Flexibility in substrate recognition by thimet oligopeptidase as revealed by denaturation studies.

Thimet oligopeptidase (TOP) is a soluble metalloendopeptidase belonging to a family of enzymes including neurolysin and neprilysin that utilize the HEXXH metal-binding motif. TOP is widely distributed among cell types and is able to cleave a number of structurally unrelated peptides. A recent focus of interest has been on structure-function relationships in substrate selectivity by TOP.

Safety and efficacy of tiered limited-dose gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery for unilateral acoustic neuroma.

Stereotactic radiosurgery has become a more widely employed modality of treatment for acoustic neuromas, but controversy still arises regarding the safety and efficacy of the technique. In general, radiation doses have been reduced over time. Since beginning treatments of acoustic neuromas with the Gamma Knife at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center in 1994, a dose regimen was adopted by the first author employing limited doses selected on the basis of tumor size with the anterior and medial regions of the prescription isodose surface kept just inside the gadolinium-enhanced limit of the tumor, in order to protect the facial nerve and brainstem.

Sleep hygiene and sleep quality in Italian and American adolescents.

This study investigated cross-cultural differences in adolescent sleep hygiene and sleep quality. Participants were 1348 students (655 males; 693 females) aged 12-17 years from public school systems in Rome, Italy (n = 776) and Southern Mississippi (n = 572). Participants completed the Adolescent Sleep-Wake Scale and the Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale.

Understanding adolescents' sleep patterns and school performance: a critical appraisal.

The present paper reviews and critiques studies assessing the relation between sleep patterns, sleep quality, and school performance of adolescents attending middle school, high school, and/or college. The majority of studies relied on self-report, yet the researchers approached the question with different designs and measures. Specifically, studies looked at (1) sleep/wake patterns and usual grades, (2) school start time and phase preference in relation to sleep habits and quality and academic performance, and (3) sleep patterns and classroom performance (e.

Regulators of the neuropeptide-degrading enzyme, EC 3.4.24.15 (thimet oligopeptidase), in cerebrospinal fluid.

Endopeptidase EC 3.4.24.

Involvement of surface cysteines in activity and multimer formation of thimet oligopeptidase.

Thimet oligopeptidase is a metalloenzyme involved in regulating neuropeptide processing. Three cysteine residues (246, 248, 253) are known to be involved in thiol activation of the enzyme. In contrast to the wild-type enzyme, the triple mutant (C246S/C248S/C253S) displays increased activity in the absence of dithiothreitol.

A novel applicator for low-dose-rate brachytherapy of gynecological cancers.

The standard low-dose-rate (LDR) delivery system utilized in the definitive management of patients with cervical carcinoma involves an intrauterine tandem and a pair of vaginal colpostats (ovoids). This well-known application system may deliver inadequate dosage if the tumor extends to the lower vaginal mucosa. During the gauze packing of the ovoids, either operator error or narrowing of the vaginal apex can result in mal-alignment of the colpostats and subsequent inadequate dosing to the ecto-cervix.

Interrater reliability of criteria used in assessing blunt head injury patients for intracranial injuries.

Objective: To determine the interrater reliability of potential predictor variables that may be used to construct a clinical decision rule for emergency computed tomography of the head in blunt head injury victims.

Methods: As a substudy of the NEXUS II study of blunt head trauma, physicians from 21 different emergency departments performed paired evaluations of patients undergoing computed tomography of the head after blunt head injury. Each physician independently determined, for each subject, the presence or absence of each of 19 separate clinical characteristics.

pH dependence studies provide insight into the structure and mechanism of thimet oligopeptidase (EC 3.4.24.15).

Thimet oligopeptidase (EC 3.4.24.

Evidence for the validity of a sleep habits survey for adolescents.

Study Objectives: To examine the validity of self-reported survey estimates of sleep patterns in adolescents through a comparison of retrospective survey descriptions of usual school- and weekend-night sleep habits with diary-reported sleep patterns and actigraphically estimated sleep behaviors over a subsequent week.

Design And Setting: High school students completed a Sleep Habits Survey about the previous 2 weeks and then wore an actigraph (AMI, Ardsley, NY) for 8 days while keeping a daily sleep diary. Matched-pair t tests assessed average differences between survey and diary reports and between survey and actigraph estimates.

Spurious values of serum electrolytes due to admixture of intravenous infusion fluids.

Blood samples may be collected subsequent to the establishment of a working i.v. line.

The effect of inaccurate FIM instrument ratings on prospective payment: a study of clinician expertise and FIM rating difficulty as contributing to inaccuracy.

Objective: To test whether clinician expertise and FIM instrument rating difficulty explain clinician overconfidence in FIM rating accuracy.

Design: Participants answered 60 true/false FIM questions and, for each question, completed a 6-category scale to assess confidence in the accuracy of their responses. Experts and novices, as well as hard and easy items, were identified through a Rasch analysis.

Developing a clinical decision instrument to rule out intracranial injuries in patients with minor head trauma: methodology of the NEXUS II investigation.

The fear of failing to identify brain injury has led to the liberal and potentially excessive use of computed tomographic (CT) scanning of patients with blunt head trauma who have even a remote possibility of intracranial injury. This practice exposes large numbers of patients to the expense and radiation exposure associated with CT imaging while detecting injuries in a small minority. Previous studies suggest that it might be possible to develop a decision instrument to identify patients with blunt head injury who have essentially no risk of significant intracranial injury and for whom CT scanning is therefore unnecessary.

A novel system consisting of Rh-DuPHOS and ionic liquid for asymmetric hydrogenations.

The ionic liquid [bmim][PF6] was found to provide extra stability to the air-sensitive chiral catalyst Rh-MeDuPHOS in asymmetric hydrogenation of enamides.

Spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality: results of the National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study in blunt cervical trauma.

Background: The purpose of this study was to better define the incidence and characteristics of patients with spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality (SCIWORA), using the database of the National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study (NEXUS).

Methods: This was a prospective, observational study of blunt trauma patients in 21 U.S.

Aqueous enantioselective hydrogenation of methyl 2-acetamidoacrylate with Rh-MeDuPHOS occluded in PDMS.

A new chiral heterogeneous catalytic system obtained by occlusion of the Rh-MeDuPHOS complex in a polydimethylsiloxane film was tested in the asymmetric hydrogenation of methyl 2-acetamidoacrylate in aqueous medium.

University of Miami experience using one versus two intracavitary brachytherapy implants.

This retrospective study was done to determine whether the number of brachytherapy implants significantly influenced outcome in 86 patients with carcinoma of the cervix treated with radiation alone at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital from August 1981 to May 1995. One brachytherapy application was performed in 36 (42%) of the study cohort, whereas 50 (58%) had two implants. Cumulative doses to points A and B ranged from 60.

Modulation of tRNAAla identity by inorganic pyrophosphatase.

A highly sensitive assay of tRNA aminoacylation was developed that directly measures the fraction of aminoacylated tRNA by following amino acid attachment to the 3'-(32)P-labeled tRNA. When applied to Escherichia coli alanyl-tRNA synthetase, the assay allowed accurate measurement of aminoacylation of the most deleterious mutants of tRNA(Ala). The effect of tRNA(Ala) identity mutations on both aminoacylation efficiency (k(cat)/K(M)) and steady-state level of aminoacyl-tRNA was evaluated in the absence and presence of inorganic pyrophosphatase and elongation factor Tu.