Smokers' hair: Does smoking cause premature hair graying?

Aims: To determine if there is a significant association between premature hair graying and cigarette smoking.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in a nonclinical setting on 207 participants on August 24 until 25, 2010. Participants were classified into two groups [premature hair graying (PHG) and normal hair graying].

Diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular events in older patients with myocardial infarction prescribed intensive-dose and moderate-dose statins.

Background: Practice guidelines recommend intensive-dose statins for patients with acute coronary syndrome, but recent data about the risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus have raised concerns about its use. Our main objective was to evaluate the association between intensive statin therapy and new-onset diabetes mellitus in patients with myocardial infarction and to evaluate the association of intensive statin therapy with long-term adverse clinical outcomes.

Methods And Results: A propensity score-matched cohort was created consisting of 17 080 patients with myocardial infarction aged >65 years old, hospitalized in Ontario, Canada, from 2004 to 2010.

Population pharmacokinetic analysis of clopidogrel in healthy Jordanian subjects with emphasis optimal sampling strategy.

Aim: Clopidogrel is metabolized primarily into an inactive carboxyl metabolite (clopidogrel-IM) or to a lesser extent an active thiol metabolite. A population pharmacokinetic (PK) model was developed using NONMEM(®) to describe the time course of clopidogrel-IM in plasma and to design a sparse-sampling strategy to predict clopidogrel-IM exposures for use in characterizing anti-platelet activity.

Methods: Serial blood samples from 76 healthy Jordanian subjects administered a single 75 mg oral dose of clopidogrel were collected and assayed for clopidogrel-IM using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography.

Factors affecting thermal resistance of Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis ODA 99-30581-13 in shell egg contents and use of heat-ozone combinations for egg pasteurization.

Infection of laying hens with Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis leads to deposition of the pathogen into the albumen or yolk of forming eggs. Heat treatment can inactivate internalized Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs, but factors such as the nature and location of contamination may influence the efficacy of thermal treatments. In the current research, natural contamination was mimicked by introducing small inocula of Salmonella Enteritidis into different locations of shell eggs and incubating inoculated eggs.

Data protection among junior medical staff: a questionnaire study.

Objective: There have been numerous reports of loss of confidential information amongst UK public agencies. The aim of the study was to examine current standards of practice and knowledge of junior medical staff with respect to management of patient identifiable information.

Methods: An anonymous multiple choice questionnaire was completed by 50 junior medical staff in each of 2 separate district general hospitals in the UK.

A double-blinded randomised controlled study of the value of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium therapy in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component.

Persistent mechanical irritation of the nerve root sets up a series of events mediating sensitisation of the dorsal roots and dorsal horns in the spinal cord. Current evidence supports the role of magnesium in blocking central sensitisation through its effect on N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors. We studied the role of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium infusion in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component.

Intracellular free iron and its potential role in ultrahigh-pressure-induced inactivation of Escherichia coli.

Intracellular free iron of Escherichia coli was determined by whole-cell electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometry. Ultrahigh pressure (UHP) increased both intracellular free iron and cell lethality in a pressure-dose-dependent manner. The iron chelator 2,2'-dipyridyl protected cells against UHP treatments.

Draft genome sequence of Paenibacillus sp. strain OSY-SE, a bacterium producing the novel broad-spectrum lipopeptide antibiotic paenibacterin.

A strain of Paenibacillus sp., OSY-SE, was isolated from soil and found to produce a novel lipopeptide antibiotic. The antibiotic, paenibacterin, is active against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial pathogens.

Neurofibromatosis-1 with intraventricular haemorrhage and pectus excavatum.

This case report describes the occurrence of intraventricular haemorrhage in a teenage boy, who was later found to have neurofibromatosis-1, cerebral vascular disease and pectus excavatum.

Polymorphisms in Factor II and Factor V thrombophilia genes among Circassians in Jordan.

Thrombosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Genetic factors are one component of thrombosis. We studied the prevalence of two mutations that are known risk factors in the pathogenesis of arterial and venous thrombosis in the genetically isolated Circassian population in Jordan.

Ligand-based designing, in silico screening, and biological evaluation of new potent fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) inhibitors.

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase - hereafter abbreviated as FBPase has been recently implicated in diabetes prompting several attempts to discover and optimize new FBPase inhibitors. Toward this end we explored the pharmacophoric space of 136 FBPase inhibitors using three diverse sets of inhibitors. This identified 520 pharmacophores that were subsequently clustered into 104 groups.

Salmonella enteritidis in shell eggs: evolving concerns and innovative control measures.

The issue of egg contamination with Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis rose to prominence several decades ago with increasing rate of infection around the world. Recent outbreaks have assured that this problem maintains a place in the public consciousness. Extensive research has been conducted to investigate the factors precipitating contamination events, their avoidance, and mitigation of the threat of contaminated eggs; consequently, regulations have been put in place to increase the safety of shell eggs.

Distribution of naturally occurring radioactivity and ¹³⁷Cs in the marine sediment of Farasan Island, southern Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.

The present work is a part of a project dedicated to measure the marine radioactivity near the Saudi Arabian coasts of the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf for establishing a marine radioactivity database, which includes necessary information on the background levels of both naturally occurring and man-made radionuclides in the marine environment. Farasan Islands is a group of 84 islands (archipelago), under the administration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the Red Sea with its main island of Farasan, which is 50 km off the coast of Jazan City. The levels of natural radioactivity of (238)U, (235)U, (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K and man-made radionuclides such as (137)Cs in the grab sediment and water samples around Farasan Island have been measured using gamma-ray spectroscopy.

Draft genome sequence of Paenibacillus polymyxa OSY-DF, which coproduces a lantibiotic, paenibacillin, and polymyxin E1.

Paenibacillus polymyxa OSY-DF is a Gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium isolated from a fermented vegetable food. This bacterial strain displays potent antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria, attributed to the production of the lantibiotic paenibacillin and the colistin peptide polymyxin E1. Here we report the draft genome sequence of Paenibacillus polymyxa OSY-DF.

Blood heat shock proteins evoked by some Salmonella strains infection in ducks.

Bacterial heat-shock response is a global regulatory system required for effective adaptation to changes (stress) in the environment. An in vitro study was conducted to investigate the impact of a sublethal temperature (42°C) on heat shock protein (HSP) expression in 6 Salmonella strains (Salmonella Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium, S.

Ozonation as a clean technology for fresh produce industry and environment: sanitizer efficiency and wastewater quality.

Aims: Inactivating microbial contaminants in fresh produce commonly uses chlorine washing. The effectiveness of ozone was explored as an alternative to chlorine in produce washing for ensuring microbial safety while maximizing water reusability.

Methods And Results: An ozone washing system was designed to permit continuous addition of contaminated produce and the reuse of washing water.

Rapid quantitative method for total brominated vegetable oil in soft drinks using ion chromatography.

A simple, quantitative and rapid method for total brominated vegetable oil (BVO) using ion chromatography (IC) with suppressed conductivity detection was developed and successfully applied to soft drinks with results expressed as inorganic bromide anion. The procedure involves extraction of BVO with diethyl ether and treatment with zinc dust in a solution of acetic acid, giving recoveries ranging between 92.5 and 98.

Allele and genotype frequencies of the polymorphic cytochrome P450 genes (CYP1A1, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19) in the Jordanian population.

Drug metabolizing enzymes participate in the neutralizing of xenobiotics and biotransformation of drugs. Human cytochrome P450, particularly CYP1A1, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5, play an important role in drug metabolism. The genes encoding the CYP enzymes are polymorphic, and extensive data have shown that certain alleles confer reduced enzymatic function.

Adenovirus evasion of interferon-mediated innate immunity by direct antagonism of a cellular histone posttranslational modification.

Overcoming the cellular type I interferon (IFN) host defense response is critical for a virus to ensure successful infection. Investigating the effects of human adenovirus (HAdV) infection on global cellular histone posttranslational modification (hPTM), we discovered that virus infection-induced activation of IFN signaling triggers a global increase in the monoubiquitination of histone 2B (H2B) at lysine 120, which is a mark for transcriptionally active chromatin. This hPTM, catalyzed by the hBre1/RNF20 complex, is necessary for activation of the cellular IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) expression program in response to viruses.

Patients' profile, clinical presentations and histopathological features of colo-rectal cancer in Al Hassa region, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Patients' demographics, presenting clinical and histopathological features for colo-rectal cancer (CRC) are important factors for patients' outcome and disease prognosis. This study aimed to describe the pattern of CRC in terms of patients' demographics, main presenting symptoms and histopathological features in Al Hassa region of Saudi Arabia.

Subjects And Methods: A retrospective hospital records-based study which included reviewing of patients' records diagnosed with CRC at three general hospitals in Al Hassa region, Saudi Arabia.

Management of hypertension and factors affecting its control in Jordanian renal transplant recipients.

Background: Hypertension affects 70-90 % of all kidney transplant recipients. It is associated with poor graft survival and is a contributing factor to the increased cardiovascular mortality. The reasons for the insufficient blood pressure control in transplanted patients have not been thoroughly investigated.

UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A4 (UGT1A4) polymorphisms in a Jordanian population.

Glucuronidation is one of the most important phase II metabolic pathways. It is catalyzed by a family of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase enzymes (UGTs). One of the subfamilies is UGT1A.

Isolation of a Paenibacillus sp. strain and structural elucidation of its broad-spectrum lipopeptide antibiotic.

This research was initiated to search for novel antimicrobial compounds produced by food or environmental microorganisms. A new bacterial strain, designated OSY-SE, which produces a unique and potent antimicrobial agent was isolated from soil. The isolate was identified as a Paenibacillus sp.

Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus reuteri modulate cytokine responses in gnotobiotic pigs infected with human rotavirus.

Probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been shown to alleviate inflammation, enhance the immunogenicity of rotavirus vaccines, or reduce the severity of rotavirus diarrhoea. Although the mechanisms are not clear, the differential Th1/Th2/Th3-driving capacities and modulating effects on cytokine production of different LAB strains may be the key. Our goal was to delineate the influence of combining two probiotic strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus reuteri on the development of cytokine responses in neonatal gnotobiotic pigs infected with human rotavirus (HRV).

Feasibility of mesh repair for strangulated abdominal wall hernias.

Background: Prosthetic mesh reduces the risk of hernia recurrence. The use of mesh in patients with strangulated hernias requiring bowel resection is controversial.

Patients And Methods: Patients with acutely incarcerated hernias (with small intestine contents) who underwent polypropylene mesh hernioplasty were included in this prospective study from June 2005 to Jan.