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BACKGROUND: Deposits of aggregated amyloid-β protein (Aβ) are a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus, one therapeutic strategy is to eliminate these deposits by halting Aβ aggregation. While a variety of possible aggregation inhibitors have been explored, only nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit promise at low substoichiometric ratios. With tunable size, shape, and surface properties, NPs present an ideal platform for rationally designed Aβ aggregation inhibitors. In this study, we characterized the inhibitory capabilities of gold nanospheres exhibiting different surface coatings and diameters...

BACKGROUND: Takotsubo syndrome is a form of acute, reversible heart failure that has gained increasing attention. It affects mostly postmenopausal women, and its acute onset and symptoms mimic acute myocardial infarction. The distinct feature of takotsubo syndrome is the ballooning of a ventricle, but the complete pathophysiological mechanisms are not fully understood. Both short-term and long-term survival are affected, but little is known about the illness experience and self-reported residual symptoms after discharge from hospital...

The National Cancer Institute clinical cooperative groups have been instrumental over the past 50 years in developing clinical trials and evidence-based process improvements for clinical oncology patient care. The cooperative groups are undergoing a transformation process as we further integrate molecular biology into personalized patient care and move to incorporate international partners in clinical trials. To support this vision, data acquisition and data management informatics tools must become both nimble and robust to support transformational research at an enterprise level...

We calculate partition coefficients of various chain anchors in liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered phases utilizing a theoretical model of a bilayer membrane containing cholesterol, dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine, and dioleoylphosphatidylcholine. The partition coefficients are calculated as a function of chain length, degree of saturation, and temperature. Partitioning depends on the difference between the lipid environments of the coexisting phases in which the anchors are embedded. Consequently, the partition coefficient depends on the nature of the anchor, and on the relative compositions of the coexisting phases...

Reversible protein phosphorylation plays a pivotal role in the regulation of cellular signaling pathways. Current approaches in phosphoproteomics focus on analysis of the global phosphoproteome in a single cellular state or of receptor stimulation time course experiments, often with a restricted number of time points. Although these studies have provided some insights into newly discovered phosphorylation sites that may be involved in pathways, they alone do not provide enough information to make precise predictions of the placement of individual phosphorylation events within a signaling pathway...

Protein-only (prion) epigenetic elements confer unique phenotypes by adopting alternate conformations that specify new traits. Given the conformational flexibility of prion proteins, protein-only inheritance requires efficient self-replication of the underlying conformation. To explore the cellular regulation of conformational self-replication and its phenotypic effects, we analyzed genetic interactions between [PSI(+)], a prion form of the S. cerevisiae Sup35 protein (Sup35([PSI+])), and the three N(alpha)-acetyltransferases, NatA, NatB, and NatC, which collectively modify approximately 50% of yeast proteins...

Metamaterials are artificially engineered structures that have properties, such as a negative refractive index, not attainable with naturally occurring materials. Negative-index metamaterials (NIMs) were first demonstrated for microwave frequencies, but it has been challenging to design NIMs for optical frequencies and they have so far been limited to optically thin samples because of significant fabrication challenges and strong energy dissipation in metals. Such thin structures are analogous to a monolayer of atoms, making it difficult to assign bulk properties such as the index of refraction...

Current constant pressure molecular-dynamics (MD) algorithms are not consistent with the recent reformulation of the isothermal-isobaric (NpT) ensemble. The NpT ensemble partition function requires the use of a "shell" molecule to identify uniquely the volume of the system, thereby avoiding the redundant counting of configurations [e.g., G. J. M. Koper and H. Reiss, J. Phys. Chem. 100, 422 (1996); D. S. Corti, Phys. Rev. E, 64, 016128 (2001)]. So far, only the NpT Monte Carlo method has been updated to allow the system volume to be defined by a shell particle [D...

Ergonomic job analysis, intervention design, and intervention implementation are essential components of an ergonomics program designed to reduce worker exposure to risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders. As part of a 4-year study to reduce overexertion injuries in the service parts division of a major automaker, intervention case studies were identified that could be used at multiple facilities across the division. Interventions were developed and implemented. The three case studies include 1) self-elevating powered vehicle for transporting parts throughout the facility and for reaching to high bin locations; 2) lift and tilt pallet jacks for packing small parts into large bin-like containers; and 3) single-level telescoping conveyor used for delivering hand-held totes for subsequent sorting operations...

A method is presented for checking the treatment time calculation for high dose rate (HDR) vaginal cylinder treatments. The method represents an independent check of the HDR planning system and can take into account nonuniform isodose line coverage around the cylinder. Only the air kerma strength of the source and information that is available from the written directive are required. The maximum discrepancy for a representative set of cylinder plans done on a Nucletron unit was 5%. A working HTML JavaScript program is included in the Appendix...

PURPOSE: A two-step procedure is described for accurate planning of stereotactic brain implants prior to head-ring fixation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Approximately 2 weeks prior to implant a CT scan without the head ring is performed for treatment-planning purposes. An entry point and a reference point, both marked with barium and later tattooed, facilitate planning and permit correlation of the images with a later CT scan. A plan is generated using a conventional treatment-planning system to determine the number and activity of I-125 seeds required and the position of each catheter...

Thirty subjects drove screws into perforated sheet metal mounted on a horizontal surface using three air-powered tools that varied in shape (right-angle, in-line, and pistol-shaped). The four horizontal work locations ranged from 13-88 cm in front of the body and were placed at 25 cm intervals. The vertical placement of the horizontal beam was at midthigh, elbow, and midchest height. Subjects drove 25 screws at each tool/work location combination before rating that condition using the Borg 10-point ratio rating scale...

Eighteen subjects drove screws with air-powered tools into perforated sheet metal at three vertical and two horizontal work locations using three different work paces (8, 10, and 12 screws/min). Subjects drove screws with a pistol-shaped tool on the vertical orientation at knee, elbow, and shoulder height. They used an in-line tool to drive screws on the horizontal surface. A horizontal beam was placed just below each subject's elbow height and they drove screws into it with the lower arm perpendicular to the torso and with the arms fully extended...

Review of 475 cases of diverticular disease of the colon emphasized needs to stratify patients into clinical categories. Of 223 cases of diverticulosis coli, had significant colonic complaints which received no attention. Of 198 emergency admissions for acute diverticulitis, only 16 required emergency surgery. Resection in the face of serious peritonitis is not advisable. Twenty-seven elective resections gave excellent results. Three subtotal colectomies were successfully done for major bleeding. Final focus was on determination of therapy groups: medical, surgery advisable, and surgery inevitable...

A method has been developed to measure total-body oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon in vivo using the x-ray beam of a 45-MV betatron and a whole-body counter. Following x-ray irradiation of living tissue, the positron emitting activation products 15O, 11C, and 13N are produced. The decay of these radionuclides has been measured in both phantoms and animals, and a computer curve-fitting algorithm used to resolve the decay curve into separate contributions from 15O, 11C, and 13N. The decay curve was corrected for interfering activity from 30P, 38K, and 34mCl, and in the case of live animals, also corrected for a substantial fraction of 11C lost through exhalation...

The synthesis of racemic or enantiomeric N-[methyl-11C]nomifensine (1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-[11C]methyl-4-phenyl-8-isoquinolinamine), a potential ligand for the evaluation of monoamine re-uptake sites at the presynaptic dopaminergic terminals, using the appropriate N-desmethylcompounds and [11C]methyl iodide is described. The radiochemical conversion of [11C]methyl iodide to [11C]nomifensine was in the order of 85-95%. Radiochemical purity of the LC-purified radiopharmaceutical was in the order of 98-99%. In a typical run, starting with 120 mCi (4...

Seven vertical locations were rated after 36 subjects drove 25 No. 6 sheet metal screws into 18-gauge perforated sheet metal (hole size of 0.28 cm) with an air-powered pistol-shaped screwdriver at each location. The seven vertical heights ranged from 38 to 191 cm. Subjects rated each level using three psychophysical scales and were asked to imagine that they were assembly line workers required to drive screws at that work location using that particular tool for 8 hr. The three scales were the Borg 10-point ratio rating scale and two visual analogue scales...

Trends in the incidence of HIV/AIDS infection among women in Sub-Saharan Africa suggest this population is increasingly at risk. Many of the same factors that have predisposed rural African women to ill health in the past now increase their vulnerability to AIDS, including poverty and malnutrition, uncontrolled fertility, and complications of childbirth. As men travel out from rural communities to urban centers in search of employment, their sexual contacts multiply; many will acquire the HIV virus and carry it back to infect wives at home...

Tissue reaction to sutures was studied in 666 specimens obtained from patients from one day to 23 years after operation. Reaction to catgut depends on the stage of absorption and is mainly histocytic in type. Nonabsorbable sutures are encapsulated by a rim of connective tissue, while near the suture histocytes, giant cells and lymphocytes are found. This is most marked with silk and cotton, less so with Dacron, and least with nylon and wire. Tissue infiltration into the suture interstics is variable. The reactions resemble the findings in experimental animals...