The Amputee Mobility Predictor (AMP) is an outcome measure designed to assess mobility and functional capabilities for people with unilateral lower-limb amputation. No comparable measure exists for those with bilateral lower-limb amputation (BLLA). The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of the AMP-Bilateral (AMP-B) to measure the ability to perform functional tasks related to part...

We generated mice with doxycycline control of a human neurofilament light (NF-L) transgene in the context of the absence (tTA;hNF-L;NF-L(-/-)) or presence (tTA;hNF-L;NF-L(+/-)) of endogenous mouse NF-L proteins. Doxycycline treatment caused the rapid disappearance of human NF-L (hNF-L) mRNA in tTA;hNF-L mice, but the hNF-L proteins remained with a half-life of 3 weeks in the brain. In the sciat...

The expression of transfected genes in mammalian cells is rapidly repressed by epigenetic mechanisms such that, within a matter of weeks, only a fraction of the cells in most clonal populations still exhibit detectable expression. This problem can become prohibitive when one wants to express two ectopically introduced genes, as is necessary to establish cell lines that harbor genes regulated by...

Equilibria and applications of a synergistic extraction were studied for the determination of a trace lithium by using thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) and trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) as ligands. Several equations were derived for the extraction of lithium into m-xylene as a phase of Li-TTA·mTOPO adduct. Distribution coefficients and extraction constant were determined together with a stability...

In a 5-year period, 254 patients with community-acquired pneumonia were attended to. Transtracheal aspiration (TTA) could be performed on 119 patients, blood cultures were performed on 201 patients, and 74 patients underwent serologic examinations. By use of these procedures, an etiologic diagnosis was established in 93 cases. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most common pathogen as it was foun...

BACKGROUND Soluble stem cell factor (SCF) has been shown to mobilize bone marrow stem cells and improve cardiac repair after myocardial infarction (MI). However, the effect of membrane-associated SCF on cardiac remodeling after MI is not known. The present study investigated the effects of cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of the membrane-associated isoform of human SCF (hSCF) on cardiac fu...

Adaptive epigenetic changes and toxicity often accompany constitutive expression of a transgene or knockout of an endogenous gene in mice. These considerations potentially limit the usefulness of transgenic technology in studying the in vivo functions of a gene. Using conditional gene expression technology, it is possible to override such restrictions to achieve temporal and tissue-specific man...

Ninety-six sputum specimens from patiens with pneumonia were microscopically screened for leukocytes and buccal squamous epithelial (BSE) cells. Cultures of these specimens were compared with cultures of paired transtracheal aspirates (TTA). Agreement between sputa with less than 25 BSE cells per 100X field and TTA was good (79%). Only 27% of the specimens with greater than 25 BSE cells per 100...

BACKGROUND Dysvascular partial foot amputation (PFA) is a common sequel to advanced peripheral vascular disease. Helping inform difficult discussions between patients and practitioners about the level of PFA, or the decision to have a transtibial amputation (TTA) as an alternative, requires an understanding of the current research evidence on a wide range of topics including wound healing, ream...

Background The 4-thia fatty acid tetradecylthiopropionic acid (TTP) is known to inhibit mitochondrial β-oxidation, and can be used as chemically induced hepatic steatosis-model in rodents, while 3-thia fatty acid tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA) stimulates fatty acid oxidation through activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPARα). We wished to determine how these two com...