Characterization of avian poxvirus in Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in California, USA.

Avian poxvirus (genus Avipoxvirus, family Poxviridae) is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus that may be transmitted to birds by arthropod vectors or mucosal membrane contact with infectious particles. We characterized the infection in Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna; n = 5 birds, n = 9 lesions) by conducting diagnostic tests on skin lesions that were visually similar to avian poxvirus lesions in other bird species. Skin lesions were single or multiple, dry and firm, pink to yellow, with scabs on the surface, and located at the base of the bill, wings, or legs.

Internet and mobile technology use among urban African American parents: survey study of a clinical population.

Background: There is considerable potential for mobile technologies to empower pediatric patients and families by improving their communication with health professionals. National surveys suggest minority parents frequently communicate via mobile technology, but it is uncertain how amenable they are to receiving health care information in this format. Although the low cost and far reach characteristics of mobile health (mHealth) technology makes it advantageous for communication with minority parents, data on acceptance are needed.

Asymmetric optic nerve sheath diameter as an outcome factor following cranioplasty in patients harboring the 'syndrome of the trephined'.

Unlabelled: Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is gaining an increasing role in the neurosurgical treatment of intractable intracranial hypertension, but not without complications. A rare complication is the "syndrome of the trephined" (ST). It occurs when the forces of gravity overwhelm intracranial pressures, leading the brain to become sunken.

Towards the phosphoproteome of trypanosomatids.

The identification and localization of protein phosphorylation sites provide clues to what proteins or pathways might be activated in a given condition, helping to improve our understanding about signaling networks. Advances in strategies for enrichment of phosphorylated peptides/proteins, mass spectrometry (MS) instrumentation, and specific MS techniques for identification and quantification of post-translational modifications have allowed for large-scale mapping of phosphorylation sites, promoting the field of phosphoproteomics. The great promise of phosphoproteomics is to unravel the dynamics of signaling networks, a layer of the emerging field of systems biology.

Mygalin: a new anticonvulsant polyamine in acute seizure model and neuroethological schedule.

Polyamines are compounds that interact with ionotropic receptors, mainly modulating the NMDA receptor, which is strictly related to many neurologic diseases such as epilepsy. Consequently, polyamines rise as potential neuropharmacological tools in the prospection of new therapeutic drugs. In this paper, we report on the biological activity of synthetic polyamine Mygalin, which was tested as an anticonvulsant in model of chemically induced seizures.

Inspiratory flow limitation in a normal population of adults in São Paulo, Brazil.

Study Objectives: Inspiratory flow limitation (IFL) during sleep occurs when airflow remains constant despite an increase in respiratory effort. This respiratory event has been recognized as an important parameter for identifying sleep breathing disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate how much IFL normal individuals can present during sleep.

Mechanism-based triarylphosphine-ester probes for capture of endogenous RSNOs.

Nitrosothiols (RSNOs) have been proposed as important intermediates in nitric oxide (NO(•)) metabolism, storage, and transport as well as mediators in numerous NO-signaling pathways. RSNO levels are finely regulated, and dysregulation is associated with the etiology of several pathologies. Current methods for RSNO quantification depend on indirect assays that limit their overall specificity and reliability.

Pathways to service receipt: modeling parent help-seeking for childhood mental health problems.

Understanding parent appraisals of child behavior problems and parental help-seeking can reduce unmet mental health needs. Research has examined individual contributors to help-seeking and service receipt, but use of structural equation modeling (SEM) is rare. SEM was used to examine parents' appraisal of child behavior, thoughts about seeking help, and receipt of professional services in a diverse, urban sample (N = 189) recruited from women infant and children offices.

Predicting Mothers' Reports of Children's Mental Health Three Years after Hurricane Katrin.

This study explored pathways through which hurricane-related stressors affected the psychological functioning of elementary school aged children who survived Hurricane Katrina. Participants included 184 mothers from the New Orleans area who completed assessments one year pre-disaster (Time 1), and one and three years post-disaster (Time 2 and Time 3, respectively). Mothers rated their children's behavior problems at Time 3 only ( = 251 children; 53.

Identifying and addressing mental health risks and problems in primary care pediatric settings: a model to promote developmental and cultural competence.

Young children, particularly uninsured children of color, suffer from mental health disturbances at rates similar to older children and adults, yet they have higher rates of unmet needs. To address unmet needs, efforts to identify mental health problems in primary care pediatric settings have grown in recent years, thanks in large part to expanded screening efforts. Yet, health disparities in early detection remain.

Endogenously produced nitric oxide mitigates sensitivity of melanoma cells to cisplatin.

Melanoma patients experience inferior survival after biochemotherapy when their tumors contain numerous cells expressing the inducible isoform of NO synthase (iNOS) and elevated levels of nitrotyrosine, a product derived from NO. Although several lines of evidence suggest that NO promotes tumor growth and increases resistance to chemotherapy, it is unclear how it shapes these outcomes. Here we demonstrate that modulation of NO-mediated S-nitrosation of cellular proteins is strongly associated with the pattern of response to the anticancer agent cisplatin in human melanoma cells in vitro.

Nitric oxide produced endogenously is responsible for hypoxia-induced HIF-1α stabilization in colon carcinoma cells.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a critical regulator of cellular responses to hypoxia. Under normoxic conditions, the cellular HIF-1α level is regulated by hydroxylation by prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs), ubiquitylation, and proteasomal degradation. During hypoxia, degradation decreases, and its intracellular level is increased.

Injuries in pacu embryos (Piaractus mesopotamicus) after freezing and thawing.

Although the sperm cryopreservation of freshwater and marine teleosts has been feasible for years, the cryopreservation of some fish embryos still remains elusive. Thus, the objective of this experiment was to analyze the embryo morphology after freezing and thawing 40 embryos of Piaractus mesopotamicus immersed into methanol and ethylene glycol, both at 7, 10 and 13% plus 0.1 M sucrose for 10 min.

Quantitative proteomics of Trypanosoma cruzi during metacyclogenesis.

Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, which is estimated to affect over eight million people around the world. Trypanosoma cruzi has a complex life cycle, involving insect and mammalian hosts and four distinct developmental stages: epimastigotes, metacyclic trypomastigotes, amastigotes, and bloodstream trypomastigotes. Metacyclogenesis is the process by which T.

Increasing storage capability of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) embryos by chilling: development of a useful methodology for hatcheries management.

Cryopreservation of fish gametes has been studied extensively in the last few decades, but the successful cryopreservation of fish embryos remains elusive. However, recent studies using short-term chilling techniques have shown that it is possible to store embryos at low temperatures with no significant loss in viability. Information on cryopreservation of Neotropical freshwater fish embryos has so far been very limited in the literature.

Bilateral vocal fold immobility: diagnosis and treatment.

Unlabelled: Vocal fold immobility may be due to bilateral neurogenic paralysis, cricoarytenoid joint fixation, laryngeal synechiae, or posterior glottic stenosis. Treatment aims to establish a patent airway and preserve the function of the glottic sphincter and voice quality.

Objectives: To analyze the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in cases of bilateral vocal fold immobility seen at our unit.

Patterns of anxiety symptoms in toddlers and preschool-age children: evidence of early differentiation.

The degree to which young children's anxiety symptoms differentiate according to diagnostic groupings is under-studied, especially in children below the age of 4 years. Theoretical (confirmatory factor analysis, CFA) and statistical (exploratory factor analysis, EFA) analytical methods were employed to test the hypothesis that anxiety symptoms among 2-3-year-old children from a non-clinical, representative sample would differentiate in a manner consistent with current diagnostic nosology. Anxiety symptom items were selected from two norm-referenced parent-report scales of child behavior.

Profiling the Trypanosoma cruzi phosphoproteome.

Protein phosphorylation is a reversible post-translational modification essential for the regulation of several signal transduction pathways and biological processes in the living cell. Therefore, the identification of protein phosphorylation sites is crucial to understand cell signaling control at the molecular level. Based on mass spectrometry, recent studies have reported the large-scale mapping of phosphorylation sites in various eukaryotes and prokaryotes.

Effect of cryoprotectants on the survival of cascudo preto (Rhinelepis aspera) embryos stored at -8 °C.

Cryopreservation of germplasm provides a promising method to preserve fish genetic material, which is of great importance in preservation of species diversity, aquaculture, and management of fish models used in biomedical research. In the present study, cryopreservation of Rhinelepis aspera embryos, a Brazilian endangered species, was studied for the first time using a short-term cooling protocol. Embryos at blastoporous closing stage were selected, placed in 6-ml glass vials and stored at -8 °C for 6 h in 10 different cryoprotectant solutions: S1 (17.

Anthropometric data as predictors of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity.

Unlabelled: The Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome is a chronic disease characterized by episodes upper airway collapse, and has been associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity.

Aim: To correlate the neck, abdominal and pelvic circumference with the AHI and oxyhemoglobin saturation in OSA patients, and to correlate these values with disease severity.

Materials And Methods: A prospective descriptive study of 82 patients evaluated complaints suggesting OSA, from July 2008 to March 2010.

Quantitative analysis of essential oils in perfume using multivariate curve resolution combined with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

The use of multivariate curve resolution (MCR) to build multivariate quantitative models using data obtained from comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC×GC-FID) is presented and evaluated. The MCR algorithm presents some important features, such as second order advantage and the recovery of the instrumental response for each pure component after optimization by an alternating least squares (ALS) procedure. A model to quantify the essential oil of rosemary was built using a calibration set containing only known concentrations of the essential oil and cereal alcohol as solvent.

PPARγ expression is increased in systemic lupus erythematosus patients and represses CD40/CD40L signaling pathway.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a heterogeneous disease involving several immune cell types and pro-inflammatory signals, including the one triggered by binding of CD40L to the receptor CD40. Peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a transcription factor with anti-inflammatory properties. Here we investigated whether CD40 and PPARγ could exert opposite effects in the immune response and the possible implications for SLE.