Metabolic flux rearrangement in the amino acid metabolism reduces ammonia stress in the α1-antitrypsin producing human AGE1.HN cell line.

This study focused on metabolic changes in the neuronal human cell line AGE1.HN upon increased ammonia stress. Batch cultivations of α(1)-antitrypsin (A1AT) producing AGE1.

Clinical outcomes and health-related quality of life after thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis.

Objectives: Thoracoscopic pleurodesis is a safe and effective method of palliative care for patients suffering from malignant pleural effusion. Health-related quality of life (QOL) is an important factor in palliative therapy; however, we are not aware of any studies that have examined the QOL of patients following thoracoscopic pleurodesis.

Methods: A total of 123 patients underwent thoracoscopic pleurodesis between January 2006 and February 2009.

Quercetin treatment changes fluxes in the primary metabolism and increases culture longevity and recombinant α₁-antitrypsin production in human AGE1.HN cells.

Addition of the flavonoid quercetin to cultivations of the α(1)-antitrypsin (A1AT) producing human AGE1.HN.AAT cell line resulted in alterations of the cellular physiology and a remarkable improvement of the overall performance of these cells.

A board game to assist pharmacy students in learning metabolic pathways.

Objectives: To develop and evaluate a board game designed to increase students' enjoyment of learning metabolic pathways; their familiarity with pathway reactions, intermediates, and regulation; and, their understanding of how pathways relate to one another and to selected biological conditions.

Design: The board game, entitled Race to Glucose, was created as a team activity for first-year pharmacy students in the biochemistry curriculum.

Assessment: A majority of respondents agreed that the game was helpful for learning regulation, intermediates, and interpathway relationships but not for learning reactions, formation of energetic molecules, or relationships, to biological conditions.

Guiding principles for printed education materials: design preferences of people with aphasia.

The objectives of this study were to obtain the preferences of people with aphasia for the design of stroke and aphasia printed education materials (PEMs) and to compare these preferences with recommendations in the literature for developing written information for other populations. A face-to-face quantitative questionnaire was completed with 40 adults with aphasia post-stroke. The questionnaire explored preferences for: (1) the representation of numbers, (2) font size and type, (3) line spacing, (4) document length, and (5) graphic type.

Predictors of Change in Self-Reported Social Networks among Homeless Young People.

This research investigates changes in social network size and composition of 351 homeless adolescents over three years. Findings show that network size decreases over time. Homeless youth with a conduct disorder begin street life with small networks that remain small over time.

Molecular targets of the antiinflammatory Harpagophytum procumbens (devil's claw): inhibition of TNFα and COX-2 gene expression by preventing activation of AP-1.

Harpagophytum procumbens (Hp) is often used in the supportive treatment of inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the skeletal system. Although the clinical efficacy in osteoarthritis has been demonstrated in clinical trials, the molecular target(s) of Hp are unclear. This study quantified the effects of the ethanol Hp extract (60% v/v ethanol, sole active ingredient of Pascoe®-Agil), on the expression and release of the major pro-inflammatory mediators in LPS-stimulated human monocytes and the intracellular signalling pathways involved in inflammation.

Health inequalities of the Roma in Europe: a literature review.

The Roma are the most populous marginalised community in Europe and have some of the greatest health needs. There is a higher prevalence of communicable and non-communicable diseases within the community and significantly shorter life expectancies than national averages. Efforts by governments across Europe to address these health inequalities have been relatively weak and the Roma suffer poorer access to health care, education and employment in every country that they inhabit in comparison to the majority population.

P300 energy loss in aging and Alzheimer's disease.

The amplitude of the event-related potential P300 component is sensitive to aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using a standard 20-electrode configuration, the P300 was measured during an "oddball" task in 14 young normal individuals (YN: 21-41 years), 11 elderly normal individuals (EN: 61-80 years), and 23 probable AD patients (AD: 63-93 years; NINCDS-ADRDA criteria). P300 latencies and amplitudes were measured at PZ.

Effectiveness of sorting calves with high risk of developing bovine respiratory disease on the basis of serum haptoglobin concentration at the time of arrival at a feedlot.

Objective: To evaluate serum haptoglobin concentration at feedlot arrival and subsequent performance and morbidity and mortality rates of calves that developed bovine respiratory disease.

Animals: 360 heifer calves and 416 steer and bull calves.

Procedures: Serum samples were obtained from cattle at the time of arrival to a feedlot (day -1) and analyzed for haptoglobin concentration.

Interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-15 have different effects on human natural killer lymphocytes.

Although interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-15 share the common signal transducing receptor chains IL-2Rβ and γ(c) and give rise to the same signaling patterns in human natural killer (NK) cells in vitro, they differ in their effects on the development, activation, and proliferation of these cells in vivo. We have previously demonstrated that the activation of NK cells induces a cellular program characterized by the sequential transcription-regulated expression of IL-15 and IL-2 high-affinity receptors. We demonstrate here that these receptors induce different responses.

One year environmental surveillance of rotavirus specie A (RVA) genotypes in circulation after the introduction of the Rotarix® vaccine in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rotavirus specie A (RVA) infection is the leading cause of severe acute diarrhea among young children worldwide. To reduce this major RVA health impact, the Rotarix® vaccine (GlaxoSmithKline, Rixensart, Belgium) was introduced in the Brazilian Expanded Immunization Program in March 2006 and became available to the entire birth cohort. The aim of this study was to evaluate the spread of RVA in the environment after the introduction of Rotarix® in Brazil.

Pharmacokinetics and in vivo potency of soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors in cynomolgus monkeys.

Background And Purpose: Soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors (sEHIs) possess anti-inflammatory, antiatherosclerotic, antihypertensive and analgesic properties. The pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics in terms of inhibitory potency of sEHIs were assessed in non-human primates (NHPs). Development of a sEHI for use in NHPs will facilitate investigations on the role of sEH in numerous chronic inflammatory conditions.

Osteolysis after rotator cuff repair with bioabsorbable anchors.

Purpose: The current study was designed to evaluate the rate of osteolysis and the clinical and functional outcomes in patients who underwent mini-open rotator cuff repairs using first generation bioabsorbable suture anchors. Our hypothesis was that patients with osteolysis noted on post-repair MRI would have an accompanying decrease in functional and clinical patient outcomes when compared with patients who did not have osteolysis evident on post-repair MRI.

Type Of Study: Clinical retrospective study.

Primary metabolism in the new human cell line AGE1.HN at various substrate levels: increased metabolic efficiency and α1-antitrypsin production at reduced pyruvate load.

Metabolic responses of the new neuronal human cell line AGE1.HN to various substrate levels were analyzed in this study showing that reduced substrate and especially pyruvate load improves metabolic efficiency, leading to improved growth and α(1)-antitrypsin (A1AT) production. The adaptation of the metabolism to different pyruvate and glutamine concentrations was analyzed in detail using a full factorial design.

Palliative partial pancreaticoduodenectomy impairs quality of life compared to bypass surgery in patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head.

Background: Some surgical centres consider palliative resection (PR) to be superior to double loop bypass (DLB) as treatment for advanced carcinoma of the pancreatic head. We performed a retrospective study with prospectively collected data at a single centre to compare PR and DLB in regard to quality of life (QoL).

Methods: From January 1996 to September 2008, 196 patients were given palliative surgery for advanced pancreatic cancer at the University Hospital of Kiel.

Aphasia friendly written health information: content and design characteristics.

People with aphasia need communicatively accessible written health information. Healthcare providers require knowledge of how to develop printed education materials (PEMs) in formats that people with aphasia prefer and can read. This study aimed to explore formatting characteristics considered to be barriers and facilitators to reading PEMs.

Development of an ultra fast online-solid phase extraction (SPE) liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) based approach for the determination of drugs in pharmacokinetic studies.

High-throughput analyses of a large number of samples for pharmacokinetic (PK) studies are essential in drug development. Analysis of drug candidates from blood using LC-ESI-MS generally requires separation of the plasma fraction followed by various offline sample preparation procedures. This step is a bottleneck that impedes throughput.

Revisiting the role of organic acids in the bicarbonate tolerance of zinc-efficient rice genotypes.

It has been hypothesised that enhanced organic acid release from the roots of zinc-efficient rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes plays a strong role in plant tolerance to both bicarbonate excess and Zn deficiency. To address several uncertainties in the literature surrounding the tolerance of rice to bicarbonate, we initially assessed the tolerance of six rice genotypes to bicarbonate stress under field conditions and in solution culture.

Conservation of complex nuclear localization signals utilizing classical and non-classical nuclear import pathways in LANA homologs of KSHV and RFHV.

ORF73 latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is targeted to the nucleus of infected cells where it binds to chromatin and mediates viral episome persistence, interacts with cellular proteins and plays a role in latency and tumorigenesis. A structurally related LANA homolog has been identified in the retroperitoneal fibromatosis herpesvirus (RFHV), the macaque homolog of KSHV. Here, we report the evolutionary and functional conservation of a novel bi-functional nuclear localization signal (NLS) in KSHV and RFHV LANA.

Evaluation of a microbiological screening and acceptance procedure for cryopreserved skin allografts based on 14 day cultures.

Viable donor skin is still considered the gold standard for the temporary covering of burns. Since 1985, the Brussels military skin bank supplies cryopreserved viable cadaveric skin for therapeutic use. Unfortunately, viable skin can not be sterilised, which increases the risk of disease transmission.

Narrowband Er:YAG nonplanar ring oscillator at 1645 nm.

We report 1645 nm narrowband operation of a monolithic Er:YAG nonplanar ring oscillator resonantly pumped at 1532 nm. Unidirectional cw power up to 0.5 W was obtained with a measured linewidth of 21 kHz.