Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) has a unique mechanism of action that results in the formation of large, sodium dodecyl sulfate-resistant complexes involving tight junction proteins; those complexes then induce plasma membrane permeability alterations in host intestinal epithelial cells, leading to cell death and epithelial desquamation. Previous deletion and point mutational studies ...

INTRODUCTION Central nervous system (CNS) penetration-effectiveness (CPE) rank was proposed in 2008 as an estimate of penetration of ARV regimen into the CNS, and validated as predictor of CSF HIV-1 replication. RESULTS on predictive role of CPE on neurocognitive and clinical outcome were conflicting. MATERIALS AND METHODS Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of neurocognitive profile in H...

Human lung fibroblasts develop a cytopathic effect (CPE) when infected with Mycoplasma pneumoniae. This study was designed to determine the relationship between host cell metabolism and the formation of the CPE. Human lung fibroblasts were grown in different serum concentrations, plated at different densities, and grown for different periods of time to alter the metabolic activity of the cells....

SCOPE Cocoa and (-)-epicatechin (EC), a main cocoa flavanol, have been suggested to exert beneficial effects in diabetes, but the mechanism for their insulin-like effects remains unknown. In this study, the modulation of insulin signalling by EC and a cocoa phenolic extract (CPE) on hepatic HepG2 cells was investigated by analysing key proteins of the insulin pathways, namely insulin receptor, ...

BACKGROUND The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can give rise to a spectrum of neuropsychological impairments known collectively as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) has reduced the incidence of HIV dementia, the prevalence of milder forms of HAND has increased. It has been postulated that incomplete central nervous system (CNS) viral suppre...

OBJECTIVE The link between CNS penetration of antiretrovirals and AIDS-defining neurologic disorders remains largely unknown. METHODS HIV-infected, antiretroviral therapy-naive individuals in the HIV-CAUSAL Collaboration who started an antiretroviral regimen were classified according to the CNS Penetration Effectiveness (CPE) score of their initial regimen into low (<8), medium (8-9), or high...

In recent years, Enterobacteriaceae isolates have increased their potential to become highly drug resistant by acquiring resistance to carbapenems, primarily due to the production of acquired carbapenemases. The carbapenemases detected in Enterobacteriaceae are largely of the KPC, VIM, NDM, IMP and OXA-48 types. Although the epidemiological origin and geographic distribution of carbapenemases a...

In this work, we augment the approximate density functional method SCC-DFTB (DFTB3) with the chemical-potential equalization (CPE) approach in order to improve the performance for molecular electronic polarizabilities. The CPE method, originally implemented for the NDDO type of methods by Giese and York, has been shown to significantly emend minimal basis methods with respect to the response pr...