Influence of C-reactive protein and urinary protein excretion on prediction of graft failure and mortality by serum albumin in renal transplant recipients.

Background: Hypoalbuminemia is an established predictor of poor outcome in renal transplant recipients (RTR). It is considered to reflect inflammation, poor nutritional status, or proteinuria. We explored the roles of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and urinary protein excretion in prediction of graft failure and mortality by serum albumin in RTR.

Severe hypercortisolism: a medical emergency requiring urgent intervention.

Objectives: To illustrate the importance of recognizing symptoms of severe hypercortisolism in the intensive care unit and key emergency measures to reduce this extreme hypercortisolism.

Design: Case report.

Setting: Intensive care unit in a university hospital.

Novel analysis of bacterium-substratum bond maturation measured using a quartz crystal microbalance.

Studies in flow displacement systems have shown that the reversibility of bacterial adhesion decreases within seconds to minutes after initial contact of a bacterium with a substratum surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has confirmed that the forces mediating bacterial adhesion increase over a similar time span. The interfacial rearrangements between adhering bacteria and substratum surfaces responsible for this bond maturation have never been studied.

Synthetic effects of secG and secY2 mutations on exoproteome biogenesis in Staphylococcus aureus.

The gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus secretes various proteins into its extracellular milieu. Bioinformatics analyses have indicated that most of these proteins are directed to the canonical Sec pathway, which consists of the translocation motor SecA and a membrane-embedded channel composed of the SecY, SecE, and SecG proteins. In addition, S.

Bacterial biofilm formation versus mammalian cell growth on titanium-based mono- and bi-functional coating.

Biomaterials-associated-infections (BAI) are serious complications in modern medicine. Although non-adhesive coatings, like polymer-brush coatings, have been shown to prevent bacterial adhesion, they do not support cell growth. Bi-functional coatings are supposed to prevent biofilm formation while supporting tissue integration.

IgG glycan hydrolysis attenuates ANCA-mediated glomerulonephritis.

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) directed against myeloperoxidase (MPO) and proteinase 3 (Pr3) are considered pathogenic in ANCA-associated necrotizing and crescentic glomerulonephritis (NCGN) and vasculitis. Modulation of ANCA IgG glycosylation may potentially reduce its pathogenicity by abolishing Fc receptor-mediated activation of leukocytes and complement. Here, we investigated whether IgG hydrolysis by the bacterial enzyme endoglycosidase S (EndoS) attenuates ANCA-mediated NCGN.

MRI-determined fat content of human liver, pancreas and kidney.

Aim: To assess and correlate the lipid content of various organs in obese subjects and in persons with a normal body weight.

Methods: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and a previously validated gradient echo magnetic resonance imaging method with Dixon's two point technique were used in this study to quantify fat in liver, pancreas as well as kidney.

Results: In 36 volunteers with body mass index (BMI) ranging from 20.

Weibull analyses of bacterial interaction forces measured using AFM.

Statistically significant conclusions from interaction forces obtained by AFM are difficult to draw because of large data spreads. Weibull analysis, common in macroscopic bond-strength analyses, takes advantage of this spread to derive a Weibull distribution, yielding the probability of occurrence of a force value and the dependability of the data set. Here we propose Weibull distribution as a new way to present nanoscopic bacterial interaction forces obtained using AFM.

Reference values of skin autofluorescence.

Background: Skin autofluorescence (AF) as measured with the AGE Reader (DiagnOptics Technologies, Groningen, The Netherlands) is a noninvasive prognostic marker in diabetes mellitus and other diseases with increased cardiovascular risk. This study provides reference values of healthy Caucasian control subjects as a function of age, tobacco smoking, and gender.

Methods: The results of skin AF measured in 428 healthy Caucasian control subjects by the AGE Reader (n = 211) and its nonautomated but otherwise similar predecessor, the Autofluorescence Reader (n = 217), were analyzed.

Heparin binding epidermal growth factor in renal ischaemia/reperfusion injury.

The epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor and its ligands are crucially involved in the renal response to ischaemia. We studied the heparin binding-epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF), a major ligand for the EGF receptor, in experimental and human ischaemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). HB-EGF mRNA and protein expression was studied in rat kidneys and cultured human tubular (HK-2) cells that were subjected to IRI and in human donor kidneys during transplantation.

XGAP: a uniform and extensible data model and software platform for genotype and phenotype experiments.

We present an extensible software model for the genotype and phenotype community, XGAP. Readers can download a standard XGAP (http://www.xgap.

Preservation of the immunogenicity of dry-powder influenza H5N1 whole inactivated virus vaccine at elevated storage temperatures.

Stockpiling of pre-pandemic influenza vaccines guarantees immediate vaccine availability to counteract an emerging pandemic. Generally, influenza vaccines need to be stored and handled refrigerated to prevent thermal degradation of the antigenic component. Requirement of a cold-chain, however, complicates stockpiling and the logistics of vaccine distribution.

A patient with metastatic melanoma presenting with gastrointestinal perforation after dacarbazine infusion: a case report.

Introduction: We report a rare case of gastrointestinal perforation following dacarbazine infusion for metastatic melanoma. The condition is attributed to a responding malignant melanoma in the gastrointestinal tract.

Case Presentation: A 52-year-old Caucasian man presented with abdominal pain and distension, malaise, night sweats, dysphagia and early satiety.

A DNAJB chaperone subfamily with HDAC-dependent activities suppresses toxic protein aggregation.

Misfolding and aggregation are associated with cytotoxicity in several protein folding diseases. A large network of molecular chaperones ensures protein quality control. Here, we show that within the Hsp70, Hsp110, and Hsp40 (DNAJ) chaperone families, members of a subclass of the DNAJB family (particularly DNAJB6b and DNAJB8) are superior suppressors of aggregation and toxicity of disease-associated polyglutamine proteins.

Advanced glycation end-products, anti-hypertensive treatment and diastolic function in patients with hypertension and diastolic dysfunction.

Aims: To investigate the relationship between advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) and diastolic function and the response to blood pressure treatment in patients with hypertension and diastolic dysfunction.

Methods And Results: Data were analysed from 97 patients (aged 65 +/- 10 years, 36% male) who were randomly assigned to 6 months open-label treatment with either eprosartan on top of other anti-hypertensive drugs (n = 47) or other anti-hypertensive drugs alone (n = 50). Tissue AGE accumulation was measured using a validated skin-autofluorescence (skin-AF) reader (n = 26).

pBaSysBioII: an integrative plasmid generating gfp transcriptional fusions for high-throughput analysis of gene expression in Bacillus subtilis.

Plasmid pBaSysBioII was constructed for high-throughput analysis of gene expression in Bacillus subtilis. It is an integrative plasmid with a ligation-independent cloning (LIC) site, allowing the generation of transcriptional gfpmut3 fusions with desired promoters. Integration is by a Campbell-type event and is non-mutagenic, placing the fusion at the homologous chromosomal locus.

Staphylococcal PknB as the first prokaryotic representative of the proline-directed kinases.

In eukaryotic cell types, virtually all cellular processes are under control of proline-directed kinases and especially MAP kinases. Serine/threonine kinases in general were originally considered as a eukaryote-specific enzyme family. However, recent studies have revealed that orthologues of eukaryotic serine/threonine kinases exist in bacteria.

Quantitative multivoxel proton chemical shift imaging of the breast.

The study of focal pathology by single-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is hampered by the impossibility to study tissue heterogeneity or compare the metabolite signals in breast lesion directly to those in unaffected tissue. Multivoxel MRS studies, while potentially allowing for truly quantitative tissue characterization, have up to now also been far from quantitative with, for example, the signal-to-noise ratio of the choline (Cho) signal serving as measure of tumor activity. Shown in this study is that in a standard clinical setting with a regular 1.

Immature dengue virus: a veiled pathogen?

Cells infected with dengue virus release a high proportion of immature prM-containing virions. In accordance, substantial levels of prM antibodies are found in sera of infected humans. Furthermore, it has been recently described that the rates of prM antibody responses are significantly higher in patients with secondary infection compared to those with primary infection.

The potential for bio-optical imaging of biomaterial-associated infection in vivo.

This review presents the current state of Bioluminescence and Fluorescent Imaging technologies (BLI and FLI) as applied to Biomaterial-Associated Infections (BAI). BLI offers the opportunity to observe the in vivo course of BAI in small animals without the need to sacrifice animals at different time points after the onset of infection. BLI is highly dependent on the bacterial cell metabolism which makes BLI a strong reporter of viable bacterial presence.

The extrinsic apoptosis pathway and its prognostic impact in ovarian cancer.

Objective: Death ligand FasL, its agonistic receptor Fas, tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) and its agonistic death receptors DR4 and DR5 are implied in carcinogenesis, tumor immune surveillance and response to chemotherapy. TRAIL receptor agonists are evaluated as anti-cancer agents. This study aimed to relate expression of death ligands/receptors and downstream initiator caspase 8 and its anti-apoptotic homologue FLICE like inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) in ovarian cancers to chemotherapy response and survival.

A biodegradable antibiotic delivery system based on poly-(trimethylene carbonate) for the treatment of osteomyelitis.

Background And Purpose: Many investigations on biodegradable materials acting as an antibiotic carrier for local drug delivery are based on poly(lactide). However, the use of poly(lactide) implants in bone has been disputed because of poor bone regeneration at the site of implantation. Poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) is an enzymatically degradable polymer that does not produce acidic degradation products.

Construction of a triple modified p53 containing DNA vaccine to enhance processing and presentation of the p53 antigen.

More effective and less toxic treatments are urgently needed in the treatment of patients with cancer. The tumour suppressor protein p53 is a tumour-associated antigen that could serve that purpose when applied in an immunologic approval to cancer. It is mutated in approximately 50% of the tumours resulting in p53 overexpression, which can serve as target for therapy.

In vivo evaluation of bacterial infection involving morphologically different surgical meshes.

Objective: To study the influence of morphology of surgical meshes on the course of bacterial infection under the influence of the host immune system in an in vivo chronic bacterial infection model.

Background: The use of prosthetic meshes has increased dramatically the last decades in abdominal wall reconstructive surgery. Whereas infection is becoming a more frequent complication, attention is increasingly drawn to the influence of the surgeon's mesh choice on the course of this complication.

Role of chemokines and their receptors in cancer.

Metastases are the cause of 90% of human cancer deaths. The current treatment of cancer with chemo,- and/or radiotherapy is based on cell death by DNA damage neglecting the fact that cancer cell invasion into surrounding tissues and metastasizing are fundamental features of neoplasms and the major reason for treatment failure. Metastasis is the result of several sequential steps and represents a highly organized, non-random, and organ-selective process.