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Subsequent Investigation (subsequent + investigation)
Selected AbstractsMicroRNA-195 suppresses tumorigenicity and regulates G1/S transition of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells,HEPATOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Teng Xu Growing evidence indicates that deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) contributes to tumorigenesis. Down-regulation of miR-195 has been observed in various types of cancers. However, the biological function of miR-195 is still largely unknown. In this study we aimed to elucidate the pathophysiologic role of miR-195. Our results showed that miR-195 expression was significantly reduced in as high as 85.7% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and in all of the five HCC cell lines examined. Moreover, introduction of miR-195 dramatically suppressed the ability of HCC and colorectal carcinoma cells to form colonies in vitro and to develop tumors in nude mice. Furthermore, ectopic expression of miR-195 blocked G1/S transition, whereas inhibition of miR-195 promoted cell cycle progression. Subsequent investigation characterized multiple G1/S transition-related molecules, including cyclin D1, CDK6, and E2F3, as direct targets of miR-195. Silencing of cyclin D1, CDK6, or E2F3 phenocopied the effect of miR-195, whereas overexpression of these proteins attenuated miR-195-induced G1 arrest. In addition, miR-195 significantly repressed the phosphorylation of Rb as well as the transactivation of downstream target genes of E2F. These results imply that miR-195 may block the G1/S transition by repressing Rb-E2F signaling through targeting multiple molecules, including cyclin D1, CDK6, and E2F3. Conclusion: Our data highlight an important role of miR-195 in cell cycle control and in the molecular etiology of HCC, and implicate the potential application of miR-195 in cancer therapy. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.) [source] Expression of X-linked inhibitor-of-apoptosis protein in hepatocellular carcinoma promotes metastasis and tumor recurrence,HEPATOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Ying-Hong Shi Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. Despite significantly improved diagnosis and treatment in recent years, the long-term therapeutic effect is compromised by the frequent recurrence and metastasis, of which the molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Our initial studies in established HCC cell lines with different metastatic capabilities indicated a correlation of metastasis with the resistance to apoptosis and therefore the ability to survive in stressed conditions. Subsequent investigation revealed that increased expression of X-linked inhibitor-of-apoptosis protein (XIAP) was correlated with the resistance to apoptosis and enhanced invasiveness in vitro, which could contribute to increased metastatic foci in vivo. Furthermore, we found that nearly 90% of clinical samples from advanced HCC patients expressed high levels of XIAP. Patients with XIAP-positive tumors had a significantly increased risk of relapse, which resulted from metastasis after total liver resection and orthotopic liver transplantation. Indeed, XIAP expression could be an independent prognostic factor for predicting disease-free survival rate and overall survival rate of these patients. XIAP expression was also highly correlated with advanced cases that exceeded the Milan criteria and could be a prognostic factor for disease-free survival in these patients as well. Conclusion: Our studies have shown an important molecule in controlling HCC metastasis, defined a biomarker that can be used to predict HCC recurrence and patient survival after treatment, and suggest that XIAP can be a molecular target subject to intervention to reduce metastasis and recurrence. (HEPATOLOGY 2008;48:497,507.) [source] Formation of Nickel Oxide Nanotubes with Uniform Wall Thickness by Low-Temperature Thermal Oxidation Through Understanding the Limiting Effect of Vacancy Diffusion and the Kirkendall PhenomenonADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 19 2010Yi Ren Abstract In this work, the step-wise oxidation mechanism of nickel (Ni) nanowires is elucidated. Rapid vacancy diffusion plays a significant role at low temperatures in forming heterostructures of nickel oxide (NiO) nanotubes with Ni nanowires. Subsequent investigations of Ni nanowire oxidation at higher temperatures and faster temperature ramp rates show that it is difficult to bypass this rapid vacancy diffusion stage, which affects the formation of the final structure. Therefore, it is unlikely to form solid NiO nanowires or NiO nanotubes with uniform wall thickness through the conventional annealing/oxidation process of Ni nanowires. Instead, a step-wise oxidation process by combining low temperature oxidation with a chemical etching step is utilized to produce for the first time NiO nanotubes with uniform wall thickness from Ni nanowires. [source] Cutaneous histopathological findings of Aicardi,Goutières syndrome, overlap with chilblain lupusJOURNAL OF CUTANEOUS PATHOLOGY, Issue 8 2008Athanassios Kolivras We report a 2-year-old girl with developmental delay who, from the age of 1 year, developed perniotic lesions of the hands and feet initially diagnosed as chilblain lupus. Histological examination showed features of epidermal necrosis with intraepidermal bulla formation, interface dermatitis, lymphocytic vasculitis with fibrinoid necrosis and thrombi formation, both superficial and deep dermal lymphocytic infiltrate, lymphocytic eccrine hidradenitis and absence of marked dermal edema. Subsequent investigations suggested a clinical diagnosis of Aicardi,Goutières syndrome (AGS), a rare genetic leukoencephalopathy. Recently, both AGS and familial chilblain lupus, an autosomal dominant form of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), have been shown to be allelic thus suggesting a common pathogenic basis. In addition, a phenotypic overlap is apparent between SLE and AGS. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive dermatopathological report of the cutaneous lesions seen in AGS, and our paper highlights the importance of considering AGS in the differential diagnosis of perniosis and chilblain lupus. [source] A functional genomics approach to evaluate candidate genes located in a QTL interval for milk production traits on BTA6ANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 4 2009P. A. Sheehy Summary The potential genetic and economic advantage of marker-assisted selection for enhanced production in dairy cattle has provided an impetus to conduct numerous genome scans in order to identify associations between DNA markers and future productive potential. One area of focus has been a quantitative trait locus on bovine chromosome 6 (BTA6) found to be associated with milk yield, milk protein and fat percentage, which has been subsequently fine-mapped to six positional candidate genes. Subsequent investigations have yet to resolve which of the potential positional candidate genes is responsible for the observed associations with productive performance. In this study, we analysed candidate gene expression and the effects of gene knockdown on expression of ,- and ,-casein mRNA in a small interfering RNA transfected bovine in vitro mammosphere model. From our expression studies in vivo, we observed that four of the six candidates (ABCG2, SPP1, PKD2 and LAP3) exhibited differential expression in bovine mammary tissue over the lactation cycle, but in vitro functional studies indicate that inhibition of only one gene, SPP1, had a significant impact on milk protein gene expression. These data suggest that the gene product of SPP1 (also known as osteopontin) has a significant role in the modulation of milk protein gene expression. While these findings do not exclude other positional candidates from influencing lactation, they support the hypothesis that the gene product of SPP1 is a significant lactational regulatory molecule. [source] A single nutrient feed supports both chemically defined NS0 and CHO fed-batch processes: Improved productivity and lactate metabolismBIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 5 2009Ningning Ma Abstract A chemically defined nutrient feed (CDF) coupled with basal medium preloading was developed to replace a hydrolysate-containing feed (HCF) for a fed-batch NS0 process. The CDF not only enabled a completely chemically defined process but also increased recombinant monoclonal antibody titer by 115%. Subsequent tests of CDF in a CHO process indicated that it could also replace the hydrolysate-containing nutrient feed in this expression system as well as providing an 80% increase in product titer. In both CDF NS0 and CHO processes, the peak lactate concentrations were lower and, more interestingly, lactate metabolism shifted markedly from net production to net consumption when cells transitioned from exponential to stationary growth phase. Subsequent investigations of the lactate metabolic shift in the CHO CDF process were carried out to identify the cause(s) of the metabolic shift. These investigations revealed several metabolic features of the CHO cell line that we studied. First, glucose consumption and lactate consumption are strictly complementary to each other. The combined cell specific glucose and lactate consumption rate was a constant across exponential and stationary growth phases. Second, Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity fluctuated during the fed-batch process. LDH activity was at the lowest when lactate concentration started to decrease. Third, a steep cross plasma membrane glucose gradient exists. Intracellular glucose concentration was more than two orders of magnitude lower than that in the medium. Fourth, a large quantity of citrate was diverted out of mitochondria to the medium, suggesting a partially truncated tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in CHO cells. Finally, other intermediates in or linked to the glycolytic pathway and the TCA cycle, which include alanine, citrate, isocitrate, and succinate, demonstrated a metabolic shift similar to that of lactate. Interestingly, all these metabolites are either in or linked to the pathway downstream of pyruvate, but upstream of fumarate in glucose metabolism. Although the specific mechanisms for the metabolic shift of lactate and other metabolites remain to be elucidated, the increased understanding of the metabolism of CHO cultures could lead to future improvements in medium and process development. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009 [source] Borderline nuclear change; can a subgroup be identified which is suspicious of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, i.e. CIN 2 or worse?CYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 5 2002J. M. Edwards Borderline nuclear change; can a subgroup be identified which is suspicious of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, i.e. CIN 2 or worse? Only 10% of first borderline smears are associated with a histological high-grade (HG) abnormality, i.e. CIN 2,3, invasive malignancy or glandular neoplasia on subsequent investigation. The advantages of highlighting this subgroup are obvious but is this possible? From 1996 and 1997, 242 borderline smears with histological follow-up were examined by two independent experienced observers (observer 1 and 2) without prior knowledge of further investigation results. For each smear a profile of nuclear details was produced, also noting the type of cell mainly affected by the process; then the observers were asked to assess the degree of worry of HG disease for each smear i.e. whether the smear fell into group 1 borderline changes indicative of low-grade (normal, inflammatory, CIN1/HPV) disease (BL/LG) or group 2 difficult borderline smear, HG disease (CIN 2,3, invasive neoplasia or glandular neoplasia) cannot be excluded (BL/HG). Observer 1 selected a group of BL/HG with a PPV for HG disease of 38%, with observer 2 having a PPV of 50%; this compared with the overall laboratory HG disease PPV for borderline smears of 14%. Both observers found the most useful criterion to be the increase in nuclear:cytoplasmic ratio. Our results show that it is possible to separate a small group of borderline smears which should be classified as ,borderline/high grade lesion difficult to exclude' (BL/HG). Both observers had some success in arriving at this classification although their method of selecting out this group was quite different. [source] Prediction of the relaxation behavior of amorphous pharmaceutical compounds.JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 7 2003Abstract Variability in the time to crystallization is a major technical and economic hurdle in using amorphous solids in dosage forms. It is hypothesized that amorphous solids "age", and that the older they are, the more relaxed they are and the higher the probability of crystallization. At present, there is no method that allows the "effective age" of an amorphous raw material to be assessed relative to its unrelaxed initial condition. A method has been developed that may satisfy this unmet need and provide a first step in subsequent investigation of the crystallization "event". This method consists of using master curves to enable the determination of the effective age (,aging') of an amorphous compound given normal excursions in storage conditions. The present study shows that master curves can be prepared for different storage conditions and subsequently be used to predict the relaxation or aging behavior of amorphous compounds with expected variations in storage conditions. Given the constraint that the system remain within the area enclosed by the equilibrium supercooled liquid line and the glass on the enthalpy,temperature diagram, experimental results using indomethacin and salicin as model compounds show that master curves can be used to predict aging behavior under nonisothermal conditions, with temperature excursions as large as 10°C. The nonisothermal relaxation behavior can be modeled by combining the Kohlrausch,Williams,Watts (KWW) stretched exponential function, the relaxation function, and a shift factor. In addition, a model was developed that extends the range of applicability to time/temperature regions in which partial crystallization occurs. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 92:1464,1472, 2003 [source] Hybrid Rayleigh, Raman and two-photon excited fluorescence spectral confocal microscopy of living cellsJOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, Issue 6 2010Vishnu Vardhan Pully Abstract A hybrid fluorescence,Raman confocal microscopy platform is presented, which integrates low-wavenumber-resolution Raman imaging, Rayleigh scatter imaging and two-photon fluorescence (TPE) spectral imaging, fast ,amplitude-only' TPE-fluorescence imaging and high-spectral-resolution Raman imaging. This multi-dimensional fluorescence,Raman microscopy platform enables rapid imaging along the fluorescence emission and/or Rayleigh scatter dimensions. It is shown that optical contrast in these images can be used to select an area of interest prior to subsequent investigation with high spatially and spectrally resolved Raman imaging. This new microscopy platform combines the strengths of Raman ,chemical' imaging with light scattering microscopy and fluorescence microscopy and provides new modes of correlative light microscopy. Simultaneous acquisition of TPE hyperspectral fluorescence imaging and Raman imaging illustrates spatial relationships of fluorophores, water, lipid and protein in cells. The fluorescence,Raman microscope is demonstrated in an application to living human bone marrow stromal stem cells. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Investigation of ZnTe thin films grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition methodPHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (B) BASIC SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 5 2007B. Kotlyarchuk Abstract This paper is devoted to optimization of the Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) growth condition of ZnTe films on various substrates and subsequent investigation of relevant parameters of growth process, structural, optical and electrical properties of grown films. Studies of the effect of growth parameters on the structural quality and properties of grown films were carried out. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the ZnTe films, which have been deposited at optimal substrate temperatures, were characterized by a (111) preferred orientation with large average grain size. The optical transmission and reflectance in the energy range 1.5,5.5 eV for films grown at various substrate temperatures were measured. We calculated the variation in the absorption coefficient with the photon energy from the transmittance spectrum for samples grown at various substrate temperatures. Obtained data were analyzed and the value of the absorption coefficient, for allowed direct transitions, has been determined as a function of photon energy. We found that the undoped ZnTe films, which were grown by the PLD method, are typically p-type and possess resistivity in the range of 103 , cm at room temperature. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Post induction arrhythmia in a renal patient: an unexpected risk factorANAESTHESIA, Issue 4 2009A. Srivastava Summary A 44 year-old woman was anaesthetised for a transplant nephrectomy. About 10 min after induction of anaesthesia she had several runs of ventricular tachycardia followed by ventricular fibrillation requiring 30 s of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, after which she reverted to sinus rhythm. Review of her chest X-ray, suggested that the haemodialysis catheter (PermcathÔ) position may have precipitated this event. However, subsequent investigation found that she had toxic serum levels of sotalol, with a prolonged corrected QT interval on the electrocardiogram. She was started on sotalol while her renal graft was functioning well but it was not reviewed when the graft started to fail and she had to commence haemodialysis. This led to the accumulation of sotalol and explains her serum sotalol value of 7.1 mg.l,1 on the day of the event. Concentrations greater than 2.5 mg.l,1 are generally considered toxic. [source] Phenolic Oxime Oligomers Inhibit Alzheimer's Amyloid Fibril Formation and Disaggregate Fibrils In VitroCHEMBIOCHEM, Issue 8 2009Gunnar T. Dolphin Dr. Abstract See you later amyloid ,: A screen of a small library of oxime oligomers with an HTS fluorescence assay for amyloid fibril inhibition and subsequent investigation by atomic force microscopy revealed two new micromolar inhibitors of amyloid fibril formation. These new inhibitors have IC50 values in the 10 ,M range. [source] Developing a New Class of Axial Chiral Phosphorus Ligands: Preparation and Characterization of Enantiopure Atropisomeric PhosphininesCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 16 2008Christian Müller Dr. Abstract Both enantiomers of the first atropisomeric phosphinine (1) have been isolated by using analytical HPLC on a chiral stationary phase. The enrichment of one enantiomer and a subsequent investigation into its racemization kinetics revealed a barrier for internal rotation of ,=(109.5±0.5),kJ,mol,1, which is in excellent agreement with the theoretically predicted value of ,=116,kJ,mol,1. Further analysis with UV and circular dichroism spectroscopies and density functional theory calculations led to the determination and assignment of the absolute configurations of both enantiomers. These results are the basis for future investigations into this new class of axially chiral phosphinine-based ligands and their possible applications in asymmetric homogeneous catalysis. [source] Cryofibrinogenaemia with a good response to stanozololCLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2000F. Revenga We report a 63-year-old patient with an IgA-kappa multiple myeloma in complete remission who developed necrotic lesions on both ears and papular, purpuric lesions on his legs and cheeks. Initial differential diagnosis included perniosis and skin necrosis secondary to interferon treatment but subsequent investigation revealed cryofibrinogenaemia as the underlying cause. Stanozolol therapy, 2 mg/12 h, achieved a complete clearance of the skin lesions. Cryofibrinogenaemia is a disease which can be under-diagnosed unless it is considered in the work-up of a patient with thrombotic skin lesions. Stanozolol is useful as first line therapy for this disorder. [source] Impact of National Aquarium in Baltimore on Visitors' Conservation Attitudes, Behavior, and KnowledgeCURATOR THE MUSEUM JOURNAL, Issue 1 2000LESLIE M. ADELMAN ABSTRACT This study at the National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB) was conducted to assess four key aspects of the visitor experience: (1) incoming conservation knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of NAIB visitors; (2) patterns of use and interaction with exhibition components throughout the NAIB; (3) exiting conservation knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of visitors; and (4) over time, how the NAIB experience altered or affected individuals' conservation knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Three hundred six visitors participated in the study, which was conducted from March through July, 1999. The study utilized four data-collection techniques: (1) face-to-face interviews, (2) Personal Meaning Mapping (PMM), (3) tracking, and (4) follow-up telephone interviews. Participants were a self-selected population and were generally more knowledgeable about, more concerned about, and more involved in conservation-related issues than the general public. However, they were far from conservationists. Visitors in this study clearly absorbed the fundamental conservation message at the NAIB. In fact, the NAIB visit appeared to focus visitors' conservation-related thoughts, while also broadening their understanding of conservation. Changes in visitors' conservation knowledge, understanding, and interests by and large persisted over six to eight weeks after visiting NAIB. The NAIB experience also connected to visitors' lives in a variety of ways following their visit. However, these personal experiences rarely resulted in new conservation actions. In fact, their enthusiasm and emotional commitment to conservation (inspired during the NAIB visit) generally fell back to original levels, presumably in the absence of reinforcing experiences. The findings of this study are guiding subsequent investigations at the NAIB. More generally, the results suggest strategies to enhance current understanding of the impact free-choice learning institutions have on their visiting public. [source] Light-chain-restricted plasmacellular infiltrates in necrobiosis lipoidica , a clue to an underlying monoclonal gammopathyJOURNAL OF CUTANEOUS PATHOLOGY, Issue 4 2005Adina M. Cioc Background:, Necrobiosis lipoidica (NL) is a member of the palisading granulomatous dermatitides that is associated, in most cases, with diabetes mellitus. However, there are an increasing number of cases of NL associated with other forms of systemic disease. We describe a novel case of NL associated with a light-chain-restricted plasmacellular infiltrate; subsequent investigations established an underlying monoclonal gammopathy. Methods:, Skin biopsy material was obtained and was processed in the usual fashion for hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) examination. Immunohistochemical staining was performed by utilizing kappa and lambda monoclonal antibodies (Dako Corporation, Carpentiera, CA, USA). Kappa and lambda in situ hybridization was also performed (Ventana Medical Systems, Tucson, AZ, USA). Results:, A 55-year-old woman with a 5-year history of bilateral thigh subcutaneous nodules underwent a skin biopsy, showing typical changes of NL; there was a concomitant prominent perivascular plasmacellular infiltrate. Kappa light chain restriction was observed amid the plasmacellular infiltrate. Bone marrow biopsy and immunophenotyping studies revealed a clonal plasmacytosis with kappa light chain restriction. Conclusions:, Granulomatous inflammation, including NL, may be a cutaneous paraneoplastic expression of low-grade B-cell lymphoproliferative disease in the context of an underlying plasma cell dyscrasia. [source] Lack of protein expression of the simian virus 40 large T antigen in human lymphomas,,JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 6 2008Philip Went Abstract Several studies have detected Simian virus 40 (SV40) deoxyribonucleic acid sequences in human tumor tissues, including lymphomas, mainly by the polymerase chain reaction, but these data were not confirmed by subsequent investigations. Regional differences in the distribution of the SV40 and/or technical difficulties have been taken into account to explain these divergent results, but because only a few such studies dealt with the expression of SV40 proteins in tumor tissues, we investigated the expression of the SV40 large T antigen in human lymphomas by immunohistochemistry. Tissue microarrays containing Non-Hodgkin's-lymphomas and Hodgkin's-lymphomas were constructed utilizing archival samples encompassing the years 1974,2001 from Italian, Swiss and Austrian patients. Expression of the SV40 large T antigen was analysed by highly specific and sensitive immunohistochemistry using a mouse monoclonal antibody. Protein expression of the large T antigen was not detected in 655 Non-Hodgkin's-lymphomas or in 337 Hodgkin's- lymphomas. The results suggest the absence of an association between SV40 large T antigen and human lymphomas. J. Med. Virol. 80:1112,1115, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Does peak systolic velocity correlate with renal artery stenosis in a pediatric renal transplant population?PEDIATRIC TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 5 2006Anthony Cook Abstract:, PSV of renal transplant vessels, calculated during allograft ultrasonography, has previously been shown to correlate with TRAS. Controversy exists regarding the threshold PSV value (adult range: 1.5,3.0 ms), which should prompt further, more invasive investigations to confirm the diagnosis of TRAS. Furthermore, there is a paucity of literature regarding PSV values in the pediatric renal transplant population. In a group of pediatric renal transplant patients, we correlated post-operative renal transplant PSV values with BP, renal function (serum creatinine) and TRAS. All patients who underwent cadaveric or living-related renal transplantation at the HSC between 2001 and 2004 with at least 6 months of follow-up were reviewed through the HSC multi-organ transplant database. Post-operative allograft Doppler ultrasonography was performed during routine follow-up. PSV values obtained were correlated with BP and serum creatinine performed concomitantly. Finally, we correlated PSV in those patients who underwent more intensive investigations, including magnetic resonance and conventional angiography. Fifty-three patients underwent transplantation during the study period. Complete data available for 50/53 demonstrated a mean PSV of 2.13 m/s (range: 0.9,6.1 m/s) for all patients. Of six patients who underwent MRA for suspicion of TRAS, two (with mean PSV values of 1.93 m/s) were found to have clinically significant stenoses. Four of six without angiographic evidence of TRAS had mean PSV values of 2.22 m/s. Patients suspected of having TRAS demonstrated elevated median serum creatinine values compared with those without clinical suspicion of TRAS. However, both mean PSV and BP were not found to be statistically different in both patient subgroups. Furthermore, there was no correlation identified between PSV and serum creatinine and BP in these patient populations. Despite the utility of PSV for monitoring adult renal transplant patients, we did not find that PSV correlated with BP, nadir creatinine or identify those patients who, through subsequent investigations, were found to have TRAS in this pediatric population. Maintaining cognizance in conjunction with close clinical follow-up may identify patients at risk for this rare but potentially morbid complication of transplantation. [source] Production and characterization of a recombinant beta-1,4-endoglucanase (glycohydrolase family 9) from the termite Reticulitermes flavipesARCHIVES OF INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2010Xuguo Zhou Abstract Cell-1 is a host-derived beta-1,4-endoglucanase (Glycohydrolase Family 9 [GHF9]) from the lower termite Reticulitermes flavipes. Here, we report on the heterologous production of Cell-1 using eukaryotic (Baculovirus Expression Vector System; BEVS) and prokaryotic (E. coli) expression systems. The BEVS-expressed enzyme was more readily obtained in solubilized form and more active than the E. coli,expressed enzyme. Km and Vmax values for BEVS-expressed Cell-1 against the model substrate CMC were 0.993% w/v and 1.056,µmol/min/mg. Additional characterization studies on the BEVS-expressed enzyme revealed that it possesses activity comparable to the native enzyme, is optimally active around pH 6.5,7.5 and 50,60°C, is inhibited by EDTA, and displays enhanced activity up to 70°C in the presence of CaCl2. These findings provide a foundation on which to begin subsequent investigations of collaborative digestion by coevolved host and symbiont digestive enzymes from R. flavipes that include GHF7 exoglucanases, GHF1 beta glucosidases, phenol-oxidizing laccases, and others. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Indurated reticulate palmar erythema as a sign of paraneoplastic palmar fasciitis and polyarthritis syndromeAUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Veronica A Preda ABSTRACT A 62-year-old woman presented with a 6-month history of polyarthritis. She had also noted a 2-month history of indurated palmar erythema and increasing bilateral hand swelling and stiffness. A biopsy from the area of palmar erythema showed interstitial fibroplasia within the dermis and subcutis representing a palmar fibromatosis. This presentation appears to belong to the spectrum of palmar fasciitis and polyarthritis syndrome. Rheumatologists have recognised this syndrome as a paraneoplastic disorder and subsequent investigations in our patient revealed an elevated cancer antigen 125 and an inoperable ovarian carcinoma. Indurated palmar erythema is a sign that is not widely recognised by dermatologists as a clue for this paraneoplastic syndrome, and skin biopsy demonstrating dermal and subcutaneous fibroplasia may help in diagnosis in the absence of advanced signs of palmar fasciitis. [source] The role of oxytocin in parturitionBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 2003Andrew M. Blanks Oxytocin and the oxytocin receptor have two important roles in labour. Evidence in all mammalian species suggests that neurohypophysical oxytocin plays a role in the expulsive phase and, although there are less supporting data, a role for oxytocin in the initiation of labour is likely. The initiation of labour may be mediated in women and rhesus monkeys by paracrine rather than endocrine mechanisms. Although initial characterisation of the oxytocin knockout mouse suggested that oxytocin is not important in this species, subsequent investigations have demonstrated that oxytocin is important for the precise timing of the onset of labour. Studies in knockout mice also confirm important interrelationships between oxytocin and prostaglandins. Oxytocin stimulates prostaglandin release in many species, mainly in the decidua/uterine epithelium. The effects of oxytocin are mediated by tissue-specific oxytocin receptor expression, which leads directly to contraction in the myometrium and prostaglandin formation in the decidua. There is a dramatic increase in oxytocin receptor expression in these tissues in late pregnancy and pharmacological inhibition delays delivery, which suggests that, in contrast to oxytocin, the oxytocin receptor is essential for normal labour. [source] Globus sensation as early presentation of hypopharyngeal cancerCLINICAL OTOLARYNGOLOGY, Issue 6 2007A. Tsikoudas Objectives:, To identify if patients with early hypopharyngeal carcinoma can present with only the single complaint of globus sensation. Design:, Retrospective case review. Setting:, Teaching Hospital in Scotland. Participants:, Cohort of 23 patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Retrospective review of their case notes with regards to their hospital pathway from initial referral from the General Practitioner to diagnosis. Outcome measures:, Symptoms & signs on presentation, subsequent investigations and time interval between initial presentation and diagnosis. Results:, We identified two patients (9%) who presented early with globus or other soft symptoms as the only complaint and with normal clinical findings. There was a 78%,pick up' rate of abnormalities in the barium swallow examination. Conclusion:, We believe this can have important clinical implications in the screening & investigation of globus patients who represent a significant outpatient workload. We review the relevant literature. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||