A spectroscopic and computational study of propofol dimers and their hydrated clusters.

Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol, PPF) homodimers and their complexes with one water molecule are analyzed by means of mass-resolved excitation spectroscopy. Using two-color resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) the S(1) electronic spectra of these systems are obtained, avoiding fragmentation. Due to the large size of these species, the spectra present a large abundance of lines.

A combined spectroscopic and theoretical study of propofol·(H2O)3.

Propofol (2,6-di-isopropylphenol) is probably the most widely used general anesthetic. Previous studies focused on its complexes containing 1 and 2 water molecules. In this work, propofol clusters containing three water molecules were formed using supersonic expansions and probed by means of a number of mass-resolved laser spectroscopic techniques.

Influence of presence or absence of teeth adjacent to implants installed immediately into extraction sockets on peri-implant hard tissue levels: an experimental study in the dog.

Aim: To evaluate the influence of the presence or absence of adjacent teeth on the level of the mesial and distal alveolar bony crest following healing at sites where implants were installed immediately into extraction sockets.

Material And Methods: Six Labrador dogs were used. In the right side of the mandible, full-thickness flaps were elevated, and the second, third, and fourth premolars and first molars were extracted.

Supervisory experience at work is linked to low rate of hippocampal atrophy in late life.

Cultivation of an active cognitive lifestyle, including diverse and challenging educational, occupational and cognitively-loaded leisure activities may be protective against development of dementia but the mechanisms underlying this link are not clear. We used the Lifetime Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ) to assess the structural brain correlates of cognitive lifestyle in the Sydney Memory and Aging Study, a large population-based cohort of originally 1037 non-demented elderly aged over 70 years of age. After excluding those without structural Magnetic Resonance Image data or Mild Cognitive Impairment at their most recent assessment, 151 cognitively intact subjects were studied.

Comparison of technique errors of intraoral radiographs taken on film v photostimulable phosphor (PSP) plates.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the technical errors of intraoral radiographs exposed on film v photostimulable phosphor (PSP) plates.

Methods: The intraoral radiographic images exposed on phantoms from preclinical practical exams of dental and dental hygiene students were used. Each exam consisted of 10 designated periapical and bitewing views.

A spectroscopic approach to the solvation of anesthetics in jets: propofol(H2O)n, n = 4-6.

Propofol is a widely used nonvolatile anesthetic that exerts its action by docking to GABAA receptors. The docking process is a competition between solvation of the anesthetic by the extracellular medium and the stabilization inside the active site, and therefore a deep knowledge of the process requires of a good understanding of the solvation process. In this work we create propofol-water complexes containing up to six water molecules using supersonic expansions.

Modulation of protein phosphorylation, N-glycosylation and Lys-acetylation in grape (Vitis vinifera) mesocarp and exocarp owing to Lobesia botrana infection.

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is an economically important fruit crop that is subject to many types of insect and pathogen attack. To better elucidate the plant response to Lobesia botrana pathogen infection, we initiated a global comparative proteomic study monitoring steady-state protein expression as well as changes in N-glycosylation, phosphorylation, and Lys-acetylation in control and infected mesocarp and exocarp from V. vinifera cv Italia.

Using mass spectrometry to explore the neglected glycan moieties of the antiophidic proteins DM43 and DM64.

The resistance of the opossum Didelphis aurita to Bothrops snake venoms is attributed to the opossum's antihemorrhagic (DM43) and antimyotoxic (DM64) acidic serum glycoproteins. The aim of this study was to characterize the N-glycosylation sites of these antiophidic proteins and to determine whether their glycans influence the biological activity measured by in vitro assays. Our experimental pipeline included the sequential enzymatic digestion of the inhibitors with two different proteinases (trypsin and endoproteinase Asp-N) and eventually with trypsin, peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase F) and endoproteinase Asp-N, used in that order.

Mass-resolved infrared spectroscopy of complexes without chromophore by nonresonant femtosecond ionization detection.

Mass-resolved excitation spectroscopic techniques are usually limited to systems with a chromophore, that is, a functional group with electronic transitions in the Vis/UV, with lifetimes from hundreds of picoseconds to some microseconds. In this paper, we expand such techniques to any system, by using a combination of nanosecond IR pulses with nonresonant ionization with 800 nm femtosecond laser pulses. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the technique can achieve conformational specificity introducing an additional nanosecond IR laser.

Mimicking anaesthetic-receptor interaction: a combined spectroscopic and computational study of propofol···phenol.

Propofol is a general anaesthetic that exerts its action by interaction with the GABA(A) receptor. Crystallographic studies suggest that there is a direct interaction between propofol and the phenolic residue of a tyrosine in the channel. In this study we create propofol···phenol clusters by their co-expansion in jets.

Cognitive reserve, age, and their relation to attentional and executive functions.

The main objective of this research was to establish the relation between age, cognitive reserve (CR), and attentional and executive functions. One hundred and sixty healthy participants aged 20 to 65 years old completed a wide battery of frontal-lobe tasks using classical tests that assess planning and control of movement, problem solving, and inhibition of automatic response, visuomotor tracking, focused and sustained attention, shifting, spontaneity and reasoning. The total sum of the score in premorbid IQ (by means of the Weschsler Adult Intelligence Scale Vocabulary subtest), educational level, and type of profession was used as a proxy of CR.

Exploring microsolvation of the anesthetic propofol.

Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is a broadly used general anesthetic. By combining spectroscopic techniques such as 1- and 2-color REMPI, UV/UV hole burning, infrared ion-dip spectroscopy (IRIDS) obtained under cooled and isolated conditions with high-level ab initio calculations, detailed information on the molecular structure of propofol and on its interactions with water can be obtained. Four isomers are found for the bare propofol, while only three are detected for the monohydrated species and two for propofol·(H(2)O)(2).

A comparison of urinary mercury between children with autism spectrum disorders and control children.

Background: Urinary mercury concentrations are used in research exploring mercury exposure. Some theorists have proposed that autism is caused by mercury toxicity. We set out to test whether mercury concentrations in the urine of children with autism were significantly increased or decreased compared to controls or siblings.

Spectroscopic characterization of an oxovanadium(IV) complex of oxodiacetic acid and o-phenanthroline. Bioactivity on osteoblast-like cells in culture.

The oxovanadium(IV) complex of oxodiacetic acid (H(2)ODA) and o-phenanthroline of stoichiometry [VO(ODA)(ophen)]·1.5H(2)O, which presents the interesting tridentate OOO coordination, was thoroughly characterized by infrared, Raman, and electronic spectroscopies. The biological activity of the complex on the cell proliferation was tested on osteoblast-like cells (MC3T3E1 osteoblastic mouse calvaria-derived cells and UMR106 rat osteosarcoma-derived cells) in culture.

Role of teeth adjacent to implants installed immediately into extraction sockets: an experimental study in the dog.

Aim: To evaluate the influence of the presence of both adjacent teeth on the level of alveolar bony crest at sites where implants were installed into the socket immediately after tooth extraction.

Material And Methods: Six Labrador dogs were used. Extractions of all teeth from the second premolar to the first molar were performed in the right side of the mandible, after full-thickness flap elevation.

Theory of noise in high-gain surface plasmon-polariton amplifiers incorporating dipolar gain media.

A theoretical analysis of noise in high-gain surface plasmon-polariton amplifiers incorporating dipolar gain media is presented. An expression for the noise figure is obtained in terms of the spontaneous emission rate into the amplified surface plasmon-polariton taking into account the different energy decay channels experienced by dipoles in close proximity to the metallic surface. Two amplifier structures are examined: a single-interface between a metal and a gain medium and a thin metal film bounded by identical gain media on both sides.

Spatial navigation impairment in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy: evidence from a new virtual reality-based task.

This study was aimed at examining spatial learning and memory in nonoperated temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Twenty-five patients with a refractory epileptic focus located in the temporal lobe (10 in the right hemisphere and 15 in the left hemisphere) and 25 healthy age-matched controls performed the "Boxes Room," a virtual reality version of the holeboard. They were trained in 10 trials to locate the reward boxes in a room with 16 of them available.

[Development of the scale of cognitive reserve in Spanish population: a pilot study].

Introduction: Lately, the interest in cognitive reserve has increased notably in view of the lack of correlation between cerebral damage and observed clinic symptoms. However, there is no consensus on which measure of cognitive reserve is the most accurate.

Aim: To develop the scale of cognitive reserve in Spanish population and to study its psychometric properties.

Measuring gain and noise in active long-range surface plasmon-polariton waveguides.

We describe techniques and an experimental setup to measure the gain and noise characteristics of a long-range surface plasmon-polariton amplifier consisting of a symmetric metallic stripe waveguide incorporating optically pumped dye molecules in the solution as the gain medium. The setup is capable of acquiring absolute power measurements at the amplifier's output over a narrow optical bandwidth. This allows independent characterization of the amplifier's gain via measurements of stimulated emission and via measurements of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) over a narrow optical bandwidth, both obtained during the same experimental run.

Brain and personality bases of insensitivity to infant cues in neglectful mothers: an event-related potential study.

This investigation examined the neural and personality correlates of processing infant facial expressions in mothers with substantiated neglect of a child under 5 years old. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 14 neglectful and 14 control mothers as they viewed and categorized pictures of infant cries, laughs, and neutral faces. Maternal self-reports of anhedonia and empathy were also completed.

Discourse-based emotional consistency modulates early and middle components of event-related potentials.

In this study, participants read stories describing emotional episodes with either a positive or negative valence (Experiment 1). Following each story, participants were exposed to short sentences referring to the protagonist, and the event-related potential (ERP) for each sentence's last word was recorded. Some sentences described the protagonist's emotion, either consistent or inconsistent with the story; others were neutral; and others involved a semantically anomalous word.

Phosphoproteome analysis of functional mitochondria isolated from resting human muscle reveals extensive phosphorylation of inner membrane protein complexes and enzymes.

Mitochondria play a central role in energy metabolism and cellular survival, and consequently mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with a number of human pathologies. Reversible protein phosphorylation emerges as a central mechanism in the regulation of several mitochondrial processes. In skeletal muscle, mitochondrial dysfunction is linked to insulin resistance in humans with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Understanding and treating infertility: psychoanalytic considerations.

This article describes how the intrapsychic, psychosocial, and social ramifications of infertility may be addressed when infertility patients present with distress at the psychotherapist's office. Self psychology provides a valuable framework for the therapist, given the profound and multiple narcissistic assaults on self-esteem, consolidation of identity, developmental aspirations, and other self attributes which infertility causes. The therapist's empathy becomes the primary tool of both understanding and alleviating suffering resulting from infertility.

National survey of obstetrician attitudes about timing the subsequent pregnancy after perinatal death.

Objective: After stillbirth or early infant death, parents often query when they can try for another pregnancy. We conducted a national survey of US obstetricians to assess attitudes about optimal timing of next pregnancy and advice given to parents.

Study Design: The study was an anonymous mail survey of 1500 randomly selected US obstetricians asking about physician experiences with perinatal death.