REACTIVITY OF CHLOROPHYLL a/b-PROTEINS AND MICELLAR TRITON X-100 COMPLEXES OF CHLOROPHYLLS a OR b WITH BOROHYDRIDE

The reaction of several plant chlorophyll-protein complexes with NaBH4 has been studied by absorption spectroscopy. In all the complexes studied, chlorophyll b is more reactive than Chi a, due to preferential reaction of its formyl substituent at C-7. The complexes also show large variations in reactivity towards NaBH4 and the order of reactivity is: LHCI > PSII complex > LHCII > PSI > P700 (investigated as a component of PSI). Differential pools of the same type of chlorophyll have been observed in several complexes. Parallel work was undertaken on the reactivity of micellar complexes of chlorophyll a and of chlorophyll b with NaBH4 to study the effect of aggregation state on this reactivity. In these complexes, both chlorophyll a and b show large variations in reactivity in the order monomer > oligomer > polymer with chlorophyll b generally being more reactive than chlorophyll a. It is concluded that aggregation decreases the reactivity of chlorophylls towards NaBH4 in vitro, and may similarly decrease reactivity in naturally-occurring chlorophyll-protein complexes

Efficacy of lamivudine for preventing hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis B: A multicenter retrospective study of 2795 patients

ArticleHEPATOLOGY RESEARCH. 32(3): 173-184 (2005)journal articl

Comprehensive serial molecular profiling of an “N of 1” exceptional non-responder with metastatic prostate cancer progressing to small cell carcinoma on treatment

Abstract Importance Small cell carcinoma/neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NePC) is a lethal, poorly understood prostate cancer (PCa) subtype. Controversy exists about the origin of NePC in this setting. Objective To molecularly profile archived biopsy specimens from a case of early-onset PCa that rapidly progressed to NePC to identify drivers of the aggressive course and mechanisms of NePC origin and progression. Design, setting, and participants A 47-year-old patient presented with metastatic prostatic adenocarcinoma (Gleason score 9). After a 6-month response to androgen deprivation therapy, the patient developed jaundice and liver biopsy revealed exclusively NePC. Targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE)-isolated DNA was performed from the diagnostic prostate biopsy and the liver biopsy at progression. Intervention Androgen deprivation therapy for adenocarcinoma followed by multiagent chemotherapy for NePC. Main outcomes and measures Identification of the mutational landscape in primary adenocarcinoma and NePC liver metastasis. Whether the NePC arose independently or was derived from the primary adenocarcinoma was considered based on mutational profiles. Results A deleterious somatic SMAD4 L535fs variant was present in both prostate and liver specimens; however, a TP53 R282W mutation was exclusively enriched in the liver specimen. Copy number analysis identified concordant, low-level alterations in both specimens, with focal MYCL amplification and homozygous PTEN, RB1, and MAP2K4 losses identified exclusively in the NePC specimen. Integration with published genomic profiles identified MYCL as a recurrently amplified in NePC. Conclusions and relevance NGS of routine biopsy samples from an exceptional non-responder identified SMAD4 as a driver of the aggressive course and supports derivation of NePC from primary adenocarcinoma (transdifferentiation).http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113670/1/13045_2015_Article_204.pd

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Helicobacter pylori Diagnostic Methods in Patients with Atrophic Gastritis

Background. There are several diagnostic methods for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. A cost-effective analysis is needed to decide on the optimal diagnostic method. The aim of this study was to determine a cost-effective diagnostic method in patients with atrophic gastritis (AG). Methods. A decision-analysis model including seven diagnostic methods was constructed for patients with AG diagnosed by esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Expected values of cost and effectiveness were calculated for each test. Results. If the prevalence of H. pylori in the patients with AG is 85% and CAM-resistant H. pylori is 30%, histology, stool H. pylori antigen (SHPAg), bacterial culture (BC), and urine H. pylori antibody (UHPAb) were dominated by serum H. pylori IgG antibody (SHPAb), rapid urease test (RUT), and urea breath test (UBT). Among three undominated methods, the incremental costeffective ratios (ICER) of RUT versus SHPAb and UBT versus RUT were $214 and$1914, respectively. If the prevalence of CAM-sensitive H. pylori was less than 55%, BC was not dominated, but its H. pylori eradication success rate was 0.86. Conclusions. RUT was the most cost-effective at the current prevalence of CAM-resistant H. pylori. BC could not be selected due to its poor effectiveness even if CAM-resistant H. pylori was more than 45%

Electrophysiological modeling in generalized epilepsy using surface EEG and anatomical brain structures

Deep brain structures involve significantly in the pathology of brain diseases such as epilepsy, Alzheimer, and Parkinson. Physiological brain modeling has become an emerging approach to investigate the coupling dynamics of the brain activity ofthese diseases. We propose a method using the surface EEG signals integrated with the anatomical individual brain to build the electrophysiological model of the epileptic patient’s brain. The EEG-driven model is used to investigate the deep brain activities of 23 patients diagnosed with generalized epilepsy from CHB-MIT Scalp EEG Database. Significant changes in the electrical activities in hippocampus, accumbens, amygdala, provide us insights into the dynamics ofactive brain regions during epilepsy. All of these brain regions show the significant energy variation defined by 5 features (Mean, Max, Min, Standard deviation, Power spectral density) with the p-value < 0.05 in both pre-ictal vs ictal and ictal vs post-ictal. Such result shows the potential of using EEG as a tool to capture the deep brain activity of epilepsy and other diseases that alter deep brain structures. The proposed model may be used to enhance the sensitivity of detecting and predicting epilepsy, detect the progression of the brain lesion, and support the decision-making for a brain medical intervention

Improved Measurement of the K+ to pi+ nu nubar Branching Ratio

An additional event near the upper kinematic limit for K+ to pi+ nu nubar has been observed by Experiment E949 at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Combining previously reported and new data, the branching ratio is B(K+ to pi+ nu nubar)= 1.47 (+1.30, - 0.89) x 10-10 based on three events observed in the pion momentum region 211<P<229 MeV/c. At the measured central value of the branching ratio, the additional event had a signal-to-background ratio of 0.9

New neurons use Slit-Robo signaling to migrate through the glial meshwork and approach a lesion for functional regeneration

After brain injury, neural stem cell–derived neuronal precursors (neuroblasts) in the ventricular-subventricular zone migrate toward the lesion. However, the ability of the mammalian brain to regenerate neuronal circuits for functional recovery is quite limited. Here, using a mouse model for ischemic stroke, we show that neuroblast mi-gration is restricted by reactive astrocytes in and around the lesion. To migrate, the neuroblasts use Slit1-Robo2 signaling to disrupt the actin cytoskeleton in reactive astrocytes at the site of contact. Slit1-overexpressing neu-roblasts transplanted into the poststroke brain migrated closer to the lesion than did control neuroblasts. These neuroblasts matured into striatal neurons and efficiently regenerated neuronal circuits, resulting in functional recovery in the poststroke mice. These results suggest that the positioning of new neurons will be critical for func-tional neuronal regeneration in stem/progenitor cell–based therapies for brain injury

Search for the decay KL0→3γK_L^0 \rightarrow 3\gamma

We performed a search for the decay $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3\gamma$ with the E391a detector at KEK. In the data accumulated in 2005, no event was observed in the signal region. Based on the assumption of $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3\gamma$ proceeding via parity-violation, we obtained the single event sensitivity to be $(3.23\pm0.14)\times10^{-8}$, and set an upper limit on the branching ratio to be $7.4\times10^{-8}$ at the 90% confidence level. This is a factor of 3.2 improvement compared to the previous results. The results of $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3\gamma$ proceeding via parity-conservation were also presented in this paper