BACKGROUND Hydrocarbon alkanes have been recently considered as important next-generation biofuels because microbial production of alkane biofuels was demonstrated. However, the toxicity of alkanes to microbial hosts can possibly be a bottleneck for high productivity of alkane biofuels. To tackle this toxicity issue, it is essential to understand molecular mechanisms of interactions between alk...

The effectiveness of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) as a weight-loss nutraceutical continues to be debatable, suggesting that there may be value in exploring the physiological effects of the lesser-known isomers. The effects of the minor isomer, trans-8, cis-10 (t8, c10)-CLA, in the form of an equimolar mixture with the cis-9, trans-11 (c9, t11) isomer, on body weight and body composition, circ...

Long-chain-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (LCADH) has been produced by recombinant techniques from the human cDNA and purified after expression in Escherichia coli. Pig kidney LCADH was purified using an optimized method which also produces apparently pure short-chain-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (SCADH) and medium-chain-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCADH) in good yields. LCADH from both sources has a maximal tur...

Isoprenyl diphosphate synthases (IDSs) produce the ubiquitous branched-chain diphosphates of different lengths that are precursors of all major classes of terpenes. Typically, individual short-chain IDSs (scIDSs) make the C10, C15, and C20 isoprenyl diphosphates separately. Here, we report that the product length synthesized by a single scIDS shifts depending on the divalent metal cofactor pres...

Purpose: To evaluate whether (a) Wnt5a expression in pancreatic cancer and malignant melanoma cells might be associated with constitutive levels of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) and/or TLR3 signaling; (b) phenylmethimazole (C10), a novel TLR signaling inhibitor, could decrease constitutive Wnt5a and TLR3 levels together with cell growth and migration; and (c) the efficacy of C10 as a potential in...

BACKGROUND Localized exercises are widely used in rehabilitation processes. The predominant options are exercises with an emphasis on either concentric or eccentric contractions. Eccentric exercises promote greater strength gains compared to classical concentric stimuli, but can cause muscle damage. The aim of present study was to compare strength training composed of 10 sessions with progressi...

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...

The structure of a 23 nt RNA sequence, rGGACCCGGGCUCAACCUGGGUCC, was elucidated using homonuclear NMR, distance geometry and restrained molecular dynamics. This RNA is analogous to residues 612-628 of the Escherichia coli 16S rRNA. The structure of the RNA reveals the presence of a pentaloop closed by a duplex stem in typical A-form conformation. The loop does not form a U-turn motif, as previo...

BACKGROUND Sterile protection in >90% of volunteers against homologous Plasmodium falciparum infection has been achieved only using the controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) model. This efficient model involves whole parasite immunizations under chloroquine prophylaxis (CPS-immunization), requiring only 30-45 mosquitoes bites infected with P. falciparum-sporozoites. Given the large diversit...

A nested case-control study was designed to evaluate whether a nearly twofold excess of kidney cancer among workers at a refinery/petrochemical plant was associated with cumulative exposure to C2-C5 saturated, C2-C5 unsaturated, C6-C10 aliphatic saturated, C6-C10 aliphatic unsaturated, and C6-C10 aromatic process streams. Nonoccupational risk factors were body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (...