Long-Term Clinical Outcomes and Health-Related Quality of Life After the Ross Procedure.

Background: To evaluate long-term clinical outcomes and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in young adults following Ross procedures for aortic valve pathology.

Methods: From January 1990 to April 2021, 166 patients aged 14 to 63 years underwent the Ross procedure at Cleveland Clinic. Outcomes included postoperative events, longitudinal autograft valve function, reinterventions, and survival.

Modeling Habitat Suitability for and in Indo-West Pacific Mangroves.

Mangroves provide habitat for a diverse array of marine species, especially snails. We used a MaxEnt model to predict potential global suitable habitat for and in the family Potamididae. A total of 667 occurrence data were obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) with the following sub-data set contribution, "iNaturalist Research Grade Observations" (85%), "International Barcode of Life project (iBOL)" (7%), "FBIP: SeaKeys_SANBI: Marine images iSpot_2013" (1%), "A dataset of marine macroinvertebrate diversity from Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe" (1%), occurrence data of some marine invertebrates and freshwater crabs housed in the natural history collection at the National Museums of Kenya (1%), and Natural History Museum Rotterdam-Specimens (1%).

Transcription templated assembly of the nucleolus in the embryo.

The nucleolus is a multicomponent structure made of RNA and proteins that serves as the site of ribosome biogenesis within the nucleus. It has been extensively studied as a prototype of a biomolecular condensate whose assembly is driven by phase separation. While the steady-state size of the nucleolus is quantitatively accounted for by the thermodynamics of phase separation, we show that experimental measurements of the assembly dynamics are inconsistent with a simple model of a phase-separating system relaxing to its equilibrium state.

Understanding how social norms influence access to and utilization of adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in Northern Nigeria.

Background: This study explored the influence of social norms on the access and utilization of sexual and reproductive health services by adolescents. Apart from individual and environmental barriers, social norms influence contraceptive decisions and ultimately sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Social norms that shape group behavior describe acceptable standards of behavior and evoke sanctions when such behavior standards are not adhered to.

A systematic review of genome-wide analyses of methylation changes associated with assisted reproductive technologies in various tissues.

Importance: Because analytic technologies improve, increasing amounts of data on methylation differences between assisted reproductive technology (ART) and unassisted conceptions are available. However, various studies use different tissue types and different populations in their analyses, making data comparison and integration difficult.

Objective: To compare and integrate data on genome-wide analyses of methylation differences due to ART, allowing exposure of overarching themes.

Infertility and treatments used have minimal effects on first-trimester placental DNA methylation and gene expression.

Objective: To determine whether deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation alterations exist in the first-trimester human placenta between conceptions using fertility treatments and those that do not and, if so, whether they are the result of underlying infertility or fertility treatments. We also assessed whether significant alterations led to changes in gene expression.

Design: We compared DNA methylation of the first-trimester placenta from singleton pregnancies that resulted in live births from unassisted, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and non-IVF fertility treatment (NIFT) conceptions using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip array.

Phytosomal curcumin causes natural killer cell-dependent repolarization of glioblastoma (GBM) tumor-associated microglia/macrophages and elimination of GBM and GBM stem cells.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary brain tumor with a 5-year survival rate of ≤5%. We have shown earlier that GBM-antibody-linked curcumin (CC) and also phytosomal curcumin (CCP) rescue 50-60% of GBM-bearing mice while repolarizing the tumor-associated microglia/macrophages (TAM) from the tumor-promoting M2-type to the tumoricidal M1-type. However, systemic application of CCP yields only sub-IC50 concentrations of CC in the plasma, which is unlikely to kill GBM cells directly.

TriCurin, a synergistic formulation of curcumin, resveratrol, and epicatechin gallate, repolarizes tumor-associated macrophages and triggers an immune response to cause suppression of HPV+ tumors.

Our earlier studies reported a unique potentiated combination (TriCurin) of curcumin (C) with two other polyphenols. The TriCurin-associated C displays an IC50 in the low micromolar range for cultured HPV+ TC-1 cells. In contrast, because of rapid degradation in vivo, the TriCurin-associated C reaches only low nano-molar concentrations in the plasma, which are sub-lethal to tumor cells.

Unique synergistic formulation of curcumin, epicatechin gallate and resveratrol, tricurin, suppresses HPV E6, eliminates HPV+ cancer cells, and inhibits tumor progression.

Curcumin (from curry) (C) is highly potent against cervical cancer cells (CCC), but poor bioavailability has limited its clinical use. Similar natural polyphenols resveratrol (from grapes) (R), and epicatechin gallate (from green tea) (E) also display activity against CCC. By treating CCC (HeLa) with C, E, or R, or combinations of these compounds, we computed combination indices and observed a strong synergism among C, E, and R at the unique molar ratio 4:1:12.

Identification of Novel Proteasome Inhibitors from an Enaminone Library.

A library of structurally distinct enaminones was synthesized using sonication or Ru(II) catalysis to couple primary, secondary, and tertiary thioamides with α-halocarbonyls or α-diazocarbonyls. Screening the library for proteasome inhibition using a luciferase-based assay identified seven structurally diverse compounds. Two of these molecules targeted luciferase, while the remaining five exhibited varying potency and specificity for the trypsin-like, chymotrypsin-like, or caspase-like protease activities of the proteasome.

Study of the relation between quality of inpatient care and early readmission for diabetic patients at a hospital in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

Readmission of diabetic patients after discharge from hospital has potential value as a quality of care indicator. This retrospective cohort and case-control study aimed to determine the readmission rate for diabetic patients within 28 days after discharge and the association between quality of inpatient care and unplanned readmission. An audit of records was conducted in a hospital in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia during 2000-2008.

Microbial growth and quorum sensing antagonist activities of herbal plants extracts.

Antimicrobial and antiquorum sensing (AQS) activities of fourteen ethanolic extracts of different parts of eight plants were screened against four Gram-positive, five Gram-negative bacteria and four fungi. Depending on the plant part extract used and the test microorganism, variable activities were recorded at 3 mg per disc. Among the Grampositive bacteria tested, for example, activities of Laurus nobilis bark extract ranged between a 9.

Dental health knowledge, attitudes and behaviour among students at the Kuwait University Health Sciences Centre.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the extent of dental health knowledge among students at the Kuwait University Health Sciences Centre (HSC), as well as their attitudes toward dental health and their oral hygiene habits.

Methods: A structured questionnaire was distributed to 450 of the 800 students enrolled in 3 faculties of the HSC from March to April 2000. The questionnaire was completed anonymously by the students.