Validation of rheumatoid arthritis diagnoses in health care utilization data

Introduction  

Health care utilization databases have been increasingly used for studies of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the accuracy of RA diagnoses in these data has been inconsistent.     

Pulmonary malignant granular cell tumor

Background  

Malignant granular cell tumor (MGCT) is a rare disease entity. Forty-one well-documented MGCTs have been reported in the world literature.     

Molecular cloning and tissue expression of the fatty acid-binding protein (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Es-FABP</Emphasis>) gene in female Chinese mitten crab (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eriocheir sinensis</Emphasis>)

Background  

Fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs), small cytosolic proteins that function in the uptake and utilization of fatty acids, have been extensively studied in higher vertebrates while invertebrates have received little attention despite similar nutritional requirements during periods of reproductive activity.     

Secretory carcinoma of breast in a 17-year-old male

Background  

Secretory carcinoma of the male breast (juvenile carcinoma) is a rare neoplasm. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature.     

Probe signal correction for differential methylation hybridization experiments

Background  

Non-biological signal (or noise) has been the bane of microarray analysis. Hybridization effects related to probe-sequence composition and DNA dye-probe interactions have been observed in differential methylation hybridization (DMH) microarray experiments as well as other effects inherent to the DMH protocol.     

PKQuest: a general physiologically based pharmacokinetic model. Introduction and application to propranolol

Background  

A "physiologically based pharmacokinetic" (PBPK) approach uses a realistic model of the animal to describe the pharmacokinetics. Previous PBPKs have been designed for specific solutes, required specification of a large number of parameters and have not been designed for general use.     

Alterations in peripheral blood memory B cells in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis are dependent on the action of tumour necrosis factor

Introduction  

Disturbances in peripheral blood memory B cell subpopulations have been observed in various autoimmune diseases, but have not been fully delineated in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Additionally, the possible role of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in regulating changes in specific peripheral blood memory B cell subsets in RA is still unclear.     

mRNA stability and the unfolding of gene expression in the long-period yeast metabolic cycle

Background  

In yeast, genome-wide periodic patterns associated with energy-metabolic oscillations have been shown recently for both short (approx. 40 min) and long (approx. 300 min) periods.     

Supramolecular assemblies of rifampicin and cationic bilayers: preparation,characterization and micobactericidal activity

Background  

Cationic bilayers based on the inexpensive synthetic lipid dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) have been useful as carriers for drug delivery, immunoadjuvants for vaccines and active antimicrobial agents.     

Abnormalities in circulating plasmacytoid dendritic cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Introduction  

Dendritic cells (DCs) are capable of inducing immunity or tolerance. Previous studies have suggested plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) are pathogenic in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the functional characteristics of directly isolated peripheral circulating blood pDCs in SLE have not been evaluated previously.     

The role of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) during ovarian follicular development in sheep

Background  

Recently, several members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily have been shown to be essential for regulating the growth and differentiation of ovarian follicles and thus fertility.     

The small molecule Mek1/2 inhibitor U0126 disrupts the chordamesoderm to notochord transition in zebrafish

Background  

Key molecules involved in notochord differentiation and function have been identified through genetic analysis in zebrafish and mice, but MEK1 and 2 have so far not been implicated in this process due to early lethality (Mek1-/-) and functional redundancy (Mek2-/-) in the knockout animals.     

Horse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells express embryo stem cell markers and show the ability for tenogenic differentiation by in vitro exposure to BMP-12

Background  

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been recently investigated for their potential use in regenerative medicine. MSCs, in particular, have great potential, as in various reports they have shown pluripotency for differentiating into many different cell types. However, the ability of MSCs to differentiate into tendon cells in vitro has not been fully investigated.     

Reporting randomised clinical trials of analgesics after traumatic or orthopaedic surgery is inadequate: a systematic review

Background  

Several randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of analgesics in postoperative pain after traumatic or orthopaedic surgery (TOS) have been published, but no studies have assessed the quality of these reports. We aimed to examine the quality of reporting RCTs on analgesics for postoperative pain after TOS.     

Isolation of Cronobacter spp. (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii) from infant food, herbs and environmental samples and the subsequent identification and confirmation of the isolates using biochemical, chromogenic assays, PCR and 16S rRNA sequencing

Background  

Cronobacter spp. (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii), are a group of Gram-negative pathogens that have been implicated as causative agents of meningitis and necrotizing enterocolitis in infants. The pathogens are linked to infant formula; however, they have also been isolated from a wide range of foods and environmental samples.     

Identification of peripheral inflammatory markers between normal control and Alzheimer's disease

Background  

Multiple pathogenic factors may contribute to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Peripheral blood markers have been used to assess biochemical changes associated with AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and involved in their pathophysiology.     

Structural and RNAi characterization of the German cockroach lipophorin receptor,and the evolutionary relationships of lipoprotein receptors

Background  

Lipophorin receptors (LpRs) have been described in a number of insects, but functional studies have been reported only in locusts and mosquitoes. The aim of the present work was to characterize the LpR of the cockroach Blattella germanica, not only molecularly but also functionally using RNAi techniques, and to place LpRs in a phylogenetical context among lipoprotein receptors.     

Transformation of SV40-immortalized human uroepithelial cells by 3-methylcholanthrene increases IFN- and Large T Antigen-induced transcripts

Background  

Simian Virus 40 (SV40) immortalization followed by treatment of cells with 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) has been used to elicit tumors in athymic mice. 3-MC carcinogenesis has been thoroughly studied, however gene-level interactions between 3-MC and SV40 that could have produced the observed tumors have not been explored. The commercially-available human uroepithelial cell lines were either SV40-immortalized (HUC) or SV40-immortalized and then 3-MC-transformed (HUC-TC).     

Identification of new,well-populated amino-acid sidechain rotamers involving hydroxyl-hydrogen atoms and sulfhydryl-hydrogen atoms

Background  

An important element in homology modeling is the use of rotamers to parameterize the sidechain conformation. Despite the many libraries of sidechain rotamers that have been developed, a number of rotamers have been overlooked, due to the fact that they involve hydrogen atoms.