Gastrin exerts pleiotropic effects on human melanoma cell biology.

The effects of gastrin (G17) on the growth and migration factors of four human melanoma cell lines (HT-144, C32, G-361, and SKMEL-28) were investigated. The expression patterns of cholecystokinin (CCK)(A), CCK(B), and CCK(C) gastrin receptors were investigated in these cells and in seven clinical samples by means of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Melanoma cells appear to express mRNA for CCK(C) receptors, but not for CCK(A) or CCK(B) receptors.

Characterization of the activities of actin-affecting drugs on tumor cell migration.

Metastases kill 90% of cancer patients. It is thus a major challenge in cancer therapy to inhibit the spreading of tumor cells from primary tumor sites to those particular organs where metastases are likely to occur. Whereas the actin cytoskeleton is a key component involved in cell migration, agents targeting actin dynamics have been relatively poorly investigated.

Acute respiratory failure from tracheopathia osteoplastica.

Tracheopathia osteoplastica is a benign cartilaginous and osseous metaplasia of the laryngo-tracheobronchial tree diagnosed more commonly in adults over 50 years of age. We report here the case of a 54-year-old man who underwent thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter. Immediately after an uneventful surgery, he developed an acute respiratory failure with radiologic picture of Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Nuclear galectin-3 expression is an independent predictive factor of recurrence for adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

The tumor stage is the most powerful prognostic tool for predicting the survival rates of lung carcinoma patients. However, prognosis of individual patients is difficult in part because of the marked clinical heterogeneity among such patients. Galectins are involved in cell growth, apoptosis and cell migration features, and their diagnostic and prognostic values have already been demonstrated in various types of cancers.

Laryngeal oedema in neonatal apnoea and bradycardia syndrome (a pilot study).

Purpose: Some preterm infants in general good health continue to present recurrent apnoeas, bradycardias and desaturations (ABD) despite usual treatments. These events may lead to transitory brain hypoxia and to further neurological injury. The purpose of this study has been to evaluate the role of laryngeal oedema in this symptomatology and to assess corticoid treatment.

Targeting pupils at risk of occupational asthma.

A cross-sectional study was carried out in pupils attending the last training year from three school sections with high risks of occupational asthma (hairdressing, wood's profession, bakery) and in two groups with lower risks (butcher, salesmen). The analysis concerns a representative sample of 533 pupils in the French-speaking Community of Belgium. Among them, 62.

Gait control in spinal palsy.

Developmental motor impairment with lower limb spasticity most commonly corresponds to cerebral palsy of the spastic diplegia type. Here we describe a 4-year-old girl whose locomotor phenotype reflects early cortico-spinal lesion at the spinal level. This child has developmental spastic paraparesis secondary to D4-D8 cord compression.

Postural rhythmic muscle bursting activity in Angelman syndrome.

Postural impairment is one of the most consistent features of Angelman syndrome. Using multiple-channel electromyography, we studied a lower limb and an upper limb isometric postural task in 14 patients with Angelman syndrome and 18 unimpaired control subjects. Both tasks were associated with synchronous bursts of activity at frequencies of 6-8 s(-1) in all recorded muscles in all patients with Angelman syndrome and none of the control subjects.

The optimization of protein secondary structure determination with infrared and circular dichroism spectra.

We have used the circular dichroism and infrared spectra of a specially designed 50 protein database [Oberg, K.A., Ruysschaert, J.

The infrared spectrum of human glioma cells is related to their in vitro and in vivo behavior.

The present research investigates whether infrared spectra can be related to the biological characteristics of glioma cell lines. We used nine human glioma cell lines for which a series of in vitro and in vivo biological features had already been established [Glia 36 (2001) 375] and were able to show that their characteristic infrared spectra reflect their in vitro migration (i.e.

Oral ketamine in paediatric non-convulsive status epilepticus.

In children, non-convulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is rare and difficult to treat. Response to steroids and GABAergic medication is variable and often decreases with increasing duration of NCSE. We present our experience with oral ketamine, an NMDA-receptor antagonist, administered to five children with severe epilepsy (Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, myoclonic-astatic epilepsy, progressive myoclonic epilepsy and Pseudo-Lennox Syndrome) during an episode of NCSE.

Rationally selected basis proteins: a new approach to selecting proteins for spectroscopic secondary structure analysis.

Protein basis sets have been extensively used as reference data for the determination of protein structure with optical methods such as circular dichroism and infrared spectroscopies. We have taken a new approach to basis protein selection by utilizing three crystal structure classification databases: CATH, SCOP, and PDB_SELECT. Through the use of the information available in these and other online resources, we identified 115 commercially available proteins as potential basis set candidates.

Localized renal cell carcinoma of an unusually large size: case report.

Renal cell carcinoma has a variable clinical course. Size is a prognostic factor correlated with venous invasion, lymph node or distant metastases. These are more often encountered when the size exceeds 10 cm.

A hidden Markov model for progressive multiple alignment.

Motivation: Progressive algorithms are widely used heuristics for the production of alignments among multiple nucleic-acid or protein sequences. Probabilistic approaches providing measures of global and/or local reliability of individual solutions would constitute valuable developments.

Results: We present here a new method for multiple sequence alignment that combines an HMM approach, a progressive alignment algorithm, and a probabilistic evolution model describing the character substitution process.

Oocyte quality and IVF outcome after coasting to prevent ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate, in a large cohort of patients, oocyte quality and IVF outcome after coasting used to prevent ovarian hyperstimulation.

Setting: Retrospective study.

Patients: IVF cycles which had reached estradiol serum levels of at least 4,000 pg/mL without being coasted (control group, n = 208), or where coasting was applied (coasted group, n = 157).

Review of clinical course and treatment of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).

The ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a rare iatrogenic complication of ovarian stimulation occurring during the luteal phase or during early pregnancy. This complication is unusual as it is not the consequence of a treatment which is vital or mandatory for the patient's health. Nevertheless, it can be accompanied by severe morbidity and may even be fatal.

Epidemiology and prevention of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS): a review.

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a rare iatrogenic complication of ovarian stimulation occurring during the luteal phase or during early pregnancy. Fortunately, the reported prevalence of the severe form of OHSS is small, ranging from 0.5 to 5%.

Systematic review of data concerning etiopathology of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

The ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is an iatrogenic complication of ovarian stimulation occurring during the luteal phase or early pregnancy. It has been observed over the last 60 years, since gonadotropins were first used to induce ovulation. The prevalence varies, according to study, from 0.

Selenium as a 'nutraceutical': how to conciliate physiological and supra-nutritional effects for an essential trace element.

Purpose Of Review: To review how selenium has been appreciated in nutrition and therapeutics for the last few decades.

Recent Findings: Selenium is a powerful micronutrient constituting the active centre of about 20 eukaryotic proteins highly relevant in biochemistry, mostly for redox state-regulating properties. This element is now better recognized as a biologically important nutrient.

Investigation of the population genetic structure and mating system in the ant Pheidole pallidula.

The origin of eusociality in haplo-diploid organisms such as Hymenoptera has been mostly explained by kin selection. However, several studies have uncovered decreased relatedness values within colonies, resulting primarily from multiple queen matings (polyandry) and/or from the presence of more than one functional queen (polygyny). Here, we report on the use of microsatellite data for the investigation of sociogenetic parameters, such as relatedness, and levels of polygyny and polyandry, in the ant Pheidole pallidula.

Endogenous interleukin-12 is critical for controlling the late but not the early stage of Leishmania mexicana infection in C57BL/6 mice.

The role of interleukin-12 (IL-12) has been clearly established in the resistance of C57BL/6 (B6) mice to Leishmania major infection, but its involvement in the control of Leishmania mexicana infection remains to be determined. Here, we show the following. (i) L.

The metapopulation genetic algorithm: An efficient solution for the problem of large phylogeny estimation.

Large phylogeny estimation is a combinatorial optimization problem that no future computer will ever be able to solve exactly in practical computing time. The difficulty of the problem is amplified by the need to use complex evolutionary models and large taxon samplings. Hence, many heuristic approaches have been developed, with varying degrees of success.

Parasitic load and histopathology of cutaneous lesions, lymph node, spleen, and liver from BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice infected with Leishmania mexicana.

The course of infection, parasitic loads, and histopathology of cutaneous lesions, draining lymph node, spleen, and liver were compared in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice over a period of 34 weeks after inoculation in footpad with promastigotes of a Leishmania mexicana reference strain. The results show that the primary footpad lesions first present a 12-week phase that develops similarly in both strains of mice. Thereafter, a cutaneous and visceral dissemination of L.