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- IJERPH, Vol. 8, Pages 4702-4713: Molecular Aspects of Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration: Gene-Environment Interaction in Parkin Dysfunction
- JFB, Vol. 2, Pages 414-424: Molecular Design Properties of OxyVita Hemoglobin, a New Generation Therapeutic Oxygen Carrier: A Review
- Remote Sensing, Vol. 3, Pages 2707-2726: Comparison of Object-Based Image Analysis Approaches to Mapping New Buildings in Accra, Ghana Using Multi-Temporal QuickBird Satellite Imagery
- Water, Vol. 3, Pages 1174-1196: Explaining Non-Take-up of Water Subsidy
- IJERPH, Vol. 8, Pages 4679-4701: Individual and Public-Program Adaptation: Coping with Heat Waves in Five Cities in Canada
- Marine Drugs, Vol. 9, Pages 2729-2772: Cyanotoxins: Bioaccumulation and Effects on Aquatic Animals
- Sensors, Vol. 11, Pages 11761-11773: Force to Rebalance Control of HRG and Suppression of Its Errors on the Basis of FPGA
- Sensors, Vol. 11, Pages 11752-11760: Low Cost Sensors Based on SPR in a Plastic Optical Fiber for Biosensor Implementation
- Pharmaceuticals, Vol. 4, Pages 1591-1606: Targeted CRM197-PEG-PEI/siRNA Complexes for Therapeutic RNAi in Glioblastoma
- City of London police class Occupy movement with terrorists such as Al Qaeda
- Santa's helpers in Decatur
- Nutrients, Vol. 3, Pages 1023-1041: The Potential Role of Vitamin D Enhanced Foods in Improving Vitamin D Status
- Cancers, Vol. 3, Pages 4281-4293: Clinical Investigation of the Role of Interleukin-4 and Interleukin-13 in the Evolution of Prostate Cancer
- IJMS, Vol. 12, Pages 9426-9439: Genetic and Epigenetic Traits as Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer
- IJMS, Vol. 12, Pages 9404-9425: Chiral Vibrational Structures of Proteins at Interfaces Probed by Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy
- Molecules, Vol. 16, Pages 10507-10540: Transdermal Drug Delivery Enhancement by Compounds of Natural Origin
- Molecules, Vol. 16, Pages 10491-10506: The Role of Carotenoids in Human Skin
- FotoMagico 3.8.3 - Powerful slideshow creator with multi-app integration.. (Demo)
- Cocktail 5.1.1 - General maintenance and optimization utility.. (Shareware)
- MacFamilyTree 6.2.1 - Genealogy application.. (Demo)
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative movement disorder that is characterized pathologically by a progressive loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and by protein inclusions, designated Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites. PD is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, affecting almost 1% of the population over 60 years old. Although the symptoms and neuropathology of PD have been well characterized, the underlying mechanisms and causes of the disease are still not clear. Genetic mutations can provide important clues to disease mechanism, but most PD cases are sporadic rather than familial; environmental factors have long been suspected to contribute to the disease. Although more than 90% of PD cases occur sporadically and are thought to be due, in part, to oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, the study of genetic mutations has provided great insight into the molecular mechanisms of PD. Furthermore, rotenone, a widely used pesticide, and paraquat and maneb cause a syndrome in rats and mice that mimics, both behaviorally and neurologically, the symptoms of PD. In the current review, we will discuss various aspects of gene-environment interaction that lead to progressive dopaminergic neurodegenration, mainly focusing on our current finding based on stress-mediated parkin dysfunction. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST OxyVita Hb is a new generation hemoglobin based oxygen carrier (HBOC) produced through modification of a zero-linked polymerization mechanism using activators which incorporate cross-linked bovine tetramer hemoglobin into "super-polymeric" macromolecules (Average molecular weight = 17 MDa) for the purpose of oxygen delivery when whole blood or packed red cells are not available. This molecular design approach was generated in order to address several fundamental biochemical and physiological weaknesses of previous generations of HBOCs. Observation during pre-clinical and clinical studies provided evidence that these early generation acellular HBOCs were directly associated with loss of retention within the circulatory system, extravasation across endothelial tissue membranes due to their small molecular size leading to arterial and venous vasoconstriction with coupled increases in mean arterial pressure (MAP). The inherent increase in molecular size and structural stability of the OxyVita Hb is a direct response to addressing these serious weaknesses that have occurred during the evolution of HBOC development within the past two decades. The nature of the zero-linked synthetic route eliminates any chemical linkers remaining in the product, eliminating side reaction concerns, such as reversibility and decomposition due to weak chemical bonds, dependency on temperature and pressure, and residual toxicity. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST The goal of this study was to map and quantify the number of newly constructed buildings in Accra, Ghana between 2002 and 2010 based on high spatial resolution satellite image data. Two semi-automated feature detection approaches for detecting and mapping newly constructed buildings based on QuickBird very high spatial resolution satellite imagery were analyzed: (1) post-classification comparison; and (2) bi-temporal layerstack classification. Feature Analyst software based on a spatial contextual classifier and ENVI Feature Extraction that uses a true object-based image analysis approach of image segmentation and segment classification were evaluated. Final map products representing new building objects were compared and assessed for accuracy using two object-based accuracy measures, completeness and correctness. The bi-temporal layerstack method generated more accurate results compared to the post-classification comparison method due to less confusion with background objects. The spectral/spatial contextual approach (Feature Analyst) outperformed the true object-based feature delineation approach (ENVI Feature Extraction) due to its ability to more reliably delineate individual buildings of various sizes. Semi-automated, object-based detection followed by manual editing appears to be a reliable and efficient approach for detecting and enumerating new building objects. A bivariate regression analysis was performed using neighborhood-level estimates of new building density regressed on a census-derived measure of socio-economic status, yielding an inverse relationship with R2 = 0.31 (n = 27; p = 0.00). The primary utility of the new building delineation results is to support spatial analyses of land cover and land use and demographic change. |
| Water, Vol. 3, Pages 1174-1196: Explaining Non-Take-up of Water Subsidy Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST We use two separate quasi-natural experiments to explore the relative importance of information and administrative costs in explaining non-take-up of water subsidy. The first "experiment" shows that the take-up rate of a household with lower administrative costs is not significantly different from otherwise identical households. In contrast, using the same program, the second "experiment" reveals that the take-up rate of a household that is more likely to be informed is substantially higher compared to otherwise identical households. These findings support the idea that information plays a major role in explaining non-take-up of water subsidy. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST Heat Alert and Response Systems (HARS) are currently undergoing testing and implementation in Canada. These programs seek to reduce the adverse health effects of heat waves on human health by issuing weather forecasts and warnings, informing individuals about possible protections from excessive heat, and providing such protections to vulnerable subpopulations and individuals at risk. For these programs to be designed effectively, it is important to know how individuals perceive the heat, what their experience with heat-related illness is, how they protect themselves from excessive heat, and how they acquire information about such protections. In September 2010, we conducted a survey of households in 5 cities in Canada to study these issues. At the time of the survey, these cities had not implemented heat outreach and response systems. The study results indicate that individuals' recollections of recent heat wave events were generally accurate. About 21% of the sample reported feeling unwell during the most recent heat spell, but these illnesses were generally minor. Only in 25 cases out of 243, these illnesses were confirmed or diagnosed by a health care professional. The rate at which our respondents reported heat-related illnesses was higher among those with cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, was higher among younger respondents and bore no relationship with the availability of air conditioning at home. Most of the respondents indicated that they would not dismiss themselves as "not at risk" and that they would cope with excessive heat by staying in air conditioned environments and keeping well hydrated. Despite the absence of heat outreach and education programs in their city, our respondents at least a rough idea of how to take care of themselves. The presence of air conditioning and knowledge of cooling centers is location-specific, which provides opportunities for targeting HARS interventions. |
| Marine Drugs, Vol. 9, Pages 2729-2772: Cyanotoxins: Bioaccumulation and Effects on Aquatic Animals Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic prokaryotes with wide geographic distribution that can produce secondary metabolites named cyanotoxins. These toxins can be classified into three main types according to their mechanism of action in vertebrates: hepatotoxins, dermatotoxins and neurotoxins. Many studies on the effects of cyanobacteria and their toxins over a wide range of aquatic organisms, including invertebrates and vertebrates, have reported acute effects (e.g., reduction in survivorship, feeding inhibition, paralysis), chronic effects (e.g., reduction in growth and fecundity), biochemical alterations (e.g., activity of phosphatases, GST, AChE, proteases), and behavioral alterations. Research has also focused on the potential for bioaccumulation and transferring of these toxins through the food chain. Although the herbivorous zooplankton is hypothesized as the main target of cyanotoxins, there is not unquestionable evidence of the deleterious effects of cyanobacteria and their toxins on these organisms. Also, the low toxin burden in secondary consumers points towards biodilution of microcystins in the food web as the predominant process. In this broad review we discuss important issues on bioaccumulation and the effects of cyanotoxins, with emphasis on microcystins, as well as drawbacks and future needs in this field of research. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST A novel design of force to rebalance control for a hemispherical resonator gyro (HRG) based on FPGA is demonstrated in this paper. The proposed design takes advantage of the automatic gain control loop and phase lock loop configuration in the drive mode while making full use of the quadrature control loop and rebalance control loop in controlling the oscillating dynamics in the sense mode. First, the math model of HRG with inhomogeneous damping and frequency split is theoretically analyzed. In addition, the major drift mechanisms in the HRG are described and the methods that can suppress the gyro drift are mentioned. Based on the math model and drift mechanisms suppression method, four control loops are employed to realize the manipulation of the HRG by using a FPGA circuit. The reference-phase loop and amplitude control loop are used to maintain the vibration of primary mode at its natural frequency with constant amplitude. The frequency split is readily eliminated by the quadrature loop with a DC voltage feedback from the quadrature component of the node. The secondary mode response to the angle rate input is nullified by the rebalance control loop. In order to validate the effect of the digital control of HRG, experiments are carried out with a turntable. The experimental results show that the design is suitable for the control of HRG which has good linearity scale factor and bias stability. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST This paper reports the fabrication and testing of two configurations of optical sensor systems based on Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) at the interface of a liquid sample and sandwiched structures realized starting from the exposed core of a Plastic Optical Fiber (POF). The proposed geometries have proven to be suitable for measuring the refractive indexes of liquids whose refractive index falls around 1.35. Furthermore, the proposed sensing head, being low cost and relatively easy to realize, may be very attractive for biosensor implementation. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST RNA interference (RNAi) allows the specific knockdown of tumor relevant genes. To induce RNAi, the delivery of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is of crucial importance. This is particularly challenging for their therapeutic applications in vivo. Low molecular weight branched polyethylenimine (PEI) is safe and efficient for nucleic acid delivery including small RNA molecules, based on its ability to electrostatically complex siRNA molecules, thereby protecting them from nuclease degradation. The nanoscale PEI/siRNA complexes are endocytosed by cells prior to intracellular complex release from the lysosome and cytoplasmic release of the siRNAs from the complexes. Chemical modification and ligand decoration of the complexes aim at introducing target tissue specificity and further increased efficacy of PEI-mediated siRNA delivery. CRM197 is a mutated, non-toxic diphtheria toxin (DT) that binds to the membrane-bound precursor of HB-EGF-like growth factor/diphtheria toxin receptor highly expressed in glioblastoma cells. Likewise, the growth factor pleiotrophin (PTN/HB-GAM/HARP) is overexpressed in glioblastoma and is rate limiting for tumor growth, thus representing an attractive target gene for therapeutic knockdown approaches. PEGylation of PEI was performed to reduce the surface charge, and by CRM197 coupling we prepared a modified PEI for siRNA delivery into glioblastoma cells. The novel PEI conjugates were analyzed for their complexation efficiency and optimal mixing ratios, and complexes were physicochemically characterized regarding stability, size and zeta potential. The biological activity of the complexes was confirmed in cell culture by reporter gene knockdown. For the therapeutic treatment of subcutaneous human gliobastoma xenografts in athymic nude mice, we systemically injected the modified PEI/siRNA complexes targeting PTN. Antitumor effects based on PTN knockdown demonstrated the advantage of tumor-targeted CRM197-PEG-PEI/siRNA over untargeted PEG-PEI polyplexes. Thus, we establish targeted CRM197-PEG-PEI-based complexes for siRNA delivery in vivo, and show therapeutic effects of CRM197-PEG-PEI/siRNA-mediated knockdown of PTN. |
| City of London police class Occupy movement with terrorists such as Al Qaeda Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:54 AM PST
Police include Occupy movement on 'terror' list (Thanks, carstenagger!) |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:36 AM PST Parents shop for their children in the Neighborhood Christian Center in Decatur on Thursday. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST Low vitamin D intake and status have been reported worldwide and many studies have suggested that this low status may be involved in the development of several chronic diseases. There are a limited number of natural dietary sources of vitamin D leading to a real need for alternatives to improve dietary intake. Enhancement of foods with vitamin D is a possible mode for ensuring increased consumption and thus improved vitamin D status. The present review examines studies investigating effects of vitamin D enhanced foods in humans and the feasibility of the approach is discussed. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, both in the USA and Europe. Although incurable, metastatic disease can often be controlled for years with anti-androgen therapy. Once the disease becomes castrate resistant, the median survival is 18 months. There is growing evidence that the immune system, and in particular cytokines, play an important role in prostate cancer immunosurveillance and progression. Here, we have undertaken a clinical investigation of the role of two closely related cytokines, IL-4 and IL-13 in prostate cancer. In the largest series studied to date, we show that serum IL-4, but not IL-13 is significantly elevated in castrate resistant, compared to androgen sensitive disease. Notably however, serum IL-4 levels are also raised in patients with benign prostatic disease. Analysis of benign and malignant prostate tissue demonstrates that the source of IL-4 is epithelial cells rather than infiltrating leukocytes. Together, our data are consistent with a dual role for IL-4 in prostate cancer development. In benign disease, our data add to the evidence that IL-4 serves a protective role. By contrast, the data support a direct role for IL-4 in the progression of prostate cancer from androgen responsive, to advanced castrate-resistant disease. |
| IJMS, Vol. 12, Pages 9426-9439: Genetic and Epigenetic Traits as Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST Colorectal cancer is a major health burden, and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in industrialized countries. The steady improvements in surgery and chemotherapy have improved survival, but the ability to identify high- and low-risk patients is still somewhat poor. Molecular biology has, over the years, given insight into basic principles of colorectal cancer initiation and development. These findings include aberrations increasing risk of tumor development, genetic changes associated with the stepwise progression of the disease, and errors predicting response to a specific treatment. Potential biomarkers in colorectal cancer are extensively studied, and how the molecular aberrations relate to clinical features. Yet, little of this knowledge has been possible to transfer into clinical practice. In this review, an overview of colorectal cancer genetics will be given, as well as how aberrations found in this tumor type are proposed as biomarkers for risk prediction, as diagnostic tools, for prognosis or prediction of treatment outcome. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST We review the recent development of chiral sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and its applications to study chiral vibrational structures at interfaces. This review summarizes observations of chiral SFG signals from various molecular systems and describes the molecular origins of chiral SFG response. It focuses on the chiral vibrational structures of proteins and presents the chiral SFG spectra of proteins at interfaces in the C-H stretch, amide I, and N-H stretch regions. In particular, a combination of chiral amide I and N-H stretches of the peptide backbone provides highly characteristic vibrational signatures, unique to various secondary structures, which demonstrate the capacity of chiral SFG spectroscopy to distinguish protein secondary structures at interfaces. On the basis of these recent developments, we further discuss the advantages of chiral SFG spectroscopy and its potential application in various fields of science and technology. We conclude that chiral SFG spectroscopy can be a new approach to probe chiral vibrational structures of protein at interfaces, providing structural and dynamic information to study in situ and in real time protein structures and dynamics at interfaces. |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST The transdermal route of administration offers an alternative pathway for systemic drug delivery with numerous advantages over conventional routes. Regrettably, the stratum corneum forms a formidable barrier that hinders the percutaneous penetration of most drugs, offering an important protection mechanism to the organism against entrance of possible dangerous exogenous molecules. Different types of penetration enhancers have shown the potential to reversibly overcome this barrier to provide effective delivery of drugs across the skin. Although certain chemical and physical skin penetration enhancers are already employed by the pharmaceutical industry in commercially available transdermal products, some skin penetration enhancers are associated with irritating and toxic effects. This emphasizes the need for the discovery of new, safe and effective skin penetration enhancers. Penetration enhancers from natural origin have become popular as they offer several benefits over their synthetic counterparts such as sustainable mass production from a renewable resource and lower cost depending on the type of extraction used. The aim of this article is to give a comprehensive summary of the results from scientific research conducted on skin penetration enhancers of natural origin. The discussions on these natural penetration enhancers have been organized into the following chemical classes: essential oils, terpenes, fatty acids and polysaccharides. |
| Molecules, Vol. 16, Pages 10491-10506: The Role of Carotenoids in Human Skin Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:00 AM PST The human skin, as the boundary organ between the human body and the environment, is under the constant influence of free radicals (FR), both from the outside in and from the inside out. Carotenoids are known to be powerful antioxidant substances playing an essential role in the reactions of neutralization of FR (mainly reactive oxygen species ROS). Carotenoid molecules present in the tissue are capable of neutralizing several attacks of FR, especially ROS, and are then destroyed. Human skin contains carotenoids, such as α-, γ-, β-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene and their isomers, which serve the living cells as a protection against oxidation. Recent studies have reported the possibility to investigate carotenoids in human skin quickly and non-invasively by spectroscopic means. Results obtained from in-vivo studies on human skin have shown that carotenoids are vital components of the antioxidative protective system of the human skin and could serve as marker substances for the overall antioxidative status. Reflecting the nutritional and stress situation of volunteers, carotenoids must be administered by means of antioxidant-rich products, e.g., in the form of fruit and vegetables. Carotenoids are degraded by stress factors of any type, inter alia, sun radiation, contact with environmental hazards, illness, etc. The kinetics of the accumulation and degradation of carotenoids in the skin have been investigated. |
| FotoMagico 3.8.3 - Powerful slideshow creator with multi-app integration.. (Demo) Posted: 15 Dec 2011 08:59 PM PST  FotoMagico lets you create professional slideshows from your photos and music with just a few, simple mouse clicks. It sports a very clean and intuitive yet powerful user interface. High image quality, fast performance, and user flexibility were some of the design goals for this application.FotoMagico is available in $29 Home and $139.99 Pro versions. For a comparison between the two, click here. Create the most spectacular slideshows:
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| Cocktail 5.1.1 - General maintenance and optimization utility.. (Shareware) Posted: 15 Dec 2011 08:59 PM PST  Cocktail is a general purpose utility for OS X that lets you clean, repair and optimize your Mac. It is a powerful digital toolset that helps hundreds of thousands of Mac users around the world get the most out of their computers every day. The application serves up a perfect mix of maintenance tools and tweaks, all accessible through a clean and easy to use interface. Cocktail's features are arranged into five categories that helps you manage various aspects of your computer. It also comes with an automatic Pilot-mode that allows you to simply press a button and relax, knowing that Cocktail will take care of the rest. Cocktail (Lion Edition) requires OS X 10.7. Cocktail (Snow Leopard Edition) for OS X 10.6 and Cocktail (Leopard Edition) for OS X 10.5 are available for download from our website. Version 5.1.1:
Mac OS X 10.7 or later Download Now This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| MacFamilyTree 6.2.1 - Genealogy application.. (Demo) Posted: 15 Dec 2011 08:59 PM PST  MacFamilyTree makes it easy to enter and then visualize your family history. Be it creating reports, diagrams or browsing your data in the innovative 3D view called Virtual Tree - MacFamilyTree offers a solution for every task. Get an overview of where you hail from and maybe enthuse your relatives about exploring your family's past at your upcoming family reunion. In its sixth iteration, MacFamilyTree 6 raises the bar even higher and offers a new user interface, more and better charts as well as reports, integration of "New FamilySearch", ToDo management, web research and several more features. MacFamilyTree 6 is built for Mac; and only for Mac using the latest Apple technologies. With MacFamilyTree 6 you can:
Version 6.2.1:
Mac OS X 10.5 or later Download Now |
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