Smoking and risk of kidney failure in the Singapore Chinese health study.

Background: The relationship between smoking and risk of kidney failure, especially in people of Chinese origin, is not clear. We analyzed data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study to investigate whether smoking increases the risk of kidney failure.

Methods: The Singapore Chinese Health Study is a population-based cohort of 63,257 Chinese adults enrolled between 1993 and 1998.

Development of a Pfs25-EPA malaria transmission blocking vaccine as a chemically conjugated nanoparticle.

Successful efforts to control infectious diseases have often required the use of effective vaccines. The current global strategy for control of malaria, including elimination and eradication will also benefit from the development of an effective vaccine that interrupts malaria transmission. To this end, a vaccine that disrupts malaria transmission within the mosquito host has been investigated for several decades targeting a 25 kDa ookinete specific surface protein, identified as Pfs25.

Comparison of testing approaches for Clostridium difficile infection at a large community hospital.

Multiple diagnostic approaches are available for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI); current guidelines support two-step testing (2ST) as the preferred approach. We retrospectively evaluated the impact of switching from toxin enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to 2ST, and then to polymerase chain reaction (PCR), on CDI rates, test utilization and CDI treatment at a 900-bed tertiary care community teaching hospital. All inpatients tested for CDI between December 2008 and February 2011 were included.

Evaluation of the National Cervical Cancer Screening Programme in Singapore.

Introduction: A retrospective observational study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of CervicalScreen Singapore (CSS), a National Cervical Cancer Screening Programme.

Methods: National trends on incidence, mortality of cervical cancer and carcinoma in situ of the cervix before and after the launch of CSS were examined. Linear regression was used to calculate the average annual percentage change in age-standardised incidence and mortality rates.

Comparison of mesenchymal stromal cells from human bone marrow and adipose tissue for the treatment of spinal cord injury.

Background Aims: Bone marrow and subcutaneous adipose tissue are both considered prospective sources of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), which can be used in cell therapy for spinal cord injury (SCI). The present study investigated whether human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hADSCs) transplanted into a rat model of SCI would lead to similar or improved neurologic effects compared with human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hBMSCs).

Methods: hADSCs and hBMSCs were isolated from five adult donors.

Diabetes mellitus and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: findings from the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

Background: The increasing prevalence of diabetes may contribute to the rising incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the US and other developed countries where HCC incidence is relatively low. Data from prospective studies on diabetes and risk of HCC in at-risk populations due to high prevalence of viral hepatitis in southeast Asia are sparse.

Methods: The Singapore Chinese Health Study is a prospective cohort of 63, 257 middle-aged and older Chinese men and women enrolled in 1993-1998.

Calcium intake is not related to breast cancer risk among Singapore Chinese women.

There is experimental evidence that calcium protects against breast cancer development. Prospective epidemiologic studies supporting a protective effect of calcium on breast cancer risk have mainly been limited to Western populations. We examined the association between calcium intake and breast cancer risk in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a large population-based prospective cohort.

A novel rabbit immunospot array assay on a chip allows for the rapid generation of rabbit monoclonal antibodies with high affinity.

Antigen-specific rabbit monoclonal antibodies (RaMoAbs) are useful due to their high specificity and high affinity, and the establishment of a comprehensive and rapid RaMoAb generation system has been highly anticipated. Here, we present a novel system using immunospot array assay on a chip (ISAAC) technology in which we detect and retrieve antigen-specific antibody-secreting cells from the peripheral blood lymphocytes of antigen-immunized rabbits and produce antigen-specific RaMoAbs with 10(-12) M affinity within a time period of only 7 days. We have used this system to efficiently generate RaMoAbs that are specific to a phosphorylated signal-transducing molecule.

Unraveling protein-protein interactions in clathrin assemblies via atomic force spectroscopy.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM), single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS), and single particle force spectroscopy (SPFS) are used to characterize intermolecular interactions and domain structures of clathrin triskelia and clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs). The latter are involved in receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME) and other trafficking pathways. Here, we subject individual triskelia, bovine-brain CCVs, and reconstituted clathrin-AP180 coats to AFM-SMFS and AFM-SPFS pulling experiments and apply novel analytics to extract force-extension relations from very large data sets.

N-Heterocyclic carbene-palladium(II)-1-methylimidazole complex catalyzed Mizoroki-Heck reaction of aryl chlorides with styrenes.

A well-defined N-heterocyclic carbene-palladium(II)-1-methylimidazole [NHC-Pd(II)-Im] complex 1 was found to be an effective catalyst for the Mizoroki-Heck reaction of a variety of aryl chlorides with styrenes. Both activated and deactivated aryl chlorides work well to give the corresponding coupling products in good to excellent yields by using tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as the ionic liquid.

Deep venomics reveals the mechanism for expanded peptide diversity in cone snail venom.

Cone snails produce highly complex venom comprising mostly small biologically active peptides known as conotoxins or conopeptides. Early estimates that suggested 50-200 venom peptides are produced per species have been recently increased at least 10-fold using advanced mass spectrometry. To uncover the mechanism(s) responsible for generating this impressive diversity, we used an integrated approach combining second-generation transcriptome sequencing with high sensitivity proteomics.

Preconditioning of the fluorescence diffuse optical tomography sensing matrix based on compressive sensing.

Image reconstruction in fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (FDOT) is a highly ill-posed inverse problem due to a large number of unknowns and limited measurements. In FDOT, the fluorophore distribution is often sparse in the imaging domain, since most fluorophores are designed to accumulate in relatively small regions. Compressive sensing theory has shown that sparse signals can be recovered exactly from only a small number of measurements when the forward sensing matrix is sufficiently incoherent.

[Effectiveness of ISOBAR TTL semi-rigid dynamic stabilization system in treatment of lumbar degenerative disease].

Objective: To investigate the short-term effectiveness of ISOBAR TTL semi-rigid dynamic stabilization system (ISOBAR TTL system) in treatment of lumbar degenerative disease.

Methods: Between June 2007 and May 2011, 38 cases of lumbar degenerative disease were treated, including 24 males and 14 females with an average age of 51.2 years (range, 21-67 years).

Fabrication of hydrogels with steep stiffness gradients for studying cell mechanical response.

Many fundamental cell processes, such as angiogenesis, neurogenesis and cancer metastasis, are thought to be modulated by extracellular matrix stiffness. Thus, the availability of matrix substrates having well-defined stiffness profiles can be of great importance in biophysical studies of cell-substrate interaction. Here, we present a method to fabricate biocompatible hydrogels with a well defined and linear stiffness gradient.

[Posterior fixation and fusion for treatment of Os odontoideum complicated by atlantoaxial dislocation].

Objective: To summarize the techniques and evaluate the therapeutic effect of posterior fixation and fusion in the treatment of Os odontoideum complicated by atlantoaxial dislocation.

Methods: From March, 2007 to October, 2010, 10 patients with Os odontoideum (including 6 male and 4 female patients aged from 20 to 65 years, mean 39.8 years) were treated in our hospital.

A nanoscale graphene oxide-peptide biosensor for real-time specific biomarker detection on the cell surface.

A nanoscale RGD-pyrene-graphene oxide (GO) biosensor was prepared for real-time in situ detection of a cancer cell surface marker, integrin αvβ3. This nanoscale GO-based biosensor is simple, robust, sensitive and of high selectivity. It can also be adapted to other cancer cell surface marker evaluation systems.

Assessment of the mechanisms exerting glucose-lowering effects of dried peas in glucose-intolerant rats.

The present study compared the effects of feeding uncooked pea fractions (embryo v. seed coat) on glucose homeostasis in glucose-intolerant rats and examined potential mechanisms influencing glucose homeostasis. Rats were made glucose intolerant by high-fat feeding, after which diets containing both high-fat and pea fractions were fed for 4 weeks.

Design strategies for shape-persistent covalent organic polyhedrons (COPs) through imine condensation/metathesis.

A series of dialdehyde compounds were synthesized and reacted with the complementary triamines (either planar or pyramidal with a 109.5° vertex) in a 3:2 ratio to explore the structural requirements on the building blocks for the successful construction of shape-persistent, covalent organic polyhedrons (COPs). Structural variations in the building blocks included the distance and angle between the two reactive sites (aldehyde or amine functional groups) and the absence/presence of solubilizing chains.

Five-year follow-up of 23 asymmetrical Parkinson's disease patients treated with unilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation.

In this study, 23 asymmetrical Parkinson's disease patients were treated with unilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and followed up for 5 years. At 5 years after stimulation treatment, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale II, III and axial symptom scores in the off-drug condition were significantly increased compared those at baseline. However, total Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale II, III and axial symptom scores were significantly lower with stimulation-on compared with the synchronous stimulation-off state in off-drug condition, and the motor symptoms of contralateral side limbs were effectively controlled.

Predictors of decrease in ankle-brachial index among patients with diabetes mellitus.

Aim: Screening for peripheral arterial disease, a complication among patients with diabetes, is performed by periodic assessment of ankle-brachial index. We aimed to study the degree of ankle-brachial index change over time and factors associated with significant change.

Method: We assessed difference between two ankle-brachial index measurements over time in a consecutive series of 82 patients with Type 2 diabetes.

The binding affinity of a soluble TCR-Fc fusion protein is significantly improved by crosslinkage with an anti-Cβ antibody.

The identification and cloning of tumor antigen-specific T cell receptors (TCRs) and the production of the soluble form of the TCR (sTCR) contributed to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic tools for cancer. Recently, several groups have reported the development of technologies for the production of sTCRs. The native sTCR has a very low binding affinity for the antigenic peptide/MHC (p/MHC) complex.

Nuclear mapping of nanodrug delivery systems in dynamic cellular environments.

Nanoformulations have shown great promise for delivering chemotherapeutics and hold tremendous clinical relevance. However nuclear mapping of the chemodrugs is important to predict the success of the nanoformulation. In this study fluorescence microscopy and a subcellular tracking algorithm were used to map the diffusion of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer cells.

Analysis of the conformation and function of the Plasmodium falciparum merozoite proteins MTRAP and PTRAMP.

Thrombospondin repeat (TSR)-like domains are structures involved with cell adhesion. Plasmodium falciparum proteins containing TSR domains play crucial roles in parasite development. In particular, the preerythrocytic P.

Serum free estradiol and estrogen receptor-α mediated activity are related to decreased incident hip fractures in older women.

There is paucity of data from Asian women on the association between serum estrogens and osteoporotic hip fracture risk. We conducted a case-control study nested within a population-based prospective cohort, The Singapore Chinese Health Study, to evaluate serum estrogens levels, ERα-mediated estrogenic activity and hip fracture risk in postmenopausal Asian women. Among 35,298 women who were recruited between 1993 and 1998, 15,410 women donated blood for research between 1999 and 2004.