Portal annular pancreas. A rare variant and a new classification.

Context: Portal annular pancreas is a rare congenital anomaly resulting from fusion of the pancreatic parenchyma around the portal vein/superior mesenteric vein. It is asymptomatic, but could have serious consequences during pancreatic surgery, if unrecognized. We describe a variant of this anomaly encountered during pancreaticoduodenectomy and propose a new classification.

An evaluation of the GLYCAM06 and MM3 force fields, and the PM3-D* molecular orbital method for modelling prototype carbohydrate-aromatic interactions.

The structures and interaction energies of 21 binary complexes of fucose and glucose with toluene, 3-methylindole or p-hydroxytoluene, evaluated at the DFT-D level, are used to judge the accuracy of the GLYCAM06 and MM3 force fields, and the PM3-D* molecular orbital method for modelling carbohydrate-arene interactions. The accuracy of the DFT-D method is substantiated by comparison with high level CCSD(T) calculations on a small number of representative complexes. It is found that a correct description of the intermolecular dispersive interactions is essential.

Heronamides A-C, new polyketide macrolactams from an Australian marine-derived Streptomyces sp. A biosynthetic case for synchronized tandem electrocyclization.

A Streptomyces sp. isolated from a shallow water sediment sample collected off Heron Island, Australia, afforded three new polyketide macrolactams, heronamides A-C (1-3). Structures were assigned to the heronamides on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis, chemical derivatization and biosynthetic considerations.

Oculocutaneous anthrax: detection and treatment.

Anthrax, a zoonotic disease that primarily affects herbivores, has received recent attention as a potential agent of bioterrorism. We report a patient who presented with a 4-day history of pain, watering and difficulty in opening the left upper and lower eyelids, and fever. Clinical examination revealed brawny nonpitting edema with serosanguinous discharge.

Endometrial carcinoma in a young subfertile woman with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium is a morbid condition in women under 40 years of age with an incidence of 25%. However, patients with anovulatory polycystic ovarian syndrome are at risk of developing endometrial carcinoma. The disease is often advanced when diagnosed, thereby depriving the woman of the option for fertility sparing conservative approach.

Role of laparohysteroscopy in women with normal pelvic imaging and failed ovulation stimulation with intrauterine insemination.

Context: Women with primary infertility and no obvious pelvic pathology on clinical evaluation and imaging are either treated empirically or further investigated by laparoscopy.

Aims: The role of diagnostic laparoscopy in women who fail to conceive after empirical treatment with ovulation induction and intrauterine insemination was evaluated.

Settings And Design: Retrospective study at a private infertility center.

The effects of perfluorination on carbohydrate-pi interactions: computational studies of the interaction of benzene and hexafluorobenzene with fucose and cyclodextrin.

The effect of benzene fluorination on C-H...

Modelling the binding of HIV-reverse transcriptase and nevirapine: an assessment of quantum mechanical and force field approaches and predictions of the effect of mutations on binding.

The importance of the intermolecular interactions which contribute to the binding of HIV-1 RT with the NNRTI inhibitor, nevirapine (NVP), has been studied using quantum mechanical and molecular simulation methods. A range of computational methods, including density functional theory with empirical dispersion corrections, have been employed and show that although pi-pi stacking interactions are important, the combined effect of a number of C-H/pi interactions provides a significant contribution to the binding. The AMBER empirical force-field has been shown to be particularly effective to describe the interactions in this case; MM-GBSA free-energy methods were subsequently used to explore the effects on binding with several known mutations of HIV-1 RT.

Effect of estrogen on mitochondrial function and intracellular stress markers in rat liver and kidney following trauma-hemorrhagic shock and prolonged hypotension.

Trauma-hemorrhage (T-H) is known to impair tissue perfusion, leading to tissue hypoxia, and thus affecting mitochondria, the organelles with the highest oxygen demand. In a model of T-H and prolonged hypotension without fluid resuscitation, administration of a small volume of 17beta-estradiol (E2), but not vehicle, prolonged the survival of rats for 3 h, even in the absence of fluid resuscitation. The main finding of this study is that T-H followed by prolonged hypotension significantly affects mitochondrial function, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers and free iron levels, and that E2 ameliorated all these changes.

Mutation@A Glance: an integrative web application for analysing mutations from human genetic diseases.

Although mutation analysis serves as a key part in making a definitive diagnosis about a genetic disease, it still remains a time-consuming step to interpret their biological implications through integration of various lines of archived information about genes in question. To expedite this evaluation step of disease-causing genetic variations, here we developed Mutation@A Glance (http://rapid.rcai.

Delayed jejunal perforation following blunt abdominal trauma.

Jejunal perforation is a known complication of abdominal trauma. We report two cases of jejunal perforation presenting nearly 2 months following blunt injury to the abdomen and discuss possible mechanisms for delayed small bowel perforation.

Cepstral analysis of voice in unilateral adductor vocal fold palsy.

Objectives: Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) occurs because of the dysfunction of the vagus nerve innervating the larynx. It causes a characteristic breathy voice often accompanied by swallowing disability, a weak cough, and the sensation of shortness of breath. Clinical evaluation of voice is generally based on perceptive criteria and the acoustic analysis of voice.

Hypoxia-induced alteration of mitochondrial genes in cardiomyocytes: role of Bnip3 and Pdk1.

The hypoxic conditions induced by reduced blood flow decreases oxygen availability in target tissues. Cellular hypoxia leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, decreased energy production, and increased production of reactive oxygen species. To determine the alteration in expression of mitochondrial genes after hypoxia in cardiomyocytes, we developed a rodent mitochondrial gene chip (RoMitoChip).

Nocardiopsins: new FKBP12-binding macrolide polyketides from an Australian marine-derived actinomycete, Nocardiopsis sp.

A marine-derived actinomycete, Nocardiopsis sp. (CMB-M0232), obtained from a sediment sample collected at a depth of 55 m off the coast of Brisbane, Australia, yielded two new macrolide polyketides. Structures for nocardiopsins A and B were assigned by detailed spectroscopic analysis, degradation and chemical derivatization.

NetPath: a public resource of curated signal transduction pathways.

We have developed NetPath as a resource of curated human signaling pathways. As an initial step, NetPath provides detailed maps of a number of immune signaling pathways, which include approximately 1,600 reactions annotated from the literature and more than 2,800 instances of transcriptionally regulated genes - all linked to over 5,500 published articles. We anticipate NetPath to become a consolidated resource for human signaling pathways that should enable systems biology approaches.

Results of a phase 2 study of bortezomib in patients with relapsed or refractory indolent lymphoma.

This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of single-agent bortezomib in indolent B-cell lymphoma that had relapsed from or was refractory to rituximab. Sixty patients enrolled: 59 were treated with bortezomib 1.3 mg/m(2) on days 1, 4, 8, and 11 for up to eight 21-day cycles; responders could receive 4 additional cycles; maintenance was optional.

Anosmin-1 involved in neuronal cell migration is hypoxia inducible and cancer regulated.

Functional expression of KAL1 gene is critical in the migration of GnRH neurons from the olfactory placode to the hypothalamus in embryogenesis. This gene thus far has not been shown to play a functional role in any other physiological or pathological process either in the developed brain or in peripheral tissues. We show here that KAL1 gene expression is decreased in early stage and increased in later stages of cancers.

Sirolimus-eluting stent placement for refractory renal artery in-stent restenosis: sustained patency and clinical benefit at 24 months.

Renal artery stenosis may cause or exacerbate hypertension and renal failure. Percutaneous transluminal renal artery stent placement, increasingly the first-line therapy for ostial atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis, can be complicated by in-stent restenosis weeks to months after the procedure. There is currently no consensus for the treatment of in-stent restenosis.

Prediction of candidate primary immunodeficiency disease genes using a support vector machine learning approach.

Screening and early identification of primary immunodeficiency disease (PID) genes is a major challenge for physicians. Many resources have catalogued molecular alterations in known PID genes along with their associated clinical and immunological phenotypes. However, these resources do not assist in identifying candidate PID genes.

Suppression of activation and costimulatory signaling in splenic CD4+ T cells after trauma-hemorrhage reduces T-cell function: a mechanism of post-traumatic immune suppression.

Reduced immune function is frequently a consequence of serious injury such as trauma-hemorrhage (T-H). Injury may lead to reduced T-cell activation, resulting in decreased engagement of costimulatory molecules after antigen recognition and in subsequent immunological compromise and anergy. We hypothesized that inhibition of CD28 expression is one possible mechanism by which immune functions are suppressed after T-H.

Rationale and design of the Rural Andhra Pradesh Cardiovascular Prevention Study (RAPCAPS): a factorial, cluster-randomized trial of 2 practical cardiovascular disease prevention strategies developed for rural Andhra Pradesh, India.

Background: Developing countries are experiencing increasing levels of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although there is a good understanding of how to deliver CVD prevention programs in developed countries, there are few data regarding strategies for CVD prevention in resource-poor settings. This study aimed to implement and evaluate a CVD prevention program in a rural area of India.

Incidence and pattern of acute anterior uveitis in Central Australia.

Aim: To investigate the incidence and patterns of acute anterior uveitis (AAU) in Central Australia and specifically to study the relative frequency of AAU in Australian Aborigines compared with that in non-Aboriginal patients.

Methods: Prospective, observational study of all patients seen by the Central Australian Ophthalmology service over an 8-month period.

Results: The incidence rate of AAU in Central Australia was 35.

Naseseazines A and B: a new dimeric diketopiperazine framework from a marine-derived actinomycete, Streptomyces sp.

Chemical analysis of a Streptomyces sp. (CMB-MQ030) isolated from a Fijian marine sediment yielded two new diketopiperazines, naseseazines A and B (1, 2), featuring a new dimeric framework. Structures were determined by detailed spectroscopic analysis and C(3) Marfey's analysis.

PathBuilder--open source software for annotating and developing pathway resources.

Summary: We have developed PathBuilder, an open-source web application to annotate biological information pertaining to signaling pathways and to create web-based pathway resources. PathBuilder enables annotation of molecular events including protein-protein interactions, enzyme-substrate relationships and protein translocation events either manually or through automated importing of data from other databases. Salient features of PathBuilder include automatic validation of data formats, built-in modules for visualization of pathways, automated import of data from other pathway resources, export of data in several standard data exchange formats and an application programming interface for retrieving existing pathway datasets.

Synthesis and evaluation of 3''- and 4''-deoxy and -fluoro analogs of the immunostimulatory glycolipid, KRN7000.

Four 3''- and 4''-deoxy and -fluorogalactosyl ceramides were synthesized, and their ability to stimulate iNKT cells, based on levels of IL-2 production, was assessed in three NKT cell receptor hybridomas. In two of the hybridomas, 1.2 and 2H4, all of the analogs were immunostimulatory, while in the 1.