Web: An Open-Access Tool for Predicting the Effects of Sleep/Wake Schedules and Caffeine Consumption on Neurobehavioral Performance.

Study Objectives: Computational tools that predict the effects of daily sleep/wake amounts on neurobehavioral performance are critical components of fatigue management systems, allowing for the identification of periods during which individuals are at increased risk for performance errors. However, none of the existing computational tools is publicly available, and the commercially available tools do not account for the beneficial effects of caffeine on performance, limiting their practical utility. Here, we introduce Web, an open-access tool for predicting neurobehavioral performance, which accounts for the effects of sleep/wake schedules, time of day, and caffeine consumption, while incorporating the latest scientific findings in sleep restriction, sleep extension, and recovery sleep.

The effect of metronomic versus standard chemotherapy on the regulatory to effector T-cell equilibrium in cancer patients.

Background: The host's immune system is crucially involved in cancer development and progression. The ratio of regulatory to effector T-cells, as well as the interplay of T-cells with therapeutic agents, impact on cancer prognosis. The current study aimed to comparatively investigate the effect of metronomic and standard chemotherapy on the number and functionality of peripheral regulatory and effector T-cells in cancer patients.

Thyroid hormones are positively associated with insulin resistance early in the development of type 2 diabetes.

Thyroid hormones have generally been found normal in diabetic patients. The question of whether variation within the euthyroid range influences insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes remains to be established. To investigate this, a meal was given to four groups: 17 healthy volunteers (controls), 22 first-degree relatives of type 2 diabetic subjects (relatives), 15 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and 24 subjects with overt type 2 diabetes (DM).

Subcutaneous glucose monitoring with GlucoDay: comparison of the results to those obtained with the endocrine artificial pancreas.

Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the accuracy of GlucoDay- a portable detector of subcutaneous glucose--by comparing the results to those obtained by Biostator an established and reliable method for continuous glucose measurement in whole blood.

Design: Subjects with type 1 diabetes (n:6), subjects with type 2 diabetes (n:6), and six healthy controls were studied for 24 hours; they consumed three main meals. The GlucoDay was connected to the subjects by inserting a microfibre probe into the periumbilical subcutaneous area, whilst the Biostator was inserted by a double-lumen catheter into an antecubital vein.

Rosuvastatin-induced thrombocytopenia.

Rosuvastatin, a statin indicated for patients with primary hypercholesterolemia, mixed dyslipidemia and familial hypercholesterolemia, is well tolerated by most patients. Its most common adverse effects are gastrointestinal derangement, muscle aches and hepatitis. One rare complication of statin treatment is severe thrombocytopenia.

Insulin resistance in hyperthyroidism: the role of IL6 and TNF alpha.

Objective: Although insulin resistance is a common finding in hyperthyroidism, the implicated mechanisms are obscure. The aim of this study was to investigate whether interleukin 6 (IL6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) are related to the development of insulin resistance in hyperthyroidism of nonautoimmune origin.

Design And Methods: A meal was given to ten hyperthyroid (HR) and ten euthyroid (EU) women.

Rates of glucose uptake in adipose tissue and muscle in vivo after a mixed meal in women with morbid obesity.

Background And Aims: Although whole-body insulin resistance in obesity is established, information on insulin action in peripheral tissues, especially adipose tissue (AD), is limited. This study was undertaken in morbid obesity to investigate insulin action on glucose disposal in AD and muscle (M).

Subjects And Methods: A meal was given to 30 obese (age 34 +/- 1 yr, body mass index 47 +/- 1 kg/m(2)) and 10 nonobese women (age 39 +/- 4 yr, body mass index 23 +/- 1 kg/m(2)).

Combination chemotherapy with docetaxel, vinorelbine and estramustine phosphate in metastatic androgen-resistant prostate cancer: a single institution experience.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity and toxicity of docetaxel, vinorelbine and oral estramustine in androgen-resistant prostate cancer (ARPC).

Patients And Methods: Fifty-two eligible patients were treated with docetaxel at 30 mg/m2 (day 1 and 8), vinorelbine at 20 mg/m2 (day 1 and 8), and oral estramustine of 280 mg p.o.

Studies of insulin resistance in patients with clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism.

Objective: Although clinical hypothyroidism (HO) is associated with insulin resistance, there is no information on insulin action in subclinical hypothyroidism (SHO).

Design And Methods: To investigate this, we assessed the sensitivity of glucose metabolism to insulin both in vivo (by an oral glucose tolerance test) and in vitro (by measuring insulin-stimulated rates of glucose transport in isolated monocytes with flow cytometry) in 21 euthyroid subjects (EU), 12 patients with HO, and 13 patients with SHO.

Results: All three groups had comparable plasma glucose levels, with the HO and SHO having higher plasma insulin than the EU (P<0.

Methotrexate, paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin in poor-risk nonseminomatous germ cell tumors.

Objective: The efficacy and tolerability of M-TIP was evaluated as first-line treatment for patients with poor-risk germ cell tumors (GCT), according to International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) criteria.

Patients And Methods: Thirty patients with poor-risk GCT were treated with M-TIP (methotrexate 250 mg/m(2) given as a 4-hour infusion with folinic acid rescue on day 1, paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) given as a 3-hour infusion on day 1, followed by ifosfamide 1.2 g/m(2) given as a 2-hour infusion and cisplatin 20 mg/m(2) given as a 2-hour infusion on days 2 to 6) regimen for four cycles.

Combination chemotherapy with carboplatin, paclitaxel and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin for advanced or recurrent carcinosarcoma of the uterus: clinical experience of a single institution.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the activity and toxicity of carboplatin, paclitaxel and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin combination in advanced or recurrent of the uterine carcinosarcoma.

Methods: Twenty-nine eligible patients with measurable disease were treated with carboplatin [area under the curve (AUC) 5], paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin 25 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks for 6-8 cycles.

Results: There were 10 complete responses (CRs) (34%) and 8 partial responses (PRs) (28%) for an overall response rate (RR) of 62% (95% confidence interval [CI], 43-81%).

Migration and retraction of endothelial and epithelial cells require PHI-1, a specific protein-phosphatase-1 inhibitor protein.

Cell migration and retraction are interrelated activities that are crucial for a range of physiological processes such as wound healing and vascular permeability. Immunostaining of brain sections for the specific inhibitor of type-1 protein Ser/Thr phosphatase called PHI-1 showed high expression levels in smooth muscle and especially in vascular endothelial cells. During migration of cultured human lung microvascular endothelial cells, endogenous PHI-1 was concentrated to the trailing edge of the cells.

Juxtamembrane localization of the protein phosphatase-1 inhibitor protein PHI-1 in smooth muscle cells.

Protein phosphorylation regulates many fundamental processes and protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) is a major phosphatase that determines the levels of Ser/Thr phosphorylation. Regulatory subunits and inhibitor phosphoproteins control PP1 activity. PHI-1 is a member of a family of PP1 inhibitor phosphoproteins that was discovered based on sequence similarity to the known inhibitor CPI-17.

The methylated component of the Neurospora crassa genome.

Cytosine methylation is common, but not ubiquitous, in eukaryotes. Mammals and the fungus Neurospora crassa have about 2-3% of cytosines methylated. In mammals, methylation is almost exclusively in the under-represented CpG dinucleotides, and most CpGs are methylated whereas in Neurospora, methylation is not preferentially in CpG dinucleotides and the bulk of the genome is unmethylated.