Folic acid supplementation is widely used to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs). 2 Yet not all cases of NTD appear to respond to folic acid. For instance, in the randomised controlled trial sponsored by the Medical Research Council, six NTD recurrences were noted among 593 women (1%) who received full folic acid supplementation, compared with 21 recurrences among 602 unsupplemented pregnancies ...

The tumor suppressor p53 is a member of the emerging class of proteins that have both folded and intrinsically disordered domains, which are a challenge to structural biology. Its N-terminal domain (NTD) is linked to a folded core domain, which has a disordered link to the folded tetramerization domain, which is followed by a disordered C-terminal domain. The quaternary structure of human p53 h...

BACKGROUND In the past, northern China's Shanxi Province has reported the highest incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs) in the world. However, little is known about the epidemiology of NTDs in this area in recent years. METHODS Data were collected from a population-based birth defects surveillance system in 4 counties that captures information on all live births, stillbirths of at least 20 ...

Neural tube defects in Newfoundland SIR-It was recently suggested in this journal that the 1988-89 peak in the birth prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) in eastern Turkey was due to the Chernobyl disaster.' Two other reports from the western hemisphere have described dramatic increases in the birth prevalence of NTD. In Jamaica the increase in several types of NTD between July 1989 and Marc...

Replication initiation is a crucial step in genome duplication and homohexameric DnaB helicase plays a central role in the replication initiation process by unwinding the duplex DNA and interacting with several other proteins during the process of replication. N-terminal domain of DnaB is critical for helicase activity and for DnaG primase interactions. We present here the crystal structure of ...

The tegument protein U14 of human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) constitutes the viral virion structure and is essential for viral growth. To define the characteristics and functions of U14, we determined the crystal structure of the N-terminal domain of HHV-6B U14 (U14-NTD) at 1.85 Å resolution. U14-NTD forms an elongated helix-rich fold with a protruding β hairpin. U14-NTD exists as a dimer exhibiti...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We sought to investigate the direct costs of acute hospitalization for patients with first-ever ischemic stroke in Taiwan. METHODS Data were prospectively collected from 360 first-ever ischemic stroke patients. Hospital charges were used for analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify the main factors influencing costs. RESULTS Mean age was 64.9...

In Ralstonia eutropha H16, the nitric oxide (NO)-responsive transcriptional activator NorR controls the expression of a dicistronic operon that encodes a membrane-bound NO reductase, NorB, and a protein of unknown function, NorA. The N-terminal domain (NTD) of NorR is responsible for perception of the signal molecule, nitric oxide. Thirteen out of 29 conserved residues of the NTD were exchanged...