Identification of bioactive compounds from L. (Lingonberry) as inhibitors for treating KRAS-associated cancer: a computational approach.

Unlabelled: Lung cancer is the cancer of the lung's epithelial cells typically characterized by difficulty breathing, chest pain, blood-stained coughs, headache, and weight loss. If left unmanaged, lung cancer can spread to other body parts. While several treatment methods exist for managing lung cancer, exploring natural plant sources for developing therapeutics offers great potential in complementing other treatment approaches.

Geometric Morphometric Assessment of Toe Shape in Forest and Urban Lizards Following Hurricane Disturbances.

Evidence suggests that hurricanes can influence the evolution of organisms, with phenotypic traits involved in adhesion, such as the toepads of arboreal lizards, being particularly susceptible to natural selection imposed by hurricanes. To investigate this idea, we quantified trait variation before and after Hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017) in forest and urban populations of the Puerto Rican lizard . We found that the hurricanes affected toe morphology differently between forest and urban sites.

Computational evaluation of bioactive compounds from (mistletoe) as inhibitors of p63 for pancreatic cancer treatment.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is an aggressive malignancy usually detectable at the advanced stage, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 8%. It has been reported that a gene called tumor-protein 63 (TP63) is expressed in an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer with a squamous signature. Thus, inhibiting the activity of p63 can be a means of treating and managing PDA.

A clinical bulbar assessment scale (CBAS) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Introduction/aims: Comprehensive and valid bulbar assessment scales for use within amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clinics are critically needed. The aims of this study are to develop the Clinical Bulbar Assessment Scale (CBAS) and complete preliminary validation.

Methods: The authors selected CBAS items from among the literature and expert opinion, and content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated.

Geometric Morphometrics Reveal Shape Differences in the Toes of Urban Lizards.

Urbanization, despite its destructive effects on natural habitats, offers species an opportunity to colonize novel niches. Previous research found that urban lizards in Puerto Rico had increased adhesive toepad area and more ventral toepad scales, traits that are likely adaptive and genetically based. We further investigated these phenotypic changes using geometric morphometrics to measure differences in toe shape, toepad shape, and lamellar morphology.

Targeting aberrant replication and DNA repair events for treating breast cancers.

The major limitations of DNA-targeting chemotherapy drugs include life-threatening toxicity, acquired resistance and occurrence of secondary cancers. Here, we report a small molecule, Carbazole Blue (CB), that binds to DNA and inhibits cancer growth and metastasis by targeting DNA-related processes that tumor cells use but not the normal cells. We show that CB inhibits the expression of pro-tumorigenic genes that promote unchecked replication and aberrant DNA repair that cancer cells get addicted to survive.

The TOC159 null mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana is impaired in the accumulation of plastid lipids and phosphatidylcholine.

We used electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry to profile glycerolipids in the TOC159 null mutant of Arabidopsis, which is referred to as plastid protein import 2, or ppi2. The goal was to evaluate the impact of a defective atToc159 receptor in the accumulation of plastid lipids. The ppi2 mutant is severely impaired in the accumulation of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG), digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), which are major components of the thylakoid membranes.

A simple method of drying polyacrylamide slab gels that eliminates cracking.

The polyacrylamide slab gel is the most common gel format for analyzing protein samples by electrophoresis. Drying these gels is useful in many biological applications; for example, autoradiography, in which radiolabeled proteins are separated to enable their detection and identification. Dried protein gels can also serve as an ideal method of preserving the gel itself for permanent record-keeping and allowing densitometry at a convenient time.

Addressing Individual Values to Impact Prudent Antimicrobial Prescribing in Animal Agriculture.

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health threat driven by antimicrobial use-both judicious and injudicious-in people and animals. In animal agriculture, antimicrobials are used to treat, control, and prevent disease in herds of animals. While such use generally occurs under the broad supervision of a veterinarian, individual animals are often treated by farm owners or managers.

Proactive Wellness Care for Patients with Osteoarthritis.

Wellness care should start when the diagnosis of osteoarthritis becomes evident. Guidelines from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American College of Rheumatology are the basis of the treatment modalities. Providing patients with intentional strategies to prepare them for possible joint replacement surgery is key to prevent postoperative complications and give them the best opportunity for an optimal outcome after surgical intervention.

Optimization of western blotting for the detection of proteins of different molecular weight.

Protein samples electroblotted onto nitrocellulose membranes and quenched with a mixture of blocking agents produced a strong signal for cystic fibrosis transmembrane-conductance regulator (CFTR), a high-molecular-weight protein, in western blotting. Optimized conditions for CFTR were then extended to medium- and low-molecular-weight proteins (LAMP1 and Rab11a, respectively) to determine the effects of methanol concentration (0-20%) in Towbin's transfer buffer (TTB). Methanol in TTB appears to have little to no effect on CFTR signal.

The Health Education Research Experience (HERE) program metadata dataset.

Undergraduate subject pools are prevalent across disciplines in the United States. The Health Education Research Experience (HERE) Program was the first known course-based subject pool entirely managed and conducted online for online students enrolled in an introductory health education/health promotion course. The program was conducted within five semesters from Spring 2012 through Summer 2013.

School-based obesity prevention programs in rural communities: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to map the available literature on school-based obesity prevention programs in rural communities.

Introduction: Significant health disparities are associated with childhood obesity, and these disparities disproportionately affect children in disadvantaged communities, such as rural areas. Youth in rural areas are 26% more likely to be obese than youth in urban communities.

On-Campus Clinics in Allied Health Education: Necessity or Legacy?

On-campus clinics have been a pillar of graduate education in allied health programs for decades. However, traditional clinical education is under scrutiny due to budget cuts, reimbursement rates, and supervision requirements. Some universities opening new programs have opted out of building on-campus clinics.

A Review on the Trajectory of Attentional Mechanisms in Aging and the Alzheimer's Disease Continuum through the Attention Network Test.

Multiple domains of cognition are known to decline in both normal aging and in the trajectory towards Alzheimer's disease (AD). While declines in episodic memory are most well-known in both normal aging and AD, some of these memory differences might stem from early deteriorations in attention that have consequences for later memory. Further complicating the matter is that attention is a multifaceted construct that might be differentially affected in normal aging and AD.

Effects of Reusing Gel Electrophoresis and Electrotransfer Buffers on Western Blotting.

SDS-PAGE and Western blotting are 2 of the most commonly used biochemical methods for protein analysis. Proteins are electrophoretically separated based on their MWs by SDS-PAGE and then electrotransferred to a solid membrane surface for subsequent protein-specific analysis by immunoblotting, a procedure commonly known as Western blotting. Both of these procedures use a salt-based buffer, with the latter procedure consisting of methanol as an additive known for its toxicity.

A modified protein assay from microgram to low nanogram levels in dilute samples.

In this article, we present a modified and improved protein assay that was previously described as "amidoschwarz assay" by Schaffner and Weissmann. Our improved protein assay is user-friendly and 30-40 times more sensitive than the earlier method. The assay was developed into three formats (macro-, micro-, and nanoassay) with trichloroacetic acid (TCA) as protein precipitating agent, measuring up to 96 samples.

Quantitative Comparison of Raman Activities, SERS Activities, and SERS Enhancement Factors of Organothiols: Implication to Chemical Enhancement.

Studying the correlation between the molecular structures of SERS-active analytes and their SERS enhancement factors is important to our fundamental understanding of SERS chemical enhancement. Using a common internal reference method, we quantitatively compared the Raman activities, SERS activities, and SERS enhancement factors for a series of organothiols that differ significantly in their structural characteristics and reported chemical enhancements. We find that while the tested molecules vary tremendously in their normal Raman and SERS activities (by more than 4 orders of magnitude), their SERS enhancement factors are very similar (the largest difference is less than 1 order of magnitude).

Clinical quality indicators: infection prophylaxis for total knee arthroplasty.

Clinical quality indicators have a strong influence on reducing the overall financial impact, improving the outcomes, and minimizing the adverse events among patients undergoing elective total knee arthroplasty. In today's era of healthcare reform and increasing healthcare costs, it is important for orthopaedic nurses to be aware of the vital role clinical quality indicators play in the perioperative and postoperative settings.

Bovine viral diarrhea viruses differentially alter the expression of the protein kinases and related proteins affecting the development of infection and anti-viral mechanisms in bovine monocytes.

Using a proteomics approach, we evaluated the effect of cytopathic (cp), and non-cytopathic (ncp) bovine viral diarrhea viruses (BVDV) on the expression of protein kinases and related proteins in bovine monocytes. Proteins were isolated from membrane and cytosolic fractions with the differential detergent fractionation (DDF) method and identified with 2D-LC ESI MS2. Of approximately 10,000 proteins identified, 378 proteins had homology with known protein kinases or related proteins.

Effects of saddle height on anaerobic power production in cycling.

In competitive cycling, setting the proper saddle height is important for both performance and injury prevention. This is also true for ergometer use in a laboratory. The cycling literature recommends using a 25 to 35 degrees knee angle to set saddle height for injury prevention and recommends using 109% of inseam length for optimal performance.

The politics of palliative care and the ethical boundaries of medicine: Gonzales v. Oregon as a cautionary tale.

The U.S. Supreme Court's 6-decision in Gonzales v.

Effects of ribose as an ergogenic aid.

The amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) stored in the muscle available for immediate use is limited, and once used, must be resynthesized in the muscle. Ribose, a naturally occurring pentose sugar, helps resynthesize ATP for use in muscles. There have been claims that ribose supplements increase ATP levels and improve performance.