Response to erlotinib in a patient with treatment refractory chordoma.

Chordomas are rare tumors arising from the axial skeleton. The disease is characterized by slow local growth, frequent local recurrences, and rare systemic spread. Surgery and local radiation remains the mainstay of treatment with minimal role of systemic therapy.

Improving the quality of care for infants: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: We developed and tested a new method, called the Evidence-based Practice for Improving Quality method, for continuous quality improvement.

Methods: We used cluster randomization to assign 6 neonatal intensive care units (ICUs) to reduce nosocomial infection (infection group) and 6 ICUs to reduce bronchopulmonary dysplasia (pulmonary group). We included all infants born at 32 or fewer weeks gestation.

Pancreatic cancer epidemiology and survival in an Australian population.

South Australian registry data were used to explore age-standardised incidence and mortality rates and case survivals for pancreatic cancer during 1977 to 2006. Disease-specific survivals were investigated using Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox proportional hazards regression. While annual incidence and mortality rates were relatively stable among males during 1983-2006, they were 14% and 17% lower respectively than for the 1977-82 baseline.

Drainage mechanism of microbubble dispersion and factors influencing its stability.

Microbubble dispersion stability is a desirable characteristic in applications such as separation processes and in-situ bioremediation. This study investigates the effects of surfactant concentration, pH and ionic strength on the stability of dispersions of rhamnolipid, a common anionic biosurfactant. Microbubble dispersions of rhamnolipid and the non-ionic synthetic surfactant tergitol 15-S-12 were prepared by intensive stirring at 8000 rpm with solutions of 500-4000 mg l(-1) surfactant concentration at pH 6-8.

Characterization of ETS gene aberrations in select histologic variants of prostate carcinoma.

Histologic variants of prostate carcinoma account for 5-10% of the disease and are typically seen in association with conventional acinar carcinoma. These variants often differ from the latter in clinical, immunophenotypic, and biologic potential. Recently, recurrent gene fusions between the androgen-regulated gene TMPRSS2 and the ETS transcription factors ERG, ETV1, ETV4, or ETV5 have been identified in a majority of conventional prostate carcinomas.

The synaptic CT carbohydrate modulates binding and expression of extracellular matrix proteins in skeletal muscle: Partial dependence on utrophin.

The CT carbohydrate, Neu5Ac/Neu5Gcalpha2,3[GalNAcbeta1,4]Galbeta1,4GlcNAcbeta-, is specifically expressed at the neuromuscular junction in skeletal myofibers of adult vertebrates. When Galgt2, the glycosyltransferase that creates the synaptic beta1,4GalNAc portion of this glycan, is overexpressed in extrasynaptic regions of the myofiber membrane, alpha dystroglycan becomes glycosylated with the CT carbohydrate and this coincides with the ectopic expression of synaptic dystroglycan-binding proteins, including laminin alpha4, laminin alpha5, and utrophin. Here we show that both synaptic and extrasynaptic forms of laminin and agrin have increased binding to the CT carbohydrate compared to sialyl-N-acetyllactosamine, its extrasynaptically expressed precursor.

A tale of two cancers: collision presentation of ovarian carcinoma and lymphoma.

Synchronous malignancies are rare diagnostic and treatment challenges. Here we present three cases of synchronous ovarian cancer and lymphoma. Both malignancies were recognised in the same histopathology sections.

Unconscious processing of color and form in metacontrast masking.

Three experiments employed a metacontrast masking procedure to examine the extent and nature of priming effects from visual stimuli not consciously perceived. The results showed effects of unconscious stimuli on subsequent target responses that (1) were more consistent, reliable, and not subject to strategic control, as compared with consciously perceived stimuli (Experiment 1); (2) produced both facilitation and interference of subsequent processing (Experiment 2); and (3) did not influence indirect response-related levels of processing (Experiment 3). These results demonstrate that color and form attributes of unconscious stimuli are sufficiently registered within the visual system to influence behavior, and that some of these unconscious effects occur at early levels of stimulus encoding, prior to higher level perceptual and response-related processes.

A multicenter study on the clinical outcome of chorioamnionitis in preterm infants.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of clinical maternal chorioamnionitis on morbidity and mortality rates among infants who are at < 33 weeks of gestation, adjusted for patient characteristics that included admission neonatal illness severity (Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology, version II; SNAP-II).

Study Design: With multivariate logistic regression analysis, prospectively collected hospital outcomes from the Canadian Neonatal Network of singleton infants with birth gestational age of < 33 weeks and clinical chorioamnionitis were compared retrospectively with nonexposed infants.

Results: Of 3094 infants, 477 infants (15.

Modeling Cd2+ sorption onto ferrihydrite in the presence of phthalic acid.

Cadmium sorption by ferrihydrite in the presence of phthalic acid was examined over a range of pH (4.0 approximately 8.5) conditions and sorbate/sorbent ratios.

Degradation of hexachloroethane by Fenton's reagents.

The effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentrations on the degradation of hexachloroethane (HCA) in the absence and the presence of tetrachloroethene (PCE) by Fenton's reagent was investigated at pH 3 with 1 mM iron(II) and H2O2 concentrations ranging from 0.01 M to 2 M. HCA degradation in the absence of PCE increased with increasing H2O2 concentration between 0.

Relationship between oxygen saturation and the mode of oxygen delivery used in newborn resuscitation.

Objective: To compare the rate of increase in oxygen saturation in babies receiving supplemental oxygen during resuscitation with those transitioning in room air.

Study Design: Prospective observational study. Infants were resuscitated with supplemental oxygen and continuous recording of preductal oxygen saturation was started immediately after birth.

C(1)-/C(2)-aromatic-imino-glyco-conjugates: experimental and computational studies of binding, inhibition and docking aspects towards glycosidases isolated from soybean and jack bean.

Several C(1)-imino conjugates of D: -galactose, D: -lactose and D: -ribose, where the nitrogen center was substituted by the salicylidene or naphthylidene, were synthesized and characterized. Similar C(2)-imino conjugates of D: -glucose have also been synthesized. All the glyco-imino-conjugates, which are transition state analogues, exhibited 100% inhibition of the activity towards glycosidases extracted from soybean and jack bean meal.

Inhibition of ADRP prevents diet-induced insulin resistance.

Diets with high fat content induce steatosis, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. The lipid droplet protein adipose differentiation-related protein (ADRP) mediates hepatic steatosis, but whether this affects insulin action in the liver or peripheral organs in diet-induced obesity is uncertain. We fed C57BL/6J mice a high-fat diet and simultaneously treated them with an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) against ADRP for 4 wk.

Salt processing in larval Drosophila: choice, feeding, and learning shift from appetitive to aversive in a concentration-dependent way.

Sodium and chloride need to be ingested and cannot be stored. Therefore, choice of habitat and diet as related to NaCl needs to be tightly regulated. We thus expect that the behavioral effects of salt are organized according to its concentration.

Copper(II) and cadmium(II) sorption onto ferrihydrite in the presence of phthalic acid: some properties of the ternary complex.

Copper, cadmium, and phthalic acid (H2Lp) adsorption by ferrihydrite was examined for binary and ternary systems. In binary systems adsorption was well reproduced using the diffuse layer model (DLM), and H2Lp adsorption was analogous to that of inorganic diprotic acids in terms of the relationship between the adsorption constants and acidity constants. In ternary systems H2Lp caused both the enhancement (due to ternary complexformation) and inhibition (due to solution complex formation) of Cu2+ and Cd2+ sorption depending on the conditions.

Prenatal cigarette smoke exposure attenuates recovery from hypoxemic challenge in preterm infants.

Rationale: The effects of prenatal cigarette smoke (CS) exposure and hypoxemia on cardiorespiratory control have been investigated in full-term infants. However, few data are available in preterm infants, who form a particularly vulnerable population, with developmentally immature cardiorespiratory control.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of prenatal CS exposure on the duration and recovery of breathing pauses and oxygen saturation levels under baseline and hypoxemic conditions in preterm infants.

Traumatic subdural effusions in children following minor head injury.

Aim: There is considerable disparity in literature as regards to the presentation of subdural fluid collections in children. In this report, the authors have tried to establish the clinical and radiographic criteria to define the subdural effusions (SDEs) in children following minor head injury.

Methods: Twenty cases of traumatic SDEs following minor head injury were studied prospectively.

Antimicrobial protein from Streptomyces fulvissimus inhibitory to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Fermented culture of Streptomyces fulvissimus was found to secrete an antibacterial protein inhibitory to Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains. The extracellular protein from the fermented culture on concentration revealed a high molecular weight peptide of 63kDa on SDS-PAGE gel and the region on gel displayed inhibitory activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Bioactivity of the extra cellular protein was non-sensitive to proteinase K, alpha chymotrypsin, protease, EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid), PMSF (phenyl methyl sulfonyl fluoride) and DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) but partially susceptible to amylase and heat.

Loss of resistin ameliorates hyperlipidemia and hepatic steatosis in leptin-deficient mice.

Resistin has been linked to components of the metabolic syndrome, including obesity, insulin resistance, and hyperlipidemia. We hypothesized that resistin deficiency would reverse hyperlipidemia in genetic obesity. C57Bl/6J mice lacking resistin [resistin knockout (RKO)] had similar body weight and fat as wild-type mice when fed standard rodent chow or a high-fat diet.

Newborn resuscitation in resource-limited settings.

Every year, an estimated 4 million newborn infants die worldwide in the first 4 weeks of life. A large majority of these deaths occurs during the first day of life. One of the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals is to decrease child mortality; prevention of neonatal deaths by appropriate resuscitation will have a significant impact on achieving this goal.

Biodegradation of agricultural herbicides in sequencing batch reactors under aerobic or anaerobic conditions.

This study investigated the biodegradability of the herbicides isoproturon and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs). Two laboratory-scale (2L liquid volume) SBRs were employed: one reactor performing under aerobic and the other under anaerobic conditions. The aerobic SBR was operated at an ambient temperature (22+/-2 degrees C), while the anaerobic SBR was run in the lower mesophilic range (30+/-2 degrees C).