Effectiveness of metal oxide catalysts for the degradation of 1,4-dioxane.

1,4-dioxane, commonly used as a solvent stabilizer and industrial solvent, is an environmental contaminant and probable carcinogen. In this study, we explored the concept of using metal oxides to activate HO catalytically at neutral pH in the dark for 1,4-dioxane degradation. Based on batch kinetics measurements, materials that displayed the most suitable characteristics (high 1,4-dioxane degradation activity and high HO consumption efficiency) were ZrO, WO /ZrO, and CuO.

An Analysis of the Epidemic of Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing K. pneumoniae: Convergence of Two Evolutionary Mechanisms Creates the "Perfect Storm".

Background: Carbapenem resistance is a critical healthcare challenge worldwide. Particularly concerning is the widespread dissemination of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC). Klebsiella pneumoniae harboring blaKPC (KPC-Kpn) is endemic in many areas including the United States, where the epidemic was primarily mediated by the clonal dissemination of Kpn ST258.

Congenital insensitivity to pain and anhydrosis due to a rare mutation and that is complicated by inflammatory bowel disease and amyloidosis: a case report.

Patients with congenital insensitivity to pain and anhydrosis syndrome are at risk for renal amyloidosis and inflammatory bowel disease. Physicians caring for such patients should be aware of these complications.

The Human Immune Response to HIV and its Impact in the Potential Development of an Inactivated HIV Vaccine.

There is evidence that the transmission and acute phase of HIV infection triggers an immune response capable of controlling HIV subverted by the process of virus integration, essential to the replicative cycle of retroviruses. We review here two aspects that deserve consideration in light of recent developments concerning HIV transmission and vaccine development: vaccines directed against transmitted/founder viruses, and a reconsideration of inactivation as a viable means to obtain a preventive HIV vaccine. Since 80% of sexually transmitted HIV infections are caused by a single transmitted/founder variant, it is appropriate to target transmitted/founder viruses for vaccine development.

Regulatory variant in FZD6 gene contributes to nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate in an African-American family.

Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCLP) is a common birth defect affecting 135,000 newborns worldwide each year. While a multifactorial etiology has been suggested as the cause, despite decades of research, the genetic underpinnings of NSCLP remain largely unexplained. In our previous genome-wide linkage study of a large NSCLP African-American family, we identified a candidate locus at 8q21.

Cerebellar pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma in a patient with neurofibromatosis type 1: a case report and literature review.

Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) is an uncommon tumor of young adults that typically occurs supratentorially. It is generally considered to be a low-grade, circumscribed tumor that when treated by surgical resection has a relatively favorable outcome. Cases of cerebellar PXA are rare, and those associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) are even less common, with only 2 cases reported to date.

Myotonic dystrophy as a cause of colonic pseudoobstruction: not just another constipated child.

Muscular dystrophy has been traditionally associated with common gastrointestinal symptoms such as reflux, constipation, and dysphasia. In myotonic dystrophy, there are rare reports of chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction (CIPOS). We herein present a case of CIPOS requiring colectomy and with good results.

The membrane: transertion as an organizing principle in membrane heterogeneity.

The bacterial membrane exhibits a significantly heterogeneous distribution of lipids and proteins. This heterogeneity results mainly from lipid-lipid, protein-protein, and lipid-protein associations which are orchestrated by the coupled transcription, translation and insertion of nascent proteins into and through membrane (transertion). Transertion is central not only to the individual assembly and disassembly of large physically linked groups of macromolecules (alias hyperstructures) but also to the interactions between these hyperstructures.

Biogenic amine metabolism in juvenile neurocardiogenic syncope with dysautonomia.

Objective: Biogenic amine brain levels and their cerebral metabolism are frequently studied by quantitation of biogenic amine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compared to age-matched controls. There is a paucity of studies in adolescents and young adults investigating the potential role of disordered cerebral biogenic amine metabolism in young patients who have dysautonomia based on abnormal head-up tilt table (HUTT).

Methods: In a cohort of juvenile patients with neurocardiogenic syncope and dysautonomia documented by abnormal HUTT, biogenic amine metabolites of dopamine and serotonin were quantitated in 18 patients (15 females).

The CT halo sign in invasive aspergillosis.

In immunocompromised patients, the pulmonary computed tomography halo sign is highly suggestive of angioinvasive aspergillosis. Early recognition may be life-saving.

Neuronal organization of olfactory bulb circuits.

Olfactory sensory neurons extend their axons solely to the olfactory bulb, which is dedicated to odor information processing. The olfactory bulb is divided into multiple layers, with different types of neurons found in each of the layers. Therefore, neurons in the olfactory bulb have conventionally been categorized based on the layers in which their cell bodies are found; namely, juxtaglomerular cells in the glomerular layer, tufted cells in the external plexiform layer, mitral cells in the mitral cell layer, and granule cells in the granule cell layer.

What does scalar timing tell us about neural dynamics?

The "Scalar Timing Law," which is a temporal domain generalization of the well known Weber Law, states that the errors estimating temporal intervals scale linearly with the durations of the intervals. Linear scaling has been studied extensively in human and animal models and holds over several orders of magnitude, though to date there is no agreed upon explanation for its physiological basis. Starting from the assumption that behavioral variability stems from neural variability, this work shows how to derive firing rate functions that are consistent with scalar timing.

Candidate gene associations with mood disorder, cognitive vulnerability, and fronto-limbic volumes.

Background: Four of the most consistently replicated variants associated with mood disorder occur in genes important for synaptic function: ANK3 (rs10994336), BDNF (rs6265), CACNA1C (rs1006737), and DGKH (rs1170191).

Aims: The present study examined associations between these candidates, mood disorder diagnoses, cognition, and fronto-limbic regions implicated in affect regulation.

Methods And Materials: Participants included 128 individuals with bipolar disorder (33% male, Mean age = 38.

Transposon mutagenesis as an approach to improved understanding of Borrelia pathogenesis and biology.

Transposon insertion provides a method for near-random mutation of bacterial genomes, and has been utilized extensively for the study of bacterial pathogenesis and biology. This approach is particularly useful for organisms that are relatively refractory to genetic manipulation, including Lyme disease Borrelia. In this review, progress to date in the application of transposon mutagenesis to the study of Borrelia burgdorferi is reported.

A phosphodiesterase 4-controlled switch between memory extinction and strengthening in the hippocampus.

Established fear-related memories can undergo phenomena such as extinction or reconsolidation when recalled. Extinction probably involves the creation of a new, competing memory trace that decreases fear expression, whereas reconsolidation can mediate memory maintenance, updating, or strengthening. The factors determining whether retrieval will initiate extinction, reconsolidation, or neither of these two processes include training intensity, duration of the retrieval session, and age of the memory.

Nociceptors as chronic drivers of pain and hyperreflexia after spinal cord injury: an adaptive-maladaptive hyperfunctional state hypothesis.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes chronic peripheral sensitization of nociceptors and persistent generation of spontaneous action potentials (SA) in peripheral branches and the somata of hyperexcitable nociceptors within dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Here it is proposed that SCI triggers in numerous nociceptors a persistent hyperfunctional state (peripheral, synaptic, and somal) that originally evolved as an adaptive response to compensate for loss of sensory terminals after severe but survivable peripheral injury. In this hypothesis, nociceptor somata monitor the status of their own receptive field and the rest of the body by integrating signals received by their peripheral and central branches and the soma itself.

Spike timing dependent plasticity: a consequence of more fundamental learning rules.

Spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP) is a phenomenon in which the precise timing of spikes affects the sign and magnitude of changes in synaptic strength. STDP is often interpreted as the comprehensive learning rule for a synapse - the "first law" of synaptic plasticity. This interpretation is made explicit in theoretical models in which the total plasticity produced by complex spike patterns results from a superposition of the effects of all spike pairs.

The effects of affinity mediated clonal expansion of premigrant thymocytes on the periphery T-cell repertoire.

The immune system maintains a highly diverse T-cell repertoire, which is shaped by active interactions between developing thymocytes and endogenous peptide/MHC molecules through the principle of positive and neg- ative selections. Detours et al. developed a quantitative model addressing key immunologic notions such as selection, alloreactivity, and self-restriction.