Internal relationship between symptomatic venous thromboembolism and risk factors: up-regulation of integrin β1, β2 and β3 levels.

Background: To compare different expression of core proteins among venous thromboembolism (VTE) and those with risk factor groups and analyze the relative risk for VTE after integrating integrin β1, β2 and β3 expression.

Methods: A total of 1006 subjects were recruited and divided into VTE group, risk factor groups and control (non- risk factor) group. Flow cytometry was performed to detect the expression of integrin β1, β2 and β3.

Anti-cancer analogues ME-143 and ME-344 exert toxicity by directly inhibiting mitochondrial NADH: ubiquinone oxidoreductase (Complex I).

Isoflavonoids have been shown to inhibit tumor proliferation and metastasis by activating cell death pathways. As such, they have been widely studied as potential therapies for cancer prevention. The second generation synthetic isoflavan analogues ME-143 and ME-344 also exhibit anti-cancer effects, however their specific molecular targets have not been completely defined.

Effect of flow diversion with silk on aneurysm size: A single center experience.

Alterations in aneurysm size and mass effect can result in alleviation or aggravation of symptoms. We assessed the effects of flow diversion with SILK stents on aneurysm sac size and associated factors. A retrospective evaluation of 14 aneurysms treated with SILK stents alone with MRI follow-up was performed.

Hybrid incompatibilities are affected by dominance and dosage in the haplodiploid wasp Nasonia.

Study of genome incompatibilities in species hybrids is important for understanding the genetic basis of reproductive isolation and speciation. According to Haldane's rule hybridization affects the heterogametic sex more than the homogametic sex. Several theories have been proposed that attribute asymmetry in hybridization effects to either phenotype (sex) or genotype (heterogamety).

Minimally disruptive medicine is needed for patients with multimorbidity: time to develop computerised medical record systems to meet this requirement.

Background: Minimally disruptive medicine (MDM) is proposed as a method for more appropriately managing people with multiple chronic disease. Much clinical management is currently single disease focussed, with people with multimorbidity being managed according to multiple single disease guidelines. Current initiatives to improve care include education about individual conditions and creating an environment where multiple guidelines might be simultaneously supported.

The (un)suitability of modern liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for vision research.

Psychophysical and physiological studies of vision have traditionally used cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors to present stimuli. These monitors are no longer easily available, and liquid crystal display (LCD) technology is continually improving; therefore, we characterized a number of LCD monitors to determine if newer models are suitable replacements for CRTs in the laboratory. We compared the spatial and temporal characteristics of a CRT with five LCDs, including monitors designed with vision science in mind (ViewPixx and Display++), "prosumer" gaming monitors, and a consumer-grade LCD.

Cognitive training-induced short-term functional and long-term structural plastic change is related to gains in global cognition in healthy older adults: a pilot study.

Computerized cognitive training (CCT) is a safe and inexpensive intervention to enhance cognitive performance in the elderly. However, the neural underpinning of CCT-induced effects and the timecourse by which such neural changes occur are unknown. Here, we report on results from a pilot study of healthy older adults who underwent three 1-h weekly sessions of either multidomain CCT program (n = 7) or an active control intervention (n = 5) over 12 weeks.

The effect of multidisciplinary rehabilitation on brain structure and cognition in Huntington's disease: an exploratory study.

Background: There is a wealth of evidence detailing gray matter degeneration and loss of cognitive function over time in individuals with Huntington's disease (HD). Efforts to attenuate disease-related brain and cognitive changes have been unsuccessful to date. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation, comprising motor and cognitive intervention, has been shown to positively impact on functional capacity, depression, quality of life and some aspects of cognition in individuals with HD.

Should suspected cervical spinal cord injury be immobilised?: a systematic review.

Background: Spinal cord injuries occur worldwide; often being life-threatening with devastating long term impacts on functioning, independence, health, and quality of life.

Objectives: Systematic review of the literature to determine the efficacy of cervical spinal immobilisation (vs no immobilisation) in patients with suspected cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI); and to provide recommendations for prehospital spinal immobilisation.

Methods: Searches were conducted of the Cochrane library, CINAHL, EMBASE, Pubmed, Scopus, Web of science, Google scholar, and OvidSP (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and DARE) databases.

Using genomics to characterize evolutionary potential for conservation of wild populations.

Genomics promises exciting advances towards the important conservation goal of maximizing evolutionary potential, notwithstanding associated challenges. Here, we explore some of the complexity of adaptation genetics and discuss the strengths and limitations of genomics as a tool for characterizing evolutionary potential in the context of conservation management. Many traits are polygenic and can be strongly influenced by minor differences in regulatory networks and by epigenetic variation not visible in DNA sequence.

The effects of anodal-tDCS on corticospinal excitability enhancement and its after-effects: conventional vs. unihemispheric concurrent dual-site stimulation.

Previous researchers have approved the ability of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) of the primary motor cortex (M1) to enhance corticospinal excitability (CSE). The primary aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of concurrent stimulation of M1 and a functionally connected cortical site of M1 on CSE modulation. This new technique is called unihemispheric concurrent dual-site a-tDCS (a-tDCSUHCDS).

Short term fat feeding rapidly increases plasma insulin but does not result in dyslipidaemia.

Although the association between obesity and hypertension is well-known, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Previously, we have shown that 3 week fat feeding in rabbits produces greater visceral adiposity, hypertension, tachycardia and elevated renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) compared to rabbits on a normal diet. Because hyperinsulinaemia, hyperleptinemia, and dyslipidaemia are independent cardiovascular risk factors associated with hypertension we compared plasma insulin, leptin, and lipid profiles in male New Zealand White rabbits fed a normal fat diet (NFD 4.

Plant natriuretic peptides induce proteins diagnostic for an adaptive response to stress.

In plants, structural and physiological evidence has suggested the presence of biologically active natriuretic peptides (PNPs). PNPs are secreted into the apoplast, are systemically mobile and elicit a range of responses signaling via cGMP. The PNP-dependent responses include tissue specific modifications of cation transport and changes in stomatal conductance and the photosynthetic rate.

Dynamic 320-slice CT larynx for detection and management of idiopathic bilateral vocal cord paralysis.

Idiopathic bilateral vocal cord paralysis (VCP) is a rare and difficult condition often undiagnosed and frequently confused with asthma and other respiratory conditions. Accurate diagnosis is crucial since 80% of cases patients require surgical intervention, such as tracheostomy or laser surgery, to relieve symptoms. The "gold standard" for diagnosing VCP has been laryngoscopy.

Educators and students prefer traditional clinical education to a peer-assisted learning model, despite similar student performance outcomes: a randomised trial.

Question: What is the efficacy and acceptability of a peer-assisted learning model compared with a traditional model for paired students in physiotherapy clinical education?

Design: Prospective, assessor-blinded, randomised crossover trial.

Participants: Twenty-four physiotherapy students in the third year of a 4-year undergraduate degree.

Intervention: Participants each completed 5 weeks of clinical placement, utilising a peer-assisted learning model (a standardised series of learning activities undertaken by student pairs and educators to facilitate peer interaction using guided strategies) and a traditional model (usual clinical supervision and learning activities led by clinical educators supervising pairs of students).

Intrathecal anti-CD20 efficiently depletes meningeal B cells in CNS autoimmunity.

Clinical trials revealed that systemic administration of B-cell-depleting anti-CD20 antibodies can hold lesion formation in the early relapsing-remitting phase of multiple sclerosis (MS). Throughout the secondary-progressive (SP) course of MS, pathogenic B cells may, however, progressively replicate within the central nervous system (CNS) itself, which is largely inaccessible to systemic anti-CD20 treatment. Utilizing the murine MS model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, we show that intrathecal (i.

Targeting regulatory T cells to improve vaccine immunogenicity in early life.

Human newborns and infants are bombarded with multiple pathogens on leaving the sterile intra-uterine environment, and yet have suboptimal innate immunity and limited immunological memory, thus leading to increased susceptibility to infections in early life. They are thus the target age group for a host of vaccines against common bacterial and viral pathogens. They are also the target group for many vaccines in development, including those against tuberculosis (TB), malaria, and HIV infection.

Incidence of erythropoietin antibody-mediated pure red cell aplasia: the Prospective Immunogenicity Surveillance Registry (PRIMS).

Background: Subcutaneous administration of Eprex(®) (epoetin alfa) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) was contraindicated in the European Union between 2002 and 2006 after increased reports of anti-erythropoietin antibody-mediated pure red cell aplasia (PRCA). The Prospective Immunogenicity Surveillance Registry (PRIMS) was conducted to estimate the incidence of antibody-mediated PRCA with subcutaneous administration of a new coated-stopper syringe presentation of Eprex(®) and to compare this with the PRCA incidence with subcutaneous NeoRecormon(®) (epoetin beta) and Aranesp(®) (darbepoetin alfa).

Methods: PRIMS was a multicentre, multinational, non-interventional, parallel-group, immunogenicity surveillance registry.

The importance of visual features in generic vs. specialized object recognition: a computational study.

It is debated whether the representation of objects in inferior temporal (IT) cortex is distributed over activities of many neurons or there are restricted islands of neurons responsive to a specific set of objects. There are lines of evidence demonstrating that fusiform face area (FFA-in human) processes information related to specialized object recognition (here we say within category object recognition such as face identification). Physiological studies have also discovered several patches in monkey ventral temporal lobe that are responsible for facial processing.

Eosinophilic esophagitis: a clinicopathological review.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is considered to be a chronic antigen-driven disease whereby food and/or aeroallergens induce a chronic inflammatory infiltrate in the esophagus, resulting in pathological hyperplasia of the epithelia and muscular layers, and fibrosis of the lamina propria (referred to collectively as remodelling) and the symptoms of dysphagia and food impaction. EoE shares features with other atopic conditions of asthma and atopic dermatitis, such as a TH2 cytokine milieu and a mixed inflammatory infiltrate of eosinophils, mast cells and lymphocytes. Relatively distinct features include the strong male predominance amongst adult patients, and the expression of the eosinophil chemokine eotaxin 3.

Regional variation in tissue composition and biomechanical properties of postmenopausal ovine and human vagina.

Objective: There are increasing numbers of reports describing human vaginal tissue composition in women with and without pelvic organ prolapse with conflicting results. The aim of this study was to compare ovine and human posterior vaginal tissue in terms of histological and biochemical tissue composition and to assess passive biomechanical properties of ovine vagina to further characterise this animal model for pelvic organ prolapse research.

Study Design: Vaginal tissue was collected from ovariectomised sheep (n = 6) and from postmenopausal women (n = 7) from the proximal, middle and distal thirds.

The biological function of consciousness.

This research is an investigation of whether consciousness-one's ongoing experience-influences one's behavior and, if so, how. Analysis of the components, structure, properties, and temporal sequences of consciousness has established that, (1) contrary to one's intuitive understanding, consciousness does not have an active, executive role in determining behavior; (2) consciousness does have a biological function; and (3) consciousness is solely information in various forms. Consciousness is associated with a flexible response mechanism (FRM) for decision-making, planning, and generally responding in nonautomatic ways.

Waves of visibility: probing the depth of inter-ocular suppression with transient and sustained targets.

In order to study non-conscious visual processing, researchers render otherwise consciously perceived images into invisible stimuli. Through the years, several psychophysical techniques have been developed for this purpose. Yet the comparison of experimental results across techniques remains a difficult task as the depth of suppression depends on the interactions between the type of stimuli and the suppression methods employed.

A comprehensive analysis of the Omp85/TpsB protein superfamily structural diversity, taxonomic occurrence, and evolution.

Members of the Omp85/TpsB protein superfamily are ubiquitously distributed in Gram-negative bacteria, and function in protein translocation (e.g., FhaC) or the assembly of outer membrane proteins (e.