| the poweratlas: a power and sample size atlas for microarray experimental design and research. | microarrays permit biologists to simultaneously measure the mrna abundance of thousands of genes. an important issue facing investigators planning microarray experiments is how to estimate the sample size required for good statistical power. what is the projected sample size or number of replicate chips needed to address the multiple hypotheses with acceptable accuracy? statistical methods exist for calculating power based upon a single hypothesis, using estimates of the variability in data from ... | 2006 | 16504070 |
| a survey of diving behaviour and accidental water ingestion among dutch occupational and sport divers to assess the risk of infection with waterborne pathogenic microorganisms. | divers may run a higher risk of infection with waterborne pathogens than bathers because of more frequent and intense contact with water that may not comply with microbiologic water quality standards for bathing water. in this study we aimed to estimate the volume of water swallowed during diving as a key factor for infection risk assessment associated with diving. using questionnaires, occupational and sport divers in the netherlands were asked about number of dives, volume of swallowed water, ... | 2006 | 16675425 |
| cdna microarray screening in food safety. | the cdna microarray technology and related bioinformatics tools presents a wide range of novel application opportunities. the technology may be productively applied to address food safety. in this mini-review article, we present an update highlighting the late breaking discoveries that demonstrate the vitality of cdna microarray technology as a tool to analyze food safety with reference to microbial pathogens and genetically modified foods. in order to bring the microarray technology to mainstre ... | 2006 | 16466843 |
| ab initio genotype-phenotype association reveals intrinsic modularity in genetic networks. | microbial species express an astonishing diversity of phenotypic traits, behaviors, and metabolic capacities. however, our molecular understanding of these phenotypes is based almost entirely on studies in a handful of model organisms that together represent only a small fraction of this phenotypic diversity. furthermore, many microbial species are not amenable to traditional laboratory analysis because of their exotic lifestyles and/or lack of suitable molecular genetic techniques. as an adjunc ... | 2006 | 16732191 |
| hierarchical clustering algorithm for comprehensive orthologous-domain classification in multiple genomes. | ortholog identification is a crucial first step in comparative genomics. here, we present a rapid method of ortholog grouping which is effective enough to allow the comparison of many genomes simultaneously. the method takes as input all-against-all similarity data and classifies genes based on the traditional hierarchical clustering algorithm upgma. in the course of clustering, the method detects domain fusion or fission events, and splits clusters into domains if required. the subsequent proce ... | 2006 | 16436801 |
| role of sphingolipids in microbial pathogenesis. | | 2006 | 16368954 |
| some bacteria degrade explosives, others prefer boiling methanol. | | 2007 | 17991022 |
| guidelines on the irritable bowel syndrome: mechanisms and practical management. | ibs affects 5-11% of the population of most countries. prevalence peaks in the third and fourth decades, with a female predominance. | 2007 | 17488783 |
| the [fefe] hydrogenase of nyctotherus ovalis has a chimeric origin. | the hydrogenosomes of the anaerobic ciliate nyctotherus ovalis show how mitochondria can evolve into hydrogenosomes because they possess a mitochondrial genome and parts of an electron-transport chain on the one hand, and a hydrogenase on the other hand. the hydrogenase permits direct reoxidation of nadh because it consists of a [fefe] hydrogenase module that is fused to two modules, which are homologous to the 24 kda and the 51 kda subunits of a mitochondrial complex i. | 2007 | 18021395 |
| bacterial morphology: why have different shapes? | the fact that bacteria have different shapes is not surprising; after all, we teach the concept early and often and use it in identification and classification. however, why bacteria should have a particular shape is a question that receives much less attention. the answer is that morphology is just another way microorganisms cope with their environment, another tool for gaining a competitive advantage. recent work has established that bacterial morphology has an evolutionary history and has hig ... | 2007 | 17981076 |
| danish integrated antimicrobial resistance monitoring and research program. | resistance to antimicrobial agents is an emerging problem worldwide. awareness of the undesirable consequences of its widespread occurrence has led to the initiation of antimicrobial agent resistance monitoring programs in several countries. in 1995, denmark was the first country to establish a systematic and continuous monitoring program of antimicrobial drug consumption and antimicrobial agent resistance in animals, food, and humans, the danish integrated antimicrobial resistance monitoring an ... | 2007 | 18217544 |
| gastric pyogenic granuloma. | | 2007 | 21960796 |
| expanding the diagnostic capabilities of molecular microbiology by genomic methods. | | 2007 | 17872972 |
| comparison of multiple dna dyes for real-time pcr: effects of dye concentration and sequence composition on dna amplification and melting temperature. | the importance of real-time polymerase chain reaction (pcr) has increased steadily in clinical applications over the last decade. many applications utilize sybr green i dye to follow the accumulation of amplicons in real time. sybr green i has, however, a number of limitations that include the inhibition of pcr, preferential binding to gc-rich sequences and effects on melting curve analysis. although a few alternative dyes without some of these limitations have been recently proposed, no large-s ... | 2007 | 17897966 |
| dna methods for identification of chinese medicinal materials. | as adulterated and substituted chinese medicinal materials are common in the market, therapeutic effectiveness of such materials cannot be guaranteed. identification at species-, strain- and locality-levels, therefore, is required for quality assurance/control of chinese medicine. this review provides an informative introduction to dna methods for authentication of chinese medicinal materials. technical features and examples of the methods based on sequencing, hybridization and polymerase chain ... | 2007 | 17803808 |
| enteric infection and inflammation alter gut microbial ecology. | the complex microbial community residing within the intestine plays important roles in host defense. however, the impact of enteric infection and inflammation on this resident community has not been fully explored. in this issue of cell host & microbe, lupp and coworkers reveal that the composition of the intestinal microbiota changes in distinctive ways in response to infection and inflammation. | 2007 | 18005720 |
| phidias: a pathogen-host interaction data integration and analysis system. | the pathogen-host interaction data integration and analysis system (phidias) is a web-based database system that serves as a centralized source to search, compare, and analyze integrated genome sequences, conserved domains, and gene expression data related to pathogen-host interactions (phis) for pathogen species designated as high priority agents for public health and biological security. in addition, phidias allows submission, search and analysis of phi genes and molecular networks curated fro ... | 2007 | 17663773 |
| demographic determinants of acute gastrointestinal illness in canada: a population study. | gastrointestinal illness is an important global public health issue, even in developed countries, where the morbidity and economic impact are significant. our objective was to evaluate the demographic determinants of acute gastrointestinal illness in canadians. | 2007 | 17640371 |
| anti-ganglioside antibodies alter presynaptic release and calcium influx. | acute motor axonal neuropathy (aman) variant of guillain-barré syndrome is often associated with igg anti-gm1 and -gd1a antibodies. the pathophysiological basis of antibody-mediated selective motor nerve dysfunction remains unclear. we investigated the effects of igg anti-gm1 and -gd1a monoclonal antibodies (mabs) on neuromuscular transmission and calcium influx in hemidiaphragm preparations and in cultured neurons, respectively, to elucidate mechanisms of ab-mediated muscle weakness. anti-gm1 a ... | 2007 | 17720506 |
| the bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (bpi) in infection and inflammatory disease. | gram-negative bacteria (gnb) and their endotoxin present a constant environmental challenge. endotoxins can potently signal mobilization of host defenses against invading gnb but also potentially induce severe pathophysiology, necessitating controlled initiation and resolution of endotoxin-induced inflammation to maintain host integrity. the bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (bpi) is a pluripotent protein expressed, in humans, mainly neutrophils. bpi exhibits strong antimicrobial acti ... | 2007 | 17678885 |
| guillain-barre syndrome: a possibility in a spinal cord injured patient. | a 28-year-old male had paraplegia as a result of fracture dislocation of t12/l1 six years ago. he was functioning independently until four weeks ago, when he started complaining of trunkal paraesthesia which later progressed to include the upper extremities. the initial diagnosis was that of posttraumatic syringomyelia (pts). while awaiting the mri scan he developed weakness of upper limbs. the weakness restricted his self-care activities including transfers. the mri did not show any evidence of ... | 2007 | 21139752 |
| microbes have the last word. a drastic re-evaluation of antimicrobial treatment is needed to overcome the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. | | 2007 | 17603533 |
| management of acute diarrhoea in primary care in bahrain: self-reported practices of doctors. | this nationwide study was conducted to assess the extent of adherence of primary-care physicians to the world health organization (who)-recommended guidelines on the use of oral rehydration therapy (ort), antimicrobials, and prescribing of other drugs used in treating symptoms of acute diarrhoea in bahrain. a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey was carried out in primary-care health centres. during a six-week survey period (15 august-30 september 2003), 328 (25.2%) completed questionnair ... | 2007 | 17985822 |
| infection dynamics: from organ to host population. | a symposium discussing collaborative research work on infectious diseases dynamics was held at queens' college, university of cambridge on 25 october 2006. | 2007 | 17439858 |
| purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase from arabidopsis thaliana. | the deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase gene from arabidopsis thaliana was expressed and the gene product was purified. crystallization was performed by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method at 298 k using 2 m ammonium sulfate as the precipitant. x-ray diffraction data were collected to 2.2 a resolution using cu k alpha radiation. the crystal belongs to the orthorhombic space group p2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 69.90, b = 70.86 a, c = 75.55 a. assuming the presence of ... | 2007 | 17565183 |
| an outbreak of food poisoning in a military establishment. | an outbreak of food poisoning in a military establishment mess was investigated and remedial measures suggested. | 2007 | 27407967 |
| the importance of militaries from developing countries in global infectious disease surveillance. | military forces from developing countries have become increasingly important as facilitators of their government's foreign policy, taking part in peacekeeping operations, military exercises and humanitarian relief missions. deployment of these forces presents both challenges and opportunities for infectious disease surveillance and control. troop movements may cause or extend epidemics by introducing novel agents to susceptible populations. conversely, military units with disease surveillance an ... | 2007 | 17486207 |
| the use of coded pcr primers enables high-throughput sequencing of multiple homolog amplification products by 454 parallel sequencing. | the invention of the genome sequence 20 dna sequencing system (454 parallel sequencing platform) has enabled the rapid and high-volume production of sequence data. until now, however, individual emulsion pcr (empcr) reactions and subsequent sequencing runs have been unable to combine template dna from multiple individuals, as homologous sequences cannot be subsequently assigned to their original sources. | 2007 | 17299583 |
| carbohydrate post-glycosylational modifications. | carbohydrate modification is a common phenomenon in nature. many carbohydrate modifications such as some epimerization, o-acetylation, o-sulfation, o-methylation, n-deacetylation, and n-sulfation, take place after the formation of oligosaccharide or polysaccharide backbones. these modifications can be categorized as carbohydrate post-glycosylational modifications (pgms). carbohydrate pgms further extend the complexity of the structures and the synthesis of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. they ... | 2007 | 17340000 |
| darkhorse: a method for genome-wide prediction of horizontal gene transfer. | a new approach to rapid, genome-wide identification and ranking of horizontal transfer candidate proteins is presented. the method is quantitative, reproducible, and computationally undemanding. it can be combined with genomic signature and/or phylogenetic tree-building procedures to improve accuracy and efficiency. the method is also useful for retrospective assessments of horizontal transfer prediction reliability, recognizing orthologous sequences that may have been previously overlooked or u ... | 2007 | 17274820 |
| acute gastroenteritis in children. | | 2007 | 17204802 |
| comparison of plants used for skin and stomach problems in trinidad and tobago with asian ethnomedicine. | this paper provides a preliminary evaluation of fifty-eight ethnomedicinal plants used in trinidad and tobago for skin problems, stomach problems, pain and internal parasites for safety and possible efficacy. thirty respondents, ten of whom were male were interviewed from september 1996 to september 2000 on medicinal plant use for health problems. the respondents were obtained by snowball sampling, and were found in thirteen different sites, 12 in trinidad and one in tobago. the uses are compare ... | 2007 | 17207273 |
| inappropriate prescribing of proton pump inhibitors in primary care. | to determine if an educational intervention initiated in secondary care can influence prescribing of proton pump inhibitors (ppis) in the community. | 2007 | 17267683 |
| enteric infection meets intestinal function: how bacterial pathogens cause diarrhoea. | infectious diarrhoea is a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide. in bacterium-induced diarrhoea, rapid loss of fluids and electrolytes results from inhibition of the normal absorptive function of the intestine as well as the activation of secretory processes. advances in the past 10 years in the fields of gastrointestinal physiology, innate immunity and enteric bacterial virulence mechanisms highlight the multifactorial nature of infectious diarrhoea. this review explores ... | 2008 | 19116615 |
| enteric infection meets intestinal function: how bacterial pathogens cause diarrhoea. | infectious diarrhoea is a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide. in bacterium-induced diarrhoea, rapid loss of fluids and electrolytes results from inhibition of the normal absorptive function of the intestine as well as the activation of secretory processes. advances in the past 10 years in the fields of gastrointestinal physiology, innate immunity and enteric bacterial virulence mechanisms highlight the multifactorial nature of infectious diarrhoea. this review explores ... | 2008 | 19116615 |
| diagnosis and management of microscopic colitis. | microscopic colitis, comprising collagenous and lymphocytic colitis, is characterized clinically by chronic watery diarrhea, and a macroscopically normal colonic mucosa where diagnostic histopathological features are seen on microscopic examination. the annual incidence of each disorder is 4-6/100,000 inhabitants, with a peak incidence in 60-70-year-old individuals and a noticeable female predominance for collagenous colitis. the etiology is unknown. chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss ... | 2008 | 19109861 |
| mechanism of action of and resistance to quinolones. | fluoroquinolones are an important class of wide-spectrum antibacterial agents. the first quinolone described was nalidixic acid, which showed a narrow spectrum of activity. the evolution of quinolones to more potent molecules was based on changes at positions 1, 6, 7 and 8 of the chemical structure of nalidixic acid. quinolones inhibit dna gyrase and topoisomerase iv activities, two enzymes essential for bacteria viability. the acquisition of quinolone resistance is frequently related to (i) chr ... | 2008 | 21261881 |
| mechanism of action of and resistance to quinolones. | fluoroquinolones are an important class of wide-spectrum antibacterial agents. the first quinolone described was nalidixic acid, which showed a narrow spectrum of activity. the evolution of quinolones to more potent molecules was based on changes at positions 1, 6, 7 and 8 of the chemical structure of nalidixic acid. quinolones inhibit dna gyrase and topoisomerase iv activities, two enzymes essential for bacteria viability. the acquisition of quinolone resistance is frequently related to (i) chr ... | 2008 | 21261881 |
| array biosensor for toxin detection: continued advances. | the following review focuses on progress made in the last five years with the nrl array biosensor, a portable instrument for rapid and simultaneous detection of multiple targets. since 2003, the array biosensor has been automated and miniaturized for operation at the point-of-use. the array biosensor has also been used to demonstrate (1) quantitative immunoassays against an expanded number of toxins and toxin indicators in food and clinical fluids, and (2) the efficacy of semi-selective molecule ... | 2008 | 27873991 |
| molecular chaperones in pathogen virulence: emerging new targets for therapy. | infectious organisms have to cope with demanding and rapidly changing environments during establishment in the host. this is particularly relevant for pathogens that utilize different hosts to complete their life cycle. in addition to homeotic environmental challenges, other stressful factors, such as oxidative bursts, are often triggered in response to infection. it is not surprising that many successful pathogens have developed robust chaperone systems to conquer the stressful environments in ... | 2008 | 19064253 |
| pathogenic microorganisms associated with childhood diarrhea in low-and-middle income countries: case study of yaoundé - cameroon. | notwithstanding significant advancement in the understanding of pathogenesis and management, diarrheal illnesses remain one of the principal causes of global childhood mortality and morbidity. infections account for most illnesses, with pathogens employing ingenious mechanisms to establish disease. in 2002, an interdisciplinary program "populations et al. espaces à risques sanitaires" (persan) was set up under the patronage of the development research institute (ird). focused on health in camero ... | 2008 | 19190353 |
| weakness in pregnancy - expect the unexpected. | guillain-barré syndrome (gbs) is rare in pregnancy with an incidence estimated to be between 1.2 and 1.9 cases per 100,000 people annually, and it is generally accepted that it carries a high maternal risk. delayed diagnosis is common because the initial non-specific symptoms may mimic changes in pregnancy. gbs should be considered in any pregnant patient complaining of muscle weakness, general malaise, tingling of the fingers and respiratory discomfort. this case aims to highlight the importanc ... | 2008 | 27582795 |
| antimicrobial resistance in campylobacter spp isolated from broiler flocks. | the aim of this study was to assess the antimicrobial susceptibility of 62 campylobacter spp. strains obtained from broiler flocks using the agar diffusion method. the campylobacter spp strains were isolated from 22 flocks aged between 3 and 5 weeks of life, isolated from cloacae swabs, stools and cecal droppings in the farm and from the carcass rinsing in the slaughterhouse. campylobacter spp strains were tested on mueller-hilton (mh) agar (27 samples) and mh plus ttc agar (35 samples). the ant ... | 2008 | 24031299 |
| classification of lymphoid neoplasms: the microscope as a tool for disease discovery. | in the past 50 years, we have witnessed explosive growth in the understanding of normal and neoplastic lymphoid cells. b-cell, t-cell, and natural killer (nk)-cell neoplasms in many respects recapitulate normal stages of lymphoid cell differentiation and function, so that they can be to some extent classified according to the corresponding normal stage. likewise, the molecular mechanisms involved the pathogenesis of lymphomas and lymphoid leukemias are often based on the physiology of the lympho ... | 2008 | 19029456 |
| global phenotypic characterization of bacteria. | the measure of the quality of a systems biology model is how well it can reproduce and predict the behaviors of a biological system such as a microbial cell. in recent years, these models have been built up in layers, and each layer has been growing in sophistication and accuracy in parallel with a global data set to challenge and validate the models in predicting the content or activities of genes (genomics), proteins (proteomics), metabolites (metabolomics), and ultimately cell phenotypes (phe ... | 2008 | 19054113 |
| global phenotypic characterization of bacteria. | the measure of the quality of a systems biology model is how well it can reproduce and predict the behaviors of a biological system such as a microbial cell. in recent years, these models have been built up in layers, and each layer has been growing in sophistication and accuracy in parallel with a global data set to challenge and validate the models in predicting the content or activities of genes (genomics), proteins (proteomics), metabolites (metabolomics), and ultimately cell phenotypes (phe ... | 2008 | 19054113 |
| nod-like receptors and inflammation. | the nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat (also known as nod-like receptors, both abbreviated to nlr) family of intracellular pathogen recognition receptors are increasingly being recognized to play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of a number of rare monogenic diseases, as well as some more common polygenic conditions. bacterial wall constituents and other cellular stressor molecules are recognized by a range of nlrs, which leads to activation of the innate immune ... | 2008 | 19090963 |
| a strategy to setup codominant microsatellite analysis for high-resolution-melting-curve-analysis (hrm). | high resolution melting curve analysis (hrm) is a technique that measures exactly the decreasing fluorescence of intercalating dye in the process of dissociation of double stranded dna. the measurement is immediately following pcr in a one-step, closed-tube method. the shape of the melting curve depends on the gc content, length and sequence of the amplicon. hence it is a powerful, fast and cheap method to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (snps) and other mutations. | 2008 | 18980665 |
| bacterial heme-transport proteins and their heme-coordination modes. | efficient iron acquisition is critical for an invading microbe's survival and virulence. most of the iron in mammals is incorporated into heme, which can be plundered by certain bacterial pathogens as a nutritional iron source. utilization of exogenous heme by bacteria involves the binding of heme or hemoproteins to the cell surface receptors, followed by the transport of heme into cells. once taken into the cytosol, heme is presented to heme oxygenases where the tetrapyrrole ring is cleaved in ... | 2008 | 18977196 |
| bacterial heme-transport proteins and their heme-coordination modes. | efficient iron acquisition is critical for an invading microbe's survival and virulence. most of the iron in mammals is incorporated into heme, which can be plundered by certain bacterial pathogens as a nutritional iron source. utilization of exogenous heme by bacteria involves the binding of heme or hemoproteins to the cell surface receptors, followed by the transport of heme into cells. once taken into the cytosol, heme is presented to heme oxygenases where the tetrapyrrole ring is cleaved in ... | 2008 | 18977196 |
| metasim: a sequencing simulator for genomics and metagenomics. | the new research field of metagenomics is providing exciting insights into various, previously unclassified ecological systems. next-generation sequencing technologies are producing a rapid increase of environmental data in public databases. there is great need for specialized software solutions and statistical methods for dealing with complex metagenome data sets. | 2008 | 18841204 |
| droid: the drosophila interactions database, a comprehensive resource for annotated gene and protein interactions. | charting the interactions among genes and among their protein products is essential for understanding biological systems. a flood of interaction data is emerging from high throughput technologies, computational approaches, and literature mining methods. quick and efficient access to this data has become a critical issue for biologists. several excellent multi-organism databases for gene and protein interactions are available, yet most of these have understandable difficulty maintaining comprehen ... | 2008 | 18840285 |
| outbreak of acute renal failure in panama in 2006: a case-control study. | in september 2006, a panamanian physician reported an unusual number of patients with unexplained acute renal failure frequently accompanied by severe neurological dysfunction. twelve (57%) of 21 patients had died of the illness. this paper describes the investigation into the cause of the illness and the source of the outbreak. | 2008 | 18949211 |
| irefindex: a consolidated protein interaction database with provenance. | interaction data for a given protein may be spread across multiple databases. we set out to create a unifying index that would facilitate searching for these data and that would group together redundant interaction data while recording the methods used to perform this grouping. | 2008 | 18823568 |
| problems in fitting high resolution structures into electron microscopic reconstructions. | great advances have been made in electron microscopy (em) over the past decade, with the result that a number of protein complexes have been solved at near-atomic resolution using em imaging. however, only a limited number of such complexes are expected to have the high degree of internal order needed to achieve this type of resolution. many other complexes and polymers will be visualized and reconstructed by em at an intermediate level of resolution, where the polypeptide chain cannot be direct ... | 2008 | 19436497 |
| colon-targeted delivery of live bacterial cell biotherapeutics including microencapsulated live bacterial cells. | there has been an ample interest in delivery of therapeutic molecules using live cells. oral delivery has been stipulated as best way to deliver live cells to humans for therapy. colon, in particular, is a part of gastrointestinal (gi) tract that has been proposed to be an oral targeted site. the main objective of these oral therapy procedures is to deliver live cells not only to treat diseases like colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and other gi tract diseases like intestinal obstru ... | 2008 | 19707368 |
| an acute evolving flaccid quadriparesis in an elderly woman. | | 2008 | 18752345 |
| chemoenzymatic syntheses of tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen globo-h and stage-specific embryonic antigen 4. | gangliosides have attracted much attention due to their important biological properties. herein, we report the first chemoenzymatic syntheses of two globo series of ganglioside oligosaccharides, globo-h 1 and stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 (ssea-4) 2. the common precursor ssea-3 pentasaccharide for these two compounds was assembled rapidly using the pre-activation based one-pot glycosylation method. the stereoselectivity in forming the 1,2-cis linkage in ssea-3 was attributed to a steric but ... | 2008 | 20305750 |
| food microbial pathogen detection and analysis using dna microarray technologies. | culture-based methods used for microbial detection and identification are simple to use, relatively inexpensive, and sensitive. however, culture-based methods are too time-consuming for high-throughput testing and too tedious for analysis of samples with multiple organisms and provide little clinical information regarding the pathogen (e.g., antibiotic resistance genes, virulence factors, or strain subtype). dna-based methods, such as polymerase chain reaction (pcr), overcome some these limitati ... | 2008 | 18673074 |
| probing the extent of randomness in protein interaction networks. | protein-protein interaction (ppi) networks are commonly explored for the identification of distinctive biological traits, such as pathways, modules, and functional motifs. in this respect, understanding the underlying network structure is vital to assess the significance of any discovered features. we recently demonstrated that ppi networks show degree-weighted behavior, whereby the probability of interaction between two proteins is generally proportional to the product of their numbers of inter ... | 2008 | 18769589 |
| proper sanitization of sewage sludge: a critical issue for a sustainable society. | | 2008 | 18606792 |
| optimal treatment of campylobacter dysentery. | | 2008 | 23055879 |
| effects of ferumoxides-protamine sulfate labeling on immunomodulatory characteristics of macrophage-like thp-1 cells. | superparamagnetic iron oxide (spio) complexed with cationic transfection agent is used to label various mammalian cells. labeled cells can then be utilized as an in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (mri) probes. however, certain number of in vivo administered labeled cells may be cleared from tissues by the host's macrophages. for successful translation to routine clinical application of spio labeling method it is important that this mode of in vivo clearance of iron does not elicit any diverse i ... | 2008 | 18575575 |
| immune-to-brain signaling: how important are the blood-brain barrier-independent pathways? | a conceptual obstacle for understanding immune-to-brain signaling is the issue of the blood-brain barrier (bbb). in the last 30 years, several pathways have been investigated to address the question of how peripheral immune signals are transmitted into the brain. these pathways can be categorized into two types: bbb-dependent pathways and bbb-independent pathways. bbb-dependent pathways involve the bbb as a relay station or porous barrier, whereas bbb-independent pathways use neuronal routes tha ... | 2008 | 18563639 |
| application of tilling and ecotilling as reverse genetic approaches to elucidate the function of genes in plants and animals. | with the fairly recent advent of inexpensive, rapid sequencing technologies that continue to improve sequencing efficiency and accuracy, many species of animals, plants, and microbes have annotated genomic information publicly available. the focus on genomics has thus been shifting from the collection of whole sequenced genomes to the study of functional genomics. reverse genetic approaches have been used for many years to advance from sequence data to the resulting phenotype in an effort to ded ... | 2008 | 19452039 |
| diagnosis by inclusion. | | 2008 | 25983932 |
| management of bloody diarrhoea in children in primary care. | | 2008 | 18456632 |
| on the evolution and expression of chlamydomonas reinhardtii nucleus-encoded transfer rna genes. | in chlamydomonas reinhardtii, 259 trna genes were identified and classified into 49 trna isoaccepting families. by constructing phylogenetic trees, we determined the evolutionary history for each trna gene family. the majority of the trna sequences are more closely related to their plant counterparts than to animals ones. northern experiments also permitted us to show that at least one member of each trna isoacceptor family is transcribed and correctly processed in vivo. a short stretch of t res ... | 2008 | 18493044 |
| a man with febrile illness and difficulty in walking. | | 2008 | 25606113 |
| mechanism of il-1beta-induced increase in intestinal epithelial tight junction permeability. | the il-1beta-induced increase in intestinal epithelial tight junction (tj) permeability has been postulated to be an important mechanism contributing to intestinal inflammation of crohn's disease and other inflammatory conditions of the gut. the intracellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate the il-1beta-induced increase in intestinal tj permeability remain unclear. the purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms that mediate the il-1beta-induced increase in intestinal tj permeabi ... | 2008 | 18390750 |
| autoimmune disorders and risk of non-hodgkin lymphoma subtypes: a pooled analysis within the interlymph consortium. | some autoimmune disorders are increasingly recognized as risk factors for non-hodgkin lymphoma (nhl) overall, but large-scale systematic assessments of risk of nhl subtypes are lacking. we performed a pooled analysis of self-reported autoimmune conditions and risk of nhl and subtypes, including 29 423 participants in 12 case-control studies. we computed pooled odds ratios (or) and 95% confidence intervals (ci) in a joint fixed-effects model. sjögren syndrome was associated with a 6.5-fold increa ... | 2008 | 18263783 |
| the elusive object of desire--interactions of bacteriophages and their hosts. | bacteria and their viruses (phages) are locked in an evolutionary contest, with each side producing constantly changing mechanisms of attack and defense that are aimed to increase the odds of survival. as a result, phages play central roles in a great variety of genetic processes and increase the rate of evolutionary change of the bacterial host, which could ultimately work to the benefit of the host in a long run. | 2008 | 18400552 |
| protein networks in disease. | during a decade of proof-of-principle analysis in model organisms, protein networks have been used to further the study of molecular evolution, to gain insight into the robustness of cells to perturbation, and for assignment of new protein functions. following these analyses, and with the recent rise of protein interaction measurements in mammals, protein networks are increasingly serving as tools to unravel the molecular basis of disease. we review promising applications of protein networks to ... | 2008 | 18381899 |
| diagnostic approach to peripheral neuropathy. | peripheral neuropathy refers to disorders of the peripheral nervous system. they have numerous causes and diverse presentations; hence, a systematic and logical approach is needed for cost-effective diagnosis, especially of treatable neuropathies. a detailed history of symptoms, family and occupational history should be obtained. general and systemic examinations provide valuable clues. neurological examinations investigating sensory, motor and autonomic signs help to define the topography and n ... | 2008 | 19893645 |
| structural biology of proline catabolism. | the proline catabolic enzymes proline dehydrogenase and delta(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase catalyze the 4-electron oxidation of proline to glutamate. these enzymes play important roles in cellular redox control, superoxide generation, apoptosis and cancer. in some bacteria, the two enzymes are fused into the bifunctional enzyme, proline utilization a. here we review the three-dimensional structural information that is currently available for proline catabolic enzymes. crystal structu ... | 2008 | 18369526 |
| chemoenzymatic synthesis of glycopeptides and glycoproteins through endoglycosidase-catalyzed transglycosylation. | homogeneous glycopeptides and glycoproteins are indispensable for detailed structural and functional studies of glycoproteins. it is also fundamentally important to correct glycosylation patterns for developing effective glycoprotein-based therapeutics. this review discusses a useful chemoenzymatic method that takes advantage of the endoglycosidase-catalyzed transglycosylation to attach an intact oligosaccharide to a polypeptide in a single step, without the need for any protecting groups. the e ... | 2008 | 18405887 |
| unpasteurized milk consumption and subsequent risk of cancer. | concerns have been raised regarding the possible adverse health effects of consumption of unpasteurized milk and risk of cancer. we examined the association of self-reported intake of unpasteurized milk with subsequent risk of cancer in a large population-based cohort study. the iowa women's health study is a prospective cohort study of 55-69 year old women at baseline in 1986. of the 41,836 women in the cohort at baseline, 22,808 cancer-free women completed the fourth follow-up questionnaire in ... | 2008 | 18344007 |
| detection of salmonella sp in chicken cuts using immunomagnetic separation. | the immunomagnetic separation (ims) is a technique that has been used to increase sensitivity and specificity and to decrease the time required for detection of salmonella in foods through different methodologies. in this work we report on the development of a method for detection of salmonella in chicken cuts using in house antibody-sensitized microspheres associated to conventional plating in selective agar (ims-plating). first, protein a-coated microspheres were sensitized with polyclonal ant ... | 2008 | 24031199 |
| caspase recruitment domain-containing sensors and adaptors in intestinal innate immunity. | the present review discusses the physiological functions of selected caspase recruitment domain (card)-containing sensor and adaptor proteins and their role in the pathogenesis of intestinal diseases. | 2008 | 18301258 |
| national institute of neurological disorders and stroke (ninds): advances in understanding and treating neuropathy, 24-25 october 2006; bethesda, maryland. | national institute of neurological disorders and stroke sponsored a meeting to explore the current status of basic and clinical research in peripheral neurobiology and clinical neuropathy. the goal of the workshop was to identify areas where additional research could lead to the development of new therapeutics in the next 5 years. participants discussed the current understanding of disease mechanisms of axonal and demyelinating neuropathies, existing techniques in research, disease biomarkers, a ... | 2008 | 18346227 |
| improved molecular technique for the differentiation of neotropical anopheline species. | we evaluated a pcr-rflp of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 region (its2) to distinguish species of anopheles commonly reported in the amazon and validated this method using reared f1 offspring. the following species of anopheles were used for molecular analysis: an. (nys.) benarrochi, an. (nys.) darlingi, an. (nys.) nuneztovari, an. (nys.) konderi, an. (nys.) rangeli, and an. (nys.) triannulatus sensu lato (s.l.). in addition, three species of the subgenus anopheles, an. (ano.) forat ... | 2008 | 18337348 |
| how effective is good domestic kitchen hygiene at reducing diarrhoeal disease in developed countries? a systematic review and reanalysis of the uk iid study. | to assess whether domestic kitchen hygiene is an important contributor to the development of diarrhoea in the developed world. | 2008 | 18294383 |
| bioinformatics challenges of new sequencing technology. | new dna sequencing technologies can sequence up to one billion bases in a single day at low cost, putting large-scale sequencing within the reach of many scientists. many researchers are forging ahead with projects to sequence a range of species using the new technologies. however, these new technologies produce read lengths as short as 35-40 nucleotides, posing challenges for genome assembly and annotation. here we review the challenges and describe some of the bioinformatics systems that are b ... | 2008 | 18262676 |
| in situ-synthesized virulence and marker gene biochip for detection of bacterial pathogens in water. | pathogen detection tools with high reliability are needed for various applications, including food and water safety and clinical diagnostics. in this study, we designed and validated an in situ-synthesized biochip for detection of 12 microbial pathogens, including a suite of pathogens relevant to water safety. to enhance the reliability of presence/absence calls, probes were designed for multiple virulence and marker genes (vmgs) of each pathogen, and each vmg was targeted by an average of 17 pr ... | 2008 | 18245235 |
| s-layer nanoglycobiology of bacteria. | cell surface layers (s-layers) are common structures of the bacterial cell envelope with a lattice-like appearance that are formed by a self-assembly process. frequently, the constituting s-layer proteins are modified with covalently linked glycan chains facing the extracellular environment. s-layer glycoproteins from organisms of the bacillaceae family possess long, o-glycosidically linked glycans that are composed of a great variety of sugar constituents. the observed variations already exceed ... | 2008 | 18336801 |
| a model for carbohydrate metabolism in the diatom phaeodactylum tricornutum deduced from comparative whole genome analysis. | diatoms are unicellular algae responsible for approximately 20% of global carbon fixation. their evolution by secondary endocytobiosis resulted in a complex cellular structure and metabolism compared to algae with primary plastids. | 2008 | 18183306 |
| options for treating resistant shigella species infections in children. | infection due to shigella species remains an important public health problem, especially in developing countries where it remains the most common cause of bloody diarrhea. in the united states (us), 10,000 to 15,000 cases of shigellosis are reported each year in both children and adults. us surveillance data from 2004 has demonstrated increased resistance in shigella species to first-line antibiotics such as ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, with approximately 37% of isolates demonst ... | 2008 | 23055862 |
| rapid, single-subject genotyping to predict red blood cell antigen expression. | genotyping is useful to predict the expression of those rbc antigens for which antisera are difficult to obtain and to determine the probable phenotype of highly transfused patients, and it can be used to test stored dna when a blood sample is not available. this study assessed a sequence-specific primer (ssp)-based genotyping system for blood group alleles suitable for the rapid testing of a small number of samples and assessed the use of stored whole blood. genomic dna was isolated from fresh ... | 2008 | 19856718 |
| whole-proteome phylogeny of prokaryotes by feature frequency profiles: an alignment-free method with optimal feature resolution. | we present a whole-proteome phylogeny of prokaryotes constructed by comparing feature frequency profiles (ffps) of whole proteomes. features are l-mers of amino acids, and each organism is represented by a profile of frequencies of all features. the selection of feature length is critical in the ffp method, and we have developed a procedure for identifying the optimal feature lengths for inferring the phylogeny of prokaryotes, strictly speaking, a proteome phylogeny. our ffp trees are constructe ... | 2009 | 20018669 |
| whole-proteome phylogeny of prokaryotes by feature frequency profiles: an alignment-free method with optimal feature resolution. | we present a whole-proteome phylogeny of prokaryotes constructed by comparing feature frequency profiles (ffps) of whole proteomes. features are l-mers of amino acids, and each organism is represented by a profile of frequencies of all features. the selection of feature length is critical in the ffp method, and we have developed a procedure for identifying the optimal feature lengths for inferring the phylogeny of prokaryotes, strictly speaking, a proteome phylogeny. our ffp trees are constructe ... | 2009 | 20018669 |
| safety and quality of some chicken meat products in al-ahsa markets-saudi arabia. | one hundred samples of 10 poultry meat products were collected from al-ahsa markets (kingdom of saudi arabia). the samples were ranked from carcass cuts (chilled, frozen, fillet and thigh) to minced meat or further processed products as burger, nuggets, frankfurter and meat paste loaf. samples were collected in triplicate for sensory, chemical and microbiological analysis to assure their quality and safety. the obtained results revealed variation in chemical composition; some products with high ... | 2009 | 23961056 |
| safety and quality of some chicken meat products in al-ahsa markets-saudi arabia. | one hundred samples of 10 poultry meat products were collected from al-ahsa markets (kingdom of saudi arabia). the samples were ranked from carcass cuts (chilled, frozen, fillet and thigh) to minced meat or further processed products as burger, nuggets, frankfurter and meat paste loaf. samples were collected in triplicate for sensory, chemical and microbiological analysis to assure their quality and safety. the obtained results revealed variation in chemical composition; some products with high ... | 2009 | 23961056 |
| highly stereoselective synthesis of alpha-d-mannopyranosyl phosphosugars. | alpha-mannopyranosyl phosphosugars are obtained in 61-90% yields from 4,6-o-benzylidene-protected mannosyl thioglycosides bearing ester functionality in the 3-o-position by coupling reactions with ammonium salts of phosphosugars on activation with 1-benzenesulfinyl piperidine, 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylpyrimidine, and trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride. due to the presence of the disarming ester group, only the formation of the alpha-isomer was observed. | 2009 | 19924835 |
| a woman with forearm amyotrophy. | we present the case of a 33-year-old woman with benign sporadic monomelic amyotrophy of the distal part of the arm, called hirayama disease. clinical features included forearm amyotrophy sparing the brachioradialis muscle, cold paresis and causalgia. neck magnetic resonance imaging was normal in neutral and flexion position. electromyography showed denervated patterns in the extensor digitorum communis, and conduction studies ruled out multifocal motor neuropathy. motor evoked potentials were no ... | 2009 | 22171230 |
| disruption of occludin function in polarized epithelial cells activates the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis leading to cell extrusion without loss of transepithelial resistance. | occludin is a tetraspanin protein normally localized to tight junctions. the protein interacts with a variety of pathogens including viruses and bacteria, an interaction that sometimes leads to its extrajunctional localization. | 2009 | 20003227 |
| use of pcr-rflp of the fla a gene for detection and subtyping of campylobacter jejuni strains potentially related to guillain-barré syndrome, isolated from humans and animals. | the objectives of the present study were the subtyping of campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni strains obtained from humans and different animal species using pcr-rflp, and the detection, by means of the same technique, of strains related to serotype pen o19:lio 7, the main c. jejuni serotype linked to guillain-barré syndrome (gbs). seventy c. jejuni strains isolated from human feces (n=33), primates (n=15), dogs (n=5), swine (n=2), bovines (n=1), abortion material from goats (n=2) and poultry car ... | 2009 | 24031446 |
| current proposed mechanisms of action of intravenous immunoglobulins in inflammatory neuropathies. | intravenous immunoglobulins (ivig) have been shown in a number of trials, to be an effective treatment for the three main types of inflammatory neuropathies: guillain-barré syndrome (gbs), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (cidp), and multifocal motor neuropathy (mmn). ivig is thought to exert its immunomodulatory effects by affecting several components of the immune system including b-cells, t-cells, macrophages, complement, cytokines and cellular adhesion molecules. this articl ... | 2009 | 20514213 |
| rapid comparison of protein binding site surfaces with property encoded shape distributions. | patterns in shape and property distributions on the surface of binding sites are often conserved across functional proteins without significant conservation of the underlying amino-acid residues. to explore similarities of these sites from the viewpoint of a ligand, a sequence and fold-independent method was created to rapidly and accurately compare binding sites of proteins represented by property-mapped triangulated gauss-connolly surfaces. within this paradigm, signatures for each binding sit ... | 2009 | 19919089 |
| clinical applications of intravenous immunoglobulins in neurology. | intravenous immunoglobulin (ivig) is used increasingly in the management of patients with neurological conditions. the efficacy and safety of ivig treatment in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (cidp) and guillain-barré syndrome (gbs) have been established clearly in randomized controlled trials and summarized in cochrane systematic reviews. however, questions remain regarding the dose, timing and duration of ivig treatment in both disorders. reports about successful ivig ... | 2009 | 19883422 |
| nuclear magnetic resonance structural characterization of substrates bound to the alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase, st6gal-i. | the alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase (st6gal-i) is a key enzyme that regulates the distribution of sialic acid-containing molecules on mammalian cell surfaces. however, the fact that its native form is membrane-bound and glycosylated has made structural characterization by x-ray crystallography of this eukaryotic protein difficult. its large size ( approximately 40 kda for just the catalytic domain) also poses a challenge for complete structure determination by nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr). howev ... | 2009 | 19845399 |