Ultrafast protein conformational alterations in bacteriorhodopsin and its locked analogue BR5.12.

Bacteriorhodopsin, reconstituted with a sterically "locked" retinal chromophore, BR5.12, has frequently been used to elucidate elementary photoinduced processes in the native pigment bacteriorhodopsin. In this work, the vibrational response of BR5.

Comparison of long-acting testosterone undecanoate formulation versus testosterone enanthate on sexual function and mood in hypogonadal men.

Objective: To compare the effects of two treatment modalities of testosterone on sexual functioning and mood. Design Forty men were randomized to receive either parenteral testosterone enanthate (TE) or long-acting parenteral testosterone undecanoate (TU) over a period of 30 weeks. Thereafter, 20 men who had received TU and 16 men who had received TE continued with TU and completed another 65 weeks to study longer-term effects of TU.

Glycogen storage disease type II (Pompe disease)--influence of enzyme replacement therapy in adults.

Background: Pompe disease (Glycogen storage disorder type II) is an inherited disease because of a lack or reduced activity of the enzyme alpha-1,4-glucosidase (acid maltase). Since 2006, an intravenous enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with Myozyme (Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, MA, USA) is available.

Methods: Four adult patients aged between 39 and 68 years received ERT over a period of 6 months.

Comparison of a new long-acting testosterone undecanoate formulation vs testosterone enanthate for intramuscular androgen therapy in male hypogonadism.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of a novel long-acting im testosterone undecanoate (TU) formulation in comparison with testosterone enanthate (TE).

Subjects And Methods: An open-label, randomized, prospective clinical trial in 40 hypogonadal men (baseline serum testosterone levels <5 nmol/l), randomly assigned to 250 mg TE/3 weeks (no.=20) or 1000 mg TU im every 6 to 9 weeks for 30 weeks (no.

Ultrafast infrared spectroscopy of riboflavin: dynamics, electronic structure, and vibrational mode analysis.

Femtosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy was used to study the vibrational response of riboflavin in DMSO to photoexcitation at 387 nm. Vibrational cooling in the excited electronic state is observed and characterized by a time constant of 4.0 +/- 0.

Concomitant detection of CYP1A1 enzymatic activity and CYP1A1 protein in individual cells of a human urothelial cell line using a bilayer microfluidic device.

To understand molecular networking at the cellular level, analyses of processes and effects at the single-cell level are most appropriate. Usual biochemical or molecular biological analyses are based on integrated signals of numerous cells which differ, however, in their expression and activity profiles. Here we show that it is possible to determine different types of properties of individual cells by means of a specifically designed microfluidic device.

Bilayer microfluidic chip for diffusion-controlled activation of yeast species.

A bilayer microfluidic chip is used, in which multiple laminar streams are generated to define local microenvironments. The bilayer architecture of the microchip separates cell handling and positioning from cell activation by soluble chemicals. Cell activation is diffusion controlled through a porous membrane.

Hepatitis A among international adoptees and their contacts.

We identified 27 cases of hepatitis A among international adoptees (5 persons), their direct or indirect contacts (20 persons), and unvaccinated travelers to the adoptees' countries (2 persons). Most cases occurred among nontraveling contacts of adoptees, suggesting the need to extend prevention guidelines to include hepatitis A vaccination for at-risk nontravelers.

Sub-picosecond time resolved infrared spectroscopy of high-spin state formation in Fe(ii) spin crossover complexes.

The photoinduced low-spin (S = 0) to high-spin (S = 2) transition of the iron(ii) spin-crossover systems [Fe(btpa)](PF(6))(2) and [Fe(b(bdpa))](PF(6))(2) in solution have been studied for the first time by means of ultrafast transient infrared spectroscopy at room temperature. Negative and positive infrared difference bands between 1000 and 1065 cm(-1) that appear within the instrumental system response time of 350 fs after excitation at 387 nm display the formation of the vibrationally unrelaxed and hot high-spin (5)T(2) state. Vibrational relaxation is observed and characterized by the time constants 9.

[Scope and limitations of risk-adjusted evaluation of lethality in community-acquired pneumonia using data collected according to section 21 of the German Hospital Reimbursement Law (Krankenhaus-Entgeltgesetz, KHEntG)].

Introduction: Several institutions are currently evaluating whether it is possible to gather valid, risk-adjusted quality indicators from routine billing data according to section 21 of the German Hospital Reimbursement Law (Krankenhaus-Entgeltgesetz, KHEntG). It is hoped that this method will enable hospitals to obtain quality assurance data in an easy and timely fashion.

Materials And Methods: For analysis, section 21 data according to KHEntG, quality assurance forms, and patients' medical records of the University Medical Center Ulm were evaluated in comparison to state and federal benchmark data from 2006.

Cloning, sequence analysis and heterologous expression in Pichia pastoris of a gene encoding a thermostable cellobiose dehydrogenase from Myriococcum thermophilum.

We cloned and expressed a gene encoding a thermostable cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) from the thermophilic ascomycete Myriococcum thermophilum. The 2904bp long open reading frame contained six introns located either close to the 5'- or 3'-end of the ORF. The corresponding cDNA of 2487bp was cloned into the expression vector pPICZalphaB to achieve inducible heterologous expression and secretion of the recombinant flavocytochrome in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris.

Neuroanatomy of autism.

Autism spectrum disorder is a heterogeneous, behaviorally defined, neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs in 1 in 150 children. Individuals with autism have deficits in social interaction and verbal and nonverbal communication and have restricted or stereotyped patterns of behavior. They might also have co-morbid disorders including intellectual impairment, seizures and anxiety.

Subpicosecond midinfrared spectroscopy of the Pfr reaction of phytochrome Agp1 from Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

Phytochromes are light-sensing pigments found in plants and bacteria. For the first time, the P(fr) photoreaction of a phytochrome has been subject to ultrafast infrared vibrational spectroscopy. Three time constants of 0.

The relationship between femoral periprosthetic cortical bone geometry and porosity after total hip arthroplasty.

Stress shielding from the presence of a femoral component can cause adverse changes to cortical bone geometry and porosity leading to increased fracture risk in the periprosthetic cortical bone. The objectives of this study were to determine if porosity increased after total hip arthroplasty along the principal axes, and to determine if a relationship existed between cortical bone porosity and geometry. Ten postmortem donors allowed comparisons of implanted femurs to the contralateral nonimplanted femurs.

Chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is part of the lipopolysaccharide "sensing apparatus".

Recognition of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by the innate immune system involves at least three receptor molecules: CD14, TLR4 and MD-2. Additional receptor components such as heat shock proteins, chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), or CD55 have been suggested to be part of this activation cluster; possibly acting as additional LPS transfer molecules. Our group has previously identified CXCR4 as a component of the "LPS-sensing apparatus".

Evidence for direct projections from the basal nucleus of the amygdala to retrosplenial cortex in the Macaque monkey.

The role of the primate retrosplenial cortex (RSC) in memory processing and spatial navigation has been well established. Recently, processing emotionally salient information has been attributed to the RSC as well. Little anatomical data, however, exist linking the RSC with known emotional processing centers within the brain.

Efficacy and safety of combination chemotherapy with mitomycin and vinorelbine for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy, toxicity and tolerability of chemotherapy with a combination of mitomycin and vinorelbine (M/V) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: We enrolled 110 patients (median age 67 years) with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC, who had no prior chemotherapy or progressive disease after at least one prior chemotherapy regimen. 45 patients (41%) were > or =70 years old.

Mapping early brain development in autism.

Although the neurobiology of autism has been studied for more than two decades, the majority of these studies have examined brain structure 10, 20, or more years after the onset of clinical symptoms. The pathological biology that causes autism remains unknown, but its signature is likely to be most evident during the first years of life when clinical symptoms are emerging. This review highlights neurobiological findings during the first years of life and emphasizes early brain overgrowth as a key factor in the pathobiology of autism.

Cortical folding abnormalities in autism revealed by surface-based morphometry.

We tested for cortical shape abnormalities using surface-based morphometry across a range of autism spectrum disorders (7.5-18 years of age). We generated sulcal depth maps from structural magnetic resonance imaging data and compared typically developing controls to three autism spectrum disorder subgroups: low-functioning autism, high-functioning autism, and Asperger's syndrome.

[Interobserver agreement in the assessment of pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiography in community-acquired pneumonia].

Purpose: To assess interobserver agreement (IOA) in the diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates on chest x-rays for patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Materials And Methods: From 7/2002 to 12/2005, 806 adults with CAP were included in the multicenter study "CAPNETZ" (7 hospitals). Inclusion criteria were clinical signs of pneumonia and pulmonary opacification on chest x-rays.

Pro-atrial natriuretic peptide and pro-vasopressin to predict severity and prognosis in community-acquired pneumonia: results from the German competence network CAPNETZ.

Objective: Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the most important clinical infection. Therefore, the CAP competence network CAPNETZ was instituted in Germany. The aim of this substudy was to evaluate the value of pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) and pro-vasopressin (CT-proAVP) for severity assessment and outcome prediction in CAP.

A four-year efficacy and safety study of the long-acting parenteral testosterone undecanoate.

Introduction: This is a four-year follow-up of 25 men who received parenteral testosterone undecanoate (TU), 1000 mg every 12 weeks for at least four years. This study was a continuation of a 30-week study wherein the effects of TU had been compared to those of parenteral testosterone enanthate.

Methods & Results: Plasma testosterone (T) trough values of the injection interval of 12 weeks): median 11.

[Enzyme replacement therapy in Pompe's disease].

Background: Pompe's disease, a rare, inherited deficiency of the enzyme alpha-1,4-glucosidase (GAA), is a lysosomal storage disorder. Early-onset (infantile) Pompe's disease is associated with cardiomegaly and severe myopathy and, if left untreated, will inevitably lead to death within the first 2 years of life. In juvenile Pompe's disease, progression of the disease is generally slower and involvement of the myocardium is less likely with onset at a later age.