A pair controlled investigation for effectiveness of complex conservative treatment of idiopathic scoliosis to be evaluated was performed in patients matched by sex and severity and pattern of the deformity. 38 patients of the therapeutic group and the same quantity of the control one were examined at the clinic of the center. During 6 weeks all the patients were conservatively treated with therapeutic program developed by specialists of our center including therapeutic exercises, apparatus physiotherapy with electric, magnetic and light therapy techniques and also procedures of functional bioregulation with videocomputer auto training and electromyographic feed back and Chêneau brace. Patients of the therapeutic group had corrective exercises according to Schroth method in H. R. Weiss’ modification additionally. Effectiveness of treatment evaluated with instrumental diagnostic techniques: computer optical topography, stabilometry and spirometry. Positive results of the study confirm that application of this complex conservative treatment (during 6 weeks) in children with scoliosis combined with Schroth-Weiss exercises allow to achieve obvious deformity correction and reduce symptoms of the disease.
- Keywords
- Schroth-Weiss cvičení,
- MeSH
- Respiratory Therapy * methods MeSH
- Combined Modality Therapy * methods MeSH
- Kyphosis complications rehabilitation MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Scoliosis * rehabilitation MeSH
- Spirometry statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Case-Control Studies MeSH
- Physical Therapy Modalities * MeSH
- Exercise Therapy methods MeSH
- Vital Capacity MeSH
- Treatment Outcome MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Female MeSH
MOTIVATION: Current methods for identification of potential triplex-forming sequences in genomes and similar sequence sets rely primarily on detecting homopurine and homopyrimidine tracts. Procedures capable of detecting sequences supporting imperfect, but structurally feasible intramolecular triplex structures are needed for better sequence analysis. RESULTS: We modified an algorithm for detection of approximate palindromes, so as to account for the special nature of triplex DNA structures. From available literature, we conclude that approximate triplexes tolerate two classes of errors. One, analogical to mismatches in duplex DNA, involves nucleotides in triplets that do not readily form Hoogsteen bonds. The other class involves geometrically incompatible neighboring triplets hindering proper alignment of strands for optimal hydrogen bonding and stacking. We tested the statistical properties of the algorithm, as well as its correctness when confronted with known triplex sequences. The proposed algorithm satisfactorily detects sequences with intramolecular triplex-forming potential. Its complexity is directly comparable to palindrome searching. AVAILABILITY: Our implementation of the algorithm is available at http://www.fi.muni.cz/lexa/triplex as source code and a web-based search tool. The source code compiles into a library providing searching capability to other programs, as well as into a stand-alone command-line application based on this library. CONTACT: lexa@fi.muni.cz SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
- MeSH
- Algorithms MeSH
- Base Pair Mismatch MeSH
- DNA chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Escherichia coli K12 genetics MeSH
- Genome MeSH
- Nucleic Acid Conformation MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Inverted Repeat Sequences MeSH
- Likelihood Functions MeSH
- Base Sequence MeSH
- Sequence Analysis, DNA methods MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
This paper describes the Structural and Physico-Chemical Interpretation (SPCI) approach, which is an extension of a recently reported method for interpretation of quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models. This approach can efficiently be used to reveal structural motifs and the major physicochemical factors affecting the investigated properties. Its efficacy was demonstrated both on the classical Free-Wilson data set and on several data sets with different end points (permeability of the blood-brain barrier, fibrinogen receptor antagonists, acute oral toxicity). Structure-activity patterns extracted from QSAR models with SPCI were in good correspondence with experimentally observed relationships and molecular docking, regardless of the machine learning method used. Comparison of SPCI with the matched molecular pair (MMP) method clearly shows an advantage of our approach over MMP, especially for small or structurally diverse data sets. The developed approach has been implemented in the SPCI software tool with a graphical user interface, which is publicly available at http://qsar4u.com/pages/sirms_qsar.php .
- MeSH
- Administration, Oral MeSH
- Chemical Phenomena * MeSH
- Data Mining MeSH
- Blood-Brain Barrier metabolism MeSH
- Rats MeSH
- Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship * MeSH
- Oligopeptides chemistry MeSH
- Peptidomimetics chemistry metabolism pharmacology toxicity MeSH
- Permeability MeSH
- Drug Design MeSH
- Receptors, Fibrinogen antagonists & inhibitors MeSH
- Software MeSH
- Toxicity Tests MeSH
- User-Computer Interface MeSH
- Computational Biology methods MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Rats MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Comparative Study MeSH
The potential energy surfaces of guanine...cytosine complexes and microhydrated guanine...cytosine (one and two water molecules) were investigated by the molecular dynamics/quenching method (MD/Q), using the empirical potential Parm94 force field, implemented in the Amber program package. The calculations were conducted for all the possible combinations of the four most stable tautomers of guanine and three of cytosine (covering the canonical forms in both cases). The obtained structures were sorted by their structural motifs into three main groups: planar hydrogen-bonded; stacked; and T-shaped structures. The most stable structures found at the empirical potential energy surfaces were fully reoptimised at the second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory as well as using the density functional method with an empirical dispersion term (DFT-D). A combination of the canonical form of guanine and cytosine and canonical cytosine with a guanine tautomer where the hydrogen is switched from position N9 to N7 are energetically preferred in microsolvated systems as well as those without the presence of a solvent. The rising number of water molecules leads to smaller differences between the stability of the various combinations of the tautomers of bases in the base pairs. For some of the tautomer combinations (mainly the enol-enol combination), two water molecules are sufficient for the preference of stacked structures over the H-bonded ones. The interaction energies and geometries obtained by the second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory method and the much less computationally demanding DFT-D method are comparable, except for stacked complexes, where the interaction energies are overestimated on average by 3 kcal mol(-1) at the MP2 level.
A method has been developed that automatically fits double-helical regions into the electron density of nucleic acid structures. Rigid fragments consisting of two Watson-Crick base pairs and three pairs of phosphate groups in the A-type or B-type conformation are positioned into the electron density by phased rotation and translation functions. The position and orientation of the localized double-helical fragments are determined by phased refinement. The method has been tested by building double-helical regions of nine RNA structures of variable crystallographic resolution and polynucleotide length and is available for free use.
OBJECTIVES: Stroke predominantly affects the elderly. Universities of the Third Age (U3A) are presented with an opportunity to target them. The goal of our study was to improve older adults' preparedness to call 911 as a response to symptoms of stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants were recruited from U3A in Brno, Czech Republic in year 2018. The program included an educational movie about stroke and testing with pretest posttest design. Stroke awareness was measured by Stroke Action Test and video-clips portraying stroke and stroke mimicking symptoms. Respondents had to answer close-ended questions. Composite scores were compared using paired t-test. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 206 attendees of the program, that is 2% of all students, from 4 of 5 U3A in Brno. The mean test score improved from 80% to 87% (paired p < 0.001). Participants with a lower baseline knowledge improved by 12% (95% CI 9% to 16%) and with a higher baseline knowledge by 0% (95% CI 3% to 4%). The score for calling 911 for stroke mimicking symptoms improved from 29% to 20% (paired p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Video-based educational program improved senior preparedness to call 911 as a response to stroke. The improvement was mild, which is at least partly due to a high baseline level of preparedness of seniors active in U3A. A lower baseline knowledge was however associated with a bigger improvement, which might be important for use in a less active/educated population. Educational intervention also decreased intention to call 911 for stroke mimicking symptoms, which could have important implications for decreasing unnecessary activation of pre-hospital services.
Purpose Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells evade antitumor immunity by multiple means, including gains of 9p24.1/ CD274(PD-L1)/ PDCD1LG2(PD-L2) and perturbed antigen presentation. Programmed death 1 (PD-1) receptor blockade is active in classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) despite reported deficiencies of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I expression on HRS cells. Herein, we assess bases of sensitivity to PD-1 blockade in patients with relapsed/refractory cHL who were treated with nivolumab (anti-PD-1) in the CheckMate 205 trial. Methods HRS cells from archival tumor biopsies were evaluated for 9p24.1 alterations by fluorescence in situ hybridization and for expression of PD ligand 1 (PD-L1) and the antigen presentation pathway components-β2-microglobulin, MHC class I, and MHC class II-by immunohistochemistry. These parameters were correlated with clinical responses and progression-free survival (PFS) after PD-1 blockade. Results Patients with higher-level 9p24.1 copy gain and increased PD-L1 expression on HRS cells had superior PFS. HRS cell expression of β2-microglobulin/MHC class I was not predictive for complete remission or PFS after nivolumab therapy. In contrast, HRS cell expression of MHC class II was predictive for complete remission. In patients with a > 12-month interval between myeloablative autologous stem-cell transplantation and nivolumab therapy, HRS cell expression of MHC class II was associated with prolonged PFS. Conclusion Genetically driven PD-L1 expression and MHC class II positivity on HRS cells are potential predictors of favorable outcome after PD-1 blockade. In cHL, clinical responses to nivolumab were not dependent on HRS cell expression of MHC class I.
- MeSH
- B7-H1 Antigen antagonists & inhibitors biosynthesis genetics immunology MeSH
- Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor antagonists & inhibitors biosynthesis genetics immunology MeSH
- beta 2-Microglobulin biosynthesis genetics immunology MeSH
- Reed-Sternberg Cells drug effects immunology pathology MeSH
- Progression-Free Survival MeSH
- Hodgkin Disease drug therapy genetics immunology pathology MeSH
- Cohort Studies MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9 MeSH
- Histocompatibility Antigens Class II biosynthesis genetics immunology MeSH
- Nivolumab therapeutic use MeSH
- Predictive Value of Tests MeSH
- Antigen Presentation MeSH
- Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological therapeutic use MeSH
- Treatment Outcome MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Clinical Trial, Phase II MeSH
- Multicenter Study MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
Experimental and epidemiological studies suggest that calcium intake is inversely related to weight gain. Calcium of dairy origin has been shown to be more effective in promoting weight loss. However, clinical studies yielded controversial results concerning the role of calcium intake in weight change. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the addition of calcium can affect the outcome of 3-week weight management (WM) with a hypocaloric diet characterized by a decreased calcium intake. Overweight/ obese women (n=67; BMI 32.2+/-4.1 kg/m(2); age 49.1+/-12.1 years) underwent a 4-week comprehensive WM program. WM included a 7 MJ/day diet resulting in a stable weight during the first week and a 4.5 MJ/day diet with mean daily calcium intake 350 mg during the second to fourth week. Participants were divided into three age- and BMI-matched groups who received placebo or calcium (500 mg/day). Calcium was administered either as carbonate or calcium of dairy origin (Lactoval). There was no significant difference in weight loss in response to WM between the placebo-treated and calcium-treated groups. However, addition of calcium to the diet resulted in a lower hunger score in the Eating Inventory as well as a decrease in plasma resistin levels. Body composition measured by bioimpedance demonstrated that added calcium leads to preservation of fat-free mass. Nevertheless, a greater loss of fat-free mass in the placebo group might be partly due to a greater loss of water.
- MeSH
- Matched-Pair Analysis MeSH
- Analysis of Variance MeSH
- Time Factors MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Hunger drug effects MeSH
- Weight Loss physiology drug effects MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Statistics, Nonparametric MeSH
- Obesity drug therapy MeSH
- Dietary Supplements MeSH
- Diet, Reducing MeSH
- Calcium, Dietary administration & dosage MeSH
- Treatment Outcome MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Female MeSH
Kidney paired donation (KPD) is a valuable tool to overcome immunological barriers in living donor transplantation. While small national registries encounter difficulties in finding compatible matches, multi-national KPD may be a useful strategy to facilitate transplantation. The Czech (Prague) and Austrian (Vienna) KPD programs, both initiated in 2011, were merged in 2015. A bi-national algorithm allowed for ABO- and low-level HLA antibody-incompatible exchanges, including the option of altruistic donor-initiated domino chains. Between 2011 and 2019, 222 recipients and their incompatible donors were registered. Of those, 95.7% (Prague) and 67.9% (Vienna) entered into KPD registries, and 81 patients received a transplant (95% 3-year graft survival). Inclusion of ABO-incompatible pairs in the Czech program contributed to higher KPD transplant rates (42.6% vs. 23.6% in Austria). After 2015 (11 bi-national match runs), the median pool size increased to 18 pairs, yielding 33 transplants (8 via cross-border exchanges). While matching rates doubled in Austria (from 9.1% to 18.8%), rates decreased in the Czech program, partly due to implementation of more stringent HLA antibody thresholds. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of merging small national KPD programs to increase pool sizes and may encourage the implementation of multi-national registries to expand the full potential of KPD.
- MeSH
- Kidney MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Retrospective Studies MeSH
- Kidney Transplantation * MeSH
- Living Donors MeSH
- Tissue and Organ Procurement * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
- Austria MeSH
