Progesterone for women with threatened miscarriage (STOP trial): a placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.

Study Question: In women with threatened miscarriage, does progesterone supplementation until the completion of the first trimester of pregnancy increase the probability of live birth?

Summary Answer: In women with threatened miscarriage, 400 mg vaginal progesterone nightly, from onset of bleeding until 12 weeks, did not increase live birth rates.

What Is Known Already: Limited evidence has indicated that vaginal micronized progesterone may make little or no difference to the live birth rate when compared with placebo in women with threatened miscarriage. Subgroup analysis of one recent randomized trial reported that in women with bleeding and at least one previous miscarriage, progesterone might be of benefit.

One-Pot Extractive Transesterification of Fatty Acids Followed by DMOX Derivatization for Location of Double Bonds Using GC-EI-MS.

Fatty acids are an essential structural and energy storage component of cells and hence there is much interest in their metabolism, requiring identification and quantification with readily available instrumentation, such as GC-MS. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) can be generated and extracted directly from biological tissue, in a one-pot process, and following high resolution GC, their respective chain length, degrees of unsaturation, and other functionalities can be readily identified using EI-MS. Defining the positions of the double bonds in the alkyl chain requires conversion of the FAMEs into their respective dimethyloxazoline (DMOX) derivatives.

Synthesis, DNA Cleavage Activity, Cytotoxicity, Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition, and Acute Murine Toxicity of Redox-Active Ruthenium(II) Polypyridyl Complexes.

Four mononuclear [(L-L) Ru(tatpp)] and two dinuclear [(L-L) Ru(tatpp)Ru(L-L) ] ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes (RPCs) containing the 9,11,20,22-tetraazatetrapyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c:3'',2''-l:2''',3'''-n]pentacene (tatpp) ligand were synthesized, in which L-L is a chelating diamine ligand such as 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Me phen) or 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Ph phen). These Ru-tatpp analogues all undergo reduction reactions with modest reducing agents, such as glutathione (GSH), at pH 7. These, plus several structurally related but non-redox-active RPCs, were screened for DNA cleavage activity, cytotoxicity, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition, and acute mouse toxicity, and their activities were examined with respect to redox activity and lipophilicity.

Factors Altering Pyruvate Excretion in a Glycogen Storage Mutant of the Cyanobacterium, Synechococcus PCC7942.

Interest in the production of carbon commodities from photosynthetically fixed CO2 has focused attention on cyanobacteria as a target for metabolic engineering and pathway investigation. We investigated the redirection of carbon flux in the model cyanobacterial species, Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, under nitrogen deprivation, for optimized production of the industrially desirable compound, pyruvate. Under nitrogen limited conditions, excess carbon is naturally stored as the multi-branched polysaccharide, glycogen, but a block in glycogen synthesis, via knockout mutation in the gene encoding ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (glgC), results in the accumulation of the organic acids, pyruvate and 2-oxoglutarate, as overflow excretions into the extracellular media.

Temperature modulation of fatty acid profiles for biofuel production in nitrogen deprived Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

This study investigated the changes in the fatty acid content and composition in the nitrogen-starved Chlamydomonas reinhardtii starchless mutant, BAF-J5, grown at different temperatures. The optimal temperature for vegetative growth under nitrogen sufficient conditions was found to be 32 °C. Shifting temperature from 25 to 32 °C, in conjunction with nitrogen starvation, resulted in BAF-J5 storing the maximum quantity of fatty acid (76% of dry cell weight).

In-vitro assessment of a new portable ballistic lithotripter with percutaneous and ureteroscopic models.

Background And Purpose: The EMS Swiss LithoBreaker is a new, portable, electrokinetic lithotripter. We compared its tip velocity and displacement characteristics with a handheld, pneumatic lithotripter LMA StoneBreaker.™ We also evaluated fragmentation efficiency using in vitro models of percutaneous and ureteroscopic stone fragmentation.

Fatty acid profiling of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under nitrogen deprivation.

The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii starch-less mutant, BAF-J5, was found to store lipids up to 65% of dry cell weight when grown photoheterotrophically and subjected to nitrogen starvation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used as a high-throughput method for semi-quantitative measurements of protein, carbohydrate and lipid content. The fatty acids of wild-type and starch mutants were identified and quantified by gas chromatography mass spectrometry.

Differential protein expression in the corpus callosum (splenium) of human alcoholics: a proteomics study.

It is widely accepted that the chronic use of alcohol induces metabolic abnormalities and neuronal damage in the brain, which can lead to cognitive dysfunction. Neuroimaging studies reveal that alcohol-induced brain damage is region specific and prominent damage has been observed in both gray and white matter of the prefrontal cortex, and a wide range of white matter structures including the corpus callosum. Molecular mechanisms underlying these structural changes are largely unknown.