The Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI): Construct, Predictive, and Incremental Validity

This study of 410 adult male sex offenders against children, using data from the Dynamic Supervision Project (Hanson, Harris, Scott, & Helmus, 2007), examined the construct, predictive, and incremental validity of the Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI; Seto & Lalumière, 2001), a brief proxy measure of phallometrically assessed sexual response to children that is based on sexual victim characteristics. As predicted, the SSPI was significantly related to the Deviant Sexual Interests item on the STABLE-2007 (Hanson et al., 2007), a dynamic risk measure encompassing multiple domains, and with the Deviant Sexual Interests item from its predecessor, the STABLE-2000 (Hanson et al., 2007). The SSPI was unrelated (or more weakly related) to items measuring general antisociality. In addition, the SSPI significantly predicted sexual recidivism, defined as new charges or convictions for sexual offenses, and a broader sexual recidivism outcome that included breaches of community supervision conditions that might involve sexually motivated behavior (e.g., being in the presence of children unsupervised). The SSPI did not add to the predictive accuracy of 2 actuarial risk measures, the Static-99R and Static-200R (Helmus, Thornton, Hanson, & Babchishin, 2012), but it did add to the predictive accuracy of the STABLE-2007. Additional analyses suggest the SSPI can serve as a substitute for the STABLE-2007 Deviant Sexual Interests item, if necessary (e.g., in archival research), when assessing sexual offenders against children

Fasting Blood Glucose Level and Alcohol Consumption among Men in Mendawai Palangka Raya

Alcohol consumption is often associated with the incidence of diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to examine fasting blood glucose levels and alcohol consumption in men in Mendawai, Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan. The cross-sectional study design was carried out to asses fasting blood glucose levels on 20 male alcohol drinkers. Blood glucose assay was determined by an automated enzymatic colorimetric technique using Photometers (5010 V5+ Robert Riele). Determination of fasting blood glucose level using glucose oxidase and peroxidase (GOD-POD) method. This study found that 40% of alcohol drinker considered high fasting blood glucose level with an average level of 139.6 mg/dL. Twenty-five percent of alcohol drinkers regarded as low fasting blood glucose level with an average of 68.8 mg/dL. And 35% of drinkers have a normal level of fasting blood glucose with an average of 97.4 mg/d

An orthogonally protected CycloTriVeratrylene (CTV) as a highly pre-organized molecular scaffold for subsequent ligation of different cyclic peptides towards protein mimics

The synthesis of a semi-orthogonally protected CycloTriVeratrilene (CTV) scaffold derivative as well as the sequential introduction of three different peptide loops onto this molecular scaffold via Cu(I)-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition towards a medium-sized protein mimic is described. This approach for the construction of medium-sized protein mimics is illustrated by the synthesis of a paratope mimic of the monoclonal antibody Infliximab (Remicade®) and provides access to a range of highly pre-organized molecular constructs bearing three different peptide segments. This approach may find wide applications for development of protein-protein interaction disruptors as well as synthetic vaccines

Encoding, Storing and Searching of Analytical Properties and Assigned Metabolite Structures

Informationen über Metabolite und andere kleine organische Moleküle sind von entscheidender Bedeutung in vielen verschiedenen Bereichen der Naturwissenschaften. Sie spielen z.B. eine entscheidende Rolle in metabolischen Netzwerken und das Wissen über ihre Eigenschaften, hilft komplexe biologische Prozesse und komplette biologische Systeme zu verstehen. Da in biologischen und chemischen Laboren täglich Daten anfallen, welche diese Moleküle beschreiben, existiert eine umfassende Datengrundlage, die sich kontinuierlich erweitert. Um Wissenschaftlern die Verarbeitung, den Austausch, die Archivierung und die Suche innerhalb dieser Informationen unter Erhaltung der semantischen Zusammenhänge zu ermöglichen, sind komplexe Softwaresysteme und Datenformate nötig. Das Ziel dieses Projektes bestand darin, Anwendungen und Algorithmen zu entwickeln, welche für die effiziente Kodierung, Sammlung, Normalisierung und Analyse molekularer Daten genutzt werden können. Diese sollen Wissenschaftler bei der Strukturaufklärung, der Dereplikation, der Analyse von molekularen Wechselwirkungen und bei der Veröffentlichung des so gewonnenen Wissens unterstützen. Da die direkte Beschreibung der Struktur und der Funktionsweise einer unbekannten Verbindung sehr schwierig und aufwändig ist, wird dies hauptsächlich indirekt, mit Hilfe beschreibender Eigenschaften erreicht. Diese werden dann zur Vorhersage struktureller und funktioneller Charakteristika genutzt. In diesem Zusammenhang wurden Programmmodule entwickelt, welche sowohl die Visualisierung von Struktur- und Spektroskopiedaten, die gegliederte Darstellung und Veränderung von Metadaten und Eigenschaften, als auch den Import und Export von verschiedenen Datenformaten erlauben. Diese wurden durch Methoden erweitert, welche es ermöglichen, die gewonnenen Informationen weitergehend zu analysieren und Struktur- und Spektroskopiedaten einander zuzuweisen. Außerdem wurde ein System zur strukturierten Archivierung und Verwaltung großer Mengen molekularer Daten und spektroskopischer Informationen, unter Beibehaltung der semantischen Zusammenhänge, sowohl im Dateisystem, als auch in Datenbanken, entwickelt. Um die verlustfreie Speicherung zu gewährleisten, wurde ein offenes und standardisiertes Datenformat definiert (CMLSpect). Dieses erweitert das existierende CML (Chemical Markup Language) Vokabular und erlaubt damit die einfache Handhabung von verknüpften Struktur- und Spektroskopiedaten. Die entwickelten Anwendungen wurden in das Bioclipse System für Bio- und Chemoinformatik eingebunden und bieten dem Nutzer damit eine hochqualitative Benutzeroberfläche und dem Entwickler eine leicht zu erweiternde modulare Programmarchitektur

Generation and Characterization of the Cellular Immune Response to a Clostridium perfringens anti-SIV Mucosal Vaccine

Most new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are acquired through vaginal or rectal mucosa, and gut mucosal tissue is a primary target of HIV infection. To generate mucosal immunity against HIV or its simian counterpart simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the Gram positive bacterium Clostridium perfringens was used to develop a vaccine that delivers SIV p27 to the gut and induces local T cell immunity.Under in vitro conditions, Clostridium perfringens expressing SIV p27 (Cp-p27) was found to induce dendrite cell (DC) maturation and stimulate p27-specific T cell responses. To improve intracellular delivery of p27 to DCs and thereby enhance immune priming, Cp-p27 variants expressing p27 conjugated with protein transduction domains (PTDs) at the 5' end were constructed. While internalization of p27 by DCs and gut epithelial cells was improved following exposure to the PTD-Cp-p27 variants, cellular p27-specific immune stimulation was not significantly improved compared with wild-type Cp-p27.The Cp-p27 vaccine was then tested in vivo in mice for its ability to prime gut mucosal T cell responses. First, an adjuvant optimization study with three mucosal adjuvants, cholera toxin (CT), mutant E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT(R192G)), and unmethylated cytosine-phosphate-guanine oligodinucleotides (CpG ODNs) was performed to determine the best T cell immune response in the gut. While the combination of CpG ODNs and (LT(R192G)) induced the highest T cell immune response, (LT(R192G)) alone provided the best multifunctional CD8+ T cell response in the gut.Oral Cp-p27 vaccination was then tested for induction of T cell immunity in vivo in a prime-boost model by combining Cp-p27 with systemic immunization with an adenovirus expressing p27 (Ad-p27). Cp-p27 vaccination primed a strong multifunctional T cell immune response in gut lamina propria, although it could not stimulate a systemic immune response. In contrast, Ad-p27 vaccination stimulated strong systemic immunity but limited gut mucosal immunity. By sequentially delivering Cp-p27 and Ad-p27, immunity in both the gut and systemic tissues was achieved.Altogether, this study demonstrates that Cp-p27 can deliver p27 to gut T cells through dendritic cells to prime a strong, multifunctional immune response in the gut effector tissue

Interinstrument reliability of the RT3 accelerometer

The objective of this study was to assess the interinstrument reliability of six RT3 accelerometers for measuring physical activities. Each of the six healthy participants, mean age 36.1 years (SD 9.4), carried six RT3 accelerometers (same type and same producer) simultaneously placed ventrally at the waist belt. The participants performed three standardized activities: walking on a treadmill at 3.0 km/h and 5.0 km/h, and sitting on a chair. Each activity lasted 5 min. The recordings of the accelerometers were compared with each other to assess interinstrument reliability. A correlation of 0.75 or higher was interpreted as sufficient. The mean Pearson correlation between the six accelerometers was r = 0.78 (0.46-0.97). The intraclass correlation between the accelerometers was 0.75 (95% confidence interval: 0.46-0.95, P <0.01). In conclusion, the interinstrument reliability of the RT3 accelerometer is sufficient. However, the lower limit of the confidence interval is low, indicating a challenge to the reliability. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research 33:178-179 (C) 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Potential peptidic proteasome inhibitors by incorporation of an electrophilic trap based on amino acid derived α-substituted sulfonyl fluorides

Peptido sulfonyl fluoride derivatives were designed and synthesized containing a substituent on the alpha position (αPSFs) with respect to the sulfonyl fluoride electrophilic trap. The chemical reactivity of these α-substituted amino sulfonyl fluorides was studied and compared with the previously described β-substituted amino sulfonyl fluorides in order to get a deeper insight into the importance of the immediate structural environment of the sulfonyl fluoride moiety. Unfortunately, the poor solubility of the resulting αPSFs precluded a proper evaluation of their biological activity

Proteasome inhibition by new dual warhead containing peptido vinyl sulfonyl fluorides

The success of inhibition of the proteasome by formation of covalent bonds is a major victory over the long held-view that this would lead to binding the wrong targets and undoubtedly lead to toxicity. Great challenges are now found in uncovering ensembles of new moieties capable of forming long lasting ties. We have introduced peptido sulfonyl fluorides for this purpose. Tuning the reactivity of this electrophilic trap may be crucial for modulating the biological action. Here we describe incorporation of a vinyl moiety into a peptido sulfonyl fluoride backbone, which should lead to a combined attack of the proteasome active site threonine on the double bond and the sulfonyl fluoride. Although this led to strong proteasome inhibitors, in vitro studies did not unambiguously demonstrate the formation of the proposed seven-membered ring structure. Possibly, formation of a seven-membered covalent adduct with the proteosomal active site threonine can only be achieved within the context of the enzyme. Nevertheless, this dual warhead concept may provide exclusive possibilities for duration and selectivity of proteasome inhibition