Identification of Novel Nitrosative Stress Inhibitors through Virtual Screening and Experimental Evaluation.

Nitrosative and oxidative stress, associated with the generation of excessive reactive nitrogen and oxygen radical species respectively, are thought to contribute to protein misfolding diseases which represent a group of neurodegenerative disorders that are characterized by protein aggregation and plaque formation. Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound, possesses diverse anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antioxidant properties. Several studies have revealed that curcumin can reduce the oxidative/nitrosative stress and thereby decrease the neuronal attrition.

The effect of noncardiac disease on plasma brain natriuretic peptide concentration in dogs.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of noncardiac disease on c-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (cBNP) concentrations in dogs.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Urban university veterinary hospital.

Prediction of partial molar volumes of amino acids and small peptides: counting atoms versus topological indices.

Experimental data of partial molar volumes of amino acids and small peptides were compiled from several publications and enabled us to perform a predicative analysis based on quantitative structure-property relationships (QSPR). Based on the simplest level of the descriptors, the new method has high accuracy and was found to be more reliable when compared to the latter QSPR method based on topological indexes. Incorporation of isoelectric pH and 3-D solvent-accessible surface area parameters increased the predictability of the equation to a small extent.

Assessment of plasma cardiac troponin I concentration as a means to differentiate cardiac and noncardiac causes of dyspnea in cats.

Objective: To determine whether plasma cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentrations can be used to discriminate cardiac from noncardiac causes of dyspnea in cats.

Design: Prospective, multicenter study.

Animals: Client-owned cats with dyspnea attributable to congestive heart failure (D-CHF; n=31) or to noncardiac causes (D-NCC; n=12).

Cardiac troponin I is elevated in dogs and cats with azotaemia renal failure and in dogs with non-cardiac systemic disease.

Objective: To determine if dogs and cats with renal failure, or other severe non-cardiac disease, and no antemortem evidence of cardiac disease on basic clinical evaluation, have elevated levels of cardiac troponin I (cTnI).

Design: Cross-sectional study using 56 dogs and 14 cats with primary non-cardiac disease (39 dogs with azotaemic renal failure, 14 cats with azotaemic renal failure, 17 dogs with non-cardiac systemic disease); 7/25 dogs and 6/14 cats had murmurs detected on physical examination. Serum or heparinised plasma was collected and analysed for cTnI.

Longitudinal epiphyseal bracket.

A longitudinal epiphyseal bracket (LEB) is a defect of the tubular bones and has been primarily described in the hands and feet, especially the proximal phalanges, metacarpals, and metatarsals. The LEB results from a defective C-shaped secondary ossification center that brackets the diaphysis and metaphysis, causing restricted longitudinal growth in these bones with resultant shortening and angular deformities. Deformities associated with metatarsal epiphyseal bracket include a short, broad metatarsal and medial deviation of the metatarsophalangeal joint (hallux varus deformity).

Aromatic stabilization energy calculations for the antiaromatic fluorenyl cation. Issues in the choice of reference systems for positively charged species.

Aromatic stabilization energy (ASE) calculations for the fluorenyl cation show substantial destabilization in comparison to suitable reference systems (16.3 +/- 1.6 kcal/mol), supporting its categorization as an antiaromatic species.

Cardiac troponin I in feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Measurement of plasma cardiac troponin I concentration ([cTnI]) is a sensitive and specific means for detecting myocardial damage in many mammalian species. Studies have shown that [cTnI] increases rapidly after cardiomyocyte injury. The molecular structure of cTnl is highly conserved across species, and current assays developed for its detection in humans have been validated in many species.

Molecular Structure Parameters and Predictions of Enthalpies of Formation for Catacondensed and Pericondensed Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

Simple procedures that combine calculated ab initio theoretical energies with empirical structural parameters to correlate experimental enthalpies of formation for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are evaluated for predictive potential. The analyzed data set consists of every benzenoid PAH with an experimentally determined DeltaH(f) degrees (g), i.e.

Osteomyelitis of the calcaneus in children.

Eleven cases of calcaneal osteomyelitis in children are reported. Seven were hematogenous cases, and the remaining four were related to puncture wounds. The clinical presentation was less dramatic than that seen in typical long bone osteomyelitis.

Lawn mower injuries of the pediatric foot and ankle: observations on prevention and management.

We reviewed 32 children with lower extremity injuries caused by power lawn mowers. Functional outcome of 21 patients was evaluated. Anatomical injury patterns provide some guidelines in management and prediction of functional outcome.

Adolescent femoral shaft fractures: rigid versus flexible nails.

Twenty-one skeletally immature patients between 11 and 16 years of age were treated operatively for a unilateral femoral shaft fracture. Eleven patients underwent fixation with flexible nails and 10 with rigid nails. The patients were studied retrospectively to determine the similarity of the groups.

Epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury and acute hospitalization and rehabilitation charges for spinal cord injuries in Oklahoma, 1988-1990.

Few injuries result in more profound and long-term disability than traumatic spinal cord injury. This study describes the demographic and epidemiologic characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injury among Oklahoma residents reported to the statewide, population-based surveillance system in 1988-1990; initial acute hospital and rehabilitation charges for 1989 are also included. There was a reported incidence rate of 40 per million population.

A comparison of Wisconsin instrumentation and Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation.

Twenty-six patients who underwent Wisconsin instrumentation and 36 patients who underwent Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation (CDI) for idiopathic scoliosis were studied. Inclusion in the study required at least 24-month follow-up. Variables compared included operating time, blood loss, frontal plane correction, axial and sagittal plane changes, effects on compensation, and complications.

Is pinning in situ a safe procedure for slipped capital femoral epiphysis?

This report reviews the results of 37 patients with 46 involved hips treated with pinning for slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Particular attention was given to incidence of complications, including avascular necrosis, chondrolysis, and penetration of the joint. Of 46 hips with 1-year follow-up, there were no cases of chondrolysis.

Hip stabilization in severely involved cerebral palsy patients.

Thirty-two patients (48 hips) with total body involved cerebral palsy (CP) underwent medial release and proximal femoral osteotomy for hip subluxation or dislocation. Twenty-eight hips were rated good, 15 were rated fair, and five were rated poor at follow-up. The better located the hip preoperatively and the better the reduction obtained at operation, the better the final result.

Management of femoral shaft fractures in the adolescent.

Forty-four patients (45 fractures) with open physes (age range 11-16 years) underwent treatment for femoral shaft fractures. Seven malunions occurred in the 24 fractures in the nonoperative group; none occurred in the 21 fractures treated by intramedullary nailing. Hospital stay was significantly shorter in the operatively treated patients.

Clinical and radiological evaluation of lumbosacral motion below fusion levels in idiopathic scoliosis.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the unfused segments of the lumbar spine in patients who had Harrington instrumentation and fusion for idiopathic scoliosis. Forty-eight patients, with an average follow-up of 11 years, were evaluated. The translational motion in the unfused segments below the instrumented levels was measured, using lateral flexion and extension radiographs of the lumbar spine.

Neurologic return versus cross-sectional canal area in incomplete thoracolumbar spinal cord injuries.

Twenty-four patients with incomplete spinal cord injuries secondary to burst fractures of the thoracolumbar spine were reviewed an average of 26 months after their injury. No patient had had a specific attempt to decompress neural elements but the majority had posterior instrumentation and fusion for spine realignment and stabilization. The amount of neurologic recovery in each patient was compared to the final area of the spinal canal as determined by CT scan.