellular immune response is related to symptomatic neurocysticercosis.

Human neurocysticercosis can cause mild or severe neurological symptoms or be completely asymptomatic. This heterogeneity may depend on host factors such as gender, age and immune-inflammatory response. The present study describes the specific peripheral immune response related to the different forms of neurocysticercosis in the adult population of both sexes.

Taenia solium: the complex interactions, of biological, social, geographical and commercial factors, involved in the transmission dynamics of pig cysticercosis in highly endemic areas.

If a programme for the control of pig cysticercosis is to be effective it has to be based on good data on the local epidemiology of Taenia solium. In 2002-2003, in a cross-sectional study of pig cysticercosis in the Mexican state of Morelos, 1747 pigs that had been born and reared in rural areas of the state were checked for T. solium infection by tongue inspection.

An epidemiological study of familial neurocysticercosis in an endemic Mexican community.

Neurocysticercosis (NC) caused by Taenia solium is a frequent parasitic disease of the central nervous system. It is highly endemic in many developing countries, where many people are exposed but few become infected. Here, the relevance of age, gender, and genetic and exposure factors on NC susceptibility was studied in 649 inhabitants of a rural community of Mexico.

Two exo-beta-D-glucosaminidases/exochitosanases from actinomycetes define a new subfamily within family 2 of glycoside hydrolases.

A GlcNase (exo-beta-D-glucosaminidase) was purified from culture supernatant of Amycolatopsis orientalis subsp. orientalis grown in medium with chitosan. The enzyme hydrolysed the terminal GlcN (glucosamine) residues in oligomers of GlcN with transglycosylation observed at late reaction stages.

Sex-related differences in ratings of perceived exertion and estimated time limit.

The purpose of the present investigation was i) to study the effect of sex on ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and estimation of time limit (ETL) during runs to exhaustion at both absolute and relative physical and physiological reference criteria, ii) to propose some recommendations for exercise intensity prescription from both RPE and ETL according to sex. Eight male and eight female middle-distance endurance-trained runners performed two exercises until exhaustion on an outdoor track. The first test was a graded exercise to determine maximal aerobic velocity (vV.

First observation of 54Zn and its decay by two-proton emission.

The nucleus 54Zn has been observed for the first time in an experiment at the SISSI/LISE3 facility of GANIL in the quasifragmentation of a 58Ni beam at 74.5 MeV/nucleon in a (nat)Ni target. The fragments were analyzed by means of the ALPHA-LISE3 separator and implanted in a silicon-strip detector where correlations in space and time between implantation and subsequent decay events allowed us to generate almost background free decay spectra for about 25 different nuclei at the same time.

Relationship between the clinical heterogeneity of neurocysticercosis and the immune-inflammatory profiles.

Human neurocysticercosis is caused by the establishment of Taenia solium cysticerci in the central nervous system. Neurocysticercosis may be asymptomatic or manifested by non-specific mild to severe neurological symptoms. Host factors may be involved in this heterogeneous clinical picture.

Phosphorylation and function of the hamster adrenal steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR).

In order to study the effect of phosphorylation on the function of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), 10 putative phosphorylation sites were mutated in the hamster StAR. In pcDNA3.1-StAR transfected COS-1 cells, decreases in basal activity were found for the mutants S55A, S185A and S194A.

Detection of secreted cysticercal antigen: a useful tool in the diagnosis of inflammatory neurocysticercosis.

Neurocysticercosis is a common parasitic disease of the human central nervous system. It is particularly prevalent in developing countries, where it has a serious public health and economic impact. A major diagnostic problem with neurocysticercosis is its pleomorphic nature.

Symptomatic human neurocysticercosis--age, sex and exposure factors relating with disease heterogeneity.

Objective: To evaluate the relevance of exposure and host biological factors in the heterogeneity of the clinical, radiological and inflammatory picture of neurocysticercosis (NCC).

Methods: 105 Mexican symptomatic NCC patients confirmed by imaging were studied before they received any specific treatment. The relationships studied were those between a) the patients' characteristics (gender, age and level of exposure), b) the type of clinical picture and c) the radiological and inflammatory characteristics of the disease (number, aspect, localization of the parasites, and CSF leukocyte counts).

Phosphorylation of the hamster adrenal steroidogenic acute regulatory protein as analyzed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoreses.

Post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation and specific proteolysis affect the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) activity. We have found that in pcDNA3.1-StAR-transfected COS-1 cells, StAR was phosphorylated on S55, S56 and S194 (Fleury et al.

Application of synthetic peptides to the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis.

We tested the possible diagnostic utility of five Taenia saginata oncosphere-derived synthetic peptides in T. solium neurocysticercosis (NC). The five peptides correspond to protein sequences with high antigenic indexes that were cloned from a T.

Population genetic structure of Taenia solium from Madagascar and Mexico: implications for clinical profile diversity and immunological technology.

Taenia solium is a cestode parasitic of humans and pigs that strongly impacts on public health in developing countries. Its larvae (cysticercus) lodge in the brain, causing neurocysticercosis, and in other tissues, like skeletal muscle and subcutaneous space, causing extraneuronal cysticercosis. Prevalences of these two clinical manifestations vary greatly among continents.

TH2 profile in asymptomatic Taenia solium human neurocysticercosis.

Neurocysticercosis (NC), a parasitic disease caused by Taenia solium, may be either asymptomatic or have mild to severe symptoms due to several factors. In this study, the immunological factors that underlie NC pleomorphism were studied. Ten of the 132 inhabitants of a rural community in Mexico (Tepez) had a computerized tomography (CT) scan compatible with calcified NC, and all were asymptomatic.

Biomechanical modeling and optimal control of human posture.

The present work describes the biomechanical modeling of human postural mechanics in the saggital plane and the use of optimal control to generate open-loop raising-up movements from a squatting position. The biomechanical model comprises 10 equivalent musculotendon actuators, based on a 40 muscles model, and three links (shank, thigh and HAT-Head, Arms and Trunk). Optimal control solutions are achieved through algorithms based on the Consistent Approximations Theory (Schwartz and Polak, 1996), where the continuous non-linear dynamics is represented in a discrete space by means of a Runge-Kutta integration and the control signals in a spline-coefficient functional space.