Does the Harvesting Technique Affect the Properties of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells?-The Comparative Biological Characterization.

The objective of this study was to evaluate complex biological properties of human stem cells isolated from adipose tissue (ASCs) harvested utilizing different methods: surgical resection (R), power-assisted liposuction (PAL), and laser-assisted liposuction (LAL). ASCs were isolated from healthy donors, due to surgical resection, power-, and laser-assisted liposuction. Isolated cells were characterized by their clonogenicity, proliferation rate, doubling time, multilineage differentiation, and senescence potential.

Anti-proliferative and cytotoxic activity of rosuvastatin against melanoma cells.

Introduction: Statins are considered potential candidate agents for melanoma chemoprevention. Statin-induced mevalonate pathway inhibition leads to reduction of cholesterol synthesis and also to decreased cellular levels of non-steroidal isoprenoids, geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate and farnesyl pyrophosphate. This results in the impairment of protein prenylation which affects carcinogenesis.

Isonitrile as an Ultrasensitive Infrared Reporter of Hydrogen-Bonding Structure and Dynamics.

Infrared (IR) probes based on terminally blocked β-isocyanoalanine (AlaNC) and p-isocyanophenylalanine (PheNC) amino acids were synthesized. These isonitrile (NC)-derivatized compounds were extensively characterized by FTIR and femtosecond IR pump-probe spectroscopies, and a direct comparison was made with popularly used nitrile (CN)- and azide (N)-derivatized analogs. It is shown that the isonitrile stretch frequency exhibits extremely high sensitivity to hydrogen-bonding interactions.

Molecular Epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates from Children with Recurrent Upper Respiratory Tract Infections.

A total of 125 isolates were recovered from adenoids and/or nasopharynx of 170 children aged 2 to 5 from south-east Poland; they had undergone adenoidectomy for recurrent and/or persistent symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. Pneumococcal isolates were analyzed by phenotyping (serotyping and antimicrobial resistance tests) and genotyping together with the clonality of the pneumococcal isolates based on resistance determinants, transposon distribution and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Serotypes 19F, 6B and 23F constituted 44.

The Classification of Anxiety and Fear-Related Disorders in the ICD-11.

Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent worldwide and engender substantial economic costs and disability. The World Health Organization is currently developing the Eleventh Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), which represents the first opportunity to improve the validity, clinical utility, and global applicability of the classification in more than 25 years. This article describes changes in the organization and diagnostic guidelines for anxiety and fear-related disorders proposed by the ICD-11 Working Group on the Classification of Mood and Anxiety Disorders and the rationale and evidence base for the proposals.

The relationships of personal resources with symptom severity and psychosocial functioning in persons with schizophrenia: results from the Italian Network for Research on Psychoses study.

The relationships of personal resources with symptom severity and psychosocial functioning have never been tested systematically in a large sample of people with schizophrenia. We applied structural equation models to a sample of 921 patients with schizophrenia collected in a nationwide Italian study, with the aim to identify, among a large set of personal resources, those that may have an association with symptom severity or psychosocial functioning. Several relevant demographic and clinical variables were considered concurrently.

Underweight subjects with anorexia nervosa have an enhanced salivary cortisol response not seen in weight restored subjects with anorexia nervosa.

The cortisol response to awakening (CAR) has been reported to be enhanced in symptomatic patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). However, it has been not established whether the dysregulation of CAR was a primary phenomenon or a change secondary to malnutrition. Therefore, we aimed to explore the salivary CAR in both underweight and weigh-restored women with AN.

Pathways to functional outcome in subjects with schizophrenia living in the community and their unaffected first-degree relatives.

Rationale: Variables influencing real-life functioning have repeatedly been modeled in schizophrenia subjects but not systematically investigated in their unaffected first-degree relatives (SRs), in whom milder forms of deficits reported in schizophrenia have been observed, but confounders of clinical cohorts are not in play. Demonstrating that pathways to functional outcome are similar between patients and SRs would validate structural models developed in schizophrenia subjects. The present multicenter study aimed to explore whether variables associated with real-life functioning are similar in schizophrenia patients and their unaffected relatives.

Site-Specific Characterization of Cytochrome P450cam Conformations by Infrared Spectroscopy.

Conformational changes are central to protein function but challenging to characterize with both high spatial and temporal precision. The inherently fast time scale and small chromophores of infrared (IR) spectroscopy are well-suited for characterization of potentially rapidly fluctuating environments, and when frequency-resolved probes are incorporated to overcome spectral congestion, enable characterization of specific sites in proteins. We selectively incorporated p-cyanophenylalanine (CNF) as a vibrational probe at five distinct locations in the enzyme cytochrome P450cam and used IR spectroscopy to characterize the environments in substrate and/or ligand complexes reflecting those in the catalytic cycle.

The "Insight Paradox" in Schizophrenia: Magnitude, Moderators and Mediators of the Association Between Insight and Depression.

The so-called "insight paradox" posits that among patients with schizophrenia higher levels of insight are associated with increased levels of depression. Although different studies examined this issue, only few took in account potential confounders or factors that could influence this association. In a sample of clinically stable patients with schizophrenia, insight and depression were evaluated using the Scale to assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia.

Is dialdehyde starch a valuable cross-linking agent for collagen/elastin based materials?

Collagen and elastin are the main structural proteins in mammal bodies. They provide mechanical support, strength, and elasticity to various organs and tissues, e.g.

Non-invasive diagnostic techniques in the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma.

Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common cutaneous malignancy after basal cell carcinoma. Although the gold standard of diagnosis for squamous cell carcinoma is biopsy followed by histopathology evaluation, optical non-invasive diagnostic tools have obtained increased attention. Dermoscopy has become one of the basic diagnostic methods in clinical practice.

Characterization of premorbid functioning during childhood in patients with deficit vs. non-deficit schizophrenia and in their healthy siblings.

Impaired premorbid adjustment has been reported in patients with schizophrenia, generally in association with unfavorable aspects of the illness (e.g., poor outcome and severe negative symptoms).

The Microtubule-Associated Protein Tau and Its Relevance for Pancreatic Beta Cells.

Structural and biochemical alterations of the microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) are associated with degenerative disorders referred to as tauopathies. We have previously shown that MAPT is present in human islets of Langerhans, human insulinomas, and pancreatic beta-cell line models, with biophysical similarities to the pathological MAPT in the brain. Here, we further studied MAPT in pancreatic endocrine tissue to better understand the mechanisms that lead to functional dysregulation of pancreatic beta cells.

Own Experience From The Use Of A Substitute Of An Allogeneic Acellular Dermal Matrix Revitalized With In Vitro Cultured Skin Cells In Clinical Practice.

As a result of the removal of cells from human allogeneic dermis, a collagen scaffold is obtained, which can be populated de novo with autologous/allogeneic skin cells and transplanted onto the area of skin loss. The optimal method for production of acellular dermal matrices (ADM) has been selected. Three female patients (a mean age of 54 years) were subjected to the transplantation of either autologous or allogeneic keratinocytes and fibroblasts into the holes of acellular dermal matrix (ADM) mesh graft.

Genetic variants associated with response to lithium treatment in bipolar disorder: a genome-wide association study.

Background: Lithium is a first-line treatment in bipolar disorder, but individual response is variable. Previous studies have suggested that lithium response is a heritable trait. However, no genetic markers of treatment response have been reproducibly identified.

Responses of peripheral endocannabinoids and endocannabinoid-related compounds to hedonic eating in obesity.

Purpose: Hedonic eating occurs independently from homeostatic needs prompting the ingestion of pleasurable foods that are typically rich in fat, sugar and/or salt content. In normal weight healthy subjects, we found that before hedonic eating, plasma levels of 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) were higher than before nonhedonic eating, and although they progressively decreased after food ingestion in both eating conditions, they were significantly higher in hedonic eating. Plasma levels of anandamide (AEA), oleoylethanolamide (OEA) and palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), instead, progressively decreased in both eating conditions without significant differences.

Collagen/elastin hydrogels cross-linked by squaric acid.

Hydrogels based on collagen and elastin are very valuable materials for medicine and tissue engineering. They are biocompatible; however their mechanical properties and resistance for enzymatic degradation need to be improved by cross-linking. Up to this point many reagents have been tested but more secure reactants are still sought.

Ghrelin response to hedonic eating in underweight and short-term weight restored patients with anorexia nervosa.

Recently, anorexia nervosa (AN) has been conceptualized as a reward-related disorder, and alterations in brain reward processes have been documented in both acute and recovered AN patients. However, the role of endogenous biochemical mediators, such as ghrelin, in the modulation of reward processes has been poorly investigated in this eating disorder. Hedonic eating, that is the consumption of food exclusively for pleasure and not to maintain energy homeostasis, is a useful paradigm to investigate the physiology of food-related reward.