A prospective study on elderly patients with facial fractures in a developing country

Background: This paper describes the incidence, aetiology, treatment and complications of facial fractures seen among the elderly in a developing country. Methods: A prospective study evaluated 85 patients over 60 years of age who were diagnosed with facial fractures over a period of 12 months in 23 public hospitals nationwide. Results: The elderly accounted for 4.5% of the total number of patients seen with facial fractures during the study period. Elderly men outnumbered women by a ratio of 4.31:1. Of the elderly patients, 35.3% had at least one medical condition, the commonest of which was hypertension. Road traffic accidents were the main cause of injury. The fractures were treated in only 26.2% of cases. Complications were uncommon. Conclusions: With a low incidence, and conservative treatment often being practised, the healthcare burden of treating facial fractures among the elderly in Malaysia is at present still low.     

Design and synthesis of eugenol derivatives, as potent 15-lipoxygenase inhibitors

A group of 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol (eugenol) esters were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as potential inhibitors of soybean 15-lipoxygenase (SLO). Compounds 4c, 4d 4f, 4p, and 4q showed the best IC(50) in SLO inhibition (IC(50)=1.7, 2.3, 2.1, 2.2, and 0.017microM, respectively). All compounds were docked into SLO active site and showed that allyl group of compounds is oriented toward the iron atom in the active site of SLO. It is assumed that lipophilic interaction of ligand-enzyme would be in charge of inhibiting the enzyme activity. The selectivity of eugenol derivatives in inhibiting 15-HLOb was also compared with 15-HLOa by molecular modeling and multiple alignment techniques.     

Potent, selective MCH-1 receptor antagonists

This paper describes the lead optimization of a new series of potent, selective, orally bioavailable, brain-penetrant MCH-1 receptor antagonists. A major focus of the work was to achieve a selectivity profile appropriate for in vivo efficacy studies and safety.     

Polar secondary metabolites of Ferula persica roots

Phytochemical investigation of the methanolic extract of the dried roots of Ferula persica resulted in four sesquiterpene coumarin glycosides, persicaosides A-D, and two known phytosterol glucosides, sitosterol 3-O-beta-glucoside and stigmasterol 3-O-beta-glucoside. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods including 1D-((1)H and (13)C) and 2D NMR experiments (DQF-COSY, HSQC, HMBC, and ROESY) as well as ESIMS and TOFMS analyses.     

A single circuit-resistance exercise has no effect on plasma obestatin levels in female college students

Obestatin is a 23 amino acid peptide recently isolated from rat stomach that is encoded by the same gene as ghrelin. Obestatin has opposite action to ghrelin on food intake and plays a role in energy balance. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of a circuit-resistance exercise (9 exercises, 25s per exercise, at 40, 60, 80% of 1RM) at different intensities on plasma obestatin and growth hormone (GH). Twenty volunteer females were randomly divided into four; 40, 60, 80%, combined (40+80+80%) loads groups (COL). Blood samples were collected before and immediately following the exercise protocol. Changes in plasma obestatin levels were not significant within and between groups. Plasma GH concentrations were significantly higher in high and COL groups, respectively. The data indicate that although circuit-resistance exercise resulted in a significant change in GH levels, it had no effect on plasma obestatin levels.     

The optimal dose of CAF regimen in adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer patients at stage IIB

This paper deals with the idea of balancing drug effects on tumor and normal cell populations based on a variety of criteria, which is evaluated by the oncologist for breast cancer patients at stage IIB. In this paper, the optimal controller represents the optimal drug dosage of CAF (Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin and Fluorouracil) regimen in adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for these patients. We determined the doses of CAF regimen by minimizing a cost function with some constraints. The cost function includes the cancer cell and the normal cell growth dynamics with prescribed weighting coefficients for each patient. The physician determines these weighting coefficients based on some individual parameters. The optimal treatment schedules are computed based on a trade-off between the cancer cell reduction and the normal cell preserving. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the accuracy of the optimal controller.     

Amino acid residues outside of the pore region contribute to N-type calcium channel permeation

It is widely believed that the selectivity of voltage-dependent calcium channels is mainly controlled by amino acid residues contained within four p-loop motifs forming the pore of the channel. An examination of the amino acid sequences of high voltage-activated calcium channels reveals that their domain III S5-H5 regions contain a highly conserved motif with homology to known EF hand calcium binding proteins, hinting that this region may contribute to channel permeation. To test this hypothesis, we used site-directed mutagenesis to replace three conserved negatively charged residues in the N-type calcium channel alpha1B subunit (Glu-1321, Asp-1323, and Glu-1332) with positively charged amino acids (lysine and arginine) and studied their effect on ion selectivity using whole cell and single channel patch clamp recordings. Whereas the wild type channels conducted barium much more effectively than calcium, the mutant displayed nearly equal permeabilities for these two ions. Individual replacement of residue 1332 or a double substitution of residues 1321 and 1323 with lysine and arginine, respectively, were equally effective. Disruption of the putative EF hand motif through replacement of the central glycine residue (1326) with proline resulted in a similar effect, indicating that the responses observed with the triple mutant were not due to changes in the net charge of the channel. Overall, our data indicate that residues outside of the narrow region of the pore have the propensity to contribute to calcium channel permeation. They also raise the possibility that interactions of calcium ions with a putative calcium binding domain at the extracellular side of the channel may underlie the differential permeabilities of the channel for barium and calcium ions.     

Release of Ni and Co by microbial activity in New Caledonian ultramafic soils

A high positive correlation was found between extractable Ni and Co contents and microbial activity of 40 ultramafic soil samples from New Caledonia, suggesting a possible role of microorganisms in the release of these two metals. A saprolite (ultramafic subsoil) and a hypermagnesian brown soil were incubated 9 months in different conditions. Ni and Co release, measured by their extractability, occurred without reduction of soil pH but did not occur when the native microflora was eliminated by heat treatment. However, when autoclaved soil was re-inoculated with a pinch of the same nonheated soil, the release of metals was recorded. The concentrations of extractable Ni and Co were much higher in soils amended with organic compounds in which microbial activity was enhanced, but only if the soil was not heat treated. The presence of Grevillea exul, a metal-tolerant plant, stimulated the metal release process, but the stimulation was less effective than it was in the compost-amended soil without plant. The influence of the plant in extractable Ni and Co contents in this amended soil was not significant. The release of the two metals therefore seemed to be induced by the activity of specialized organotrophic microorganisms.     

In vitro and in vivo characterization of the minimal promoter region of the human thiamin transporter SLC19A2

The molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of thiamin transport in mammalian cells are poorly understood. Previous studies established that a human thiamin transporter, SLC19A2, plays a role in thiamin uptake in human tissues. We cloned the 5' regulatory region of the SLC19A2 gene, identified the minimal promoter required for basal activity, and located multiple putative cis elements. To further characterize the SLC19A2 promoter, we investigated, in the present study, the role of the putative cis elements in regulating the activity of the SLC19A2 promoter in vitro and confirmed the activity of the SLC19A2 promoter in vivo. In vitro studies demonstrated that mutation of specific cis elements in the SLC19A2 minimal promoter [Gut-enriched Krupple-like factor (GKLF), nuclear factor-1 (NF-1), and stimulating protein-1 (SP-1)] led to a decrease in activity. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays, four specific DNA/protein complexes were identified. The interacting factors were determined by oligonucleotide competition and antibody supershift analysis and shown to be GKLF, NF-1, and SP-1. Cotransfection studies of the SLC19A2 promoter with an SP-1 containing vector in Drosophila SL2 cells further confirmed a role for SP-1 in regulating SLC19A2 promoter activity. In vivo studies using transgenic mice established the functionality of the full-length and minimal SLC19A2 promoters. Furthermore, our studies revealed that the pattern of expression of the SLC19A2 promoter-Luciferase constructs in transgenic mice was similar to the reported SLC19A2 RNA expression pattern in native human tissues. The results demonstrate the importance of GKLF, NF-1, and SP-1 in regulating the activity of the SLC19A2 promoter and provide direct in vivo confirmation of promoter activity. promoter analysis in vitro and in vivo; thiamin transport; transgenic mice     

High frequency shoot regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated DNA transfer in Canola (Brassica napus)

Five different varieties of Brassica napus (Cyclone, Dunkled, Oscar, Rainbow and KS75) were tested for their regeneration response. Cyclone showed a very high frequency of regeneration (92%). The use of silver nitrate was a pre-requisite for efficient shoot regeneration. Hypocotyls were selected as the starting material for transformation experiments on the basis of high transient GUS expression. Explants were co-cultivated with Agrobacterium strain EHA101 harboring a binary vector pIG121Hm containing neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPTII) gene, conferring resistance to kanamycin, hygromycin phosphotransferase (HPT) gene, conferring resistance to hygromycin as selectable markers and -glucuronidase (GUS) gene as a reporter. Acetosyringone promoted the transformation but was not an absolute requirement. A pre-selection period of 7 days after co-cultivation was essential for successful transformation. Kanamycin was efficient selective agent for selection and maximum transformation efficiency was 24%. GUS activity was evident in leaf tissues. All the transgenic plants have an expected band of 0.43 kb fragment by PCR analysis confirming the presence of foreign DNA into plant genome.