19 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
A demonstration of 'broken' visual space
It has long been assumed that there is a distorted mapping between real and âperceivedâ space, based on demonstrations of systematic errors in judgements of slant, curvature, direction and separation. Here, we have applied a direct test to the notion of a coherent visual space. In an immersive virtual environment, participants judged the relative distance of two squares displayed in separate intervals. On some trials, the virtual scene expanded by a factor of four between intervals although, in line with recent results, participants did not report any noticeable change in the scene. We found that there was no consistent depth ordering of objects that can explain the distance matches participants made in this environment (e.g. A > B > D yet also A < C < D) and hence no single one-to-one mapping between participantsâ perceived space and any real 3D environment. Instead, factors that affect pairwise comparisons of distances dictate participantsâ performance. These data contradict, more directly than previous experiments, the idea that the visual system builds and uses a coherent 3D internal representation of a scene
Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease
BACKGROUND:
Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes.
METHODS:
We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization.
RESULTS:
During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events.
CONCLUSIONS:
Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)
Sexual aspects of shared decision making and prehabilitation in men diagnosed with prostate cancer
This article addresses sexual aspects of two related HCP-roles in the period between a diagnosis of prostate cancer (PC) and the start of treatment. First, the âlovemap-perspectiveâ is used to fine-tune the process of shared decision making. Then sexual prehabilitation is explored in detail, in the belief that better sexual function before starting treatment is more likely to lead to better post-treatment outcomes. Recommendations will be shared on further development of sexual prehabilitation approaches
A copper(I) protein possibly involved in the assembly of Cu(A) center of bacterial cytochrome c oxidase
Sco1 and Cox17 are accessory proteins required for the correct assembly of eukaryotic cytochrome c oxidase. At variance with Sco1, Cox17 orthologs are found only in eukaryotes. We browsed bacterial genomes to search proteins functionally equivalent to Cox17, and we identified a class of proteins of unknown function displaying a conserved gene neighborhood to bacterial Sco1 genes, all sharing a potential metal binding motif H(M)X(10)MX(21)HXM. Two members of this group, DR1885 from Deinococcus radiodurans and CC3502 from Caulobacter crescentus, were expressed, and their interaction with copper was investigated. The solution structure and extended x-ray absorption fine structure data on the former protein reveal that the protein binds copper(I) through a histidine and three Mets in a cupredoxin-like fold. The surface location of the copper-binding site as well as the type of coordination are well poised for metal transfer chemistry, suggesting that DR1885 might transfer copper, taking the role of Cox17 in bacteria. On the basis of our results, a possible pathway for copper delivery to the Cu(A) center in bacteria is proposed