Design, Synthesis and Docking Studies of Flavokawain B Type Chalcones and Their Cytotoxic Effects on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 Cell Lines.

Flavokawain B () is a natural chalcone extracted from the roots of and has been proven to be a potential cytotoxic compound. Using the partial structure of flavokawain B (FKB), about 23 analogs have been synthesized. Among them, compounds , and were found in new FKB derivatives.

A biomechanical comparison in the lower limb and lumbar spine between a hit and drag flick in field hockey.

Research has revealed that field hockey drag flickers have greater odds of hip and lumbar injuries compared to non-drag flickers (DF). This study aimed to compare the biomechanics of a field hockey hit and a specialised field hockey drag flick. Eighteen male and seven female specialised hockey DF performed a hit and a drag flick in a motion analysis laboratory with an 18-camera three-dimensional motion analysis system and a calibrated multichannel force platform to examine differences in lower limb and lumbar kinematics and kinetics.

Skinfold thickness measurements and mortality in white males during 27.7 years of follow-up.

Introduction: Obesity is a major risk factor for mortality from a range of causes. We investigated whether skinfold measurements were associated with mortality independently of variation in body mass index (BMI).

Methods: A prospective analysis of mortality in 870 apparently healthy adult Caucasian men participating in an occupational health cohort was undertaken.

Novel use of a balloon dilatation catheter to enable mechanical lithotripsy of difficult common bile duct stones after initial failed attempt: A case report.

Introduction: Difficult and large common bile duct stones can be crushed and removed using a mechanical lithotripter. Very often the lack of working space within the common bile duct causing the failure of mechanical lithotripsy would inevitably mean repeat or further invasive procedures.

Presentation Of Case: A patient with large and multiple common bile duct stones underwent ERCP, and initial deployment of a mechanical lithotripter failed due to the lack of working space within the common bile duct.

Direct recovery of Bacillus subtilis xylanase from fermentation broth with an alcohol/salt aqueous biphasic system.

Xylanase enzyme degrades linear polysaccharide β-1,4 xylan and the hemicellulose of the plant cell wall. There is a growing demand in finding a cost-effective alternative for industrial scale production of xylanase with high purity for pharmaceutical applications. In this study, an alcohol/salt aqueous biphasic system (ABS) was adopted to recover xylanase from the Bacillus subtilis fermentation broth.

Distinct and heterogeneous trajectories of self-perceived cognitive impairment among Asian breast cancer survivors.

Objectives: Currently, there are no studies that have established the self-perceived cognitive trajectories experienced by breast cancer patients (BCPs) post-chemotherapy. Therefore, we characterized the long-term trajectory of self-perceived cognitive function among Asian early-stage BCPs using the minimal clinically important difference of a subjective measure of cognitive function.

Methods: Early-stage BCPs who received chemotherapy were recruited and assessed at 4 time points: Before chemotherapy initiation (T1), 6 weeks post-chemotherapy initiation (T2), 12 weeks post-chemotherapy initiation (T3), and 15-months post-chemotherapy initiation (T4).

Cause and Clinical Presentation of Anaphylaxis in Singapore: From Infancy to Old Age.

Background: The study objective was to compare age-related differences in the cause and clinical presentation of anaphylaxis.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study of patients visiting the emergency department for anaphylaxis. Data were collected from 3 emergency departments from 1 April 2014 to 31 December 2015.

Adjuvant Therapies in Food Immunotherapy.

Finding an effective curative treatment for food allergy is a research priority. Although oral immunotherapy (OIT) is effective at inducing desensitization, the temporary nature of this effect and high rates of adverse reactions have highlighted a need for novel strategies to improve tolerance induction and safety. One such strategy is the use of an adjuvant together with food immunotherapy to either suppress allergic reactions and/or modulate the underlying allergic immune response.

Absence of esophageal eosinophilia in a toddler with severe eosinophilic esophagitis.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a clinicopathologic disease characterised by esophageal dysfunction and eosinophil-predominant inflammation. Diagnosing EoE in children is particularly challenging as they tend to present with nonspecific symptoms and their mucosal specimens may have less than the threshold number of eosinophils. Reluctance to subject children to multiple endoscopic procedures and anesthesia often results in treatment with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) first to evaluate clinical response.

Optical unmasking of spectrally overlapping RF signals.

When two signals having overlapping frequency content are received at the same time, they interfere to obstruct detection of the information carried by each individual signal. We introduce here a new nonlinear optoelectronic filtering technique that enables the ability to individually detect two concurrent and spectrally overlapping signals, even when the amplitude ratio between the signals is as high as 100,000. We demonstrate our system for application in steganography where we unveil the information carried by a hidden desired RF signal, while a dominant interferer signal is intentionally transmitted nearby and at the same frequency.

Persistent hyperthyroidism and Graves' ophthalmopathy after total thyroidectomy.

Unlabelled: We report a patient with Graves' disease who remained persistently hyperthyroid after a total thyroidectomy and also developed Graves' ophthalmopathy 5 months after surgery. She was subsequently found to have a mature cystic teratoma containing struma ovarii after undergoing a total hysterectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy for an incidental ovarian lesion.

Learning Points: It is important to investigate for other causes of primary hyperthyroidism when thyrotoxicosis persists after total thyroidectomy.

Quest for Thermoresponsive Block Copolymer Nanoparticles with Liquid-Crystalline Surfactant Cores.

This work reports on the preparation and characterization of anisotropic composition nanoparticles based on the electrostatic binding of dodecyltrimethylammonium surfactant to poly(acrylic acid) blocks of diblock copolymers with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAm). These nanoparticles form kinetically stable dispersions and display liquid-crystalline cores with a micellar cubic structure, as determined by small-angle X-ray scattering. Mixtures with different proportions of the two block copolymers and stoichiometric amounts of CTA were prepared and their behavior was compared with that of the parent nanoparticles.

The crystal structure of zwitterionic 2-{[(4-imin-iumyl-3-methyl-1,4-di-hydro-pyridin-1-yl)meth-yl]carbamo-yl}benzoate hemihydrate.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, CHNO·0.5HO, comprises two 2-{[(4-iminiumyl-3-methyl-1,4-di-hydro-pyridin-1-yl)meth-yl]carbamo-yl}benzoate zwitterions ( and ) and a water mol-ecule. The dihedral angles between the pyridine and phenyl rings in the zwitterions are 53.

Neonatal basal ganglia and thalamic volumes: very preterm birth and 7-year neurodevelopmental outcomes.

BackgroundThis study aims to (i) compare volumes of individual basal ganglia nuclei (caudate nucleus, pallidum, and putamen) and the thalamus between very preterm (VP) and term-born infants at term-equivalent age; (ii) explore neonatal basal ganglia and thalamic volume relationships with 7-year neurodevelopmental outcomes, and whether these relationships differed between VP and term-born children.Methods210 VP (<30 weeks' gestational age) and 39 term-born (≥37 weeks' gestational age) infants underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging at term-equivalent age, and deep gray matter volumes of interest were automatically generated. 186 VP and 37 term-born children were assessed for a range of neurodevelopmental measures at age 7 years.

Implementing Clinical Research Using Factorial Designs: A Primer.

Factorial experiments have rarely been used in the development or evaluation of clinical interventions. However, factorial designs offer advantages over randomized controlled trial designs, the latter being much more frequently used in such research. Factorial designs are highly efficient (permitting evaluation of multiple intervention components with good statistical power) and present the opportunity to detect interactions amongst intervention components.

Factors Associated with Reintubation in an Intensive Care Unit: A Prospective Observational Study.

Background And Aims: The objective of the study was to determine the incidence of failed extubations in our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and identify associated clinical factors.

Materials And Methods: A prospective observational study of mechanically ventilated patients who underwent extubation attempts in our (predominantly surgical) ICU was undertaken from July 2012 to August 2013. The primary endpoint was the need for nonelective reintubation within 72 h of extubation.

Interactions and release of two palmitoyl peptides from phytantriol cubosomes.

Phytantriol cubosomes loaded with two palmitoyl peptides (Palpepcubes), namely GHKcube and GQPRcube, were prepared using an ultrasonication protocol. The Palpepcubes dimensions were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses revealed that the bicontinuous cubic structure remained even at palmitoyl peptide contents as high as 5wt.

miR-92a enhances recombinant protein productivity in CHO cells by increasing intracellular cholesterol levels.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising targets for engineering of CHO cell factories to enhance recombinant protein productivity. Manipulation of miRNA levels in CHO cells have been shown to improve product yield by increasing proliferation and specific productivity (qP), resisting apoptosis and enhancing oxidative metabolism. The authors previously demonstrated that over-expressing miR-92a results in increases in qP and titer of CHO-IgG cells.

Response to comment on 'Randomization inference for treatment effects on a binary outcome'.

We thank Professor Yasutaka Chiba [1] for commenting on Rigdon and Hudgens (RH) [2]. Chiba [1] described a certain exact confidence interval reported in RH as “somewhat unnatural.” Chiba also presented an alternative approach to constructing confidence intervals [3].

Phylogenetic characterization of genes encoding for viral envelope glycoprotein (ORF5) and nucleocapsid protein (ORF7) of porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome virus found in Malaysia in 2013 and 2014.

Background: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most expensive diseases of modern swine production & results in annual economic losses and cost the industry over 600 million USD in U.S. alone and billions of dollars worldwide.

Toward precision smoking cessation treatment I: Moderator results from a factorial experiment.

Background: The development of tobacco use treatments that are effective for all smokers is critical to improving clinical and public health. The Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) uses highly efficient factorial experiments to evaluate multiple intervention components for possible inclusion in an optimized tobacco use treatment. Factorial experiments permit analyses of the influence of patient characteristics on main and interaction effects of multiple, relatively discrete, intervention components.

Endoscopic monopolar coagulation of internal haemorrhoids: a surgeon's experience of the first 100 cases.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate one surgeon's initial experience with a novel technique of retroflexed endoscopic coagulation of internal haemorrhoids.

Method: Patients who presented with symptoms and signs indicating Grade II-III haemorrhoids were counselled before the procedure. Those who were assessed to require an examination of their colon, based on their age and symptoms, underwent a full colonoscopy before treatment of the haemorrhoids.

Addition of -Alcohols Induces a Variety of Liquid-Crystalline Structures in Surfactant-Rich Cores of Dispersed Block Copolymer/Surfactant Nanoparticles.

Poly(acrylamide)--complex salts made from a symmetric poly(acrylate--acrylamide) block copolymer, where the acrylate charges are neutralized by cationic surfactant counterions, form kinetically stable aqueous dispersions of hierarchical aggregates with a liquid-crystalline complex salt core and a diffuse hydrated shell. By the addition of suitable amounts of long-chain alcohols, such as octanol or decanol, the structure of the internal phase can be varied, producing micellar cubic, hexagonal, lamellar, or reverse hexagonal liquid-crystalline phases. In addition, a disordered reverse micellar phase forms at the highest content of octanol.

The utility of adipose-derived stem cells and stromal vascular fraction for oncologic soft tissue reconstruction: Is it safe? A matter for debate.

Autologous free-fat grafting (AFG) has emerged as an attractive proposition for soft-tissue reconstruction of various contour defects because it obviates more complex reconstructive options and reduces operative times and donor-site morbidity. Nonetheless, a common complication of this procedure is the resorption of the engrafted fat. Cell-assisted lipotransfer (CAL) is now a well-regarded technique where adipose-derived stem cell (ASC)-rich stromal vascular fraction is admixed with lipoaspirate, increasing the volumetric outcome of fat grafts in light of its potent angiogenic and adipogenic properties.

A new neonatal cortical and subcortical brain atlas: the Melbourne Children's Regional Infant Brain (M-CRIB) atlas.

Investigating neonatal brain structure and function can offer valuable insights into behaviour and cognition in healthy and clinical populations; both at term age, and longitudinally in comparison with later time points. Parcellated brain atlases for adult populations are readily available, however warping infant data to adult template space is not ideal due to morphological and tissue differences between these groups. Several parcellated neonatal atlases have been developed, although there remains strong demand for manually parcellated ground truth data with detailed cortical definition.