Aftereffects of 2 noninvasive brain stimulation techniques on corticospinal excitability in persons with chronic stroke: a pilot study.

Background And Purpose: Noninvasive brain stimulation, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), have gained popularity in the stroke rehabilitation literature. Little is known about the time course and duration of effects of noninvasive brain stimulation on corticospinal excitability in individuals with stroke. We examined the aftereffects of a single session of high-frequency rTMS (5 Hz) and anodal tDCS on corticospinal excitability in the same sample of participants with chronic stroke.

Hepatocellular carcinoma: surveillance CT schedule after hepatectomy based on risk stratification.

Purpose: To evaluate alternative schedules for surveillance computed tomography (CT) for patients who underwent hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC hepatocellular carcinoma ) and to demonstrate an appropriate schedule on the basis of stratification for risk of recurrence.

Materials And Methods: CT and pathologic reports for consecutive patients with HCC hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent hepatectomy at one institution were evaluated with institutional review board approval. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors for recurrence.

Aging of the nitric oxide system: are we as old as our NO?

Background: Impaired generation and signaling of nitric oxide (NO) contribute substantially to cardiovascular (CV) risk (CVR) associated with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus. In our rapidly aging society, advanced age is, in itself, a consistent and independent CVR factor. Many processes involved in aging are modulated by NO.

Decidualization induces a secretome switch in perivascular niche cells of the human endometrium.

The endometrial perivascular microenvironment is rich in mesenchymal stem-like cells that express type 1 integral membrane protein Sushi domain containing 2 (SUSD2) but the role of these cells in the decidual transformation of this tissue in pregnancy is unknown. We used an antibody directed against SUSD2 (W5C5) to isolate perivascular (W5C5(+)) and nonperivascular (W5C5(-)) fibroblasts from mid-luteal biopsies. We show that SUSD2 expression, and hence the ratio of W5C5(+):W5C5(-) cells, changes in culture depending on cell-cell contact and activation of the Notch signaling pathway.

Trends in the incidence and management of acute myocardial infarction from 1999 to 2008: get with the guidelines performance measures in Taiwan.

Background: The American Heart Association Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) program has improved care quality of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with important implications for other countries in the world. This study evaluated the incidence and care of AMI in Taiwan and assessed the compliance of GWTG in Taiwan.

Methods And Results: We used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (1999-2008) to identify hospitalized patients ≥18 years of age presenting with AMI.

Upregulation of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein by hypoxia stimulates aldosterone synthesis in pulmonary artery endothelial cells to promote pulmonary vascular fibrosis.

Background: The molecular mechanism(s) regulating hypoxia-induced vascular fibrosis are unresolved. Hyperaldosteronism correlates positively with vascular remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension, suggesting that aldosterone may contribute to the pulmonary vasculopathy of hypoxia. The hypoxia-sensitive transcription factors c-Fos/c-Jun regulate steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), which facilitates the rate-limiting step of aldosterone steroidogenesis.

Dysregulated sphingolipid metabolism in endometriosis.

Background: In endometriosis, the establishment and subsistence of ectopic lesions outside the endometrium suggest an altered cellular state for pathological hyperplasia. Sphingolipids are bioactive compounds, and their biosynthesis and metabolism modulate a range of cellular processes including proliferation, migration and apoptosis. We demonstrate that aberrations in sphingolipid metabolism occur in women with endometriosis.

Antibodies to single glycolipids and glycolipid complexes in Guillain-Barré syndrome subtypes.

Objective: To comprehensively investigate the relationship between antibodies to single glycolipids and their complexes and Guillain-Barré syndrome subtypes and clinical features.

Methods: In acute sera from 199 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome, immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to glycolipids and ganglioside complexes were tested using ELISA against individual antigens from single glycolipids including gangliosides (LM1, GM1, GM1b, GD1a, GalNAc-GD1a, GD1b, GT1a, GT1b, GQ1b) and a neutral glycolipid, asialo-GM1 (GA1), and antigens from the combination of 2 different glycolipids. Based on serial nerve conduction studies, the electrodiagnoses were as follows: 69 demyelinating subtype, 85 axonal subtypes, and 45 unclassified.

Evaluation of carotid angioplasty and stenting for radiation-induced carotid stenosis.

Background And Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the procedural safety, clinical, and angiographic outcome of carotid angioplasty and stenting for high-grade (≥70%) radiation-induced carotid stenosis (RIS) using atherosclerotic stenosis (AS) as a control.

Methods: In this 6-year prospective nonrandomized study, we compared the carotid angioplasty and stenting outcome of 65 consecutive patients (84 vessels) with RIS with that of a control group of 129 consecutive patients (150 vessels) with AS. Study end points were 30-day periprocedural stroke or death, ipsilateral ischemic stroke, technical success, procedural characteristics, instent restenosis (ISR; ≥50%) and symptomatic ISR.

Triiodothyronine regulates angiogenic growth factor and cytokine secretion by isolated human decidual cells in a cell-type specific and gestational age-dependent manner.

Study Question: Does triiodothyronine (T3) regulate the secretion of angiogenic growth factors and cytokines by human decidual cells isolated from early pregnancy?

Summary Answer: T3 modulates the secretion of specific angiogenic growth factors and cytokines, with different regulatory patterns observed amongst various isolated subpopulations of human decidual cells and with a distinct change between the first and second trimesters of pregnancy.

What Is Known Already: Maternal thyroid dysfunction during early pregnancy is associated with complications of malplacentation including miscarriage and pre-eclampsia. T3 regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of fetal-derived trophoblasts, as well as promotes the invasive capability of extravillous trophoblasts (EVT).

Deficiency of the microRNA-31-microRNA-720 pathway in the plasma and endothelial progenitor cells from patients with coronary artery disease.

Objective: Defects in angiogenesis/vasculogenesis or vessel repair are major complications of coronary artery disease (CAD). Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a fundamental role in postnatal vascular repair and CAD. The role of microRNAs in CAD pathogenesis and their potential as biomarkers remain to be elucidated.

Prognostic value of preoperative right ventricular geometry and tricuspid valve tethering area in patients undergoing tricuspid annuloplasty.

Background: Patients who undergo tricuspid annuloplasty during left-side heart valve surgery have a poor postoperative clinical outcome. However, preoperative right ventricular (RV) echocardiography parameters that predict adverse events in these patients are poorly understood.

Methods And Results: We studied 74 patients (age, 58±10 years; men, 27%) with significant tricuspid regurgitation who consequently underwent tricuspid annuloplasty during left-side heart valve surgery.

Expression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator enhances cisplatin resistance by upregulating MDR1 expression in cancer cells.

The identification of molecular pathways in cancer cells is important for understanding the cells' underlying biology and for designing effective cancer therapies. We demonstrate that the expression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) is critical during the development of cisplatin resistance. The reduced expression of ARNT was correlated with cisplatin-induced cell death in drug-sensitive cells.

Novel pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses are potently inhibited by DAS181, a sialidase fusion protein.

Background: The recent emergence of a novel pandemic influenza A(H1N1) strain in humans exemplifies the rapid and unpredictable nature of influenza virus evolution and the need for effective therapeutics and vaccines to control such outbreaks. However, resistance to antivirals can be a formidable problem as evidenced by the currently widespread oseltamivir- and adamantane-resistant seasonal influenza A viruses (IFV). Additional antiviral approaches with novel mechanisms of action are needed to combat novel and resistant influenza strains.

Allosteric modulation of the muscarinic M4 receptor as an approach to treating schizophrenia.

Current antipsychotics provide symptomatic relief for patients suffering from schizophrenia and related psychoses; however, their effectiveness is variable and many patients discontinue treatment due to side effects. Although the etiology of schizophrenia is still unclear, a leading hypothesis implicates an imbalanced dopaminergic system. Muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors regulate dopamine levels in key areas of the brain involved in psychosis, with the M(4) subtype emerging as a key regulator of dopaminergic hyperactivity.

Collisionally activated dissociation and electron capture dissociation provide complementary structural information for branched permethylated oligosaccharides.

Doubly charged sodiated and permethylated linear malto-oligosaccharides ({Glc}6-{Glc}9), branched N-linked glycans (high-mannose type GlcNAc2Man5-9, and complex asialo- and disialylated-biantennary glycans) were analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry using collisionally-activated dissociation (CAD) and "hot" electron capture dissociation (ECD) available in a custom-built ESI FTICR mass spectrometer. For linear permethylated malto-oligosaccharides, both CAD and "hot" ECD produced glycosidic cleavages (B, Y, C, and Z ions), cross-ring cleavages (A- and X-type), and internal cleavages (B/Y and C/Y type) to provide sequence and linkage information. For the branched N-linked glycans, CAD and "hot" ECD provided complementary structural information.

Calibration and validity of an eccentric photorefractor.

A new graphical calibration method was developed to convert the photorefractive reflex into refractive error. With this graphical method, the refractive error can be obtained for pupil sizes and for photorefractive reflex sizes which have not been precalibrated. In the conventional method, the refractive error associated with non-precalibrated pupil and reflex sizes is obtained by interpolating between neighbouring precalibrated points.

Effect of hypothyroidism induced by propylthiouracil and thiourea on male and female reproductive systems of neonatal mice.

The effect of hypothyroidism induced by 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) or thiourea (TU) on the development of the reproductive system in male and female neonatal ICR mice was investigated. PTU or TU was injected subcutaneously into experimental animals from postnatal day 1 (PD1) onward. The histological changes of the reproductive organs, formation of ovarian follicles, and spermatogenesis were examined on PD 14, 21, and 28, and the fertility of the hypothyroid mice in adulthood was followed.

High-potency hybrid compounds related to insulin and amphioxus insulin-like peptide.

We describe the synthesis and biological evaluation of five two-chain, insulin-like compounds structurally related both to insulin and to a putative insulin like peptide (ILP) whose sequence was deduced from a cDNA cloned from Branchiostoma californiensis (amphioxus), a primitive vertebrate [Chan, S. J., Cao, Q.