High-performance peptide identification by tandem mass spectrometry allows reliable automatic data processing in proteomics.

In a previous paper we introduced a novel model-based approach (OLAV) to the problem of identifying peptides via tandem mass spectrometry, for which early implementations showed promising performance. We recently further improved this performance to a remarkable level (1-2% false positive rate at 95% true positive rate) and characterized key properties of OLAV like robustness and training set size. We present these results in a synthetic and coherent way along with detailed performance comparisons, a new scoring component making use of peptide amino acidic composition, and new developments like automatic parameter learning.

Systemic administration of N-acetylcysteine protects dopaminergic neurons against 6-hydroxydopamine-induced degeneration.

The results of several in vitro studies have shown that cysteine prodrugs, particularly N-acetylcysteine, are effective antioxidants that increase the survival of dopaminergic neurons. N-acetylcysteine can be systemically administered to deliver cysteine to the brain and is of potential use for providing neuroprotection in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. However, it has also been reported that an excess of cysteine may induce neurotoxicity.

Developmental patterns of physiological response to a multisensory intervention in extremely premature and high-risk infants.

Objective: To compare the developmental patterns of heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SaO2) of premature infants with and without central nervous system (CNS) injury, and evaluate whether a multisensory intervention altered this development.

Sample: Thirty-seven premature infants born at 23-26 weeks with normal head ultrasounds or at 24-32 weeks and diagnosed with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) and/or intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) were studied at 33-35 weeks postconceptional age.

Design: Infants were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups.

[Scurvy in intensive care despite vitamin supplementation].

Introduction: Scurvy can occur in hospitalized patients despite vitamin supplementation.

Observation: A 63 Year-old patient who had spent several weeks in intensive care developed an unexplained anemia and ecchymoses. Despite daily administration of 130 mg/day of vitamin C since his admission, his ascorbic acid blood levels had collapsed.

Expression of KS-type dehydrins is primarily regulated by factors related to organ type and leaf developmental stage during vegetative growth.

The expression of a gene, designated as DHN10, was analyzed at the protein level in two Solanum species. The DHN10 protein displays some consensus amino acid sequences of dehydrins, termed K- and S-segments. Unlike most dehydrins, both segments occur only in single copies in the DHN10 sequence and the S-segment is at a C-terminal position.

[Groove pancreatitis. Diagnostic impact of dynamic radiology].

Introduction: Described by Becker in 1973, groove pancreatitis is a rare segmental chronic pancreatitis affecting the groove between the head of the pancreas, the duodenum and the common bile duct. Mimicking pancreatic head carcinoma, surgical exploration is often required.

Observation: Diagnosis of groove pancreatitis was made on computed tomography and MR imaging (groove fibrosis) in a 58 year-old man presenting with acute pancreatitis complicated by bilary and duodenal stenosis, with totally favourable outcome within 5 months with conservative treatment.

A versatile synthesis of new pyrimidinyl nitronyl nitroxides.

Pyrimidinyl nitronyl nitroxides where the bis-N-oxy fragment is included in a six-membered ring were prepared from diacetonamine by a sequence of reactions including a Grignard reaction, a Ritter reaction and oxidation of the intermediate pyrimidine; the properties of the 2-phenyl-substituted representative are fully described.

Conflicting selection pressures on seed size: evolutionary ecology of fruit size in a bird-dispersed tree, Olea europaea.

Recent evidence indicates that fruit size has evolved according to dispersers' size. This is hypothesized to result from a balance between factors favouring large seeds and dispersers setting the maximum fruit size. This hypothesis assumes that (1) the size of fruits that can be consumed by dispersers is limited, (2) fruit and seed size are positively correlated, and (3) the result of multiple selection pressures on seed size is positive.

The nipple-sparing mastectomy: early results of a feasibility study of a new application of perioperative radiotherapy (ELIOT) in the treatment of breast cancer when mastectomy is indicated.

Background: Breast cancer surgery has become less and less mutilating, however a mastectomy is required in the case of multicentric, large tumors or recurrences after conservative treatment. The removal of the nipple areola complex during the mastectomy dramatically increases the feeling of mutilation. To reduce this negative psychological impact, in cancers located outside of the central area of the breast, we propose a new type of nipple-sparing mastectomy associated with intraoperative electron beam radiotherapy (ELIOT) delivered on the region of the areola.

Potato plants lacking the CDSP32 plastidic thioredoxin exhibit overoxidation of the BAS1 2-cysteine peroxiredoxin and increased lipid Peroxidation in thylakoids under photooxidative stress.

The CDSP32 protein (chloroplastic drought-induced stress protein of 32 kD) is a thioredoxin participating in the defense against oxidative damage. We recently have identified in vitro the BAS1 2-Cys peroxiredoxin, a peroxide-detoxifying enzyme, as a target for CDSP32. Here, we report the characterization under stress conditions of transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants lacking CDSP32 with regard to the BAS1 redox state and the level of lipid peroxidation.

Synthesis, structures, and magnetic and optical properties of a series of europium(III) and gadolinium(III) complexes with chelating nitronyl and imino nitroxide free radicals.

This paper reports the synthesis, structures, and magnetic and optical properties of a series of gadolinium(III) (1a-4a) and europium(III) (1b-4b) complexes with nitronyl or imino nitroxide radicals. The crystal structures of compounds 1a and 1b consist of [Ln(III)(radical)(2)(NO(3))(3)] entities in which the gadolinium(III) (1a) or europium(III) ion (1b) is 10-coordinated to two nitronyl nitroxide radicals and three nitrato ligands. The crystal structures of compounds 2a-4a and 2b-4b consist of [Ln(III)(hfac)(3)(radical)] entities in which the gadolinium(III) (2a-4a) or europium(III) ion (2b-4b) is 8-coordinated to one nitronyl (2a and 2b) or one imino (3a, 4a and 3b, 4b) nitroxide radical and three hexafluoroacetylacetonato ligands.

Kinetic studies of human tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase, an enzyme in the topoisomerase I DNA repair pathway.

Tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase (TDP) cleaves the phosphodiester bond linking the active site tyrosine residue of topoisomerase I with the 3' terminus of DNA in topoisomerase I-DNA complexes which accumulate during treatment of cancer with camptothecin. In yeast, TDP mutation confers a 1000-fold hypersensitivity to camptothecin in the presence of an additional mutation of RAD9 gene [Pouliot, J.J.

Digital retinal images and teleophthalmology for detecting and grading diabetic retinopathy.

Objective: Detecting and grading of diabetic retinopathy (DR) by means of digital retinal images sent via the Internet.

Research Design And Methods: Four nonstereoscopic digital retinal images (45 degrees field each) of 126 eye fundus images from 70 diabetic patients were obtained with a nonmydriatic camera at two peripheral units. The images were sent via the Internet using a web-based system to a reference center, where they were diagnosed and graded by one ophthalmologist.

The plastidic 2-cysteine peroxiredoxin is a target for a thioredoxin involved in the protection of the photosynthetic apparatus against oxidative damage.

The chloroplastic drought-induced stress protein of 32 kD (CDSP32) is composed of two thioredoxin modules and is induced by environmental and oxidative stress conditions. We investigated whether the plastidic protein BAS1, which is related to eubacterial 2-Cys peroxiredoxin, is a target for CDSP32. Using a CDSP32 active-site mutant, we showed that the BAS1 and CDSP32 proteins form a mixed disulfide complex in vitro.

Synthesis, structures, and magnetic properties of a series of lanthanum(III) and gadolinium(III) complexes with chelating benzimidazole-substituted nitronyl nitroxide free radicals. Evidence for antiferromagnetic Gd(III)-radical interactions.

This paper reports the synthesis, crystal structures, and magnetic properties of a series of lanthanide complexes with nitronyl nitroxide radicals of general formula [[Ln(III)(radical)(4)] x (ClO(4))(3) x (H(2)O)(x) x (THF)(y)] (1-4) and [Ln(III)(radical)(2)(NO(3))(3)] (5, 6) [Ln = La (compounds 1, 3, 5) or Gd (compounds 2, 4, and 6); radical = 2-(2'-benzymidazolyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (NITBzImH, compounds 1, 2, 5, 6) or 2-[2'-[(6'-methyl)benzymidazolyl]]-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (NITMeBzImH, compounds 3, 4)]. (1) C(64)H(88)Cl(3)LaN(16)O(24), fw = 1710.76, orthorhombic, Fddd, a = 11.

N-acetylcysteine enhances production of dopaminergic neurons from mesencephalic-derived precursor cells.

Epidermal growth-factor-responsive rat mesencephalic precursor cells incubated in differentiation media produce only a small number of dopaminergic (DA) cells. Supplementation of the differentiation medium with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) induced a marked increase (approximately 400%) in the number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive cells. Treatment with interleukin-1 alpha also induced a significant increase (approximately 300%) in the number of TH-positive cells.