We are investigating the potential role for vibration response imaging (VRI) in the prompt emergency department (ED) evaluation of patients presenting with dyspnea to aid in differentiation between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF). VRI is a noninvasive, bedside computer-based technology that creates a visually dynamic two-dimensional image of distribution of v...

BACKGROUND Viral respiratory infection (VRI) is a common cause of pulmonary exacerbations in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). The importance of VRI in adult CF populations is unclear. OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence and clinical impact of VRI among adults with CF. METHODS One hundred adults with CF were followed up prospectively for 12 months. Sputum, nose swabs and throat swabs wer...

Divergence of upstream regulatory pathways of the transcription factor Doublesex (Dsx) serves as a basis for evolution of sex-determining mechanisms in animals. However, little is known about the regulation of Dsx in environmental sex determination. In the crustacean Daphnia magna, environmental sex determination is implemented by male-specific expression of the Dsx ortholog, Dsx1. Transcriptio...

BACKGROUND Astragali Radix has been used widely for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and to enhance endurance and stamina in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for over 2000 years. The polysaccharide constituents of Astragali Radix (ARP) are considered as one of the major constituents contributing to the multiple pharmacological effects of this medicinal plant. The ...

Members of the 14-3-3 superfamily regulate numerous cellular functions by binding phosphoproteins. The seven human isoforms (and the myriad of other eukaryotic 14-3-3 proteins) are highly conserved in amino acid sequence and secondary structure, yet there is abundant evidence that the various isoforms manifest disparate as well as common functions. Several of the human 14-3-3 isoforms are dysre...

Circadian rhythms are generated by well-conserved interlocked transcriptional feedback loops in animals. In Drosophila, the dimeric transcription factor CLOCK/CYCLE (CLK/CYC) promotes period (per), timeless (tim), vrille (vri), and PAR-domain protein 1 (Pdp1) transcription. PER and TIM negatively feed back on CLK/CYC transcriptional activity, whereas VRI and PDP1 negatively and positively regul...

We have analysed a first-order kinetic representation of a interlocking-feedback loop model for the Drosophila circadian clock. In this model, the transcription factor Drosophila CLOCK (dCLK) which activates the clock genes period (per) and timeless (tim) is subjected to positive and negative regulations by the proteins 'PAR Domain Protein 1' (PDP1) and VRILLE (VRI), whose transcription is acti...

The value of vibration response imaging (VRI) technology in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was assessed. The VRI images of 62 cases of CAP patients with normal lung functions before and after treatment were observed and the changes in images before and after treatment were compared. The maximum vibration energy value of CAP patients was 1.64±0.32, patients with unsmoothed vibr...

Improvements in soil water balance modeling can be beneficial for optimizing irrigation management to account for spatial variability in soil properties and evapotranspiration (ET). A remote-sensing-based ET and water balance model was tested for irrigation management in an experiment at two University of Nebraska-Lincoln research sites located near Mead and Brule, Nebraska. Both fields include...