Pregnant women do not display impaired memory formation across one night of sleep.

Forgetfulness is a common complaint of pregnant women, who also often report impaired nocturnal sleep. Considering sleep's well-known beneficial role in consolidating newly encoded memory content, we hypothesized that pregnant women would display detrimental changes in objective sleep measures and associated memory deficits. We compared the consolidation of declarative as well as procedural memory across sleep in 21 healthy, third-trimester pregnant women versus 20 matched non-pregnant controls.

Clinical benefit from pharmacological elevation of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol: meta-regression analysis.

Context: Epidemiological evidence that the risk of coronary heart disease is inversely associated with the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) has motivated several phase III programmes with cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors.

Objectives: To assess alternative methods to predict clinical response of CETP inhibitors.

Methods: Meta-regression analysis on raising HDL-C drugs (statins, fibrates, niacin) in randomised controlled trials.

The effect of cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibition on lipids, lipoproteins, and markers of HDL function after an acute coronary syndrome: the dal-ACUTE randomized trial.

Aims: The effects of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibition on lipids, inflammation, and markers of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) function, following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), are unknown.

Methods And Results: The dal-ACUTE study randomized 300 patients (1 : 1) to dalcetrapib 600 mg/day or placebo within 1 week of an ACS. The primary endpoint was per cent change in HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) after 4 weeks.

Rationale and design of dal-VESSEL: a study to assess the safety and efficacy of dalcetrapib on endothelial function using brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation.

Objective: Dalcetrapib increases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels through effects on cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). As part of the dalcetrapib dal-HEART clinical trial programme, the efficacy and safety of dalcetrapib is assessed in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients in the dal-VESSEL study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00655538), the design and methods of which are presented here.

The three-dimensional architecture of the class I ligase ribozyme.

The class I ligase ribozyme catalyzes a Mg(++)-dependent RNA-ligation reaction that is chemically analogous to a single step of RNA polymerization. Indeed, this ribozyme constitutes the catalytic domain of an accurate and general RNA polymerase ribozyme. The ligation reaction is also very rapid in both single- and multiple-turnover contexts and thus is informative for the study of RNA catalysis as well as RNA self-replication.

A semi-automated system for analysis and storage of SNPs.

The discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) is currently pursued with a tremendous effort. SNPs represent a rich source for molecular markers, since estimations predict six to seven million of these DNA variations in the human genome. A subset of these genetic variants is thought to have a pervasive impact on modern medicine, be it for the elucidation of differential pharmacological response or for the facilitated identification of genes involved in monogenetic and complex human diseases.

A tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase recognizes a conserved tRNA-like structural motif in the group I intron catalytic core.

The Neurospora crassa mitochondrial (mt) tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (CYT-18 protein) functions in splicing group I introns, in addition to aminoacylating tRNA(Tyr). Here, we compared the CYT-18 binding sites in the N. crassa mt LSU and ND1 introns with that in N.

New loop-loop tertiary interactions in self-splicing introns of subgroup IC and ID: a complete 3D model of the Tetrahymena thermophila ribozyme.

Background: Group I introns self-splice via two consecutive trans-esterification reactions in the presence of guanosine cofactor and magnesium ions. Comparative sequence analysis has established that a catalytic core of about 120 nucleotides is conserved in all known group I introns. This core is generally not sufficient for activity, however, and most self-splicing group I introns require non-conserved peripheral elements to stabilize the complete three-dimensional (3D) structure.

Influence of cAMP-effector-agonists on the synthesis of metallothionein in rat primary hepatocytes.

The model of rat primary hepatocytes incubated in DMEM/F12 (Ham) medium was used for studying the influence of the cAMP-effectors epinephrine (100 microM), norepinephrine (100 microM), glucagon (1 microM) and isoproterenol (1-1000 microM) as well as the synthetic cAMP-analogon dibutyryl-cAMP on the metabolism of metallothionein. Liver parenchymal cells isolated by a two-step collagenase perfusion were incubated with DMEM/F12 containing 5% (v/v) fetal calf serum (FCS) and 20 microM zinc in Petri dishes. Experiments were initiated after a 24 h equilibration period by adding the agonists for 18 h.

Type of test-meal affects palatability and eating style in humans.

Effects of palatability on the meal as a whole or the microstructure of meals are often inconsistent or even divergent. Is this attributable to the nature of the test meals? In the present study, three frequently used types of meals were offered to seven normal-weight women: conventional courses, sandwiches and semi-liquid items. Each meal was composed of four items of either high or medium-low palatability.