Impact of Dietary Restriction Regimens on Mitochondria, Heart, and Endothelial Function: A Brief Overview.

Caloric restriction (CR) and intermittent fasting (IF) are strategies aimed to promote health beneficial effects by interfering with several mechanisms responsible for cardiovascular diseases. Both dietary approaches decrease body weight, insulin resistance, blood pressure, lipids, and inflammatory status. All these favorable effects are the result of several metabolic adjustments, which have been addressed in this review, i.

Development of a molecular-beacon-based multi-allelic real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of human coronavirus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV): a general methodology for detecting rapidly mutating viruses.

Emerging infectious diseases have caused a global effort for development of fast and accurate detection techniques. The rapidly mutating nature of viruses presents a major difficulty, highlighting the need for specific detection of genetically diverse strains. One such infectious agent is SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which emerged in 2003.

Convergence of quantum dot barcodes with microfluidics and signal processing for multiplexed high-throughput infectious disease diagnostics.

Through the convergence of nano- and microtechnologies (quantum dots and microfluidics), we have created a diagnostic system capable of multiplexed, high-throughput analysis of infectious agents in human serum samples. We demonstrate, as a proof-of-concept, the ability to detect serum biomarkers of the most globally prevalent blood-borne infectious diseases (i.e.

Real-time PCR assay for rapid detection and analysis of PfCRT haplotypes of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum isolates from India.

Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum (CRPF) malaria isolates in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa share the same Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) haplotype (CVIET; amino acids 72 to 76). It is believed that CRPF malaria emerged in Southeast Asia and spread to sub-Saharan Africa via the Indian subcontinent. Based on this assumption, we hypothesized that CRPF isolates in India should possess the same drug resistance haplotype (PfCRT haplotype CVIET) as P.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the rapid detection and characterization of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria in returned travelers.

Background: Imported drug-resistant malaria is a growing problem in industrialized countries. Rapid and accurate diagnosis is essential to prevent malaria-associated mortality in returned travelers. However, outside of a limited number of specialized centers, the microscopic diagnosis of malaria is slow, unreliable, and provides little information about drug resistance.