Galectin-1 and Galectin-3 mRNA expression in renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Galectins are known to regulate cell differentiation and growth as well as cell adhesion and apoptosis. Galectins have been discussed as possible prognosticators for survival in renal cell cancer (RCC) and other urological tumors. They might also play an emerging role as possible new marker-proteins for RCC.

Dose response and clonal variability of lentiviral tetracycline-regulated vectors in murine hematopoietic cells.

Tetracycline-regulated integrating vectors allow pharmacologically controlled genetic modification of murine and human hematopoietic stem cells and provide the opportunity for time- and dose-controlled reversible transgene expression in hematopoietic stem cells in vitro and in vivo. However, the background activity of tetracycline-regulated promoters (tetPs) in the absence of induction or vector integration in the vicinity of proto-oncogenes can diminish the advantages of the system. Here we investigated the effect of lentiviral transduction rate on tetP background activity, vector copy number (VCN), and clonal variability as a consequence of vector integration.

DNA methylation biomarkers predict progression-free and overall survival of metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC) treated with antiangiogenic therapies.

VEGF-targeted therapy increases both the progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with metastasized renal cell cancer (mRCC). Identification of molecular phenotypes of RCC could improve risk-stratification and the prediction of the clinical disease course. We investigated whether gene-specific DNA hypermethylation can predict PFS and OS among patients undergoing anti-VEGF-based therapy.

It's how you get there: walking down a virtual alley activates premotor and parietal areas.

Voluntary drive is crucial for motor learning, therefore we are interested in the role that motor planning plays in gait movements. In this study we examined the impact of an interactive Virtual Environment (VE) feedback task on the EEG patterns during robot assisted walking. We compared walking in the VE modality to two control conditions: walking with a visual attention paradigm, in which visual stimuli were unrelated to the motor task; and walking with mirror feedback, in which participants observed their own movements.

GATA5 CpG island hypermethylation is an independent predictor for poor clinical outcome in renal cell carcinoma.

Transcriptional inactivation and CpG island (CGI) methylation of GATA transcription factor family members GATA3 and GATA5 have been reported for a few types of human cancer. Whether high-density CGI methylation of GATA3 or GATA5 is associated with the clinical course of patients with renal cell cancer (RCC) has not been clarified. Quantitative methylation-specific PCR assays were carried out to analyze 25 tumor cell lines including 6 RCC lines and 119 RCC and 87 adjacent normal tissues for the presence of densely methylated sequences.

Decreased GATA5 mRNA expression associates with CpG island methylation and shortened recurrence-free survival in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Background: GATA-5, a zinc-finger transcription factor and member of the GATA family proteins 1-6, is known to be involved in cellular differentiation. We recently found that tumor-specific hypermethylation of the GATA5 CpG island (CGI) occurs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and is associated with an adverse clinical outcome. In this study, we investigated whether epigenetic GATA5 alterations may result in changes in GATA5 mRNA expression levels and correlate with the observed prognostic impact of epigenetic changes in GATA5 in RCC.

Neurofilament Heavy polypeptide CpG island methylation associates with prognosis of renal cell carcinoma and prediction of antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy response.

Neurofilament Heavy polypeptid (NEFH) belongs to the group of type IV intermediate filament proteins. DNA methylation of the NEFH promoter and loss of expression have previously been shown to activate the AKT/β-catenin pathway in tumor cells. When identifying hypermethylation of the NEFH CpG island (CGI) in renal cell cancer (RCC) we asked whether methylation could provide clinical or prognostic information for RCC and/or predict therapy response in patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC) undergoing antiangiogenic therapy.

Medical interventions for traumatic hyphema.

Background: Traumatic hyphema is the entry of blood into the anterior chamber (the space between the cornea and iris) subsequent to a blow or a projectile striking the eye. Hyphema uncommonly causes permanent loss of vision. Associated trauma (e.

Effect of methylphenidate on attention in apathetic AD patients in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Little is known about the effect of methylphenidate (MPH) on attention in Alzheimer's disease (AD). MPH has shown to improve apathy in AD, and both apathy and attention have been related to dopaminergic function. The goal was to investigate MPH effects on attention in AD and assess the relationship between attention and apathy responses.

Whatever works: a systematic user-centered training protocol to optimize brain-computer interfacing individually.

This study implemented a systematic user-centered training protocol for a 4-class brain-computer interface (BCI). The goal was to optimize the BCI individually in order to achieve high performance within few sessions for all users. Eight able-bodied volunteers, who were initially naïve to the use of a BCI, participated in 10 sessions over a period of about 5 weeks.

Continuous lipase-catalyzed esterification of soybean fatty acids under ultrasound irradiation.

This work investigates the continuous production of alkyl esters from soybean fatty acid (FA) charges using immobilized Novozym 435 as catalyst. The experiments were performed in a packed-bed bioreactor evaluating the effects of FA charge to alcohol (methanol and ethanol) molar ratio, from 1:1 to 1:6, substrate flow rate in the range of 0.5-2.

A survey of frameworks for best practices in weight-of-evidence analyses.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Review of the Environmental Protection Agency's Draft IRIS Assessment of Formaldehyde proposed a "roadmap" for reform and improvement of the Agency's risk assessment process. Specifically, it called for development of a transparent and defensible methodology for weight-of-evidence (WoE) assessments. To facilitate development of an improved process, we developed a white paper that reviewed approximately 50 existing WoE frameworks, seeking insights from their variations and nominating best practices for WoE analyses of causation of chemical risks.

Safety and efficacy of methylphenidate for apathy in Alzheimer's disease: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Objective: In a recent crossover trial, methylphenidate treatment decreased apathy in Alzheimer's disease. We further assessed this finding in the Apathy in Dementia Methylphenidate Trial (ADMET).

Method: Six-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial enrolling Alzheimer's disease participants (NINCDS-ADRDA criteria) with apathy assigned to methylphenidate 20 mg daily or placebo, conducted from June 2010 to December 2011.

Thought-based interaction with the physical world.

Operating a brain-computer interface (BCI) is a skill that individuals must learn. A recent study demonstrated that successful skill acquisition enables human individuals to control telepresence robotic devices in three-dimensional physical space using the non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG). Although the results are very promising, there is room for improvement in the future.

Viscous effects in a static physical model of the uniform glottis.

The classic work on laryngeal flow resistance by van den Berg et al. [J. Acoust.

Subglottal pressure oscillations accompanying phonation.

Acoustic and aerodynamic properties of the voice source and vocal tract have been extensively analyzed during the last half century. Corresponding investigations of the subglottal system are rare but can be assumed to be relevant to voice production. In the present exploratory study, subglottal pressure was recorded in a male adult subject by means of tracheal puncture.

ClinicalTrials.gov registration can supplement information in abstracts for systematic reviews: a comparison study.

Background: The inclusion of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reported in conference abstracts in systematic reviews is controversial, partly because study design information and risk of bias is often not fully reported in the abstract. The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) requires trial registration of abstracts submitted for their annual conference as of 2007. Our goal was to assess the feasibility of obtaining study design information critical to systematic reviews, but not typically included in conference abstracts, from the trial registration record.

Synthesis and in vitro efficacy of MMP9-activated NanoDendrons.

Chemotherapeutics such as doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PXL) have dose-limiting systemic toxicities, including cardiotoxicity and peripheral neuropathy. Delivery strategies to minimize these undesirable effects are needed and could improve efficacy, while reducing patient morbidity. Here, DOX and PXL were conjugated to a nanodendron (ND) through an MMP9-cleavable peptide linker, producing two new therapies, ND2(DOX) and ND2(PXL), designed to improve delivery specificity to the tumor microenvironment and reduce systemic toxicity.

Telescoped approach to aryl hydroxymethylation in the synthesis of a key pharmaceutical intermediate.

An efficient synthetic approach leading to introduction of the hydroxymethyl group to an aryl moiety via combination of the Bouveault formylation and hydride reduction has been optimized using a rational, mechanistic-based approach. This approach enabled telescoping of the two steps into a single efficient process, readily amenable to scaleup.

On the control of brain-computer interfaces by users with cerebral palsy.

Objective: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been proposed as a potential assistive device for individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) to assist with their communication needs. However, it is unclear how well-suited BCIs are to individuals with CP. Therefore, this study aims to investigate to what extent these users are able to gain control of BCIs.