Cellular interactions of Candida albicans with human oral epithelial cells and enterocytes.

The human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans can cause systemic infections by invading epithelial barriers to gain access to the bloodstream. One of the main reservoirs of C. albicans is the gastrointestinal tract and systemic infections predominantly originate from this niche.

Proton-detected heteronuclear single quantum correlation NMR spectroscopy in rigid solids with ultra-fast MAS.

In this article, we show the potential for utilizing proton-detected heteronuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) NMR in rigid solids under ultra-fast magic angle spinning (MAS) conditions. The indirect detection of carbon-13 from coupled neighboring hydrogen nuclei provides a sensitivity enhancement of 3- to 4-fold in crystalline amino acids over direct-detected versions. Furthermore, the sensitivity enhancement is shown to be significantly larger for disordered solids that display inhomogeneously broadened carbon-13 spectra.

Effect of a pathway bundle on length of stay.

Background: Pathways to guide clinical care are well accepted and used in many emergency departments. We wanted to introduce a number ("bundle") over a short space of time and involve the whole patient stay in the pathway. It was hypothesised that a more efficient process would result with an overall reduction in length of stay (LoS).

The expression of heat shock protein 70 in the dental pulp following trauma.

Background/aim: Traumatic dental injuries vary in severity from mild concussion to avulsion. All organisms respond to stress by inducing the synthesis of a group of proteins known generically as heat shock proteins. The activation of these proteins is an essential cellular mechanism designed to protect against a variety of environmental stresses.

Structural and dynamic properties of BaInGeH: a rare solid-state indium hydride.

BaInGeH was synthesized by hydrogenating the intermetallic compound BaInGe. The crystal structure determination from the powder neutron diffraction data of BaInGeD [P3m1, Z = 1, a = 4.5354(3) A, c = 5.

Ocular toxoplasmosis: the influence of patient age.

The influence of patient age on various features of ocular toxoplasmosis has been a subject of study for many years. The age at which Toxoplasma gondii infection occurs in different populations is related to socioeconomic factors and studies suggest that ocular toxoplasmosis is a more severe disease at the extremes of age. The prevalence of ocular involvement is markedly different between individuals with congenital and those with post-natally acquired infections.

bdhA-patD operon as a virulence determinant, revealed by a novel large-scale approach for identification of Legionella pneumophila mutants defective for amoeba infection.

Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, is an intracellular parasite of eukaryotic cells. In the environment, it colonizes amoebae. After being inhaled into the human lung, the bacteria infect and damage alveolar cells in a way that is mechanistically similar to the amoeba infection.

Solubility trapping in formation water as dominant CO(2) sink in natural gas fields.

Injecting CO(2) into deep geological strata is proposed as a safe and economically favourable means of storing CO(2) captured from industrial point sources. It is difficult, however, to assess the long-term consequences of CO(2) flooding in the subsurface from decadal observations of existing disposal sites. Both the site design and long-term safety modelling critically depend on how and where CO(2) will be stored in the site over its lifetime.

Chronic anterior uveitis in children: clinical characteristics and complications.

Purpose: To describe clinical features of chronic anterior uveitis in children at presentation to a referral center (baseline); to identify relationships between demographic, medical, and ophthalmic factors at baseline; and to determine baseline factors that predict new complications and vision loss during follow-up.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Methods: Studied were involved eyes of all children (age < or =16 years at disease onset) with chronic anterior uveitis who were examined by 1 clinician from 1993 through 2006.

Alterations in sleep EEG activity during the hypopnoea episodes.

The Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Hypopnoea Syndrome (OSAH) means 'cessation of breath' during the sleep hours and the sufferers often experience related changes in the electrical activity of the brain and heart. The aim of this paper is to investigate any possible changes in the human electroencephalographic (EEG) activity due to hypopnoea (mild case of cessation of breath) occurrences by applying the non-linear and linear time series methods. The results from this one-subject study indicated significant changes in the human EEG activity due to hypopnoea episodes by applying the non-linear, Lyapunov exponent method at C3 EEG electrode site.

X-ray modulation transfer functions of photostimulable phosphor image plates and scanners.

The modulation transfer functions of two types of photostimulable phosphor image plates were determined in the 10 keV to 50 keV x-ray energy range using a resolution test pattern with up to 10 line pairs per mm (LP/mm) and a wavelength dispersive x-ray spectrometer. Techniques were developed for correcting for the partial transmittance of the high energy x rays through the lead bars of the resolution test pattern, and the modulation transfer function (MTF) was determined from the measured change in contrast with LP/mm values. The MTF was convolved with the slit function of the image plate scanner, and the resulting point spread functions (PSFs) were in good agreement with the observed shapes and widths of x-ray spectral lines and with the PSF derived from edge spread functions.

High-resolution imaging spectrometer for recording absolutely calibrated far ultraviolet spectra from laser-produced plasmas.

An imaging spectrometer was designed and fabricated for recording far ultraviolet spectra from laser-produced plasmas with wavelengths as short as 155 nm. The spectrometer implements a Cassegrain telescope and two gratings in a tandem Wadsworth optical configuration that provides diffraction limited resolution. Spectral images were recorded from plasmas produced by the irradiation of various target materials by intense KrF laser radiation with 248 nm wavelength.

Development of backlighting sources for a Compton radiography diagnostic of inertial confinement fusion targets (invited).

We present scaled demonstrations of backlighter sources, emitting bremsstrahlung x rays with photon energies above 75 keV, that we will use to record x-ray Compton radiographic snapshots of cold dense DT fuel in inertial confinement fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In experiments performed at the Titan laser facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we measured the source size and the bremsstrahlung spectrum as a function of laser intensity and pulse length from solid targets irradiated at 2x10(17)-5x10(18) W/cm(2) using 2-40 ps pulses. Using Au planar foils we achieved source sizes down to 5.

Effects of VEGF and FGF2 on the revascularization of severed human dental pulps.

The long-term outcome of replanted avulsed permanent teeth is frequently compromised by lack of revascularization, resulting in pulp necrosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) on the revascularization of severed human dental pulps. Tooth slices were prepared from non-carious human molars and treated with 0-50 ng/mL rhVEGF(165) or rhFGF-2 for 7 days in vitro.

Intraocular inflammation associated with ocular toxoplasmosis: relationships at initial examination.

Purpose: To describe characteristics of intraocular inflammation in eyes with active ocular toxoplasmosis and to identify relationships between signs of inflammation, complications (including elevated intraocular pressure [IOP]), other disease features, and host characteristics.

Design: Multicenter, retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 210 patients with toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis at seven international sites (North America, South America, and Europe) for information from the first examination at each site during which patients had active retinal lesions.

Quantifying the fraction of glycine and alanine in beta-sheet and helical conformations in spider dragline silk using solid-state NMR.

Solid-state two-dimensional refocused INADEQUATE MAS NMR experiments resolve distinct helical and beta-sheet conformational environments for both alanine and glycine in Nephila clavipes dragline silk fibers; the fraction of alanine and glycine in beta-sheet structures is determined to be 82% +/- 4% and 28% +/- 5%, respectively.

Contrast sensitivity among patients with birdshot chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: To assess contrast sensitivity in patients with birdshot chorioretinopathy; to identify relationships between contrast sensitivity, other measures of visual function, clinical findings, and quality of life.

Design: Single-center, cross-sectional study.

Methods: We measured contrast sensitivity in 63 patients (126 eyes) at four spatial frequencies (3, 6, 12, 18 cycles/degree [cpd]) using the CSV-1000E instrument (VectorVision, Greenville, Ohio, USA).

Longitudinal cohort study of patients with birdshot chorioretinopathy. V. Quality of life at baseline.

Purpose: To describe results of a vision-specific quality-of-life (QOL) questionnaire at baseline examination of 80 subjects in a longitudinal cohort study of birdshot chorioretinopathy and to identify relationships between these results and measures of visual function.

Design: Single-center, cross-sectional study.

Methods: The National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) was administered to all subjects.

What CO2 well gases tell us about the origin of noble gases in the mantle and their relationship to the atmosphere.

Study of commercially produced volcanic CO2 gas associated with the Colorado Plateau, USA, has revealed substantial new information about the noble gas isotopic composition and elemental abundance pattern of the mantle. Combined with published data from mid-ocean ridge basalts, it is now clear that the convecting mantle has a maximum (20)Ne/(22)Ne isotopic composition, indistinguishable from that attributed to solar wind-implanted (SWI) neon in meteorites. This is distinct from the higher (20)Ne/(22)Ne isotopic value expected for solar nebula gases.

Polyanionic gallium hydrides from AlB2-type precursors AeGaE (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba; E = Si, Ge, Sn).

The quaternary hydrides (deuterides) SrGaGeH(D), BaGaSiH(D), BaGaGeH(D), and BaGaSnH(D) were obtained by investigating the hydrogenation behavior of AeGaE intermetallic compounds (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba; E = Si, Ge, Sn), and structurally characterized by powder X-ray and neutron diffraction as well as solid state (1)H NMR investigations. The new main group metal/semimetal hydrides were found to crystallize with the simple trigonal SrAlSiH structure type (space group P3m1, Z = 1, a = 4.22-4.

Determining secondary structure in spider dragline silk by carbon-carbon correlation solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

Two-dimensional (2D) (13)C-(13)C NMR correlation spectra were collected on (13)C-enriched dragline silk fibers produced from Nephila clavipes spiders. The 2D NMR spectra were acquired under fast magic-angle spinning (MAS) and dipolar-assisted rotational resonance (DARR) recoupling to enhance magnetization transfer between (13)C spins. Spectra obtained with short (150 ms) recoupling periods were utilized to extract distinct chemical shifts for all carbon resonances of each labeled amino acid in the silk spectra, resulting in a complete resonance assignment.

KIR and HLA gene combinations in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a putative autoimmune ocular inflammatory disease and is known to be associated with HLA-DR4 and -DR1 in Mestizos. We examined the genes encoding KIR receptors and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I ligands in patients with VKH disease and compared to published controls. We found trends toward more group B KIR haplogroups (p=0.