Korean Red Ginseng Improves Blood Pressure Stability in Patients with Intradialytic Hypotension

Introduction. Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is a common complication during hemodialysis which may increase mortality risks. Low dose of Korean red ginseng (KRG) has been reported to increase blood pressure. Whether KRG can improve hemodynamic stability during hemodialysis has not been examined. Methods. The 8-week study consisted of two phases: observation phase and active treatment phase. According to prehemodialysis blood pressure (BP), 38 patients with IDH were divided into group A (BP ≥ 140/90 mmHg, n = 18) and group B (BP < 140/90 mmHg, n = 20). Patients were instructed to chew 3.5 gm KRG slices at each hemodialysis session during the 4-week treatment phase. Blood pressure changes, number of sessions disturbed by symptomatic IDH, plasma levels of vasoconstrictors, blood biochemistry, and adverse effects were recorded. Results. KRG significantly reduced the degree of blood pressure drop during hemodialysis (P < 0.05) and the frequency of symptomatic IDH (P < 0.05). More activation of vasoconstrictors (endothelin-1 and angiotensin II) during hemodialysis was found. The postdialytic levels of endothelin-1 and angiotensin II increased significantly (P < 0.01). Conclusion. Chewing KRG renders IDH patients better resistance to acute BP reduction during hemodialysis via activation of vasoconstrictors. Our results suggest that KRG could be an adjuvant treatment for IDH

Predicting the Severity and Prognosis of Trismus after Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Oral Cancer Patients by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

To develop magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicators to predict trismus outcome for post-operative oral cavity cancer patients who received adjuvant intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), 22 patients with oral cancer treated with IMRT were studied over a two-year period. Signal abnormality scores (SA scores) were computed from Likert-type ratings of the abnormalities of nine masticator structures and compared with the Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal–Wallis one-way ANOVA test between groups. Seventeen patients (77.3%) experienced different degrees of trismus during the two-year follow-up period. The SA score correlated with the trismus grade (r = 0.52, p<0.005). Patients having progressive trismus had higher mean doses of radiation to multiple structures, including the masticator and lateral pterygoid muscles, and the parotid gland (p<0.05). In addition, this group also had higher SA-masticator muscle dose product at 6 months and SA scores at 12 months (p<0.05). At the optimum cut-off points of 0.38 for the propensity score, the sensitivity was 100% and the specificity was 93% for predicting the prognosis of the trismus patients. The SA score, as determined using MRI, can reflect the radiation injury and correlate to trismus severity. Together with the radiation dose, it could serve as a useful biomarker to predict the outcome and guide the management of trismus following radiation therapy

Exponential ATP amplification through simultaneous regeneration from AMP and pyrophosphate for luminescence detection of bacteria

a b s t r a c t Bacteria monitoring is essential for many industrial manufacturing processes, particularly those involving in food, biopharmaceuticals, and semiconductor production. Firefly luciferase ATP luminescence assay is a rapid and simple bacteria detection method. However, the detection limit of this assay for Escherichia coli is approximately 10 4 colony-forming units (CFU), which is insufficient for many applications. This study aims to improve the assay sensitivity by simultaneous conversion of PP i and AMP, two products of the luciferase reaction, back to ATP to form two chain-reaction loops. Because each consumed ATP continuously produces two new ATP molecules, this approach can achieve exponential amplification of ATP. Two consecutive enzyme reactions were employed to regenerate AMP into ATP: adenylate kinase converting AMP into ADP using UTP as the energy source, and acetate kinase catalyzing acetyl phosphate and ADP into ATP. The PP i -recycling loop was completed using ATP sulfurylase and adenosine 5 0 phosphosulfate. The modification maintains good quantification linearity in the ATP luminescence assay and greatly increases its bacteria detection sensitivity. This improved method can detect bacteria concentrations of fewer than 10 CFU. This exponential ATP amplification assay will benefit bacteria monitoring in public health and manufacturing processes that require high-quality water. Ó 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Bacteria monitoring is essential for many industrial manufacturing processes, and particularly those involving food, semiconductors, and biopharmaceuticals. The presence of bacteria reduces production yield and may cause serious health problems in humans. Researchers have developed several rapid assays for detecting bacteria in water. These methods include polymerase chain reactions, fluorescence in situ hybridization [1], b-D-glucuronidase activity measurement The ATP luminescence assay is a rapid, sensitive, and easy-toperform method based on the detection of ATP, a molecule ubiquitously present in all living cells. The enzyme luciferase catalyzes the oxidation of the substrate luciferin while transforming the energy derived from ATP into light, which can be quantified by a luminometer. This assay has been widely used in bacteria monitoring for food hygiene [4] and surface cleanliness The current detection limit of the ATP luminescence method for Escherichia coli is approximately 10 4 colony-forming units (CFU) 1 [12,13], which is not sensitive enough for many industrial and medical applications. Several approaches have been adopted to improve the assay sensitivity. The first strategy involves the identification of chemical extractants that can effectively disrupt bacterial cells while not interfering with the luminescence assay. Both dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) 0003-2697/$ -see front matter

Design of Diarylheptanoid Derivatives as Dual Inhibitors Against Class IIa Histone Deacetylase and β-amyloid Aggregation

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with multiple etiologies. Beta-amyloid (Aβ) self-aggregation and overexpression of class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs) are strongly implicated with AD pathogenesis. In this study, a series of novel diarylheptanoid derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for use as dual Aβ self-aggregation and class IIa HDAC inhibitors. Among these compounds, 4j, 5c, and 5e displayed effective inhibitions for Aβ self-aggregation, HDAC5 activity and HDAC7 activity with IC50 values of &lt;10 μM. The compounds contain three common features: (1) a catechol or pyrogallol moiety, (2) a carbonyl linker and (3) an aromatic ring that can function as an HDAC cap and create hydrophobic interactions with Aβ1-42. Furthermore, compounds 4j, 5c, and 5e showed no significant cytotoxicity to human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and also exhibited neuroprotective effect against H2O2-induced toxicity. Overall, these promising in vitro data highlighted compounds 4j, 5c, and 5e as lead compounds that are worthy for further investigation

Time-Resolved Transcriptome Analysis of Bacillus subtilis Responding to Valine, Glutamate, and Glutamine

Microorganisms can restructure their transcriptional output to adapt to environmental conditions by sensing endogenous metabolite pools. In this paper, an Agilent customized microarray representing 4,106 genes was used to study temporal transcript profiles of Bacillus subtilis in response to valine, glutamate and glutamine pulses over 24 h. A total of 673, 835, and 1135 amino-acid-regulated genes were identified having significantly changed expression at one or more time points in response to valine, glutamate, and glutamine, respectively, including genes involved in cell wall, cellular import, metabolism of amino-acids and nucleotides, transcriptional regulation, flagellar motility, chemotaxis, phage proteins, sporulation, and many genes of unknown function. Different amino acid treatments were compared in terms of both the global temporal profiles and the 5-minute quick regulations, and between-experiment differential genes were identified. The highlighted genes were analyzed based on diverse sources of gene functions using a variety of computational tools, including T-profiler analysis, and hierarchical clustering. The results revealed the common and distinct modes of action of these three amino acids, and should help to elucidate the specific signaling mechanism of each amino acid as an effector

Exploring the Development of Professional Competence in Nurse Practitioners in Taiwan

Background and purpose: Since the introduction of a certification examination in 2006, 6,414 nurse practitioners have been certified. Few studies of the professional competence of these nurse practitioners have been conducted, and none have been conducted in the past 8 years. The aim of this study was evaluate the development of professional competence of nurse practitioners in Taiwan. Methods: In-depth interviews of 11 nurse practitioners were conducted. Data were collected by purposive sampling. Theoretical sampling and grounded theory techniques were used in this qualitative analysis. Results: The development of professional competence in nurse practitioners included three stages, self-development motivation, professional development working as a nurse practitioner, and experiencing a sense of achievement as a nurse practitioner. The core category was identified as being a mature, competent nurse practitioner. Discussion: During their clinical practice, nurse practitioners should be informed well in advance of inservice training. Development of learning guidelines is recommended to overcome a lack of continuing education in practical nursing areas. Most nurse practitioners stated that they did not receive adequate pre-employment training and that they learned to adapt to practice on their own. Future efforts should include implementation of online courses conducted by experienced nurse practitioners discussing the essential knowledge and skills that individuals should have before beginning work a nurse practitioner or following their transition to practice. The goal would be to help in the development of professional competence

Identification and Characterization of the Bacillus thuringiensis phaZ Gene, Encoding New Intracellular Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate Depolymerase

A gene that codes for a novel intracellular poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) depolymerase has now been identified in the genome of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis ATCC 35646. This gene, previously annotated as a hypothetical 3-oxoadipate enol-lactonase (PcaD) gene and now designated phaZ, encodes a protein that shows no significant similarity with any known PHB depolymerase. Purified His-tagged PhaZ could efficiently degrade trypsin-activated native PHB granules as well as artificial amorphous PHB granules and release 3-hydroxybutyrate monomer as a hydrolytic product, but it could not hydrolyze denatured semicrystalline PHB. In contrast, purified His-tagged PcaD of Pseudomonas putida was unable to degrade trypsin-activated native PHB granules and artificial amorphous PHB granules. The B. thuringiensis PhaZ was inactive against p-nitrophenylpalmitate, tributyrin, and triolein. Sonication supernatants of the wild-type B. thuringiensis cells exhibited a PHB-hydrolyzing activity in vitro, whereas those prepared from a phaZ mutant lost this activity. The phaZ mutant showed a higher PHB content than the wild type at late stationary phase of growth in a nutrient-rich medium, indicating that this PhaZ can function as a PHB depolymerase in vivo. PhaZ contains a lipase box-like sequence (G-W-S(102)-M-G) but lacks a signal peptide. A purified His-tagged S102A variant had lost the PHB-hydrolyzing activity. Taken together, these results indicate that B. thuringiensis harbors a new type of intracellular PHB depolymerase

Identification of Somatic Mutations in the von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) Gene in a Patient With Renal Cell Carcinoma

One of the known causal molecular events in renal cell carcinoma is somatic mutation in the von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) gene. Our study describes a 51-year-old Taiwanese man who had bilateral renal cell carcinoma. The patient underwent radical nephrectomy without postoperative chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and is still alive after renal transplantation without tumor recurrence after > 5 years. To clarify his predisposition for bilateral tumors, we performed molecular genetic analysis of the VHL gene in this study. Polymerase chain reaction–single-strand conformation polymorphism and direct sequencing were performed on DNA of blood samples and paraffin-embedded tumor specimens from this patient. DNA from peripheral blood lymphocytes tested negative for germline mutations. However, there were two heterozygous alleles in the promoter and 3′ untranslated regions of this gene. Nonetheless, the DNA from his tumors showed loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in these two loci. In addition to the LOH, we identified some different somatic mutations in his tumor tissues: C287T and G460A in the right-sided tumor, and G244A and G390A in the left-sided tumor. The possible roles of these genetic polymorphisms and point mutations in his renal tumorigenesis are discussed. This report provides new insights into renal cell carcinoma that result from VHL gene alterations in Taiwan