Lichen planus of uterine cervix - the first report of a novel site of occurrence: a case report

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Where to from here? A quality improvement project investigating burns treatment and rehabilitation practices in India

Abstract Objective To describe the capacity of the Indian healthcare system in providing appropriate and effective burns treatment and rehabilitation services. Results Health professionals involved in burns treatment or rehabilitation at seven hospitals from four states in India were invited to participate in consultative meetings. Existing treatment and rehabilitation strategies, barriers and enablers to patient flow across the continuum of care and details on inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation were discussed during the meetings. Seventeen health professionals from various clinical backgrounds were involved in the consultation process. Key themes highlighted (a) a lack of awareness on burn first aid at the community level, (b) a lack of human resource to treat burn injuries in hospital settings, (c) a gap in burn care training for medical staff, (d) poor hospital infrastructure and (e) a variation in treatment practices and rehabilitation services available between hospitals. A number of opportunities exist to improve burns treatment and rehabilitation in India. Improvements would most effectively be achieved through promoting multidisciplinary care across a number of facilities and service providers. Further research is required to develop context-specific burn care models, determining how these can be integrated into the Indian healthcare system

Differential activation of JNK1 isoforms by TRAIL receptors modulate apoptosis of colon cancer cell lines

Tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces apoptosis on binding to its receptors, death receptor 4 and 5 (DR4, DR5). TRAIL can also activate c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) through the adaptor molecules, TNF receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) and receptor-interacting protein (RIP). The role of JNK in TRAIL-induced tumour cell apoptosis is unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that JNK is activated by TRAIL in colon cancer cells. Inhibition of JNK with L-JNKI reduced rhTRAIL-induced cell death but enhanced cell death induced by selective activation of DR4 or DR5. This difference was unrelated to receptor internalisation or differential activation of c-Jun, but activation of different JNK isoforms. Our data demonstrate that JNK1, but not JNK2 is activated by rhTRAIL in the examined colon cancer cell lines. Although rhTRAIL activated both the long and short isoforms of JNK1, selective activation of DR4 or DR5 led to predominant activation of the short JNK1 isoforms (JNK1α1 and/or JNK1β1). Knockdown of JNK1α1 by shRNA enhanced apoptosis induced by TRAIL, agonistic DR4 or DR5 antibodies. On the other hand, knockdown of the long JNK1 isoforms (JNK1α2 and JNK1β2) had the opposite effect; it reduced TRAIL-induced cell death. These data indicate that the short JNK1 isoforms transmit an antiapoptotic signal, whereas the long isoforms (JNK1α2 or JNK1β2) act in a proapoptotic manner

Sub-Sets of Cancer Stem Cells Differ Intrinsically in Their Patterns of Oxygen Metabolism

PMCID: PMC3640080This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Development of a new model for rotator cuff pathology: the rabbit subscapularis muscle

Background and purpose The New Zealand white rabbit subscapularis tendon passes under a bony arch to insert on the lesser tubercle of the humerus in a manner analogous to the supraspinatus tendon in humans. We assessed whether this unique anatomy may provide a new animal model of the shoulder to improve our understanding of rotator cuff pathology

Haptoglobin Phenotype, Preeclampsia Risk and the Efficacy of Vitamin C and E Supplementation to Prevent Preeclampsia in a Racially Diverse Population

Haptoglobin's (Hp) antioxidant and pro-angiogenic properties differ between the 1-1, 2-1, and 2-2 phenotypes. Hp phenotype affects cardiovascular disease risk and treatment response to antioxidant vitamins in some non-pregnant populations. We previously demonstrated that preeclampsia risk was doubled in white Hp 2-1 women, compared to Hp 1-1 women. Our objectives were to determine whether we could reproduce this finding in a larger cohort, and to determine whether Hp phenotype influences lack of efficacy of antioxidant vitamins in preventing preeclampsia and serious complications of pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH). This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial in which 10,154 low-risk women received daily vitamin C and E, or placebo, from 9-16 weeks gestation until delivery. Hp phenotype was determined in the study prediction cohort (n = 2,393) and a case-control cohort (703 cases, 1,406 controls). The primary outcome was severe PAH, or mild or severe PAH with elevated liver enzymes, elevated serum creatinine, thrombocytopenia, eclampsia, fetal growth restriction, medically indicated preterm birth or perinatal death. Preeclampsia was a secondary outcome. Odds ratios were estimated by logistic regression. Sampling weights were used to reduce bias from an overrepresentation of women with preeclampsia or the primary outcome. There was no relationship between Hp phenotype and the primary outcome or preeclampsia in Hispanic, white/other or black women. Vitamin supplementation did not reduce the risk of the primary outcome or preeclampsia in women of any phenotype. Supplementation increased preeclampsia risk (odds ratio 3.30; 95% confidence interval 1.61-6.82, p<0.01) in Hispanic Hp 2-2 women. Hp phenotype does not influence preeclampsia risk, or identify a subset of women who may benefit from vitamin C and E supplementation to prevent preeclampsia

A multipurpose immobilized biocatalyst with pectinase, xylanase and cellulase activities

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of immobilized enzymes for catalyzing various biotransformations is now a widely used approach. In recent years, cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) have emerged as a novel and versatile biocatalyst design. The present work deals with the preparation of a CLEA from a commercial preparation, Pectinex™ Ultra SP-L, which contains pectinase, xylanase and cellulase activities. The CLEA obtained could be used for any of the enzyme activities. The CLEA was characterized in terms of kinetic parameters, thermal stability and reusability in the context of all the three enzyme activities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Complete precipitation of the three enzyme activities was obtained with n-propanol. When resulting precipitates were subjected to cross-linking with 5 mM glutaraldehyde, the three activities initially present (pectinase, xylanase and cellulase) were completely retained after cross-linking. The V_max/K_mvalues were increased from 11, 75 and 16 to 14, 80 and 19 in case of pectinase, xylanase and cellulase activities respectively. The thermal stability was studied at 50°C, 60°C and 70°C for pectinase, xylanase and cellulase respectively. Half-lives were improved from 17, 22 and 32 minutes to 180, 82 and 91 minutes for pectinase, xylanase and cellulase respectively. All three of the enzymes in CLEA could be reused three times without any loss of activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A single multipurpose biocatalyst has been designed which can be used for carrying out three different and independent reactions; 1) hydrolysis of pectin, 2) hydrolysis of xylan and 3) hydrolysis of cellulose. The preparation is more stable at higher temperatures as compared to the free enzymes.</p

Heroes and villains of world history across cultures

© 2015 Hanke et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedEmergent properties of global political culture were examined using data from the World History Survey (WHS) involving 6,902 university students in 37 countries evaluating 40 figures from world history. Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis techniques found only limited forms of universality in evaluations across Western, Catholic/Orthodox, Muslim, and Asian country clusters. The highest consensus across cultures involved scientific innovators, with Einstein having the most positive evaluation overall. Peaceful humanitarians like Mother Theresa and Gandhi followed. There was much less cross-cultural consistency in the evaluation of negative figures, led by Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein. After more traditional empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis) failed to identify meaningful cross-cultural patterns, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify four global representational profiles: Secular and Religious Idealists were overwhelmingly prevalent in Christian countries, and Political Realists were common in Muslim and Asian countries. We discuss possible consequences and interpretations of these different representational profiles.This research was supported by grant RG016-P-10 from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (http://www.cckf.org.tw/). Religion Culture Entropy China Democracy Economic histor