Crystal structures of free and antagonist-bound states of human α9 nicotinic receptor extracellular domain.

We determined the X-ray crystal structures of the extracellular domain (ECD) of the monomeric state of human neuronal α9 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) and of its complexes with the antagonists methyllycaconitine and α-bungarotoxin at resolutions of 1.8 Å, 1.7 Å and 2.

Comparison of NITAG policies and working processes in selected developed countries.

Background: Vaccines are specific medicines characterized by two country-specific market access processes: (1) a recommendation by National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG), and (2) a funding policy decision.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare and analyze NITAGs of 13 developed countries by describing vaccination committees' bodies and working processes.

Methods: Information about NITAGs bodies and working processes was searched from official sources from June 2011 to November 2012.

How do supply-side factors influence informal payments for healthcare? The case of HIV patients in Cameroon.

Direct out-of-pocket payments for healthcare continue to be a major source of health financing in low-income and middle-income countries. Some of these direct payments take the form of informal charges paid by patients to access the needed healthcare services. Remarkably, however, little is known about the extent to which these payments are exercised and their determinants in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Depressive feelings in children with narcolepsy.

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate depressive feelings and their correlations in children and adolescents with narcolepsy collected in national reference centers for narcolepsy.

Methods: We compared clinical and sleep characteristics of patients with and without depressive symptoms evaluated on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI).

Results: Our study sample included 88 children (44 boys; 44 de novo patients) with a mean age of 11.

To count or not to count deaths: reranking effects in health distribution evaluation.

Populations' structures and sizes can be a result of healthcare policy decisions. We use a two-period theoretical framework and a dynamic microsimulation model to examine the consequences of this assertion on the appraisal of alternative health policy options. Results show that standard welfare-in-health measures are sensitive to changes in populations' sizes, in that taking into account the (virtual) existence of the dead can alter the ranking of policy options.

The financial burden from non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries: a literature review.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were previously considered to only affect high-income countries. However, they now account for a very large burden in terms of both mortality and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), although little is known about the impact these diseases have on households in these countries. In this paper, we present a literature review on the costs imposed by NCDs on households in LMICs.

Early gamma oscillations.

Gamma oscillations have long been considered to emerge late in development. However, recent studies have revealed that gamma oscillations are transiently expressed in the rat barrel cortex during the first postnatal week, a "critical" period of sensory-dependent barrel map formation. The mechanisms underlying the generation and physiological roles of early gamma oscillations (EGOs) in the development of thalamocortical circuits will be discussed in this review.

Engineering a human-like glycosylation to produce therapeutic glycoproteins based on 6-linked sialylation in CHO cells.

When recombinant glycoproteins for therapeutic use are to be produced on an industrial scale, there is a crucial need for technologies that can engineer fast-growing stable cells secreting the protein drug at a high rate and with a defined and safe glycosylation profile. Current cell lines approved for drug production are essentially from rodent origin. Their glycosylation machinery often adds undesired carbohydrate determinants which may alter protein folding, induce immunogenicity, and reduce circulatory life span of the drug.

Optimization of trans-Resveratrol bioavailability for human therapy.

We have developed an innovative soluble galenic form to overcome the low absorption of trans-Resveratrol (t-Res) as a dry powder. We present here data on pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, and toxicity of t-Res in human volunteers treated with this soluble form, plus additional data on biological effects in rodents. Fifteen healthy volunteers of both sexes received 40 mg of t-Res in two forms, the soluble formulation (caplets) and the original powder (capsules), in a crossover design.

Depth matters: cells grown on nano-porous anodic alumina respond to pore depth.

Recent experiments have shown unambiguously that living cells respond to the nano-topography of surfaces they grow on-specifically, the fate of stem cells grown on nano-porous titania or alumina have been shown to be decided by the pore size. However, most experiments have focused on pore size or pitch. Here we show that in addition to pore size and pitch, the depth of the pores has a profound effect on cell morphology and the arrangement of the actin cytoskeleton.

The sleep macroarchitecture of children at risk for depression recruited in sleep centers.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to compare the sleep macroarchitecture of children and adolescents whose mothers have a history of depression with children and adolescents whose mothers do not.

Method: Polysomnography (PSG) and Holter electroencephalogram (EEG) were used to compare the sleep architecture of 35 children whose mothers had at least one previous depressive episode (19 boys, aged 4-18 years, "high-risk" group) and 25 controls (13 males, aged 4-18 years, "low-risk" group) whose mothers had never had a depressive episode. The total sleep time, wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO), sleep latency, sleep efficiency, number of awakenings per hour of sleep, percentages of time spent in each sleep stage, rapid eye movement (REM) latency and the depressive symptoms of participants were measured.

Applications of an adaptive knowledge platform in translational medicine for breast cancer.

This paper discusses the application of an adaptive technology platform to evaluate clinical pathways, clinical strategies and their application to early genetic testing in Europe. It results from a collaboration between Professor Christine Huttin, who created a technology startup called endepusresearchinc (www.endepusresearchinc-com) in Cambridge U.

Deglacial meltwater pulse 1B and Younger Dryas sea levels revisited with boreholes at Tahiti.

Reconstructing sea-level changes during the last deglaciation provides a way of understanding the ice dynamics that can perturb large continental ice sheets. The resolution of the few sea-level records covering the critical time interval between 14,000 and 9,000 calendar years before the present is still insufficient to draw conclusions about sea-level changes associated with the Younger Dryas cold event and the meltwater pulse 1B (MWP-1B). We used the uranium-thorium method to date shallow-living corals from three new cores drilled onshore in the Tahiti barrier reef.

Adsorption into the MFI zeolite of aromatic molecule of biological relevance. Investigations by Monte Carlo simulations.

Adsorption of paracresol and water into the silicalite-1 (MFI) zeolite has been investigated using canonical and grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The most stable sites of adsorption of paracresol are found to be located at the channel intersections. Grand-canonical simulations have shown that at low loading, water molecules adsorb preferably at the vicinity of paracresol molecules, whereas they are also located in the sinusoidal channels as the loading increases.

Combination of novel green fluorescent protein mutant TSapphire and DsRed variant mOrange to set up a versatile in planta FRET-FLIM assay.

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements based on fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) are increasingly being used to assess molecular conformations and associations in living systems. Reduction in the excited-state lifetime of the donor fluorophore in the presence of an appropriately positioned acceptor is taken as strong evidence of FRET. Traditionally, cyan fluorescent protein has been widely used as a donor fluorophore in FRET experiments.

Electromagnetic analysis of cylindrical invisibility cloaks and the mirage effect.

We present a finite-element analysis of a diffraction problem involving a coated cylinder enabling the electromagnetic cloaking of a lossy object with sharp wedges located within its core. The coating consists of a heterogeneous anisotropic material deduced from a geometrical transformation as first proposed by Pendry [Science 312, 1780 (2006)]. We analyze the electromagnetic response of the cloak in the presence of an electric line source in p polarization and a loop of magnetic current in s polarization.