PURPOSE Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is widely regarded as a major modifiable risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Yet, precisely how it exerts its pathologic effects is poorly understood. Since early-stage AMD is characterized by choroidal capillary loss, this study examined the effect of sidestream smoke (SS), the major component of ETS, on the viability of choroidal e...

This study presents serogroup 6 isolates from invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) before and after the recommendation for childhood pneumococcal conjugate vaccination in Germany (July 2006). A total of 19,299 (children: 3508, adults: 15,791) isolates were serotyped. Serogroup 6 isolates accounted for 9.5% (children) and 6.7% (adults), respectively. 548 isolates had serotype 6A, 558 had serotype...

The aim of this study was to identify the possible correlation between polymorphisms in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-3 and their corresponding protein levels in disc tissues obtained from patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) using biochemical and immunohistochemical analyses. Blood and disc samples were obtained from 100 patients with LDH who underwent a lumbar microdiscectomy...

2’-Hydroxychalcones and murrayafoline A, a natural compounds isolated from Glycomis stenocarpa, have been reported to the promising anti-cancer activity. In this study, series of 2'-hydroxychalcones containing A (MuA) 6a-f were achieved by Claisen-Schmidt condensation key intermediate 5'-(1-methoxy-3-methyl-carbazolyl)methyl-2'-hydroxyacetophenone 4 with various aldehydes 5a-f purpose combining...

BACKGROUND In 2007, Park et al. identified a novel serotype among Streptococcus pneumoniae serogroup 6 which they named serotype 6C. The aim of this study was to evaluate with the Neufeld test a novel S. pneumoniae serotype 6C type specific polyclonal antiserum. In addition, serotype 6C isolates found in Denmark in 2007 and 2008 as well as eight old original serotype 6A isolates were characteri...