The origin of preferred orientation during carbon film growth.

Carbon films were prepared using a filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition system operated with a substrate bias varying linearly with time during growth. Ion energies were in the range between 95 and 620 eV. Alternating dark, high density (sp(3) rich) bands and light, low density (sp(2) rich) bands were observed using cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, corresponding to abrupt transitions between materials with densities of approximately 3.

Discovery of multiple neuropeptide families in the phylum Platyhelminthes.

Available evidence shows that short amidated neuropeptides are widespread and have important functions within the nervous systems of all flatworms (phylum Platyhelminthes) examined, and could therefore represent a starting point for new lead drug compounds with which to combat parasitic helminth infections. However, only a handful of these peptides have been characterised, the rigorous exploration of the flatworm peptide signalling repertoire having been hindered by the dearth of flatworm genomic data. Through searches of both expressed sequence tags and genomic resources using the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST), we describe 96 neuropeptides on 60 precursors from 10 flatworm species.

Superior vena cava perforation following the placement of a superior vena cava filter in males less than 60 years of age.

Although the utility of the superior vena cava (SVC) filter remains controversial, the safety and efficacy of SVC filters in patients with upper extremity deep venous thrombosis in whom anticoagulation is contraindicated or ineffective have been well described. However, few complications have been reported. Herein we describe a series of three cases of SVC perforation in three young males following the placement of SVC filters.

The safety of radiofrequency ablation of the great saphenous vein in patients with previous venous thrombosis.

Background: The safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the great saphenous vein (GSV) in patients with previous history of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) has not been determined.

Methods: From April 2003 to June 2006, 274 patients (68% women; mean age, 60 years +/- 15 years) underwent 293 consecutive RFA procedures. In the first 15 months, the temperature probe was maintained at 85 degrees C, with a pullback rate of 2 cm/min (85 limbs, 30%); we subsequently changed the protocol to 90 degrees C and a pullback rate of 2 to 3 cm/min (205 limbs, 70%).

Predictive factors of femoropopliteal patency after suboptimal duplex-guided balloon angioplasty and stenting: is recoil a bad sign?

Currently, the value of stenting during femoropopliteal balloon angioplasty (FPBA) remains unclear. Herein we evaluate the patency rates of successful duplex-guided balloon angioplasty (DAGBA) alone versus suboptimal DAGBA followed by stenting and the prestenting dissection versus recoil as potential indicators of stent success or failure. Over a period of 27 months, we performed 291 duplex-guided FPBAs (194 stenoses; 97 occlusions) on 244 limbs in 220 patients.

Violence from parents in childhood and obesity in adulthood: using food in response to stress as a mediator of risk.

Guided by a life course perspective and concepts from models of stress and coping, this study tested the extent to which self-reported profiles of physical and psychological violence in childhood from parents were associated with greater odds of obesity in adulthood. This study also examined the extent to which adults' greater use of food in response to stress served as a mediator of potential associations of risk. Multivariate regression models were estimated using data from 1650 respondents in the 1995-2005 National Survey of Midlife in the U.

Self-assessment of the training of vascular fellows: survey results of 219 vascular fellows from 2004 through 2007.

Introduction. In an attempt to identify the concerns of vascular fellows regarding their training in vascular surgery, we conducted a survey consisting of 22 questions at an annual national meeting from 2004 to 2007. Methods.

New office-based vascular interventions.

Objective: Following contemporary trend, various vascular interventions being performed in the office. We describe our office experience with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of incompetent perforating veins (IPV) and duplex-guided balloon angioplasties of failing/nonmaturing arterio-venous fistulas (AVF). DUPLEX-GUIDED BALLOON ANGIOPLASTIES OF AVF: Eighteen patients with 20 failing arterio-venous (AV) fistulas underwent office duplex-guided balloon angioplasties.

219 vascular fellows' perception of the future of vascular surgery.

In an attempt to identify the fellows' concerns about the future of the field of vascular surgery, we conducted a survey consisting of 22 questions at an annual national meeting in March from 2004 to 2007. In order to obtain accurate data, all surveys were kept anonymous. The fellows were asked (1) what type of practice they anticipated they would be in, (2) what the new training paradigm for fellows should be, (3) to assess their expectation of the needed manpower with respect to the demand for vascular surgeons, (4) what were major threats to the future of vascular surgery, (5) whether they had heard of and were in favor of the American Board of Vascular Surgery (ABVS), (6) who should be able to obtain vascular privileges, and (7) about their interest in an association for vascular surgical trainees.

Long-term follow-up for superior vena cava filter placement.

The short-term effectiveness and safety placement of superior vena cava (SVC) filter in the treatment of upper extremity deep venous thrombosis in patients with contraindication to anticoagulation have been well documented. However, as opposed to the numerous reported experiences with inferior vena cava filter placement and its complications, there has been no documented long-term follow-up on SVC filter placement. We, therefore, reviewed our experience with SVC filter placement.

Psychosocial Moderators the Effects of Transitioning Into Filial Caregiving on Mental and Physical Health.

A life-course theoretical perspective guided this study to examine how effects on mental and physical health (depressive symptoms, hostility, global happiness, self-esteem, personal mastery, psychological wellness, self-rated physical health) of transitioning into filial caregiving for a sole surviving parent are moderated by prior relationship quality, filial obligation, race or ethnicity, education, income, employment status, marital status, and parental status. Results from models estimated using longitudinal data from 1,060 adults aged 25 to 65 years at baseline (National Survey of Families and Households, 1987 to 1994) suggested that life-course and contextual factors do contribute to patterning health risks of caregiving, often in different ways for men and women: For example, low income puts daughter caregivers at greater risk for decline in physical health, combining employment with filial caregiving is more problematic for daughters' mental health, and being an unmarried filial caregiver is more problematic for men. Heterogeneity in the experience of filial care needs further attention in future research.

Religious Social Identity as an Explanatory Factor for Associations between More Frequent Formal Religious Participation and Psychological Well-Being.

Guided by social identity theory, this study investigated having a closer identification as a member of one's religious group as an explanatory mechanism for linkages between more frequent formal religious participation and better subjective psychological well-being (more positive affect, less negative affect, and more life satisfaction). Multivariate regression models were estimated based on data from 3,032 participants, ages 25 to 74, in the 1995 National Survey of Midlife in the U.S.

Marital Conflict, Depressive Symptoms, and Functional Impairment.

Guided by a stress process perspective, we investigated (a) whether marital conflict might directly lead to changes in depression and functional impairment, (b) whether marital conflict might indirectly lead to changes in functional impairment via depression, and (c) whether marital conflict might indirectly lead to changes in depression via functional impairment. We estimated a latent variable causal model using 3 waves of data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 1,832). Results indicated that marital conflict directly led to increases in depression and functional impairment and indirectly led to a rise in depression via functional impairment.

Limitations of and lessons learned from clinical experience of 1,020 duplex arteriography.

Objective: Due to the inherent risks, deficiencies and cost associated with contrast arteriography (CA), our group has been utitilizing duplex arteriography (DA) for evaluating the arteries of the lower extremity for patients undergoing lower extremity revascularization. In an effort to further explore the strengths and weaknesses of DA, we reviewed our evolving experience with DA from January 1, 1998, to January 1, 2005.

Patients And Methods: The arterial segments starting from mid-abdominal aorta to the pedal arteries were studied in cross-sectional and longitudinal planes using a variety of scanheads of 7-4, 10-5, 12-5, 5-2 and 3-2 MHz extended operative frequency range to obtain high-quality B-mode, color and power Doppler images as well as velocity spectra.

Neuropeptide-like protein diversity in phylum Nematoda.

This study reports the identification of nematode neuropeptide-like protein (nlp) sequelogs from the GenBank expressed sequence tag (EST) database, using BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) search methodology. Search strings derived from peptides encoded by the 45 known Caenorhabditis elegans nlp genes were used to identify more than 1000 ESTs encoding a total of 26 multi-species nlp sequelogs. The remaining 18 nlps (nlp-4, -16, -24 through -36, -39, -41 and -45) were identified only in C.

Abrupt stress induced transformation in amorphous carbon films with a highly conductive transition phase.

We demonstrate that when, and only when, the biaxial stress is increased above a critical value of 6+/-1 GPa during the growth of a carbon film at room temperature, tetrahedral amorphous carbon is formed. This confirms that the stress present during the formation of an amorphous carbon film determines its sp;{3} bonding fraction. In the vicinity of the critical stress, a highly oriented graphitelike material is formed which exhibits low electrical resistance and provides Ohmic contacts to silicon.

Dendritic cells from control but not atopic donors respond to contact and respiratory sensitizer treatment in vitro with differential cytokine production and altered stimulatory capacity.

Background: Chemical haptens induce both contact and allergic respiratory disease with dendritic cells (DCs) controlling and directing immune responses in vivo. Contact and respiratory haptens may promote differential cytokine production yet distinguishing these effects in vitro remains difficult due to human donor variability. Objective We sought to determine the effect of atopic status on the ability of DC to respond to contact and respiratory sensitizer treatment in vitro as DC from atopic donors are believed to promote Th2-type responses.

Effect of Duplex Arteriography in the Management of Acute Limb-Threatening Ischemia From Thrombosed Popliteal Aneurysms.

The role of routine use of duplex arteriography to diagnose thrombosis of popliteal artery aneurysm as a cause of acute lower extremity ischemia is investigated. In all, 109 patients (group 1) from 1994 to 1997 and 201 patients from 1998 to 2001(group 2) presenting with acute limb-threatening ischemia were studied. None of the group 1 patients underwent preoperative duplex arteriography, and no diagnosis of acute popliteal artery aneurysm thrombosis was made.

Duplex-guided infrainguinal balloon angioplasty and stenting. A 4-year experience.

Aim: The traditional technique of infrainguinal arterial balloon angioplasties involves the use of fluoroscopy and contrast material. We performed these procedures under duplex guidance to eliminate radiation exposure and avoid nephrotoxic effect of contrast.

Methods: Over the last four years, 274 patients (59% males) with a mean age of 74+/-9 years (range 42-97 years) had a total of 360 attempted balloon angioplasties of the superficial femoral (SFA) and/or popliteal arteries under duplex guidance.

Gray-scale median of the atherosclerotic plaque can predict success of lumen re-entry during subintimal femoral-popliteal angioplasty.

Objective: This study assessed whether the duplex ultrasound (DUS)-derived gray-scale median (GSM) of the most six distal portion of the occluded femoral-popliteal arterial segment can predict success of lumen re-entry for subintimal angioplasty.

Methods: During the last 3 years, 108 patients (62% men) with a mean age of 73 +/- 10 years underwent 116 primary attempted DUS-guided subintimal angioplasties of the femoral-popliteal segment. Preprocedural B-mode DUS images of the plaque at the most distal occlusion segment were digitalized and normalized using Photoshop (Adobe, San Jose, Calif) software and standard criteria (gray level, 0 to 5 for lumen blood and 185 to 190 for the adventitia on a linear scale of 0 to 255).

Glucosylceramide synthase decrease in frontal cortex of Alzheimer brain correlates with abnormal increase in endogenous ceramides: consequences to morphology and viability on enzyme suppression in cultured primary neurons.

Abnormal increase in native long-chain ceramides (lcCer) in AD implicates roles in neuronal atrophy and cognitive dysfunction especially in view of divergent roles this second messenger plays in cell function. Since clearance is mediated by glucosylceramide synthase (GCS, EC 2.4.

The silencing of cysteine proteases in Fasciola hepatica newly excysted juveniles using RNA interference reduces gut penetration.

Probing protein function in parasitic flatworms is hampered by the difficulties associated with the development of transgenic approaches. Although RNA interference (RNAi) in schistosomes shows much promise, it has not been reported in other trematodes. Here, we show the successful silencing of the cysteine proteases cathepsin B and L in the infective stage of Fasciola hepatica newly excysted juveniles (NEJs).

Single P and As dopants in the Si(001) surface.

Using first-principles density functional theory, we discuss doping of the Si(001) surface by a single substitutional phosphorus or arsenic atom. We show that there are two competing atomic structures for isolated Si-P and Si-As heterodimers, and that the donor electron is delocalized over the surface. We also show that the Si atom dangling bond of one of these heterodimer structures can be progressively charged by additional electrons.

Factors effecting adoption of new neonatal and pediatric respiratory technologies.

Objective: There remains significant variation in the level and rate of adoption of new pediatric respiratory technologies, in spite of two decades of focus on "evidence-based medicine". Nearly 50 years ago Rogers introduced a rubric for understanding issues that effect the adoption of technologies that included four factors plus evidence of advantage. We sought to determine whether Rogers' factors were useful in understanding contrasts between clinical utilization of technology and evidence of advantage.

Neurosecretases provide strategies to treat sporadic and familial Alzheimer disorders.

Recent discoveries on neurosecretases and their trafficking to release fibril-forming neuropeptides or other products, are of interest to pathology, cell signaling and drug discovery. Nomenclature arose from the use of amyloid precursor protein (APP) as a prototypic type-1 substrate leading to the isolation of beta-secretase (BACE), multimeric complexes (gamma-secretase, gamma-SC) for intramembranal cleavage, and attributing a new function to well-characterized metalloproteases of the ADAM family (alpha-secretase) for normal APP turnover. While purified alpha/beta-secretases facilitate drug discovery, gamma-SC presents greater challenges for characterization and mechanisms of catalysis.