Early hepatitis C virus changes and sustained response in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with peginterferon alpha-2b and ribavirin.

Background: Interferon-based therapy induces changes in viral dynamics in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess early hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA changes and evaluate its predictive value to achieve sustained viral response (SVR) in patients with CHC treated with peginterferon alpha-2b weekly plus ribavirin daily for 48 weeks.

Methods: HCV-RNA was measured at baseline, 48 h, 4, 12, 24 and 48 weeks of treatment and 24 weeks after treatment.

Factorial effects of salinity, dietary carbohydrate and moult cycle on digestive carbohydrases and hexokinases in Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931).

Litopenaeus vannamei were reared in close cycle over seven generations and tested for their capacity to digest starch and to metabolise glucose at different stages of the moulting cycle. After acclimation with 42.3% of carbohydrates (HCBH) or 2.

Airway pressures, tidal volumes, and mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Objective: To determine the usual practice for setting tidal volume and other ventilatory parameters in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the late 1990s and to determine the independent effects of these practices on intensive care unit mortality.

Design: Subanalysis of a prospective observational study. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of ventilatory management on mortality.

The crossed dermal flaps technique for breast reduction.

Background: More than100 techniques and variations of breast reduction have been published. In most, the principal differences involve the method of transpositioning the nipple-areola complex and the pattern of skin resection. Skin resection inevitably causes scarring, which has given rise to an ongoing debate over long scar techniques and short scar techniques.

Antigenic properties of phage displayed peptides comprising disulfide-bonded loop of the immunodominant region of HIV-1 gp41.

The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp41 contains Cys(X)5Cys motif, which has been shown to elicit a strong antibody response in almost all HIV-1 infected individuals. This disulfide-bonded loop region is conserved in most retroviruses suggesting the existence of an essential function in virus life cycle. In this study, we displayed the peptides comprising 12 amino acids of the immunodominant loop of gp41 on the surface of M13 phage as N-terminal fusions to the minor coat protein pIII and major coat protein pVIII of the phage and demonstrated that cysteine loop containing peptide expressed on phage recognized 62 out of 63 (98.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels and influence of -308 TNF-alpha promoter polymorphism on the responsiveness to infliximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To investigate the influence of -308 tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) promoter polymorphism and circulating TNF-alpha levels in the clinical response to the infliximab treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: One hundred and thirty-two RA patients were genotyped for TNF-alpha promoter by polymerase-chain reaction restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. Ten patients with the -308 TNF-alpha gene promoter genotype G/A, and 10 with the G/G genotype were selected and received 3 mg/kg of infliximab at Weeks 0, 2, 6, and 14.

Preferential proliferation of attenuated Salmonella typhimurium within neuroblastoma.

Background/purpose: Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium, a facultative intracellular parasite that colonizes the liver, has been shown to accumulate within extrahepatic malignancies. The authors sought to define a mechanism for attenuated Salmonella accumulation within cancer cells compared with hepatocytes.

Methods: Invasion and intracellular proliferation of attenuated Salmonella was assessed through an in vitro assay performed on neuroblasoma, osteosarcoma, hepatoma, and colon adenocarcinoma cell lines and compared with freshly isolated mouse hepatocytes.

[New immunological weapons for medicine in the 21st Century: biological therapy based on the use of the latest generation monoclonal antibodies].

The fusion of a murine B cell and a myeloma cell generates a hybridoma that produces monoclonal antibody (mAb). These murine mAb induce the HAMA (human anti-mouse antibodies) response. Murine mAb have been modified by genetic engineering, producing molecules with a higher proportion of human protein.

Incidence, risk factors and outcome of barotrauma in mechanically ventilated patients.

Objective: To determine the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of barotrauma in a cohort of mechanically ventilated patients where limited tidal volumes and airway pressures were used.

Design And Setting: Prospective cohort of 361 intensive care units from 20 countries.

Patients And Participants: A total of 5183 patients mechanically ventilated for more than 12 h.

Giant cell fibroblastoma of the breast in a child--a case report and review of the literature.

A case report and review of the literature are reported for giant cell fibroblastoma of the breast in a child. This is the first reported case of a congenital occurrence of this tumor type (giant cell fibroblastoma).

Optimization of the pharmacophore model for 5-HT7R antagonism. Design and synthesis of new naphtholactam and naphthosultam derivatives.

We present in this study an optimization of a preliminary pharmacophore model for 5-HT(7)R antagonism, with the incorporation of recently reported ligands and using an efficient procedure with the CATALYST program. The model consists of five features: a positive ionizable atom (PI), a H-bonding acceptor group (HBA), and three hydrophobic regions (HYD). This model has been supported by the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of new naphtholactam and naphthosultam derivatives of general structure I (39-72).

Synthesis, crystal structure, magnetic properties, and theoretical studies of [(Cu(mepirizole)Br)2(mu-OH)(mu-pz)] (mepirizole=4-methoxy-2-(5-methoxy-3-methyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-6-methylpyrimidine; pz=pyrazolate), a novel mu-pyrazolato-mu-hydroxo-dibridged copper(II) complex.

A novel mu-pyrazolato-mu-hydroxo-dibridged copper(II) complex has been synthesized and structurally characterized: [(Cu(mepirizole)Br)2(mu-OH)(mu-pz)] (mepirizole=4-methoxy-2-(5-methoxy-3-methyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-6-methylpyrimidine; pz=pyrazolate). The title compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/c, with a=15.618(2) A, b=15.

Reactive oxygen species induce reversible capacitation in human spermatozoa.

Leucocytospermia has been associated with reduced sperm motility and decreased capacity for sperm-egg interaction. This effect could be mediated through reactive oxygen species (ROS), which, at high concentrations, induce lipid peroxidation and cellular death. The high impact on sperm capacitation reported in other mammalians should be more accurately assessed in the human because premature activation could affect sperm fertilizing capacity.

Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium prevents the establishment of unresectable hepatic metastases and improves survival in a murine model.

Purpose: The authors investigated the utility of attenuated Salmonella typhimurium for preventing the establishment of hepatic metastases in a murine model.

Methods: A single, oral 10(8) cfu dose of attenuated S typhimurium was given 8 days before the establishment of a model of unresectable hepatic metastases. Animals were assessed for hepatic tumor number and volume, hepatic lymphocyte population analysis, and survival.

Value of definitive diagnostic testing in the evaluation of patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain.

The optimal diagnostic evaluation of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain but without myocardial infarction or unstable angina is controversial. We performed a prospective, nonrandomized, observational study of 1,195 consecutive patients presenting to the ED with chest pain but who had normal or nondiagnostic electrocardiograms and negative cardiac biomarkers. Patients (mean +/- SD age 61 +/- 15 years; 55% women) were admitted to the hospital and a standard protocol for evaluation and treatment was suggested.

Rectal impalement: a case review.

Pediatric impalement injuries to the rectum are rare, and delays in diagnosis can be life threatening. We report the case of a young girl who was accidentally impaled on a dive stick. A review of historical aspects of rectal trauma and current management techniques are discussed.

The -308 polymorphism in the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) gene promoter region and ex vivo lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF expression and cytotoxic activity in Chilean patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To investigate the association of the -308 polymorphism in the promoter region of the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) gene with susceptibility to the development of RA. We also explored the expression and cytotoxicity of TNF in relation to the -308 polymorphism.

Methods: We recruited 92 RA patients and 42 healthy control subjects.

[Comparison of Shigella susceptibility to commonly used antimicrobials in the Temuco Regional Hospital, Chile 1990 - 2001].

Background: The permanent surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility of Shigella sp in the Temuco Regional Hospital, allowed us to define the empirical use of antimicrobials in dysenteric syndrome.

Aim: To study antimicrobial susceptibility of Shigella strains collected from 1997 to May 2001 and compare the results with those reported in 1990.

Material And Methods: Two hundred and seventeen Shigella strains, coming from stool cultures of pediatric patients, were studied.

Two polymeric compounds built from mononuclear and tetrameric squarate-copper(II) complexes by deprotonation of 3,3-bis(2-imidazolyl)propionic acid (HBIP). Synthesis, crystal structure, and magnetic characterization of [Cu(HBIP)(BIP)](C(4)O(4))(1/2).2H(2)O and [[Cu(BIP)(OH(2))](4)(mu-C(4)O(4))](ClO(4))(2).4H(2)O.

Two polynuclear copper(II)-squarate compounds of formulas [Cu(HBIP)(BIP)](C(4)O(4))(1/2).2H(2)O (1) and [[Cu(BIP)(OH(2))](4)(mu-C(4)O(4))](ClO(4))(2).4H(2)O (2) (HBIP = 3,3-bis(2-imidazolyl)propionic acid) have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

Synthesis, Crystal Structure, and Magnetic Properties of Oxalato-Copper(II) Complexes with 3,3-Bis(2-imidazolyl)propionic Acid, an Imidazole-Carboxylate Polyfunctional Ligand: From Mononuclear Entities to Ladder-Like Chains.

The synthesis of five new Cu(II) compounds of formula [Cu(HBIP)(C(2)O(4))].H(2)O (1), [Cu(HBIP)(C(2)O(4))(OH(2))].2H(2)O (2), [{Cu(HBIP)Cl}(2)(&mgr;-C(2)O(4))].

Cyclosporin a treatment is able to revert the decrease in circulating GH and IGF-I and the increase in IGFBPs induced by adjuvant arthritis.

The aim of this study was to find out whether cyclosporin A administration is able to revert the decrease in circulating growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and the increase in IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) levels caused by adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were intradermically injected with Freund's adjuvant or vehicle. Fourteen days later, rats were randomly divided into two groups - one injected with cyclosporin (15 mg/kg) and the other with vehicle from day 16 to 23 after adjuvant injection.

African swine fever virus protein p54 interacts with the microtubular motor complex through direct binding to light-chain dynein.

Dynein is a minus-end-directed microtubule-associated motor protein involved in cargo transport in the cytoplasm. African swine fever virus (ASFV), a large DNA virus, hijacks the microtubule motor complex cellular transport machinery during virus infection of the cell through direct binding of virus protein p54 to the light chain of cytoplasmic dynein (LC8). Interaction of p54 and LC8 occurs both in vitro and in cells, and the two proteins colocalize at the microtubular organizing center during viral infection.

The decrease in hepatic IGF-I gene expression in arthritic rats is not associated with modifications in hepatic GH receptor mRNA.

Objective: Adjuvant-induced arthritis induces a catabolic response, and a decrease in circulating IGF-I. Hypermetabolism and GH insensitivity have been described in acute inflammation. The aim of this study was to analyze whether impaired IGF-I secretion in arthritic rats can be attributed to hepatic GH resistance.

Epibenthic amphipod abundance and predation efficiency of the pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus duorarum (Burkenroad, 1939) in habitats with different physical complexity in a tropical estuarine system.

Amphipod abundance and biomass were determined in soft-bottom substrates (SBS), monospecific Thalassia testudinum patches and T. testudinum with attached macroalgae (SAV) from Términos Lagoon. Amphipods were absent in SBS, and their density and biomass were higher in SAV (3351 individualsm(-2), 1718 mg AFDWm(-2)) than in T.