BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory disease mediated by T-helper (Th)2 cells. Montelukast (trade name Singulair) is a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist used for asthma treatment. Mirroring Th1-Th2 polarization, two distinct states of macrophages have been recognized: the classically activated (M1) macrophages and the alternatively activated (M2) macrophages. M2 po...

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a disease with major impact on public health and public health costs. Colonoscopy is purportedly the best screening tool for CRC. However, the acceptance by the general population is very poor. Therefore evaluation of additional screening tools is of great interest. PATIENTS AND METHODS The use of M2-PK measurement in the feces has been reported in 6 stud...

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 causes severe disease and mortality in poultry. Increased transmission of H5N1 HPAIV from birds to humans is a serious threat to public health. We evaluated the individual contributions of each of the three HPAIV surface proteins, namely, the hemagglutinin (HA), the neuraminidase (NA), and the M2 proteins, to the induction of HPAIV-ne...

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) protein M2-1 functions as an essential transcriptional cofactor of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) complex by increasing polymerase processivity. M2-1 is a modular RNA binding protein that also interacts with the viral phosphoprotein P, another component of the RdRp complex. These binding properties are related to the core region of M2-1 encompass...

The notion of a Laplace ladder for a discrete analogue of the Laplace equation is presented. The adjoint of the discrete Moutard equation and a discrete counterpart of the nonlinear form of Goursat equation are introduced. 1 Notation Value of functions of continuous variables we denote by f(u, v) i.e. f : R ∋ (u, v) 7→ f(u, v) ∈ R while functions of discrete variables by f(m1, m2) i.e. f : Z 2 ...

OBJECTIVE To study the demographic and clinical parameters of three different categories of obesity, with particular focus on a cohort of individuals with BMI > or = 50 kg/m2, the fastest growing category of obesity. DESIGN Over 700 obese individuals were studied (186 with BMI = 30-39 kg/m2, 316 with BMI = 40-49 kg/m2 and 290 with BMI > or = 50 kg/m2). RESULTS Median BMI was 51 kg/m2 for pa...