Cug2 is essential for normal mitotic control and CNS development in zebrafish.

Background: We recently identified a novel oncogene, Cancer-upregulated gene 2 (CUG2), which is essential for kinetochore formation and promotes tumorigenesis in mammalian cells. However, the in vivo function of CUG2 has not been studied in animal models. Results: To study the function of CUG2 in vivo, we isolated a zebrafish homologue that is expressed specifically in the proliferating cells of the central nervous system (CNS). Morpholino-mediated knockdown of cug2 resulted in apoptosis throughout the CNS and the development of neurodegenerative phenotypes. In addition, cug2-deficient embryos contained mitotically arrested cells displaying abnormal spindle formation and chromosome misalignment in the neural plate. Conclusions: Therefore, our findings suggest that Cug2 is required for normal mitosis during early neurogenesis and has functions in neuronal cell maintenance, thus demonstrating that the cug2 deficient embryos may provide a model system for human neurodegenerative disorders

Noncommunicating Isolated Enteric Duplication Cyst in the Abdomen in Children: Report of One Case and Review of the Literature

Noncommunicating isolated enteric duplications in the abdomen are an extremely rare variant of enteric duplications with their own blood supply. We report a case of a noncommunicating isolated ileal duplication in a 10-month-old boy. He was admitted because of severe abdominal distension and developed irritability abruptly. Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography scan revealed a closed loop of small bowel that was dilated severely. A large tubular cyst hanging on the narrow vascular pedicle arising from the base of the terminal ileum mesentery was found with torsion of the pedicle in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. Laparoscopic excision was performed successfully. Here, we will also review the previously reported cases to raise awareness of noncommunicating isolated enteric duplications in the literature.Keywords: Abdomen, Children, Duplication, Isolated, Noncommunicatin

Enhancing the transdermal penetration of nanoconstructs: could hyaluronic acid be the key?

X1199Ysciescopu

Systemic inflammation and suicide risk: cohort study of 419 527 Korean men and women

BACKGROUND: Data from only one study have been used to examine the relationship between systemic inflammation and later suicide risk, and a strong positive association was apparent. More research is needed, particularly looking at gender, not least because women are seemingly more vulnerable to inflammation-induced mood changes than men. METHODS: The Korean Cancer Prevention Study had a cohort of over 1 million individuals aged 30-95 years at baseline examination between 1992 and 1995, when white blood cell count, our marker of systemic inflammation, was assessed. RESULTS: A mean of 16.6 years of mortality surveillance gave rise to 1010 deaths from suicide in 106 643 men, and 1019 deaths from suicide in 312 884 women. There was little evidence of an association between our inflammation marker and suicide mortality in men after multiple adjustments. In women, however, those in the second inflammation quartile and higher experienced around 30% increase risk of death (HR 1.35; 95% CI: 1.11-1.64). CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of systemic inflammation were moderately related to an elevated risk of suicide death in women but not in men

Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effects of Houttuynia cordata Extract on LPS-Stimulated BV-2 Microglia

Purpose: To evaluate the anti-neuroinflammatory effects of Houttuynia cordata extract (H. cordata) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells, and its anti-oxidant properties.Methods: Anti-oxidant properties were evaluated by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. Cell viability was assessed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. LPS was used to stimulate BV-2 cells. Nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured using Griess assay. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression, interleukin (IL)-6 expressional level were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot analysis.Results: Ethyl actetae (HC-EA) extract of H. cordata significantly scavenged DPPH free radicals in a concentration-dependent fashion. The increased levels of NO, iNOS and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells were also suppressed by HC-EA extract in a concentration-dependent manner.Conclusion:The result indicate that the HC-EA extract exhibited strong anti-oxidant properties and inhibited the excessive production of pro-inflammatory mediators, including NO, iNOS and IL-6, in LPSstimulated BV-2 cells. The anti-oxidant phenolic compounds present in HC-EA extract might play an important role in ameliorating neuroinflammatory processes in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells.Keywords: Houttuynia cordata, DPPH radicals, antioxidant, neuroinflammation, BV-2 cells, iNOS, COX-2, IL-6

Oral health and later coronary heart disease: Cohort study of one million people

AIMS: Systematic reviews report an association between poorer oral health and an increased risk of coronary heart disease. This contentious relationship may not be causal but existing studies have been insufficiently well powered comprehensively to examine the role of confounding, particularly by cigarette smoking. Accordingly, we sought to examine the role of smoking in generating the relationship between oral health and coronary heart disease in life-long non-smokers. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the Korean Cancer Prevention Study, 975,685 individuals (349,579 women) aged 30–95 years had an oral examination when tooth loss, a widely used indicator of oral health, was ascertained. Linkage to national mortality and hospital registers over 21 years of follow-up gave rise to 64,784 coronary heart disease events (19,502 in women). In the whole cohort, after statistical adjustment for age, there was a moderate, positive association between tooth loss and coronary heart disease in both men (hazard ratio for seven or more missing teeth vs. none; 95% confidence interval 1.08; 1.02, 1.14; Ptrend across tooth loss groups <0.0001) and women (1.09; 1.01, 1.18; Ptrend 0.0016). Restricting analyses to a subgroup of 464,145 never smokers (25,765 coronary heart disease events), however, resulted in an elimination of this association in men (1.01; 0.85, 1.19); Ptrend 0.7506) but not women (1.08; 0.99, 1.18; Ptrend 0.0086). CONCLUSION: In men in the present study, the relationship between poor oral health and coronary heart disease risk appeared to be explained by confounding by cigarette smoking so raising questions about a causal link

ELASTOGRAPHY CAN EFFECTIVELY DECREASE THE NUMBER OF FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSIES IN PATIENTS WITH CALCIFIED THYROID NODULES

When calcification, frequently found in both benign and malignant nodules, is present in thyroid nodules, non-invasive differentiation with ultrasound becomes challenging. The goal of this study was to evaluate the utility of elastography in differentiating calcified thyroid nodules. Consecutive patients (165 patients with 196 nodules) referred for fine-needle aspiration who had undergone both ultrasound elastography and B-mode examinations were analyzed retrospectively. Calcification was present in 45 benign and 20 malignant nodules. On 65 calcified nodules, elastography had 95% sensitivity, 51.1% specificity, 46.3% positive predictive value and 95.8% negative predictive value in detecting malignancy. Twenty-three of 45 benign calcified nodules were correctly diagnosed with elastography compared with 4 of 45 by B-mode ultrasound. Although it is difficult to differentiate benign and malignant calcified thyroid nodules solely with B-mode ultrasound, elastography has the potential to reduce the number of fine-needle aspiration biopsies performed on calcified nodules. (C) 2014 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.1188Ysciescopu

Optical spectroscopic studies of photochemically oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes

ArticleNANOTECHNOLOGY. 20(10): (2009)journal articl

Just diverse among themselves: how does negative performance feedback affect boards' expertise vs. ascriptive diversity?

We investigate how negative performance feedback affects board diversity, which is instrumental in shaping a firm’s strategic change. When a firm underperforms compared with its aspiration, its board is motivated to promptly address the underperformance. The board needs to not only help search for strategic alternatives but also quickly build consensus around its strategic reorientation. These two motivations lead the board to value two dimensions of diversity among its members differently. On the one hand, to understand the problem of underperformance and find a solution, the board is motivated to seek new expertise, avoiding redundancy in the pool of expertise already represented in the boardroom. This results in a higher level of diversity in director expertise. On the other hand, the urgent need to build consensus prompts the board to value trust and solidarity and to avoid potential conflict among directors. Because people perceive others with similar ascriptive backgrounds as trustworthy, changes in the board of an underperforming firm are likely to yield a lower level of diversity in its members’ ascriptive backgrounds. These changes in board are affected by the committee chairs of the board whose power and influence are significant in the boardroom. Analyses of the boards of 733 U.S. listed manufacturing firms show that when a firm underperforms compared with its aspirations, it increases the board expertise diversity, but decreases the board ascriptive diversity. When chairs on the board are gender or racial minorities, the negative association between underperformance and the board ascriptive diversity is weakened