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Pharmacopsychiatry 2018 Dec 6. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Head of Department, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Danuvius Klinik GmbH, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Technischen Universität München, Bavaria, Germany.

The combination of tiapride (TIA) and carbamazepine (CBZ) as an alternative treatment option to benzodiazepines and clomethiazole has been investigated by several investigations. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to further explore the efficacy of this combination in order to render more definite answers whether this combination can be recommendable in the clinical practice. We systematically searched electronic databases including PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE, OVID, Cochrane, Google Scholar, and Scopus for human studies. Read More

Planta Med 2018 Dec 6. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Leaves of the plant are traditionally consumed for bone health and other indications. The aim of this study was to establish the safety and pharmacokinetics of the metabolites of prenylflavonoids (icariin, icariside I, icariside II, icaritin, and desmethylicaritin) following single doses of a defined prenylflavonoid extract in humans. A single oral dose of 370, 740, or 1110 mg of a standardized prenylflavonoid extract was administered to 30 healthy male subjects in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Read More

Horm Res Paediatr 2018 Dec 6;90(4):1-7. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Background: Despite the developments of recombinant growth hormone (rhGH) treatment and the benefits in long-term clinical health outcomes, evidence has shown that many children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) still fail to achieve their target adult height. Suboptimal outcomes have been largely attributed to treatment non-adherence.

Methods: A search of 11 electronic databases was undertaken to identify relevant articles, published in English, between 1985 and 2018. Read More

J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol 2018 Dec 6;28(3):137-146. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Department of Biotechnology, Microbiology and Human Nutrition, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Lublin, Poland.

We developed new PCR assays that target beta-tubulin (TUB2) and 14 alpha-demethylase (CYP51) genes and used them for the species-specific detection of Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt). Read More

Cell Physiol Biochem 2018 Dec 6;51(5):2136-2147. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Background/aims: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play vital roles in carcinogenesis as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. This study explored the biological function of lncRNA gastric adenocarcinoma predictive long intergenic non-coding RNA (GAPLINC) in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: GAPLINC expression in NSCLC specimens and cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Read More

Neonatology 2018 Dec 6;115(2):182-188. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New

Background: Pre-clinical research, which encompasses studies in animals and in the laboratory, has made significant contributions to the improvement of neonatal outcomes.

Methods: Here, we describe examples of how pre-clinical research can be the starting point on the journey to the development of new interventions to improve neonatal care and outcomes and discuss recent progress in ensuring methodological and ethical rigour in pre-clinical research involving animal models.

Results: Studies in pregnant sheep led to the serendipitous discovery that preterm lambs born after exogenous corticosteroid exposure were able to aerate their lungs. Read More

Cell Physiol Biochem 2018 Dec 6;51(5):2019-2029. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou,

Background/aims: β-Elemene is a bioactive sesquiterpene compound that exhibits a potent anti-tumor effect and is used in various clinical applications. However, little is known about its effect on the male reproductive system. The objective of this study was to investigate the in vitro actions of β-elemene on human sperm function and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Read More

Pharmacology 2018 Dec 6;103(1-2):101-109. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

It has been reported that taxifolin inhibit osteoclastogenesis in RAW264.7 cells. In our research, the inhibition effects of taxifolin on the osteoclastogenesis of human bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) induced by receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) as well as the protection effects in lipopolysaccharide-induced bone lysis mouse model have been demonstrated. Read More

Blood Purif 2018 Dec 6:1-7. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Department of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplant, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy.

Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening condition often associated with a high incidence of multiple organs injury. Several papers suggested the immune response by itself, with the production of humoral inflammatory mediators, is crucial in determining organ injury. However, little is known of how sepsis directly induces organ injury at the cellular levels. Read More

Cell Physiol Biochem 2018 Dec 6;51(5):2041-2051. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Department of Endocrinology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University and Chongqing Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, Chongqing,

Background/aims: Alarin has been reported to be related with increased food intake and body weight. The relationship of circulating Alarin with insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome (MetS), however, is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the physiological role of Alarin and its association with MetS in humans. Read More

J Mol Graph Model 2018 Nov 29;87:89-97. Epub 2018 Nov 29.

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Departamento de Patologia Clínica, COLTEC, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address:

New therapeutic strategies against leishmaniasis are desirable, since the treatment against disease presents problems, such as the toxicity, high cost and/or parasite resistance. As consequence, new antileishmanial compounds are necessary to be identified, as presenting high activity against Leishmania, but low toxicity in mammalian hosts. In the present study, a Leishmania proteome mining strategy was developed, in order to select new drug targets with low homology to human proteins, but that are considered relevant for the parasite' survival. Read More

Early Hum Dev 2018 Dec 3;128:48-54. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship of parent-reported child behaviors on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to cognition, language, and motor skills on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - III (Bayley-III) in toddlers born extremely preterm.

Study Design: Toddlers born extremely preterm (gestational ages 22 0/7 to 26 6/7 weeks) were tested at 22-26 months corrected age with Bayley-III while parents completed the CBCL. Socio-demographic variables and medical history were recorded. Read More

Curr Opin Cell Biol 2018 Dec 3;57:57-63. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Institute of Pharmacology and Bio-Imaging Center, University of Würzburg, Germany.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are among the best-studied membrane receptors, mainly due to their central role in human physiology, involvement in disease and relevance as drug targets. Although biochemical and pharmacological studies have characterized the main steps in GPCR signaling, how GPCRs produce highly specific responses in our cells remains insufficiently understood. New developments in single-molecule microscopy have made it possible to study the protein-protein interactions at the basis of GPCR signaling in previously inconceivable detail. Read More

Conscious Cogn 2018 Dec 3;67:44-55. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

ONERA, The French Aerospace Lab, Département Traitement de l'Information et Systèmes, Salon-de-Provence, France.

Recent studies have suggested that individuals are not able to develop a sense of joint agency during joint actions with artificial systems. We sought to examine whether this lack of joint agency is linked to individuals' inability to co-represent the machine-generated actions. Fifteen participants observed or performed a Simon response time task either individually, or jointly with another human or a computer. Read More

J Environ Manage 2018 Dec 3;232:607-614. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Departamento de Biociências, Universidade Federal Rural do Semiárido, Av. Francisco Mota, 572, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Electronic address:

Protected areas are an important strategy to safeguard biodiversity. However, if social development is not considered, biological conservation targets may not be achieved. In this empirical study, we assess the relationship between poverty and conservation goals in dry forests within a 62,000-ha Brazilian National Park (Caatinga biome). Read More

J Environ Manage 2018 Dec 3;232:600-606. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Darwin Centre for Bushfire Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia. Electronic address:

Land occupation and management systems have defined fire regimes and landscapes for millennia. The savanna biome is responsible for 86% of all fire events, contributes to 10% of the total carbon emissions annually and is home to 10% of the human population. European colonization has been associated with the implementation of fire suppression policies in many tropical savanna regions, markedly disrupting traditional fire management practices and transforming ecosystems. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2018 Dec 3;90:79-83. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

'Sapienza' University of Rome, Human Neuroscience Department, Rome, Italy.

We investigated the online behavior of Internet users consulting the website of the Italian Chapter of the International League Against Epilepsy (Lega Italiana Contro l'Epilessia [LICE]). We obtained the visualization statistics of the LICE website using AWStats (https://awstats.sourceforge. Read More

Water Res 2018 Nov 9;149:607-616. Epub 2018 Nov 9.

State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (SKLMP), Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address:

Concern about the presence of chiral pharmaceuticals in the environment from wastewater discharge is mounting. In this work, the occurrence and fate of atenolol, metoprolol, venlafaxine, and chloramphenicol, including 10 different stereoisomers, were investigated in sewage and sludge from diverse treatment processes in 4 sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Hong Kong via 4 sampling campaigns over a period of 2 years. The average amounts of individual pharmaceuticals entering the STPs ranged from 4. Read More

Water Res 2018 Nov 21;150:191-199. Epub 2018 Nov 21.

Key Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effects, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China; Centre of Integrated Water-Energy-Food Studies (iWEF), School of Animal, Rural, and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Campus, NG25 0QF, UK. Electronic address:

Many arsenic-bearing freshwaters are facing with eutrophication and consequent algae-induced anoxia/hypoxia events. However, arsenic cycling in eutrophic waters and its impact on public health are poorly understood. Laboratory simulation experiments are performed in this study to investigate the effect of algal blooms on the cycling of arsenic in a sediment-water-air system. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2018 Nov 22;656:495-502. Epub 2018 Nov 22.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 500 Bartholomew Dr, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States. Electronic address:

Antibiotic resistance is a public health issue with links to environmental sources of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). ARGs from nonviable sources may pose a hazard given the potential for transformation whereas ARGs in viable sources may proliferate during host growth or conjugation. In this study, ARGs in the effluent from three municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and the receiving surface waters were investigated using a viability-based qPCR technique (vPCR) with propidium monoazide (PMA). Read More

Sci Total Environ 2018 Nov 23;656:458-467. Epub 2018 Nov 23.

Department of Hydrology, Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address:

Considering the growing recognition that human activity and climate variability are critical stressors influencing river regimes, there is an urgent need to identify the contribution of these fundamental factors. Here we examine the runoff changes of a wastewater-effluent dominated river flowing in a heavily modified urban environment. The study concerns the Utrata River basin (727 km), central Poland, a challenging human-natural system for investigating changes in hydrological processes. Read More

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2018 Aug 25;210:398-404. Epub 2018 Aug 25.

Key Laboratory of Bioelectrochemistry & Analysis of Gansu Province, College of Chemistry& Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, PR China. Electronic address:

Immoderate intake of nitrite (NO) is deleterious human health and may result in causing dangerous diseases. In this study, nitrite detection system was successfully fabricated based on a unique diazo-coupling reaction of p‑Aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and phloroglucinol (1, 3, 5‑trihydroxybenzene). Upon the presence of NO in an acid medium, p‑Aminobenzoic acid could not only form diazonium ion easily but also couple with p‑Aminobenzoic acid, and results forming yellow water-soluble azo dye that shows maximum absorption at 434 nm. Read More

Gait Posture 2018 Nov 29;68:232-237. Epub 2018 Nov 29.

Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi", University of Bologna, Via del Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy.

Background: When aiming at studying and monitoring locomotor development in childhood, innovative indexes for the characterization of motor control performance and wearable technologies have highlighted the potential of significant advances. In particular, quantitative assessment of motor performance during natural walking (NW) and tandem walking (TW) has been proposed to highlight manifestations of motor automaticity and complexity, respectively.

Research Question: This work aims at providing a quantitative overview of metrics characterizing locomotor maturation in a typically developing population, by analysing NW and TW. Read More

J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2018 Nov 28;44:64-69. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Research Center of Health, Physical Fitness & Sports, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan; Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.

We aimed to test the hypothesis that the magnitude of differences in muscle activation of the knee and hip extensor muscles between high-intensity interval exercise (HIE) and moderate-intensity constant exercise (CE) would be greater for the gluteus maximus than for the quadriceps femoris muscle. Participants were 11 male middle- or long-distance runners. The HIE (4 sets, 4-min induration, performed at 80-85%VO and followed by a 3-min period of cycling at < 30%VO) and CE (28-min, performed at or near 60%VO) were completed on different days, with the total exercise duration and work being identical for both protocols. Read More

Biomed Pharmacother 2018 Dec 3;110:294-301. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of breast surgery, The first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China.

The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has recently been shown to be important regulators involved in the progression of various human cancers. Small nucleolar RNA host gene 6 (SNHG6) is a recently identified cancer-related lncRNA. However, the clinical significance and biological function of SNHG6 in breast cancer (BC) are still unclear. Read More

Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2018 Dec 1;175:98-105. Epub 2018 Dec 1.

Department of Chemistry, Payame Noor University (PNU), P.O. Box: 19395-4697, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address:

A simple, low-cost and sensitive label-free aptasensor assembled with assisting reduced graphene oxide nanosheets as the signal amplifier was fabricated and applied for detecting ultra-low levels of Aflatoxin B1(AFB1) through a nano-bio interaction system. The conditions of different modified glassy carbon electrodes as the base of aptasensor were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The performance of the fabricated aptasensor was evaluated by FESEM, HRTEM and AFM images. Read More

Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2018 Nov 22;175:73-83. Epub 2018 Nov 22.

Laboratory of Polymers, Department of Chemical Engineering, Engineering School of Lorena, University of São Paulo, EEL-USP, Estrada Municipal do Campinho, s/n, 12602-810, Lorena, SP, Brazil. Electronic address:

In this paper, chitosan was used as protective agent for dual temperature-/pH-sensitive poly(N-vinylcaprolactam-co-itaconic acid-co-ethylene- glycol dimethacrylate)- based hydrogel nanoparticles (poly(NVCL-co-IA-co-EGDMA)) aiming avoid their undesirable colloidal destabilization at different conditions of body human tissues. Thus, poly(NVCL-co-IA-co-EGDMA) was embedded into chitosan and a new solid dispersion was prepared via spray-drying and ketoprofen was used as carrier. Two different sizes of hydrogel nanoparticles (120. Read More

Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018 Nov 30;102:63-67. Epub 2018 Nov 30.

Department of Neurobehavioral Genetics, Institute of Psychobiology, University of Trier, D-54290, Trier, Germany. Electronic address:

Secretion of the stress hormone cortisol follows a circadian rhythm and is stimulated following stress exposure. Cortisol regulates the transcription of several genes, primarily through activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Previously, we showed an upregulation of PERIOD genes PER1 and PER3 after pharmacological/glucocorticoid challenge in vivo and in vitro. Read More

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2018 Nov 16;211:86-93. Epub 2018 Nov 16.

School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, PR China.

This study focused on the fabrication of a rapid, highly sensitive and inexpensive technique for the quantification of imidacloprid residue in green tea, based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) using highly roughned surface flower shaped silver nanostructure (as SERS substrate) coupled with the chemometrics algorithm. The basic principle of this method is imidacloprid yielded SERS signal after adsorption on Ag-NF under laser excitation by the electromagnetic enhancement and the intensity of the peak is proportional to the concentration ranging from 1.0 × 10 to 1. Read More

Eur J Med Genet 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Society and Ethics Research Group, Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK. Electronic address:

Where there is conflict between a patient's interests in non-disclosure of their genetic information to relatives and the relative's interest in knowing the information because it indicates their genetic risk, clinicians have customarily been able to protect themselves against legal action by maintaining confidence even if, professionally, they did not consider this to be the right thing to do. In ABC v St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust ([2017] EWCA Civ 336) the healthcare team recorded their concern about the wisdom of the patient's decision to withhold genetic risk information from his relative, but chose to respect what they considered to be an unwise choice. Even though professional guidance considers that clinicians have the discretion to breach confidence where they believe this to be justified, (Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Pathologists and the British Society of Human Genetics, 2006; GMC, 2017) clinicians find it difficult to exercise this discretion in line with their convictions against the backdrop of the legal prioritisation of the duty to maintain confidence. Read More

Fish Shellfish Immunol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, PR China.

CC chemokines are a large subfamily of chemokines that play an important role in the innate immune system. To date, several CC chemokines have been identified in fish species; however, the activities and functions of these putative chemokines remain ambiguous in teleosts, especially in the golden pompano, Trachinotus ovatus. Here, we characterized CC chemokine ligand 4 from T. Read More

J Inorg Biochem 2018 Nov 28;191:135-142. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Institute of Environmental Toxicology and Environmental Ecology, Yancheng Teachers University, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province 224007, People's Republic of China. Electronic address:

In this work, we designed polysaccharide-metal complex of dopamine-modified pectin linking ruthenium compound, which exhibited a certain inhibition specificity to human renal cell adenocarcinoma cell line 786-O. The chemical structure and physical properties of the polysaccharide-metal complex were well characterized by multiple analysis methods. The multi-spectral results revealed that pectin-dopamine have been successfully coordinated by ruthenium complex to form nano-conjugates, which self-assembled into relatively regular nanospheres of approximately 200 nm. Read More

Int Immunopharmacol 2018 Dec 3;66:347-353. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of orthopedics, Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, Dalian 116001, China. Electronic address:

Ivabradine is most commonly used for the treatment of worsening cardiac failure in patients who cannot tolerate the maximum dose of β-blockers or in whom treatment with β-blockers is contraindicated. While ivabradine is regarded as a highly selective "funny current" (I) inhibitor, the molecular mechanism behind the effect of this drug remains poorly understood. In the present study, we applied ivabradine in the context of osteoarthritis by treating primary human chondrocytes with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and measuring degradation of the articular cartilage matrix as well as the expression of various enzymes and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Read More

Neuroimage 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, 50924, Cologne, Germany.

Neurophysiological accounts of human volition are dominated by debates on the origin of voluntary choices but the neural consequences that follow such choices remain poorly understood. For instance, could one predict whether or not an action was chosen voluntarily based only on how that action is motorically executed? We investigated this possibility by integrating scalp electroencephalograms and index-finger accelerometer recordings acquired while people chose between pressing a left or right button either freely or as instructed by a visual cue. Even though freely selected and instructed actions were executed with equal vigor, the timing of the movement to release the button was comparatively delayed for freely selected actions. Read More

Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Lipids and Atherosclerosis Research Unit, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM), Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain. Electronic address:

Aims: The aim of this study is to determine the physical and functional interplay between fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4) and its membrane receptor-like candidate protein, cytokeratin 1 (CK1), and to determine the effect of hindering CK1-mediated FABP4 cellular uptake on non-disturbed or metabolically stressed endothelial cells.

Methods: We monitored the direct interaction between FABP4 and CK1 using surface plasmon resonance, and the effects of blocking exogenous FABP4 (eFABP4) cellular uptake were determined by using specific siRNA to knock down the expression of CK1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The expression and nuclear translocation of transcription factors involved in oxidative stress (NRF2) and inflammation (p65 subunit of NF-ĸB transcription factor) were determined by Western blotting analysis. Read More