Does intubated uretero-ureterocutaneostomy provide better health-related quality of life than orthotopic neobladder in patients after radical cystectomy for invasive bladder cancer?

Objectives: Ileal orthotopic neobladder (ONB) has not proved to provide better health-related quality of life (HRQoL) than other urinary diversion techniques after radical cystectomy. The aim of the study is to compare HRQoL assessed by four questionnaires between ONB and uretero-ureterocutaneostomy (UUC).

Methods: Thirty-nine patients (35 men and 4 women) aged 66.

Sensitivity of Penicillium expansum field isolates to tebuconazole, iprodione, fludioxonil and cyprodinil and characterization of fitness parameters and patulin production.

A total of 236 Penicillium expansum field isolates from decayed apple fruit collected from packinghouses and processing industries located in the region of Imathia, Northern Greece were tested for their sensitivity to tebuconazole, fludioxonil, iprodione and cyprodinil. Preliminary fungitoxicity tests on the response of the isolates showed several phenotypes, distinguished according to their sensitivity to fungicides tested. The EC(50) values ranged from 0.

Preoperative withdrawal of antiplatelet treatment in lower limb vascular patients prior to surgical management under epidural or spinal anaesthesia: an evidence based approach and systematic review.

Antiplatelet drugs given to high risk patients for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease are frequently withdrawn prior to surgical or diagnostic procedures to reduce bleeding complications. This is also the case for many patients undergoing lower limb vascular surgery via spinal or epidural anaesthesia. The aim of this study is to corroborate the clinician's decision for discontinuing or continuing the anti-platelet treatment in these patients perioperatively.

Automated tagging of pharmaceutically active thiols under flow conditions using monobromobimane.

The thiol-specific derivatization reagent monobromobimane (MBB) is applied--for the first time--under flow conditions. Sequential injection analysis allows the handling of precise volumes of the reagent in the micro-liter range. The effect of the main chemical and instrumental variables was investigated using captopril (CAP), N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and penicillamine (PEN) as representative pharmaceutically active thiols.

Design, synthesis and pharmacobiological evaluation of novel acrylic acid derivatives acting as lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase-1 inhibitors with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

A series of novel acrylic acid derivatives bearing at the 3 position thienyl, furfuryl and 3,5-ditert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl substituents have been designed, synthesized and tested as potential dual lipoxygenase/cyclooxygenase-1 (LOX/COX-1) inhibitors and as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents. Some compounds have shown moderate antioxidant and COX-1 inhibitory activities, very good anti-inflammatory activity and an inhibition of soybean lipoxygenase (LOX) higher than caffeic acid. In particular, compound 4I disclosed a moderate in vitro LOX inhibition with an IC(50) = 100 μM whereas compounds 1I and 2II exhibited the best, albeit poor, activity as COX-1 inhibition (75% inhibition at 100 μM).

Characterization of Rhizoctonia spp. Isolates Associated with Damping-Off Disease in Cotton and Tobacco Seedlings in Greece.

Isolates of Rhizoctonia spp. were obtained during the spring of 2007 from diseased cotton and tobacco seedlings showing damping-off symptoms. The sampled fields were located in the main cotton- and tobacco-cultivating regions of central and northern Greece.

Morphological changes of the human purkinje cells and deposition of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles on the cerebellar cortex of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by progressive decline in memory and in social performance. The morphological hallmarks of the disease are neuronal loss, loss of dendritic spines, neurofibrillary degeneration and neuritic plaques mainly in the hippocampus and the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres. This study is based on the morphological analysis of the cerebellar cortices of eight brains, 4 patients suffered from Alzheimer's disease and 4 normal controls, by Golgi method, as well as Nissl, Gallyas', Bielschowsky's, Methenamine Silver staining and Congo red methods.

Multiple resistance of Botrytis cinerea from kiwifruit to SDHIs, QoIs and fungicides of other chemical groups.

Background: Botrytis cinerea Pers.: Fr. is a high-risk pathogen for fungicide resistance development that has caused resistance problems on many crops throughout the world.

Medicinal chemistry of 2,2,4-substituted morpholines.

We have designed a number of 2-hydroxy (alkoxy)-2-aryl-4-alkyl-(5,6-alkyl)-morpholines with interesting biological activities, i.e. sympathomimetic, analgesic, drug metabolizing enzyme modulating ability, antioxidant potential, anti-inflammatory and anti-dyslipidemic properties.

Functional outcome and structural integrity following mini-open repair of large and massive rotator cuff tears: a 3-5 year follow-up study.

Background: Mini-open approach has been considered for years the gold standard for rotator cuff repairs. Nevertheless, the rate of tendon-to-bone healing, and that of cuff re-tear, still remains unclear.

Methods: Between 2001 and 2004, 37 shoulders (32 patients) with a mean age of 54.

LC-determination of five paraben preservatives in saliva and toothpaste samples using UV detection and a short monolithic column.

The present study reports the development and application of an HPLC-UV method for the simultaneous separation and determination of five paraben preservatives (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, n-butyl- and iso-butyl-paraben) in real samples. All analytes were separated efficiently in less than 20 min using a simple H(2)O:ACN linear gradient and a short monolithic column (50 mm x 4.6mm i.

Rapid determination of methylxanthines in real samples by high-performance liquid chromatography using the new FastGradient narrow-bore monolithic column.

The present study reports one of the very first analytical applications of the new narrow-bore monolithic column, FastGradient Chromolith (50mm x 2.0mm i.d.

Condylar buttress plate versus fixed angle condylar blade plate versus dynamic condylar screw for supracondylar intra-articular distal femoral fractures.

Purpose: To compare outcomes of 3 fixation techniques for intra-articular distal femoral fractures.

Methods: Records of 59 men and 49 women aged 16 to 80 (mean, 47) years who underwent internal fixation for 116 type-C (complete intra-articular) distal femoral fractures were retrospectively reviewed. According to the AO classification, 25 fractures were type C1 (23 closed and 2 open), 71 type C2 (69 closed and 2 open), and 20 type C3 (16 closed and 4 open).

High throughput automated determination of glutathione based on the formation of a UV-absorbing thioacrylate derivative.

Sequential injection analysis (SIA) has been employed as the platform for the development of a high throughput automated assay for glutathione (GSH) in nutrition supplements. The proposed assay is based on the on-line formation of a UV-absorbing thioacrylate derivative (lambda(max) = 285 nm) upon reaction of thiol with the new reagent ethyl-propiolate (EP). This is the very first application of this reagent for the determination of GSH either in batch or continuous flow modes and the first SI method for the determination of GSH in pharmaceutical supplements.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs). Structure--activity relationships: history and new QSAR perspectives.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition is a recent, clinically validated therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. HDAC inhibitors (HDACIs) block angiogenesis, arrest cell growth, and lead to differentiation and apoptosis in tumor cells. In this article, a survey of published quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) studies are presented and discussed in the hope of identifying the structural determinants for anticancer activity.

Hereditary angioedema: three cases report, members of the same family.

Background: This current clinical case report highlights three cases of Hereditary angioedema (HAE) patients who are all members of the same family (father and his two daughters). The father has C1-INH deficiency, while his daughters have low C1-INH levels: the first possesses only 10% function and the second has low C1-INH level with 0% function. Of note, the second daughter was discovered to have HAE at the age of 2, thus making her the youngest known HAE case report in the English literature.

First Report of Penicillium glabrum Causing Fruit Rot of Pomegranate (Punica granatum) in Greece.

During September and October of 2008 in the region of Larisa (central Greece), postharvest fruit rot was observed on pomegranate (cv. Kapmaditika), which is rapidly increasing in production in Greece, causing losses of 10 to 20% after 2 months of cold storage (5 to 6°C). Infected fruits showed green conidiophores in the calyx area, while internal symptoms consisted of soft, brown tissue that became covered with green mycelium and conidiophores.

First Report of Botrytis cinerea Causing Gray Mold of Pomegranate (Punica granatum) in Greece.

Pomegranate is rapidly increasing in production in Greece. During August of 2008 in the region of Larisa (central Greece), preharvest fruit rot was observed on pomegranate (cv. Kapmaditika) that caused losses estimated at 10%.

Novel compounds designed as antistress agents.

Agents against biologic stress were designed, containing GABA esterified with lorazepam and amidated with (R)-6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid (5) or 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid (6). Compounds 5 and 6 inhibited lipid peroxidation, IC(50) 1.1 and 24 microM.

Automated zone-sampling dilution by coupling sequential injection analysis to high-throughput HPLC for the direct determination of gemfibrozil.

A novel automated analytical scheme for the rapid determination of gemfibrozil in drug dissolution samples is reported. The procedure is based on direct coupling of a low pressure continuous flow technique such as sequential injection analysis (SI) to HPLC. SI performs automated dilution of the samples based on zone sampling and fills on-line the loop of the high pressure injection valve.

2D-QSAR and 3D-QSAR/CoMFA analyses of the N-terminal substituted anthranilic acid based CCK(1) receptor antagonists: 'Hic Rhodus, hic saltus'.

A research is presented on quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies on the more recent class of non-peptidic CCK(1) receptor antagonists. Our results suggest that the balance of hydrophobicity and volume dependent polarizability term plays a key role in the antagonism of CCK(1) receptor. The size of the substitution of ligands at particular position which induce steric fit is crucial as well as their hydrophobic contribution.

Neuroendocrine stimulatory tests of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis in psoriasis and correlative implications with psychopathological and immune parameters.

Psoriasis constitutes one of the most representative examples of psychosomatic disorders. The published work investigating the psychological parameters and the way they interact during the course of the disease is extensive, whereas only a few studies have focused on the neuroendocrine framework of psoriasis. In the present study, the objective was to investigate the neuroendocrine parameters of psoriasis and the way they interact with psychopathological and immune variables.

S100 protein family and its application in clinical practice.

The members of the S100 protein family are multifunctional proteins with a regulatory role in a variety of cellular processes. They exert their actions usually through calcium binding, although Zn2+ and Cu2+ have also been shown to regulate their biological activity. The most studied member, protein S100B, exhibits neurotrophic (at physiologic concentration) or neurotoxic (at higher concentration) activity and its immunohistochemical expression or serum levels have been determined in various clinical disorders.

Entecavir monotherapy for lamivudine-refractory chronic hepatitis B.

EVALUATION OF: Sherman M, Yurdaidin C, Simsek H et al. Entecavir therapy for lamivudine-refractory chronic hepatitis B: improved virologic, biochemical and serology outcomes through 96 weeks. Hepatology 48, 99-108 (2008).

Stability and fitness of anilinopyrimidine-resistant strains of Botrytis cinerea.

The fitness of anilinopyrimidine-resistant isolates of Botrytis cinerea compared with that of sensitive isolates, collected from vegetable crops in Greece during 2005, was investigated. Stability of resistance to anilinopyrimidine fungicides was determined after consecutive transfers of the fungal isolates on fungicide-free potato dextrose agar for 16 culture cycles or on fungicide-untreated cucumber seedlings for eight disease cycles. Results showed that after the consecutive transfers of the isolates either in vitro or in vivo sensitivity to cyprodinil was not changed significantly compared to the initial sensitivity in all the isolates tested, suggesting a stable genetically controlled trait.