Effects of Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Field on the Secondary Structures of β-Amyloid and Human Serum Albumin

Human serum albumin and β-amyloid were exposed to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic field of 1.5 mT intensity and 50 Hz frequency. The effects of exposure were investigated in the mid-infrared region by means of Fourier selfdeconvolution spectroscopic analysis. The experimental results suggest that exposure to the ELF magnetic field has reversible effects on the out of phase combination of N–H in plane bending and C–N stretching vibrations of the secondary structures of the two proteins. The exposure of β-amyloid and human serum albumin to ELF magnetic field affected the absorption spectra of the vibration bands by changes in peak positions for the amide II bands and changes of intensities in most of the bands in the amide I and amide II regions. In the fingerprint region, the most sensitive vibrations to the magnetic field are found to be in the (720-600) cm-I range. After removing the magnetic field, it took the vibration bands more than 10 minutes of a gradual change toward returning to their original spectra, obtained before the exposure. It is suggested that hydrogen bonds can alter the frequency of a stretching vibration depending on the increase or decrease of strain on the vibrations.This work is supported by the German Research Foundation DFG Grant No. DR228/24-2

A comprehensive introduction to the genetic basis of non-syndromic hearing loss in the Saudi Arabian population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hearing loss is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder. Mutations in the <it>DFNB1 </it>locus have been reported to be the most common cause of autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss worldwide. Apart from <it>DFNB1</it>, many other loci and their underlying genes have also been identified and the basis of our study was to provide a comprehensive introduction to the delineation of the molecular basis of non-syndromic hearing loss in the Saudi Arabian population. This was performed by screening <it>DFNB1 </it>and to initiate prioritized linkage analysis or homozygosity mapping for a pilot number of families in which <it>DFNB1 </it>has been excluded.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Individuals from 130 families of Saudi Arabian tribal origin diagnosed with an autosomal recessive non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss were screened for mutations at the <it>DFNB1 </it>locus by direct sequencing. If negative, genome wide linkage analysis or homozygosity mapping were performed using Affymetrix GeneChip^®Human Mapping 250K/6.0 Arrays to identify regions containing any known-deafness causing genes that were subsequently sequenced.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results strongly indicate that <it>DFNB1 </it>only accounts for 3% of non-syndromic hearing loss in the Saudi Arabian population of ethnic ancestry. Prioritized linkage analysis or homozygosity mapping in five separate families established that their hearing loss was caused by five different known-deafness causing genes thus confirming the genetic heterogeneity of this disorder in the kingdom.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The overall results of this study are highly suggestive that underlying molecular basis of autosomal recessive non-syndromic deafness in Saudi Arabia is very genetically heterogeneous. In addition, we report that the preliminary results indicate that there does not seem to be any common or more prevalent loci, genes or mutations in patients with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss in patients of Saudi Arabian tribal origin.</p

The impact of skin disorders on patients’ quality of life in Malaysia

Background: Skin diseases is a common worldwide problem. It affected every aspect of patients&rsquo; quality of life (QOL) mainly physically, socially and psychologically. Objectives: to assess the impact of skin disorders on patients&rsquo; quality of life and to identify factors associated with it. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in outpatient dermatology clinic of a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. A random sample of 145 patients with acne, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD) were interviewed using DLQI questionnaire during their scheduled follow-up appointments at dermatology clinic. Main outcome measure: Self-reported patients&rsquo; QOL due to their skin diseases. Results and discussion: Out of three skin diseases psoriasis patients had the highest prevalence (39.3%) followed by AD (34.5%) and acne (26.2%). Patients&rsquo; QOL was highly influenced by their skin conditions especially on working/schooling domain. Furthermore, several factors were identified, namely age, working environment, concurrent skin diseases, usage of supplement for skin diseases and type of food as aggravating factors&mdash;that may influence patients&rsquo; QOL. QOL among females and younger adults was found to be more significantly influenced as compared to males and elderly. With respect to working environment, those who had both indoor and outdoor working environment showed the highest impact of their skin conditions on their QOL. Single patients were more influenced by their skin conditions when compared to those who are married, however it was not significant. Conclusion: Our findings revealed skin disease had negatively impacted individual QOL with different level of aspects. Among the three diseases, AD patients had the worst impact on QOL. Significant predictors of QOL did not relate solely to skin diseases but also other factors such as type of food and working environment

Thigh-length compression stockings and DVT after stroke

Controversy exists as to whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in patients with invasive bladder cancer, despite randomised controlled trials of more than 3000 patients. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of such treatment on survival in patients with this disease