BACKGROUND The transoral atlantoaxial reduction plate (TARP) fixation has been introduced to achieve reduction, decompression, fixation and fusion of C1-C2 through a transoral-only approach. However, it may also be associated with potential disadvantages, including dysphagia and load shielding of the bone graft. To prevent potential disadvantages related to TARP fixation, a novel transoral atla...

Nutritional ecology of the aquatic model genus Daphnia has received much attention in past years in particular with regard to dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) which are crucial for growth and reproduction. Besides their significant role as membrane components, C20 PUFAs serve as precursors for eicosanoids, hormone-like mediators of reproduction, immunity and ion transport physiology....

Studies directed toward the oxidative and reductive desulfurization of readily available 20-S-aryl-20thiouridine derivatives were investigated with the prospect to functionalize the C20-position of nucleosides. The oxidative desulfurization-difluorination strategy was successful on 2-(arylthio)alkanoate surrogates, while extension of the combination of oxidants and fluoride sources was not an e...

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics and validate the use of a new, custom-built automatic smoking machine (ASM), primarily designed to study the effects of an environmental tobacco smoke surrogate (ETS surrogate) exposure in animals of various sizes, including large animals. The equipment includes a programmable ASM coupled to a vented whole body chamber, where animals can...

(1) Background and (2) Methods: A 14-day in vivo, multitoxic (pure mycotoxins) rat experiment was conducted with zearalenone (ZEA; 15 μg/animal/day), deoxynivalenol (DON; 30 μg/animal/day) and fumonisin B₁ (FB₁; 150 μg/animal/day), as individual mycotoxins, binary (FD, FZ and DZ) and ternary combinations (FDZ), via gavage in 1 mL water boluses. (3) Results: Body weight was unaffected, while liv...

Arachidonic acid and other long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are important structural components of membranes and are implicated in diverse signaling pathways. The Delta6 desaturation of linoleic and linolenic acids is the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of these molecules. C. elegans fat-3 mutants lack Delta6 desaturase activity and fail to produce C20 PUFAs. We examined these...

The biosynthesis of eukaryotic lipid-linked oligosaccharides (LLOs) that act as donor substrates in eukaryotic protein N-glycosylation starts on the cytoplasmic side of the endoplasmic reticulum and includes the sequential addition of five mannose units to dolichol-pyrophosphate-GlcNAc2. These reactions are catalyzed by the Alg1, Alg2 and Alg11 gene products and yield Dol-PP-GlcNAc2Man5, an LLO...

In the current study, we tested a hypothesis that CD36 fatty acid (FA) transporter might affect insulin sensitivity by indirect effects on FA composition of adipose tissue. We examined the effects of CD36 downregulation by RNA interference in 3T3-L1 adipocytes on FA transport and composition and on sensitivity to insulin action. Transfected 3T3-L1 adipocytes, without detectable CD36 protein, sh...

The ability of organisms to quickly respond to stresses requires the activation of many intracellular signal transduction pathways. The sphingolipid intermediate ceramide is thought to be particularly important for activating and coordinating signaling pathways during mammalian stress responses. Here we present the first evidence that ceramide and other sphingolipid intermediates are signaling ...

Impact of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) cage culture in Mjoifjordur, Eastern Iceland on the chemistry of the sediment was investigated. Sediment samples were collected using a Shipek grab in December 2003. A core sub-sample was taken from each grab for analyzing total organic matter, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and phosphorus in different depths from three stations at various distances...