Plasmodium spp parasites harbor an unusual plastid organelle called the apicoplast. Due to its prokaryotic origin and essential function, the apicoplast is a key target for development of new anti-malarials. Over 500 proteins are predicted to localize to this organelle and several prokaryotic biochemical pathways have been annotated, yet the essential role of the apicoplast during human infecti...

The enzyme isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) isomerase catalyzes the reversible isomerization of IPP to produce dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, the initial substrate leading to the biosynthesis of carotenoids and many other long-chain isoprenoids. Expression of IPP isomerase, and of two enzymes specific to the carotenoid pathway (lycopene beta-cyclase and beta-carotene-C-4-oxygenase), was followed i...

PURPOSE The authors evaluated the relationships between the clinical factors and resistive indexes (RIs) of prostate and urethral blood flows by using power Doppler transrectal ultrasonography (PDUS) in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS The data of 110 patients with BPH and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) treated between January 2015 and July 2015 were prospectively col...

Cell cultures of Catharanthus roseus were supplied with [2-13C, 3-2H]-deoxyxylulose or [2-13C,4-2H]1-deoxyxylulose. Lutein and chlorophylls were isolated from the cell mass, and hydrolysis of the chlorophyll mixtures afforded phytol. Isotope labeling patterns of phytol and lutein were determined by 2H NMR and 1H,2H-decoupled 13C NMR. From the data it must be concluded that the deuterium atom in...

OBJECTIVE To define and describe a type of pseudo-malfunction of the Coloplast Titan Inflatable Penile Prosthesis (IPP) One-Touch Release (OTR) pump (Coloplast Corp, Minneapolis, MN). MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed a consecutive series of 550 patients with refractory organic erectile dysfunction who were implanted with a Coloplast Titan IPP with the OTR pump during a period...

Terpenoids, the largest class of plant secondary metabolites, play essential roles in both plant and human life. In higher plants, the five-carbon building blocks of all terpenoids, isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate, are derived from two independent pathways localized in different cellular compartments. The methylerythritol phosphate (MEP or nonmevalonate) pathway, loc...

Isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP), which is produced from mevalonic acid or other nonmevalonic substrates, is the universal precursor of isoprenoids in nature. Despite the presence of several isoprenoid compounds in plastids, enzymes of the mevalonate pathway leading to IPP formation have never been isolated or identified to our knowledge. We now describe the characterization of two pepper (Capsicu...

BACKGROUND Terminal dribbling is one of the lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) that has not been widely studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between terminal dribbling (TD) and other parameters such as International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and intravesical prostatic protrusion (IPP). METHODS Medical records of male patients with LUTS aged 40 years and olde...

BACKGROUND Previous animal studies suggested that the peritoneal environment during a carbon dioxide (CO(2)) pneumoperitoneum is hypoxic and that this may contribute to the formation of intra-abdominal adhesions or the growth of malignant cells. There is no study, however, that investigates the relationship between anaesthesia, ventilation and the laparoscopic peritoneal environment to the deve...

Several emerging fields of science and engineering are increasingly characterized by computationally intensive programs. Without parallelization, such programs do not benefit from the increasing core counts available in todays chip multiprocessors. However, writing correct and well-performing parallel programs is widely perceived to be an extremely hard problem. In order to understand the chall...