Relationship Between Weight and Severity of Fibromyalgia.

Unlabelled: Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome with diffuse pain, muscle weakness, and other symptoms. A relationship between the severity of symptoms and obesity has been observed.

Objective: To determine the relationship between weight and the severity of fibromyalgia.

A General Strategy to Install Amidine Functional Groups Along the Peptide Backbone.

Amidines are a structural surrogate for peptide bonds, yet have received considerably little attention in peptides due to limitations in existing methods to access them. The synthetic strategy developed in this study represents the first robust and general procedure for the introduction of amidines into the peptide backbone. We exploit and further develop the utility and efficiency of thioimidate protecting groups as a means to side-step reactivity that ultimately renders existing methods unsuitable for the installation of amidines along the main-chain of peptides.

Deprotection Strategies for Thioimidates during Fmoc Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis: A Safe Route to Thioamides.

Thioamides are important biophysical probes of peptide folding but are prone to α-C epimerization during Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis. The stereochemical integrity of thioamide-containing peptides can be dramatically improved by protecting the thioamide as a thioimidate during synthesis. A drawback of this approach, however, is that once synthesis of the peptide is complete, regeneration of the thioamide requires the toxic, corrosive, and flammable gas HS.

A Bottom-Up Approach To Preserve Thioamide Residue Stereochemistry during Fmoc Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis.

Thioamides are useful biophysical probes for the study of peptide structure and folding. The α-C stereochemistry of thioamide amino acids, however, is easily epimerized during solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), which limits the sequence space that is available to thioamide incorporation. This work demonstrates that the α-C stereochemistry of thioamides can be reversibly protected in a manner that is compatible with the standard methodology of SPPS to enable the facile implementation of thioamide probes.

Seroepidemiological study of human parvovirus B19 among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in a medium-sized city in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Parvovirus B19 (B-19) may cause chronic anaemia in immunosuppressed patients, including those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We studied single serum samples from 261 consecutive HIV-infected patients using an enzyme immunoassay to detect IgG antibodies to B-19. The seroprevalence of B-19-IgG was 62.

Molecular and phenotypic analysis of a working seed lot of yellow fever virus 17DD vaccine strain produced from the secondary seed lot 102/84 with an additional passage in chicken embryos.

Over the last 17 years, the yellow fever (YF) 17DD vaccine secondary seed lot 102/84 was used to produce many million doses of vaccine but it was recently used up. In the absence of other lots at the same passage level a large vaccine batch produced from 102/84 was turned into a new working seed. This new seed was characterized with regard to attenuation in the recommended internationally accepted monkey neurovirulence test (MNVT) using the 102/84 virus as reference.

Canine visceral leishmaniasis in Barra de Guaratiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: assessment of risk factors.

Barra de Guaratiba is a coastal area of the city of Rio de Janeiro where American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) is endemic. Although control measures including killing of dogs and use of insecticides have been applied at this locality, the canine seroprevalence remains at 25% and during 1995 and 1997 eight autochthonous human cases were notified. In order to evaluate factors related to the increase of the risk for Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi infection in dogs we have screened 365 dogs by anti-Leishmania immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and captured sandflies in the domestic and peridomestic environment.