Background: Inotropic and myocardial anti-ischemic effects have been demonstrated with levosimendan. The comparison of levosimendan started before an ischemia-reperfusion event as compared with levosimendan started during ischemia has not been studied. Methods: In anesthetized pigs, a major branch of the circumflex artery was completely occluded for 30 min and then reperfused. The metabolism in th

Eosinophils participate in allergic inflammation and may have roles in the bodys defense against helminthic infestation. Even under noninflammatory conditions, eosinophils are present in the mucosa of the large intestine, where large numbers of gram-negative bacteria reside. Therefore, roles for eosinophils in host defenses against bacterial invasion are possible. In a system for bacterial viable

Residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) have proven to be a valuable NMR tool that can provide long-range constraints for molecular structure determination. The constraints are orientational in nature and are, thus, highly complementary to conventional distance constraints from NOE data. This complementarity would seem to extend to the study of the geometry of ligands bound to proteins. However, unlike

Rabbit, horse, rat, and chicken immunoglobulin G (IgG); rabbit, horse, and goat IgG Fc fragments; rabbit and chicken F(ab')2 fragments, and rat and chicken gamma globulins, in concentrations of 5 and 10 mg/ml, were able to reduce virus production 10- to 10,000-fold when incubated with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)-infected GMK AH1 cells. When the ability of the purified IgGs and gamma globul

Photoreceptor cells of vertebrate eyes are fundamentally different from those of invertebrate eyes. New work on the brain of a ragworm now suggests that ancestral bilaterians possessed both types of photoreceptor cell.

Previous studies have demonstrated that in admixed populations, West African ancestry is associated with an increased prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In the current study, the effect of Amerindian ancestry in SLE was examined in an admixed population in Argentina. The Argentine population is predominantly European with approximately 20% Amerindian admixture, and a very small (

Based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) utilizing degenerate primers directed to the second and sixth transmembrane domains of several G-protein-coupled neurotransmitter receptors and screening of a human B-lymphoblast cDNA library, we isolated a cDNA whose predicted amino acid sequence shows considerable homology with human chemoattractant receptors, e.g., 30% overall identity with the C5a anaph

Low-copy repeats (LCRs) are genomic features that affect chromosome stability and can produce disease-associated rearrangements. We describe members of three families with deletions in 10q22.3-q23.31, a region harboring a complex set of LCRs, and demonstrate that rearrangements in this region are associated with behavioral and neurodevelopmental abnormalities, including cognitive impairment, autis

By using the shake-flask procedure, the distribution ratios (D) at infinite dilution and 298.1 K of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) between room-temperature ionic liquids, 1-alkyl-3-methylimiazolium hexafluorophosphates ([CnMIM] [PF6], n = 4 and 8), and water were determined. The log D values are in the range of 3.34-4.36, which increased very slowly with the molar mass of PAHs.

This article summarizes content proceedings of a symposium held at the 2004 International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism Congress in Mannheim, Germany. The chairs were Boris Tabakoff and Friedrich M. Wurst. The presentations were (1) Genetic associations with alcoholism and affective disorders, by Paula Hoffman; (2) Proteomic analysis of blood constituents in alcoholism, by Boris Ta

M proteins and other members of the M protein family, expressed on the surface of Streptococcus pyogenes, bind host proteins such as immunoglobulins, albumin, and fibrinogen. Protein H and the M1 protein are expressed by adjacent genes and both belong to the M protein family. In this work, the structure and stability of these two proteins have been investigated. As judged from sequence analysis an

The oxidation of the Pd(100) surface at oxygen pressures in the 10(-6) to 10(3) mbar range and temperatures up to 1000 K has been studied in situ by surface x-ray diffraction (SXRD). The results provide direct structural information on the phases present in the surface region and on the kinetics of the oxide formation. Depending on the (T,p) environmental conditions, we observe either a thin (root

Endo-@b-1,4-d-mannanases (@b-mannanase; EC 3.2.1.78) are endohydrolases that participate in the degradation of hemicellulose, which is closely associated with cellulose in plant cell walls. The @b-mannanase from Trichoderma reesei (Man5A) is composed of an N-terminal catalytic module and a C-terminal carbohydrate-binding module (CBM). In order to study the properties of the CBM, a construct encodi

Integrated models are inherently complex and often obscure to any but those who write them. Their usefulness can be greatly enhanced through well-structured, object-oriented design. A robust and computationally efficient Simulink/C++ library of optics, control, finite-element, and visualization routines for modeling radio telescope performance under various operating conditions is being developed

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that vascular disease contributes to cognitive impairment and dementia. Clarification of the role of vascular risk factors in dementia is important because most are modifiable, in contrast to other risk factors such as age and genetics. METHODS: In 451 patients with mental illness we have investigated three biochemical markers related to vascular disease, t

This article highlights health issues related to prostitution, with special reference to the situation in Europe. Strategies aimed at improving the health care of commercial sex workers, including programs for screening for sexually transmitted infections, are discussed. Problems related to failure to follow-up, particularly of mobile (migratory, international) commercial sex workers, are consider

Software process analysis and improvement relies heavily on empirical research. Empirical research requires measurement, experimentation, and modeling. Moreover, whatever evidence is gained via empirical research is strongly context dependent. Thus, it is hard to combine results and capitalize upon them in order to improve software development processes in evolving development environments. The pr

An alcohol-associated change in the serum transferrin glycoform pattern, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), is used as a biomarker of chronic moderate to heavy alcohol consumption. A current limitation in CDT analysis is the lack of standardization, which hampers clinical and analytical comparison between studies. This situation prompted initiation of a Working Group (WG) on CDT Standardiza

Calreticulin (CRT) is a multifunctional protein mainly localized to the endoplasmic reticulum in eukaryotic cells. Here, we present the first analysis, to our knowledge, of evolutionary diversity and expression profiling among different plant CRT isoforms. Phylogenetic studies and expression analysis show that higher plants contain two distinct groups of CRTs: a CRT1/CRT2 group and a CRT3 group. T