Although insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) belong to one family, insulin folds into one thermodynamically stable structure, while IGF-1-folds into two thermodynamically stable structures (native and swap forms). We have demonstrated previously that the bifurcating folding behavior of IGF-1 is mainly controlled by its B-domain. To further elucidate which parts of the sequences det...

BACKGROUND Our understanding of finger functionality associated with the specific muscle is mostly based on the functional anatomy, and the exact motion effect associated with an individual muscle is still unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine phalangeal joints motion of the index finger generated by each extrinsic muscle. METHODS Ten (6 female and 4 male) fresh-frozen cadaveric h...

BACKGROUND The i-gel provides good airway sealing but gastric insufflation may occur when peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) exceeds the sealing pressure of the i-gel without a gastric tube. Pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV) provides lower PIP compared with volume-controlled ventilation (VCV) and low PIP may reduce the incidence of gastric insufflation in children during positive pressure vent...

BACKGROUND We investigated whether increased collagen type I synthesis and deposition contribute to enhancement of myocardial fibrosis and deterioration of cardiac function in patients with hypertensive heart disease (HHD). METHODS AND RESULTS We studied 65 hypertensives with left ventricular hypertrophy subdivided into 2 groups: 34 patients without heart failure (HF) and 31 patients with HF....

An asymmetric copper(I) dimer Cu(1)2(pip)2 [pip = (2-picolyliminomethyl)pyrrole anion] with both two-coordinate and four-coordinate copper(I) sites was synthesized and studied by X-ray diffraction and DFT calculations.

Two reasons for the lack of success of programs or interventions are poor alignment of interventions with the causes of the problem targeted by the intervention, leading to poor efficacy (theory failure), and failure to implement interventions as designed (program failure). These failures are important for both public health programs and randomized trials. In the Sanitation Hygiene and Infant N...

Polarized delivery of signaling and adhesion molecules to the leading edge is required for directional migration of cells. Here, we describe a role for the PIP(2)-synthesizing enzyme, PIPKIγi2, in regulation of exocyst complex control of cell polarity and polarized integrin trafficking during migration. Loss of PIPKIγi2 impaired directional migration, formation of cell polarity, and integrin tr...

We investigated the effect of spermine, spermidine, putrescine and neomycin on the activity of the plasma-membrane Ca2+ pump and on its stimulation by negatively charged phospholipids and calmodulin. Millimolar concentrations of spermine and to a lesser extent of spermidine decreased the ATPase activity in the presence of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), without affecting the stimu...

Recent investigations have confirmed the presence of the polyphosphoinositides, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)), as well as inositol phospholipid-specific phospholipase C in higher plant and microalgal cells. In addition, it has been shown that stimulation of some photosynthetic cell types by environmental or hormonal challenge is accompanied ...

Searching for an object within a cluttered, continuously changing environment can be a very time consuming process. Here we show that a simple auditory pip drastically decreases search times for a synchronized visual object that is normally very difficult to find. This effect occurs even though the pip contains no information on the location or identity of the visual object. The experiments als...