Effects of intrahippocampal NAC(61-95) injections on memory in the rat and attenuation with vitamin E

Parkinson's disease (PD)-related dementia affects approximately 40% of PD patients and the severity of this dementia correlates significantly with the density of Lewy body (LB) deposition in the PD brain. Aggregated alpha-synuclein protein is the major component of LB's and the non-amyloid component (NAC) region of alpha-synuclein, residues 61-95, is essential for the aggregation and toxicity of this protein. The current study evaluated the effect of pre-aggregated NAC(61-95) injected into the CA3 area of the dorsal hippocampus of the brain on memory in the rat. Previous research has suggested that oxidative stress processes may play a role in the neuropathology of PD, therefore the effect of treatment with vitamin E, an antioxidant, was also evaluated. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained in two-lever operant chambers under an alternating-lever cyclic-ratio (ALCR) schedule of food reinforcement. When responding showed no trends, subjects were divided into four groups. Two groups were injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus with aggregated NAC(61-95) (5 mu l suspension), and two groups were injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus with sterile water (5 mu l). Subgroups were treated with either vitamin E (150 mg/kg in Soya oil) or vehicle (Soya oil) daily. Injection of NAC(61-95) induced memory deficits and vitamin E treatment alleviated these. In addition, NAC(61-95) injections induced activated astrocytes and chronic treatment with vitamin E reduced the numbers of activated astrocytes. These results suggest that aggregated NAC(61-95) and associated oxidative stress, may play a role in the pathogenesis of cognitive deficits seen in PD-induced dementia. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the survival of feldspathic porcelain veneers over 5 and 10 years

PURPOSE: This systematic review reports on the survival of feldspathic porcelain veneers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE (OVID), Embase, Web of Knowledge, selected journals, clinical trials registers, and conference proceedings were searched independently by two reviewers. Academic colleagues were also contacted to identify relevant research. Inclusion criteria were human cohort studies (prospective and retrospective) and controlled trials assessing outcomes of feldspathic porcelain veneers in more than 15 patients and with at least some of the veneers in situ for 5 years. Of 4,294 articles identified, 116 studies underwent full-text screenings and 69 were further reviewed for eligibility. Of these, 11 were included in the qualitative analysis and 6 (5 cohorts) were included in meta-analyses. Estimated cumulative survival and standard error for each study were assessed and used for meta-, sensitivity, and post hoc analyses. The I2 statistic and the Cochran Q test and its associated P value were used to evaluate statistical heterogeneity, with a random-effects meta-analysis used when the P value for heterogeneity was less than .1. Galbraith, forest, and funnel plots explored heterogeneity, publication patterns, and small study biases.

RESULTS: The estimated cumulative survival for feldspathic porcelain veneers was 95.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 92.9% to 98.4%) at 5 years and ranged from 64% to 95% at 10 years across three studies. A post hoc meta-analysis indicated that the 10-year best estimate may approach 95.6% (95% CI: 93.8% to 97.5%). High levels of statistical heterogeneity were found.

CONCLUSIONS: When bonded to enamel substrate, feldspathic porcelain veneers have a very high 10-year survival rate that may approach 95%. Clinical heterogeneity is associated with differences in reported survival rates. Use of clinically relevant survival definitions and careful reporting of tooth characteristics, censorship, clustering, and precise results in future research would improve metaanalytic estimates and aid treatment decisions.

Influence of sex on the survival of patients with esophageal cancer

PURPOSE: The prognostic value of sex for esophageal cancer survival is currently unclear, and growing data suggest that hormonal influences may account for incidence disparities between men and women. Therefore, moving from the hypothesis that hormones could affect the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer, we investigated the primary hypothesis that sex is associated with survival and the secondary hypotheses that the relationship between sex and survival depends, at least in part, on age, histology, and race/ethnicity.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: By using the SEER databases from 1973 to 2007, we identified 13,603 patients (34%) with metastatic esophageal cancer (MEC) and 26,848 patients (66%) with locoregional esophageal cancer (LEC). Cox proportional hazards model for competing risks were used for analyses.

RESULTS: In the multivariate analysis, women had longer esophageal cancer-specific survival (ECSS) than men in both MEC (hazard ratio [HR], 0.949; 95% CI, 0.905 to 0.995; P = .029) and LEC (HR, 0.920; 95% CI, 0.886 to 0.955; P < .001) cohorts. When age and histology were accounted for, there was no difference for ECSS between men and women with adenocarcinoma. In contrast, women younger than age 55 years (HR, 0.896; 95% CI, 0.792 to 1.014; P = .081) and those age 55 years or older (HR, 0.905; 95% CI, 0.862 to 0.950; P < .001) with squamous cell LEC had longer ECSS than men. In the squamous cell MEC cohort, only women younger than age 55 years had longer ECSS (HR, 0.823; 95% CI, 0.708 to 0.957; P = .011) than men.

CONCLUSION: Sex is an independent prognostic factor for patients with LEC or MEC. As secondary hypotheses, in comparison with men, women age 55 years or older with squamous cell LEC and women younger than age 55 years with squamous cell MEC have a significantly better outcome. These last two findings need further validation.

S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources Annual Accountability Report 1994/95

Each year the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources reports to the Office of State Budget that includes the agency's mission, goals and objectives to accomplish the mission, and performance measures regarding the goals and objectives.

Kroppenstedtia pulmonis sp. nov. and Kroppenstedtia sanguinis sp. nov., isolated from human patients

Three human clinical strains (W9323T , X0209T and X0394) isolated from lung biopsy, blood and cerebral spinal fluid, respectively, were characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Comparative analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed the three strains belonged to two novel branches within the genus Kroppenstedtia : 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of W9323T showed closest sequence similarity to Kroppenstedtia eburnea JFMB- ATET (95.3 %), Kroppenstedtia guangzhouensis GD02T (94.7 %) and strain X0209T (94.6 %); sequence analysis of strain X0209T showed closest sequence similarity to K . eburnea JFMB- ATET (96.4 %) and K. guangzhouensis GD02T (96.0 %). Strains X0209T and X0394 were 99.9 % similar to each other by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The DNA- DNA relatedness was 94.6 %, confirming that X0209T and X0394 belong to the same species. Chemotaxonomic data for strains W9323T and X0209T were consistent with those described for the genus Kroppenstedtia : whole- cell peptidoglycan contained LL- diaminopimelic acid; the major cellular fatty acids were iso- C15 and anteiso- C15 ; and the major menaquinone was MK- 7. Different endospore morphology, carbon utilization profiles, and whole cell wall sugar patterns of strains W9323T and X0209T supported by phylogenetic analysis enabled us to conclude that the strains represent two new species within the genus Kroppenstedtia , for which the names Kroppenstedtia pulmonis sp. nov. (type strain W9323T = DSM 45752T = CCUG 68107T) and Kroppenstedtia sanguinis sp. nov. (type strain X0209T = DSM 45749T = CCUG 38657T) are proposed.

Replica management in real-time Ada 95 applications

In this paper, we present some of the fault tolerance management mechanisms being implemented in the Multi-μ architecture, namely its support for replica non-determinism. In this architecture, fault tolerance is achieved by node active replication, with software based replica management and fault tolerance transparent algorithms. A software layer implemented between the application and the real-time kernel, the Fault Tolerance Manager (FTManager), is the responsible for the transparent incorporation of the fault tolerance mechanisms The active replication model can be implemented either imposing replica determinism or keeping replica consistency at critical points, by means of interactive agreement mechanisms. One of the Multi-μ architecture goals is to identify such critical points, relieving the underlying system from performing the interactive agreement in every Ada dispatching point.