Explore the vast range of titles available.

Research into mechanisms of skin scarring identified transforming growth factor β3 (TGFβ3) as a potential antiscarring therapy. We assessed scar improvement with avotermin (recombinant, active, human TGFβ3). In three double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, intradermal avotermin (concentrations ranging from 0·25 to 500 ng/100 μL per linear cm wound margin) was administered to both margins of 1 cm, full-thickness skin incisions, before wounding and 24 h later, in healthy men and women. Treatments (avotermin and placebo or standard wound care) were randomly allocated to wound sites by a computer generated randomisation scheme, and within-participant controls compared avotermin versus placebo or standard wound care alone. Primary endpoints were visual assessment of scar formation at 6 months and 12 months after wounding in two studies, and from week 6 to month 7 after wounding in the third. Investigators, participants, and scar assessors were blinded to treatment. Efficacy analyses were intention to treat. These studies are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, numbers NCT00847925, NCT00847795, and NCT00629811. In two studies, avotermin 50 ng/100 μL per linear cm significantly improved median score on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) by 5 mm (range −2 to 14; p=0·001) at month 6 and 8 mm (−29 to 18; p=0·0230) at month 12. In the third, avotermin significantly improved total scar scores at all concentrations versus placebo (mean improvement: from 14·84 mm [95 % CI 5·5–24·2] at 5 ng/100 μL per linear cm to 64·25 mm [49·4–79·1] at 500 ng/100 μL per linear cm). Nine [60%] scars treated with avotermin 50 ng/100 μL per linear cm showed 25% or less abnormal orientation of collagen fibres in the reticular dermis versus five [33%] placebo scars. After only 6 weeks from wounding, avotermin 500 ng/100 μL per linear cm improved VAS score by 16·12 mm (95% CI 10·61–21·63). Adverse events at wound sites were similar for avotermin and controls. Erythema and oedema were more frequent with avotermin than with placebo, but were transient and deemed to be consistent with normal wound healing. Avotermin has potential to provide an accelerated and permanent improvement in scarring. Renovo (UK).

Background The diagnosis of subungual melanoma (SUM) can be challenging and SUMs generally have a worse prognosis than melanomas arising elsewhere. Due to their rarity, the evidence to guide management is limited. This study sought to identify clinicopathological features predictive of outcome and to provide guidelines for management. Methods From a large, single-institution database, 103 patients with in situ ( n  = 9) or invasive ( n  = 94) SUMs of the hand treated between 1953 and 2014 were identified and their features analyzed. Results The most common site of hand SUMs was the thumb (53%). Median tumor thickness was 3.1 mm, and SUMs were commonly of the acral subtype (57%), ulcerated (58%), amelanotic (32%), and had mitoses (73%). Twenty-one patients reported prior trauma to the tumor site. Twenty-two patients were stage III at diagnosis; 7 underwent therapeutic lymph node dissection and 22 underwent elective lymph node dissection (5 positive), while 36 had sentinel node biopsy (SNB), 28% of which were positive. Forty percent of SNB-positive patients had involved non-sentinel nodes (SNs) in their completion lymph node dissection. Five-year melanoma-specific survival (MSS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 70% and 52%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, regional node metastasis and right-hand tumor location were significant predictors of shorter DFS and MSS, whereas mitoses negatively impacted DFS only and increasing Breslow thickness impacted MSS only. Conclusions This study confirms that SUMs on the hand usually present at an advanced stage. Distal amputation appears safe for invasive SUMs, and SNB should be considered as these patients have a high risk of both SN and non-SN metastasis.

Betabellin is a 32-residue peptide engineered to fold into a four-stranded antiparallel β-sheet protein. Upon air oxidation, the betabellin peptides can fold and assemble into a disulfide-bridged homodimer, or β-sandwich, of 64 residues. Recent biophysical and ultrastructural studies indicate that betabellin 15D (B15D) (a homodimer of HSLTAKI pkLTFSIA phTYTCAV pkYTAKVSH, where p = DPro, k = DLys, and h = DHis) forms unbranched, 35-Å wide assemblies that resemble the protofilaments of amyloid fibers. In the present study, we have analyzed in detail the X-ray diffraction patterns of B15D prepared from acetonitrile. The fiber diffraction analysis indicated that the B15D fibril was composed of a double helix defined by the selection rule l = n + 7 m (where l is even, and n and m are any integers), and having a 199-Å period and pitch, 28-Å rise per unit, and 10-Å radius. This helical model is equivalent to a reverse-handed, single helix with half the period and defined by the selection rule l = −3 n + 7 m (where l is any integer). The asymmetric unit is the single B15D β-sandwich molecule. These results suggest that the betabellin assembly that models the protofilaments of amyloid fibers is made up of discrete subunits on a helical array. Multiple intersheet hydrogen bonds in the axial direction and intersandwich polar interactions in the lateral direction stabilize the array.

Scar maturation is the last, longest and least researched phase of the human wound healing process. As such it has never been formally described either clinically or histologically. This study therefore aims to characterise the scar maturation process in human subjects. A subject population of healthy male volunteers were recruited and experimentally wounded under controlled conditions. The resultant scars were subsequently observed over the course of one year using a variety of assessment tools such as digital photographs, visual analogue scales and objective measures of both colour and pliability. All scars were subsequently harvested for histological analysis at a variety of different time-points. Using these methods the natural history of the human scar, as observed over the study time period, was described both macroscopically and microscopically. These initial observations were subsequently formally assessed clinically by a lay panel assessing each scar using a VAS, captured electronically (The Renovo Ltd Scar Assessment System) from digital photographic images of each scar. This analysis demonstrated statistically significant differences in appearance given the scar position and type as well as the subject age and body mass index and highlighted the particular importance of scar colour in determining the overall appearance of any scar. In addition the study was able to demonstrate the point at which the red discolouration of a scar resolves and using the SlAscope was able to measure this objectively. Furthermore, objective measures of scar pliability were undertaken using a torsional ballistometer and revealed improved scar mechanics with time. Histological assessments of the underlying scar collagen and elastin were also performed and showed superior collagen fibre organisation, orientation and density, together with increased elastin deposition in scars over the study period. Scar maturation in human subjects was observed over the course of one year and was found to differ from that described within the literature related to animal models. Furthermore the results did not indicate a steady state having been reached and therefore scar maturation continued until some point after the one-year study period. The rate of scar maturation and the clinical and histological appearance of the scar were found to be dependent on both scar and subject specific variables. Good scars were invariably found to result from distally based incisional wounds in older individuals with a low body mass index.

Myelin protein zero (P0) is an adhesion protein of peripheral nervous system myelin, and required for the formation and maintenance of myelin structure. Mutations and deletions in the P0 gene result in hereditary peripheral neuropathies of varying severity. Knowing the crystal structures of native and altered human P0 isoforms would elucidate the structural changes causing altered functionality. Here, we describe the expression and purification of human P0 extracellular domain suitable for crystallographic studies. Amyloid-β (Aβ) is the major amino acid peptide of neuritic plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. Various peptides containing residues 25 to 35 (Aβ(25–35)) were investigated with x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. Diffraction patterns from Aβ(31–35) and Aβ(Phe31)(31–35) gave sharp reflections to 2.8 Å Bragg spacing. Both peptides showed a reverse β-turn at Gly33-Leu34, and side chain locations were determined. These results may elucidate Aβ folding pathways, and ultimately allow rational drug design to attenuate plaque formation.

President Bush has said he will sign into law a measure that threatens fines and jail time for doctors who perform so-called \"partial-birth\" abortions -- but nobody seems to know how the law would be enforced in Maryland. [Erica Wright] said doctors could be prosecuted both federally and at the state level in those states that have their own partial-birth laws. But Maryland has never passed a partial-birth ban, and is one of only four states that provide state funding of abortions without a court order, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute. The bill's supporters dismiss as a scare tactic the claim that the bill would cover all abortion procedures. They said the bill includes \"clear anatomical landmarks\" that separate partial birth from other types of abortion.

Roger Simon, a reporter for the \"Chicago Tribune,\" printed the blockbuster quote from Mike McCurry only five weeks after he started working for the paper. McCurry stated in an interview with Simon that the American public may not get a \"simple, innocent explanation\" about Pres Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Tokunboh Talabui won't have her face on a box of Close-Up toothpaste, but she came close.

Tokunboh Talabui won't have her face on a box of Close-Up toothpaste, but she came close.