Notwithstanding their wide exploitation, biological prosthetic heart valves are characterized by limited durability (10-15 years). The treatment of biological tissues with chemical crosslinking agents such as glutaraldehyde accounts for the enhanced risk of structural deterioration associated with the early failure of bioprosthetic valves. To overcome the shortcomings of the currently available...

The axial charge of the triton is investigated using lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Extending previous work at heavier quark masses, calculations are performed three ensembles gauge field configurations generated with masses corresponding to a pion mass 450 MeV and single value spacing. Finite-volume energy levels for triton, as well deuteron diproton systems, extracted from analysis cor...

Fourteen dogs, fed a regular diet and given 250 mg/kg of triton (a non-ionic surface-active agent) intravenously every 4th day, exhibited a progressively severe hyperlipemia. Serum triglycerides were the first to increase. Cholesterol, mostly in the free form, and phospholipids showed elevation only at a later stage and increased at almost identical rates. The plasma-free fatty acid concentrati...

A quinol-cytochrome c oxidoreductase (cytochrome b c l complex) has been purified from plasma membranes of a thermophilic Bacillus, PS3, by ion-exchange chromatography in the presence of Triton X100. The purified enzyme shows absorption bands at 561-562 nm and 553 nm at room temperature, and 560, 551, and 547 nm at 80 K upon reduction, and gives an ESR signal similar to that of a Rieske-type ir...

The membrane of human erythrocytes contains a lipase (I), the physiological role of which is still unknown. However, we show here that there is a difference in lipase activity in erythrocytes from control subjects and from patients with the Minkowski-Chauffard syndrome. Blood (five volumes) from fasted subjects was collected into tubes containing three volumes of an anticoagulant solution (0.47...

Endoglycoceramidase (EGCase) cleaves the linkage between oligosaccharides and ceramides of various glycosphingolipids (Ito, M., and Yamagata, T. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 14278-14282). Recently, by extensive purification, it was separated from cell-lytic factor (hemolysin) and found to consist of three molecular species each with its own specificity (EGCases I, 11, and 111) (Ito, M., and Yamag...

BACKGROUND On-treatment predictors during antiviral therapy of HCV are useful because they allow discontinuation of an unnecessary treatment in non-responders. Our aim was to evaluate the usefulness of plasma and erythrocyte ribavirin levels in predicting sustained virological response (SVR) in HCV genotype 1 patients undergoing antiviral treatment. METHODS A total of 40 HCV genotype 1 patien...

At least three forms of Triton X-100-solubilized bacteriochlorophyll a (BChl a) have been characterized by UV/visible/near-IR absorption and CD spectra. One, absorbing at 770 nm, is similar to a monomeric solution in methanol. The two others have strongly red-shifted absorption peaks (860 nm and 930, 835 nm) and intense and complex CD bands in this region, indicative of strong interaction of at...