Global metabolomic analysis of heart tissue in a hamster model for dilated cardiomyopathy.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a common cause of heart failure, is characterized by cardiac dilation and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To investigate the mechanistic basis, we performed global metabolomic analysis of myocardial tissues from the left ventricles of J2N-k cardiomyopathic hamsters. This model exhibits symptoms similar to those of human DCM, owing to the deletion of the δ-sarcoglycan gene.

Abiotic reductive immobilization of U(VI) by biogenic mackinawite.

During subsurface bioremediation of uranium-contaminated sites, indigenous metal and sulfate-reducing bacteria may utilize a variety of electron acceptors, including ferric iron and sulfate that could lead to the formation of various biogenic minerals in situ. Sulfides, as well as structural and adsorbed Fe(II) associated with biogenic Fe(II)-sulfide phases, can potentially catalyze abiotic U(VI) reduction via direct electron transfer processes. In the present work, the propensity of biogenic mackinawite (Fe 1+x S, x = 0 to 0.

Three-dimensional characterization of iron oxide (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles: application of a compressed sensing inspired reconstruction algorithm to electron tomography.

In this article, we demonstrate the application of a new compressed sensing three-dimensional reconstruction algorithm for electron tomography that increases the accuracy of morphological characterization of nanostructured materials such as nanocrystalline iron oxide particles. A powerful feature of the algorithm is an anisotropic total variation norm for the L1 minimization during algebraic reconstruction that effectively reduces the elongation artifacts caused by limited angle sampling during electron tomography. The algorithm provides faithful morphologies that have not been feasible with existing techniques.

Pseudoalteromonas arabiensis sp. nov., a marine polysaccharide-producing bacterium.

A novel exopolysaccharide-producing bacterium, designated strain k53(T), was isolated from sediment from the Arabia Sea, Indian Ocean. The strain was Gram-negative, motile, strictly aerobic, oxidase-positive and catalase-positive, and required Na(+) for growth. Its major isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-8 (Q-8), and its cellular fatty acid profile mainly consisted of C16 : 1ω7c, C16 : 0 and C18 : 1ω7c.

Orofacial pain related to traumatic neuroma in a patient with multiple TMJ operations.

The diagnosis of orofacial pain associated with temporomandibular disorders after repeated temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgeries can be quite difficult. This case report describes a 52-year-old woman who had previously undergone five TMJ surgeries and developed divergent pain caused by a trigger point in the left preauricular area. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging could not be used to identify a lesion because of metallic artifacts from a TMJ prosthesis.

Giant cell phlebitis: a potentially lethal clinical entity.

An 83-year-old woman presented to us with a 4-week history of general malaise, subjective fever and lower abdominal pain. Despite the intravenous infusion of antibiotics, her blood results and physical condition worsened, resulting in her sudden death. Autopsy study revealed that the medium-sized veins of the mesentery were infiltrated by eosinophil granulocytes, lymphocytes, macrophages and multinucleated giant cells; however, the arteries were not involved.

Isolation of Arabidopsis ahg11, a weak ABA hypersensitive mutant defective in nad4 RNA editing.

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays pivotal roles in the regulation of developmental and environmental responses in plants. Identification of cytoplasmic ABA receptors enabled the elucidation of the main ABA signalling pathway, connecting ABA perception to either nuclear events or the action of several transporters. However, the physiological functions of ABA in cellular processes largely remain unknown.

Programmed chemotherapy for patients with metastatic unresectable gastric cancer.

Background: Recent advances in the treatment of metastatic unresectable gastric cancers (MGC) include the development of new antitumor drugs and new regimens for their use. However, the selection of individually designed regimens by gastric cancer (GC) subtype remains problematic. Here, we investigated the clinical usefulness of programmed chemotherapy.

Inhibitory Regulation of Dendritic Activity in vivo.

The spatiotemporal control of neuronal excitability is fundamental to the inhibitory process. We now have a wealth of information about the active dendritic properties of cortical neurons including axonally generated sodium action potentials as well as local sodium spikelets generated in the dendrites, calcium plateau spikes, and NMDA spikes. All of these events have been shown to be highly modified by the spatiotemporal pattern of nearby inhibitory input which can drastically change the output firing mode of the neuron.

Alterations in echocardiographic and electrocardiographic features in Japanese professional soccer players: comparison to African-Caucasian ethnicities.

Background: Scarce data are available regarding the electrocardiographic (ECG) and echocardiographic changes in athletes of Asian origin.

Design: We investigate the ECG and echocardiographic patterns in Japanese (J) compared with African-Caribbean (AC) and Caucasian (C) athletes.

Methods: A total of 282 professional soccer players (68 J, 96 AC and 118 C) matched for age, gender, sport and level of achievement was examined.

The cellular basis of GABA(B)-mediated interhemispheric inhibition.

Interhemispheric inhibition is thought to mediate cortical rivalry between the two hemispheres through callosal input. The long-lasting form of this inhibition is believed to operate via γ-aminobutyric acid type B (GABA(B)) receptors, but the process is poorly understood at the cellular level. We found that the firing of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in rat somatosensory cortex due to contralateral sensory stimulation was inhibited for hundreds of milliseconds when paired with ipsilateral stimulation.

Characterization and environmental implications of nano- and larger TiO(2) particles in sewage sludge, and soils amended with sewage sludge.

Titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) is the most extensively used engineered nanoparticle to date, yet its fate in the soil environment has been investigated only rarely and is poorly understood. In the present study, we conducted two field-scale investigations to better describe TiO(2) nano- and larger particles in their most likely route of entry into the environment, i.e.

Fiber-optic calcium monitoring of dendritic activity in vivo.

Observing dendritic activity in active animals presents great challenges and there are currently not many options available. This protocol describes the fiber-optic-based "periscope" method for recording from populations of layer 5 (L5) neocortical pyramidal dendrites. This is an inexpensive, convenient, and robust method for recording dendritic activity during behavior.

[Three cases of the malignant esophageal stenosis successfully treated with the Niti-S™ esophageal stent].

We herein report three cases of the malignant esophageal stenosis successfully treated with the Niti-S™ esophageal stent. CASE 1: The hilar lung cancer and its mediastinal lymph node metastasis pressed the esophagus extramurally and caused the marked stenosis. CASE 2: A metastatic lymph node along the left laryngeal nerve caused the stenosis of the trachea.

Cerebral air embolism as a complication of peptic ulcer in the gastric tube: case report.

Background: The reported incidence of ulcer formation in the gastric tube in esophageal replacement is rare.

Case Presentation: This is the first report of a case of cerebral air embolism as a result of spontaneous perforation of an ulcer in the constructed gastric tube into the pulmonary vein during post-operative follow-up in a patient with esophageal cancer.

Conclusions: Cerebral air embolism is a rare complication of penetrating gastric ulcer, but should be considered in patients with a history of esophagectomy with gastric conduit that present with acute neurologic findings.

A software tool for automatic analysis of selected area diffraction patterns within Digital Micrograph™.

A software package "SADP Tools" is developed as a complementary diffraction pattern analysis tool. The core program, called AutoSADP, is designed to facilitate automated measurements of d-spacing and interplaner angles from TEM selected area diffraction patterns (SADPs) of single crystals. The software uses iterative cross correlations to locate the forward scattered beam position and to find the coordinates of the diffraction spots.

[Evaluation of pre-operative chemotherapy with S-1 plus CDDP against advanced gastric cancer with paraaortic lymph node metastasis].

We evaluated the effectiveness of pre-operative chemotherapy with S-1 plus CDDP against advanced gastric cancer with paraaortic lymph node metastasis. 8 patients received pre-operative chemotherapy with S-1 plus CDDP, according to the following regimen: S-1, 80 mg/m(2), was administered for 21 consecutive days followed by a 14-day rest period, and CDDP, 60 mg/m(2), was administered on day 8. The adverse event rate was 50%.

Adaptive responses to alloxan-induced mild oxidative stress ameliorate certain tauopathy phenotypes.

Oxidative stress is considered to promote aging and age-related disorders such as tauopathy. Although recent reports suggest that oxidative stress under certain conditions possesses anti-aging properties, no such conditions have been reported to ameliorate protein-misfolding diseases. Here, we used neuronal and murine models that overexpress human tau to demonstrate that mild oxidative stress generated by alloxan suppresses several phenotypes of tauopathy.

Primary B cell repertoire remodeling to achieve humoral transplantation tolerance.

The current mainstay of immunotherapy in clinical transplantation is T lymphocyte directed. However, it has long been appreciated that the emergence of an alloimmune response mounted by the B lymphocyte compartment and detectable as donor-specific antibodies is a critical challenge to long-term graft survival. Thus, achieving robust transplantation tolerance will require induction of tolerance in both the T- and B-cell compartments.

Molecular characterisation of the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) of the parC gene locus in viridans-group streptococci.

Forty-eight isolates of viridans-group streptococci (VGS) from adults and children in the community are examined for their resistance to ciprofloxacin phenotypically by determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). In addition, the parC gene locus is amplified and sequenced in all isolates and mutations noted. Overall, 44 VGS organisms were found to be susceptible to ciprofloxacin by the broth microdilution method, and the remaining four strains had intermediate susceptibility.

Phylogenetic analysis of urease-positive thermophilic Campylobacter (UPTC) strains based on the molecular characterization of the flaA gene.

Molecular cloning, nucleotide sequencing, and characterization of the flaA gene from additional isolates of urease-positive thermophilic Campylobacter (UPTC) were performed. These isolates were obtained from the natural environment in Northern Ireland (n = 9 from mussels) and in England (n = 1 from sea water). All isolates carried the shorter flaA gene, [open reading frames (ORFs), 1,461 to 1,503 base pairs], without any internal termination codons, and did not carry any flaA pseudogenes.

A low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma in the abdominal cavity.

Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma (LGMFS) is a fusiform cell tumor which develops in bone or soft tissues. This type of tumor frequently occurs in the oral cavity and extremities, while it is extremely rarely found in the abdominal cavity. This article reports a case of LGMFS exceeding 20 cm in diameter in the abdominal cavity observed in a 65-year-old male patient.

Preoperative bone mineral density in gastric cancer patients.

Background/aims: It has been reported that there is a high rate of bone mineral density (BMD) loss after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. To clarify the course of postoperative BMD loss, it is necessary to precisely determine the preoperative BMD of gastric cancer patients.

Methodology: From October 2005 through September 2008, preoperative BMD was measured in 91 patients (59 males and 32 females, mean age of the patients was 67.

Dynamic component of sports is an important determinant factor of heart rate recovery.

Objective: It is usually suggested that life expectancy of top athletes especially in endurance sports is longer than that of sedentary people. On the other hand, heart rate recovery (HRR) after exercise is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality, but differences in HRR between various top athletes are unclear. We examined HRR in various top athletes to clarify a role of HRR that may affect their life expectancy.