Feasibility and initial efficacy of a multimodal swelling intervention after total knee arthroplasty: A prospective pilot study with historical controls.

Background: Swelling after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is often profound and persistent, increasing risks of DVT, infection, and wound dehiscence, and impairing rehabilitation. We investigated the feasibility and initial efficacy of a multimodal swelling control intervention (MSI), comprised of an inelastic adjustable compression garment (CG), manual lymph drainage (MLD) massage, and home exercise program (HEP) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) compared to a control group.

Methods: Sixteen individuals (mean age 64.

Cutaneous Bacteria of Confiscated Telmatobius culeus in Lima, Peru.

The Lake Titicaca frog is endangered due to threats such as water pollution, introduced species, and overharversting for markets, where people consume them as frog juice. This study, conducted June to November 2012, aimed to determinate the bacteria microflora living on the skin of frogs confiscated from the La Parada market, Lima, Peru, and housed individually in the Laboratory of Wildlife at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnic of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. Samples collected with sterile swabs and cultured on blood, tryptic soy, and MacConkey agars were investigated using commercially available test kits, to investigate the commonly encountered bacterial and potentially zoonotic microorganisms associated with their consumption.

The political ecology of seed security in the Northern Ghanaian Savannahs.

Seed security is being promoted as a means of achieving productivity, food security, and resilience among smallholders. This has resulted in notions that vulnerabilities among smallholders in Africa are the outcomes of inadequate adoption of improved seeds. What these perspectives have neglected is: How politics mediate access to seeds? and Whether and how politics influence farmers' perception of seed security? This study draws upon a case study of Northern Ghanaian Savannahs to examine politics and seed security among smallholders.

Effects of organic acids and common household products on the occurrence of false positive test results using immunochromatographic assays.

Forensic serological analyses often rely on lateral flow immunochromatographic assays to detect proteins that are characteristic of forensically relevant body fluids. In this study, we demonstrate that a positive result, however, is not limited to target protein binding. Citric and lactic acids at various pH levels were tested using 9 different commercial immunochromatographic assays.

Neuroprotection Comparison of Rosmarinic Acid and Carnosic Acid in Primary Cultures of Cerebellar Granule Neurons.

Neurodegenerative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, are characterized by the progressive loss of neurons in specific regions of the brain and/or spinal cord. Neuronal cell loss typically occurs by either apoptotic or necrotic mechanisms. Oxidative stress and nitrosative stress, along with excitotoxicity and caspase activation, have all been implicated as major underlying causes of neuronal cell death.

Color and behavior differently predict competitive outcomes for divergent stickleback color morphs.

Our knowledge of how male competition contributes to speciation is dominated by investigations of competition between within-species morphs or closely related species that differ in conspicuous traits expressed during the breeding season (e.g. color, song).

A Cystine-Rich Whey Supplement (Immunocal®) Provides Neuroprotection from Diverse Oxidative Stress-Inducing Agents by Preserving Cellular Glutathione.

Oxidative stress is a principal mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of neurodegeneration. Therefore, nutritional enhancement of endogenous antioxidant defenses may represent a viable treatment option. We investigated the neuroprotective properties of a unique whey protein supplement (Immunocal®) that provides an essential precursor (cystine) for synthesis of the endogenous antioxidant, glutathione (GSH).

An anthocyanin-enriched extract from strawberries delays disease onset and extends survival in the hSOD1 mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease resulting from the death of motor neurons in the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord. Several processes such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and neuronal apoptosis, contribute to disease progression. Anthocyanins are flavonoid compounds derived from fruits and vegetables that possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic abilities.

Phytoremediation of cadmium and lead-polluted watersheds.

Abandoned hard rock mines and the resulting acid mine drainage (AMD) are a source of vast, environmental degradation that are toxic threats to plants, animals, and humans. Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) are metal contaminants often found in AMD. In our mine outwash water samples, Cd and Pb concentrations were 300 and 40 times greater than EPA Aquatic Life Use water quality standards, respectively.

"That's enough patients for everyone!": Local stakeholders' views on attracting patients into Barbados and Guatemala's emerging medical tourism sectors.

Background: Medical tourism has attracted considerable interest within the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. Governments in the region tout the economic potential of treating foreign patients while several new private hospitals primarily target international patients. This analysis explores the perspectives of a range of medical tourism sector stakeholders in two LAC countries, Guatemala and Barbados, which are beginning to develop their medical tourism sectors.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Confiscated Telmatobius in Lima, Peru.

The Peruvian Andes are the home of 27 species of frogs of the genus Telmatobius, many of which are critically endangered. Illegal trade of adult frogs for purported medical properties likely represents the major threat facing these species. This activity, besides reducing their populations, may contribute to the dissemination of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which causes chytridiomycosis, a disease posing a threat to many populations of amphibians.

A novel AhR ligand, 2AI, protects the retina from environmental stress.

Various retinal degenerative diseases including dry and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinitis pigmentosa, and diabetic retinopathy are associated with the degeneration of the retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) layer of the retina. This consequently results in the death of rod and cone photoreceptors that they support, structurally and functionally leading to legal or complete blindness. Therefore, developing therapeutic strategies to preserve cellular homeostasis in the RPE would be a favorable asset in the clinic.

Thought suppression as a mediator of the association between depressed mood and prescription opioid craving among chronic pain patients.

Emerging research suggests that prescription opioid craving is associated with negative mood and depression, but less is known about cognitive factors linking depressive symptoms to opioid craving among adults with chronic pain. The present cross-sectional study examined thought suppression as a mediator of the relation between depression and prescription opioid craving in a sample of chronic pain patients receiving long-term opioid pharmacotherapy. Data were obtained from 115 chronic pain patients recruited from primary care, pain, and neurology clinics who had taken prescription opioids daily or nearly every day for ≥90 days prior to assessment.

A Cystine-Rich Whey Supplement (Immunocal(®)) Delays Disease Onset and Prevents Spinal Cord Glutathione Depletion in the hSOD1(G93A) Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Depletion of the endogenous antioxidant, glutathione (GSH), underlies progression of the devastating neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Thus, strategies aimed at elevating GSH may yield new therapeutics for ALS. Here, we investigated the effects of a unique non-denatured whey protein supplement, Immunocal(®), in the transgenic Gly position 93 to Ala (G93A) mutant hSOD1 (hSOD1(G93A)) mouse model of ALS.

Functionalized tricyclic cytosine analogues provide nucleoside fluorophores with improved photophysical properties and a range of solvent sensitivities.

Tricyclic cytosines (tC and tC(O) frameworks) have emerged as a unique class of fluorescent nucleobase analogues that minimally perturb the structure of B-form DNA and that are not quenched in duplex nucleic acids. Systematic derivatization of these frameworks is a likely approach to improve on and diversify photophysical properties, but has not so far been examined. Synthetic methods were refined to improve on tolerance for electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups, resulting in a series of eight new, fluorescent cytidine analogues.

N-terminal cleavage of the mitochondrial fusion GTPase OPA1 occurs via a caspase-independent mechanism in cerebellar granule neurons exposed to oxidative or nitrosative stress.

Neuronal cell death via apoptosis or necrosis underlies several devastating neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging. Mitochondrial dysfunction resulting from oxidative or nitrosative stress often acts as an initiating stimulus for intrinsic apoptosis or necrosis. These events frequently occur in conjunction with imbalances in the mitochondrial fission and fusion equilibrium, although the cause and effect relationships remain elusive.

Molecular encapsulation in pyrogallolarene hexamers under nonequilibrium conditions.

Pyrogallol[4]arene is a macrocycle with a concave surface and 12 peripheral hydroxyl groups that mediate its self-assembly to form hexamers of octahedral symmetry in the solid state, in solution, and in the gas phase. These hexamers enclose approximately 1300 Å(3) of space, which is filled with small molecules. In this study, we show that solvent-free conditions for guest entrapment in these hexamers, using molten guest molecules as solvent and allowing the capsules to assemble during cooling, results in exceptionally kinetically stable encapsulation complexes that are not formed in the presence of solvent and are not thermodynamically stable.

Immunocal® and preservation of glutathione as a novel neuroprotective strategy for degenerative disorders of the nervous system.

Oxidative stress and glutathione (GSH) depletion are both recognized as significant contributors to the pathogenesis of many devastating neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, mitochondrial dysfunction leads to the aberrant production and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are capable of oxidizing key cellular proteins, lipids, and DNA, ultimately triggering cell death. In addition to other roles that it plays in the cell, GSH functions as a critical scavenger of these ROS.