Cellular and Molecular Mediators of Intestinal Fibrosis.

Intestinal fibrosis is a major complication of the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and although inflammation is necessary for its development, it would appear that it plays a minor role in its progression as anti-inflammatory treatments in IBD do not prevent fibrosis once it has started. The processes that regulate fibrosis would thus appear to be distinct from those regulating inflammation and, therefore, a detailed understanding of these pathways is vital to the development of anti-fibrogenic strategies. There have been several recent reviews exploring what is known, and what remains unknown, about the development of intestinal fibrosis.

Dietary intake of acrylamide and epithelial ovarian cancer risk in the european prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC) cohort.

Acrylamide, classified in 1994 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as "probably carcinogenic" to humans, was discovered in 2002 in some heat-treated, carbohydrate-rich foods. The association between dietary acrylamide intake and epithelial ovarian cancer risk (EOC) has been previously studied in one case-control and three prospective cohort studies which obtained inconsistent results and could not further examine histologic subtypes other than serous EOC. The present study was carried out in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) subcohort of women (n = 325,006).

Pax6 regulates the expression of Dkk3 in murine and human cell lines, and altered responses to Wnt signaling are shown in FlpIn-3T3 cells stably expressing either the Pax6 or the Pax6(5a) isoform.

Pax6 is a transcription factor important for early embryo development. It is expressed in several cancer cell lines and tumors. In glioblastoma, PAX6 has been shown to function as a tumor suppressor.

Current research and future directions in pattern identification: Results of an international symposium.

A symposium on pattern identification (PI) was held at the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM) on October 2, 2013, in Daejeon, South Korea. This symposium was convened to provide information on the current research in PI as well as suggest future research directions. The participants discussed the nature of PI, possible research questions, strategies and future international collaborations in pattern research.

The use of assistive technology in the everyday lives of young people living with dementia and their caregivers. Can a simple remote control make a difference?

Background: This study was a part of a larger study exploring the impact of assistive technology on the lives of young people living with dementia (YPD). This paper focuses on one of the most useful devices, the simple remote control (SRC). The objective was to explore the reason why the SRC is significant and beneficial in the everyday lives of YPD and their caregivers.

No causal association identified for human papillomavirus infections in lung cancer.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections have been implicated in lung carcinogenesis, but causal associations remain uncertain. We evaluated a potential causal role for HPV infections in lung cancer through an analysis involving serology, tumor DNA, RNA, and p16 protein expression. Association between type-specific HPV antibodies and risk of lung cancer was examined among 3,083 cases and 4,328 controls in two case-control studies (retrospective) and one nested case-control study (prospective design).

Results of the 4th scientific workshop of the ECCO (I): pathophysiology of intestinal fibrosis in IBD.

The fourth scientific workshop of the European Crohn's and Colitis Organization (ECCO) focused on the relevance of intestinal fibrosis in the disease course of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The objective was to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of intestinal fibrosis, to identify useful markers and imaging modalities of fibrosis in order to assess its presence and progression, and, finally, to point out possible approaches for the prevention and the treatment of fibrosis. The results of this workshop are presented in three separate manuscripts.

"Sometimes I walk and walk, hoping to get some peace." Dealing with hearing voices and sounds nobody else hears.

Our objective in this article is to add to the understanding of how people with mental illness experience dealing with hearing troublesome voices and sounds in everyday life. Fourteen people contributed through in-depth interviews and we analysed these using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. We found that the participants (a) tried to block out the voices and sounds, (b) navigated the health care services, and (c) struggled to come to terms with limitations.

Impaired left ventricular mechanical and energetic function in mice after cardiomyocyte-specific excision of Serca2.

Sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+ -ATPase (SERCA)2 transports Ca2+ from the cytosol into the sarcoplasmic reticulum of cardiomyocytes and is essential for maintaining myocardial Ca2+ handling and thus the mechanical function of the heart. SERCA2 is a major ATP consumer in excitation-contraction coupling but is regarded to contribute to energetically efficient Ca2+ handling in the cardiomyocyte. Previous studies using cardiomyocyte-specific SERCA2 knockout (KO) mice have demonstrated that decreased SERCA2 activity reduces the Ca2+ transient amplitude and induces compensatory Ca2+ transport mechanisms that may lead to more inefficient Ca2+ transport.

A Staphylococcus aureus TIR domain protein virulence factor blocks TLR2-mediated NF-κB signaling.

Signaling through Toll-like receptors (TLRs), crucial molecules in the induction of host defense responses, requires adaptor proteins that contain a Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain. The pathogen Staphylococcus aureus produces several innate immune-evasion molecules that interfere with the host's innate immune response. A database search analysis suggested the presence of a gene encoding a homologue of the human TIR domain in S.

Development of new LXR modulators that regulate LXR target genes and reduce lipogenesis in human cell models.

Four new mimics of 22-S-hydroxycholesterol (22SHC) were synthesized and evaluated using molecular modeling and tested in human muscle cells (primary myotubes) and hepatocytes (HepG2 cells). The new compounds (9, 12, 15a and 15b) showed good interrelationship between docking scores, to both LXRα and LXRβ, and in vitro results. The LXR agonist T0901317 increased the expressions of genes involved in lipogenesis (SCD1, FAS) and cholesterol efflux (ABCA1), but only 22SHC counteracted the up-regulation of SCD1 and FAS by T0901317.

Position-Dependent Influence of the Three Trp Residues on the Membrane Activity of the Antimicrobial Peptide, Tritrpticin.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) constitute promising candidates for the development of new antibiotics. Among the ever-expanding family of AMPs, tritrpticin has strong antimicrobial activity against a broad range of pathogens. This 13-residue peptide has an unusual amino acid sequence that is almost symmetrical and features three central Trp residues with two Arg residues near each end of the peptide.