Textbook Selection in Nursing Education: An Updated Perspective.

Background: Evidence-based guidelines about textbook selection for nursing didactic courses are lacking. Therefore, this study explored the priorities of faculty in baccalaureate nursing programs for selecting primary textbooks.

Purpose: The study aimed to identify the ranking of essential characteristics in nursing textbooks, including content, general characteristics, supplemental resources, organization, and specific considerations about electronic textbooks.

KRAS genotyping of paraffin-embedded colorectal cancer tissue in routine diagnostics: comparison of methods and impact of histology.

KRAS mutation testing before anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapy of metastatic colorectal cancer has become mandatory in Europe. However, considerable uncertainty exists as to which methods for detection can be applied in a reproducible and economically sound manner in the routine diagnostic setting. To answer this question, we examined 263 consecutive routine paraffin slide specimens.

Low-density macroarray for rapid detection and identification of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne viral zoonosis which occurs throughout Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia and results in an approximately 30% fatality rate. A reverse transcription-PCR assay including a competitive internal control was developed on the basis of the most up-to-date genome information. Biotinylated amplification products were hybridized to DNA macroarrays on the surfaces of polymer supports, and hybridization events were visualized by incubation with a streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate and the formation of a visible substrate precipitate.

Generic detection of coronaviruses and differentiation at the prototype strain level by reverse transcription-PCR and nonfluorescent low-density microarray.

A nonfluorescent low-cost, low-density oligonucleotide array was designed for detecting the whole coronavirus genus after reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. The limit of detection was 15.7 copies/reaction.

Rapid detection of specific gene mutations associated with isoniazid or rifampicin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates using non-fluorescent low-density DNA microarrays.

Background: A new, fast 'low cost and density' DNA microarray (LCD array), designed for the detection of mutations that confer isoniazid or rifampicin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, has been developed and was evaluated using 46 resistant clinical isolates from Barcelona.

Methods: LCD chips are pre-structured polymer supports using a non-fluorescent detection principle based on the precipitation of a clearly visible dark substrate. One LCD chip consists of eight identical microarrays, designed to detect mutations within the 90 bp rpoB region, codon 315 in the katG gene and the mabA-inhA regulatory region.

Identification of benzothiazoles as potential polyglutamine aggregation inhibitors of Huntington's disease by using an automated filter retardation assay.

Preventing the formation of insoluble polyglutamine containing protein aggregates in neurons may represent an attractive therapeutic strategy to ameliorate Huntington's disease (HD). Therefore, the ability to screen for small molecules that suppress the self-assembly of huntingtin would have potential clinical and significant research applications. We have developed an automated filter retardation assay for the rapid identification of chemical compounds that prevent HD exon 1 protein aggregation in vitro.

Ecdysone-controlled mRNA stability in Drosophila salivary glands: deadenylation-independent degradation of larval glue protein gene message during the larval/prepupal transition.

20-Hydroxyecdysone induces poly(A) shortening and the subsequent degradation of transcripts encoding the larval glue protein LGP-1 in Drosophila virilis late third larval instar salivary glands. Degradation concurs with the transient increase of ribonucleolytic activities in the gland cells. In vitro nuclease assays using crude cytoplasmic extracts of ecdysone-treated salivary glands demonstrate degradation to be deadenylation-independent and that the induced ribonucleolytic activities initiate the degradation of the Lgp-1 transcripts in putative single-stranded loop regions.

Rapid determination of short DNA sequences by the use of MALDI-MS.

We have developed a protocol for rapid sequencing of short DNA stretches (15-20 nt) using MALDI-TOF-MS. The protocol is based on the Sanger concept with the modification that double-stranded template DNA is used and all four sequencing reactions are performed in one reaction vial. The sequencing products are separated and detected by MALDI-TOF-MS and the sequence is determined by comparing measured molecular mass differences to expected values.

Inhibition of huntingtin fibrillogenesis by specific antibodies and small molecules: implications for Huntington's disease therapy.

The accumulation of insoluble protein aggregates in intra and perinuclear inclusions is a hallmark of Huntington's disease (HD) and related glutamine-repeat disorders. A central question is whether protein aggregation plays a direct role in the pathogenesis of these neurodegenerative diseases. Here we show by using a filter retardation assay that the mAb 1C2, which specifically recognizes the elongated polyglutamine (polyQ) stretch in huntingtin, and the chemical compounds Congo red, thioflavine S, chrysamine G, and Direct fast yellow inhibit HD exon 1 protein aggregation in a dose-dependent manner.

Self-assembly of polyglutamine-containing huntingtin fragments into amyloid-like fibrils: implications for Huntington's disease pathology.

Huntington's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by a polyglutamine [poly(Q)] repeat expansion in the first exon of the huntingtin protein. Previously, we showed that N-terminal huntingtin peptides with poly(Q) tracts in the pathological range (51-122 glutamines), but not with poly(Q) tracts in the normal range (20 and 30 glutamines), form high molecular weight protein aggregates with a fibrillar or ribbon-like morphology, reminiscent of scrapie prion rods and beta-amyloid fibrils in Alzheimer's disease. Here we report that the formation of amyloid-like huntingtin aggregates in vitro not only depends on poly(Q) repeat length but also critically depends on protein concentration and time.

Promoters of nuclear-encoded respiratory chain complex I genes from Arabidopsis thaliana contain a region essential for anther/pollen-specific expression.

Regulatory promoter regions responsible for the enhanced expression in anthers and pollen are defined in detail for three nuclear encoded mitochondrial Complex I (nCl) genes from Arabidopsis thaliana. Specific regulatory elements were found conserved in the 5' upstream regions between three different genes encoding the 22 kDa (PSST), 55 kDa NADH binding (55 kDa) and 28 kDa (TYKY) subunits, respectively. Northern blot analysis and transgenic Arabidopsis plants carrying progressive deletions of the promoters fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene by histochemical and fluorimetric methods showed that all three promoters drive enhanced expression of GUS specifically in anther tissues and in pollen grains.

Physiological, biochemical and molecular aspects of mitochondrial complex I in plants.

Respiratory complex I of plant mitochondria has to date been investigated with respect to physiological function, biochemical properties and molecular structure. In the respiratory chain complex I is the major entry gate for low potential electrons from matrix NADH, reducing ubiquinone and utilizing the released energy to pump protons across the inner membrane. Plant complex I is active against a background of several other NAD(P)H dehydrogenases, which do not contribute in proton pumping, but permit and establish several different routes of shuttling electrons from NAD(P)H to ubiquinone.

Molecular characterisation of the 76 kDa iron-sulphur protein subunit of potato mitochondrial complex I.

Genes encoding subunits of complex I (EC 1.6.5.

Three alternatively spliced variants of the gene coding for the human bone morphogenetic protein-1.

The human bone morphogenetic protein-1 was originally identified as a protein with the capacity to stimulate bone and cartilage growth in vitro. Its gene sequence identified it as an alternatively spliced human homolog of the Drosophila dorsal-ventral patterning tolloid gene and suggested that it activates transforming growth factor-beta-like molecules by proteolytic cleavage. Its expression pattern and its recently identified activity as a procollagen C proteinase, however, suggest that it has a more general function in the early stages of embryogenesis.

The 28.5-kDa iron-sulfur protein of mitochondrial complex I is encoded in the nucleus in plants.

The intrinsic 28.5-kDa iron-sulfur protein of complex I in the mitochondrial respiratory chain is encoded in the nucleus in animals and fungi, but specified by a mitochondrial gene in trypanosomes. In plants, the homologous protein is now found to be encoded by a single-copy nuclear gene in Arabidopsis thaliana and by two nuclear genes in potato.

The NADH-binding subunit of respiratory chain complex I is nuclear-encoded in plants and identified only in mitochondria.

In higher plants, genes for subunits of respiratory chain complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) have so far been identified solely in organellar genomes. At least nine subunits are encoded by the mitochondrial DNA and 11 homologues by the plastid DNA. One of the 'key' components of complex I is the subunit binding the substrate NADH.

The plant mitochondrial 22 kDa (PSST) subunit of respiratory chain complex I is encoded by a nuclear gene with enhanced transcript levels in flowers.

Genes for subunits of respiratory chain complex I are found in mitochondrial, plastid and/or nuclear genomes with varying distributions in the diverse eukaryotic species. The intrinsic PSST subunit of complex I is a mitochondrially encoded protein in Paramecium but is specified by a nuclear gene in animals. In plants to date only the homologous plastid encoded NDH-K gene product has been described.

RNA editing in the cox3 mRNA of Magnolia is more extensive than in other dicot or monocot plants.

The Magnoliaceae are discussed as one of the key species at the root of the flowering plants. To obtain molecular information for one of these phylogenetically interesting plant species, we determined genomic and cDNA sequences of the mitochondrial cox3 gene in Magnolia grandiflora. Twenty-two RNA editing events are identified to alter cytidines in the mRNA to uridines, all but one of which change the encoded amino acid identity.