Structure of a human gastrin gene.

A gastrin gene was isolated from a genomic library of human DNA. The human gastrin gene is about 4100 base pairs long and contains two intervening sequences. Thus, a 3500-base-pair intervening sequence is located 5 base pairs proximal to the ATG initiator codon, while a 129-base-pair intervening sequence separates the region coding for the principal hormonal form of gastrin, the heptadecapeptide, from the region coding for the major amino-terminal portion of the gastrin precursor. The 5' flanking region of the gene contains the conserved sequences, T-A-T-A-A and G-A-C-T-C-A-T-A-T, in positions similar to those of other eukaryotic genes.     

Opposite effects of sleep deprivation on the continuous reaction times in patients with liver cirrhosis and normal persons

The continuous reaction times (CRT) method describes arousal functions. Reaction time instability in a patient with liver disease indicates covert hepatic encephalopathy (cHE). The effects of sleep deprivation are unknown although cirrhosis patients frequently suffer from sleep disorders. The aim of this study was to determine if sleep deprivation influences the CRT test. Eighteen cirrhosis patients and 27 healthy persons were tested when rested and after one night’s sleep deprivation. The patients filled out validated sleep quality questionnaires. Seven patients (38 %) had unstable reaction times (a CRTindex?p?=?0.01). There was no change in the other patients’ reaction speed or stability. Seven patients (38 %) reported poor sleep that was not related to their CRT tests before or after the sleep deprivation. In the healthy participants, the sleep deprivation slowed their reaction times by 11 % (p?相似文献   

Pelvic irradiation does not increase the risk of hip replacement in patients with gynecological cancer: A cohort study based on 8,507 patients

Background and purpose —

Long-term survivors of cancer can develop adverse effects of the treatment. 60% of cancer patients survive for at least 5 years after diagnosis. Pelvic irradiation can cause bone damage in these long-term survivors, with increased risk of fracture and degeneration of the hip.

Patients and methods —

Analyses were based on linkage between the Cancer Registry of Norway (CRN) and the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register (NAR). All women who had been exposed to radiation for curative radiotherapy of gynecological cancer (40–60 Gy for at least 28 days) were identified in the CRN. Radiotherapy had been given between 1998 and 2006 and only patients who were irradiated within 6 months of diagnosis were included. The control group contained women with breast cancer who had also undergone radiotherapy, but not to the pelvic area. Fine and Gray competing-risk analysis was used to calculate subhazard-rate ratios (subHRRs) and cumulative incidence functions (CIFs) for the risk of having a prosthesis accounting for differences in mortality.

Results —

Of 962 eligible patients with gynecological cancer, 26 (3%) had received a total hip replacement. In the control group without exposure, 253 (3%) of 7,545 patients with breast cancer had undergone total hip replacement. The 8-year CIF for receiving a total hip replacement was 2.7% (95% CI: 2.6–2.8) for gynecological cancer patients and 3.0% (95% CI: 2.95–3.03) for breast cancer patients; subHRR was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.53–1.22; p = 0.3). In both groups, the most common reason for hip replacement was idiopathic osteoarthritis.

Interpretation —

We did not find any statistically significantly higher risk of undergoing total hip replacement in patients with gynecological cancer who had had pelvic radiotherapy than in women with breast cancer who had not had pelvic radiotherapy.After approximately 5 years, two-thirds of cancer patients are still alive (Sant et al. 2009). Research on late adverse effects in cancer survivors has gained increasing interest over the last decade. However, the main interest has been on secondary cancer events (Curtis et al. 2006), cardiovascular complications, and emotional problems (Meyerowitz et al. 2008). The relationship between cancer, skeletal disorders, and treatment has rarely been investigated. Skeletal adverse effects of irradiation include cell death, cellular injury, and abnormal bone repair—although the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood (Yurut-Caloglu et al. 2010).Pelvic insufficiency fractures may be one of the possible late side effects of radiotherapy to the pelvic area. The incidence of such fractures has been reported to be 5–20% in gynecological cancer patients who have undergone radiotherapy (Kwon et al. 2008, Oh et al. 2008, Schmeler et al. 2010, Shih et al. 2013). Less common effects of pelvic irradiation include acetabular protrusion and avascular necrosis of the femoral head (Fiorino et al. 2009). Other studies have not found any increased risk of hip fracture after pelvic irradiation (Feltl et al. 2006, Elliott et al. 2011). We wanted to examine the risk of receiving a total hip replacement in patients with cancer in the pelvic area who had undergone radiotherapy compared to patients with cancer at another location who had not undergone pelvic irradiation. Our hypothesis was that patients who have had high-dose pelvic radiotherapy would have a higher risk of undergoing total hip replacement than women who have had radiotherapy with target fields in other parts of the body.     

Evaluation of the Resistance to Cyclic Fatigue among ProTaper Next,ProTaper Universal,and Vortex Blue Rotary Instruments

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to compare the fracture resistance to cyclic fatigue of ProTaper Next (PTN; Dentsply Tulsa Dental Specialties, Tulsa, OK), ProTaper Universal (PTU, Dentsply Tulsa Dental Specialties), and Vortex Blue (VB, Dentsply Tulsa Dental Specialties) rotary instruments.

Methods

Twenty instruments each of PTN X1–X5, PTU S1–F5, and VB 20/04–50/04 were rotated until fracture in a simulated canal of 90° and a 5-mm radius using a custom-made testing platform. The number of cycles to fracture (NCF) was calculated. Weibull analysis was used to predict the maximum number of cycles when 99% of the instrument samples survive.

Results

VB 20/04–30/04 had significantly higher NCF than PTU S1–F5 and PTN X1–X5. VB 35/04–45/04 had significantly higher NCF than PTU S2–F5 and PTN X2–X5. PTN X1 had higher NCF than PTU S1–F5. PTN X2 had higher NCF than PTU F2–F5. The Weibull distribution predicted the highest number of cycles at which 99% of instruments survive to be 766 cycles for VB 25/04 and the lowest to be 50 cycles for PTU F2.

Conclusions

Under the limitations of this study, VB 20/04–45/04 were more resistant to cyclic fatigue than PTN X2–X5 and PTU S2–F5. PTN X1 and X2 were more resistant to cyclic fatigue than PTU F2–F5. The Weibull distribution appears to be a feasible and potentially clinically relevant model to predict resistance to cyclic fatigue.     

Structural investigation of three distinct amorphous forms of Ar hydrate

Three amorphous forms of Ar hydrate were produced using the crystalline clathrate hydrate Ar·6.5H₂O (structure II, Fd$\bar{3}$m, a ≈ 17.1 Å) as a precursor and structurally characterized by a combination of isotope substitution (³⁶Ar) neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The first form followed from the pressure-induced amorphization of the precursor at 1.5 GPa at 95 K and the second from isobaric annealing at 2 GPa and subsequent cooling back to 95 K. In analogy to amorphous ice, these amorphs are termed high-density amorphous (HDA) and very-high-density amorphous (VHDA), respectively. The third amorph (recovered amorphous, RA) was obtained when recovering VHDA to ambient pressure (at 95 K). The three amorphs have distinctly different structures. In HDA the distinction of the original two crystallographically different Ar guests is maintained as differently dense Ar–water hydration structures, which expresses itself in a split first diffraction peak in the neutron structure factor function. Relaxation of the local water structure during annealing produces a homogeneous hydration environment around Ar, which is accompanied with a densification by about 3%. Upon pressure release the homogeneous amorphous structure undergoes expansion by about 21%. Both VHDA and RA can be considered frozen solutions of immiscible Ar and water in which in average 15 and 11 water molecules, respectively, coordinate Ar out to 4 Å. The local water structures of HDA and VHDA Ar hydrates show some analogy to those of the corresponding amorphous ices, featuring H₂O molecules in 5- and 6-fold coordination with neighboring molecules. However, they are considerably less dense. Most similarity is seen between RA and low density amorphous ice (LDA), which both feature strictly 4-coordinated H₂O networks. It is inferred that, depending on the kind of clathrate structure and occupancy of cages, amorphous states produced from clathrate hydrates display variable local water structures.

Three amorphous forms of Ar clathrate hydrate (pressure-amorphized, annealed and recovered) were characterized by isotope substitution (³⁶Ar) neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics and their local coordinations analyzed and compared to pure ice.     

Epstein-Barr virus immune response in high-risk nasopharyngeal carcinoma families in Greenland

Undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Presence of EBV IgA antibodies is rare among healthy individuals and is used as a marker of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in high-incidence populations. Reasons for EBV IgA seropositivity are unknown, but high EBV IgA levels have been found among unaffected close family members and spouses to nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients in Chinese populations. In Greenland, a nasopharyngeal carcinoma-high-incidence area, we compared EBV serology and viral load in high-risk nasopharyngeal carcinoma family members (N = 20) and controls without nasopharyngeal carcinoma-affected relatives (N = 90). There was no significant difference in EBV viral loads between relatives and controls, and EBV was detected in plasma in 5.0% of relatives and 11.4% of controls. There was no significant difference in EBV serology, but the seroprevalence of EBV viral capsid antigen (VCA) IgA was high in both relatives (25.0%) and controls (20.5%). Compared with anti-VCA IgA-negative, anti-VCA IgA-positive individuals had significantly higher EBV viral loads in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (P < 0.01). The very high prevalence of anti-VCA IgA indicates that this antibody is unsuitable for nasopharyngeal carcinoma screening among Inuits.