BACKGROUND The development of new diagnostics is an important tool in the fight against disease. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) is used to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of tests in the absence of a gold standard. The main field diagnostic for Schistosoma mansoni infection, Kato-Katz (KK), is not very sensitive at low infection intensities. A point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (C...

We analyze the effect of flat universal extra dimensions (i.e., extra dimensions accessible to all SM fields) on the process b → sγ. With one Higgs doublet, the dominant contribution at one-loop is from Kaluza-Klein (KK) states of the charged would-be-Goldstone boson (WGB) and of the top quark. The resulting constraint on the size of the extra dimension is comparable to the constraint from T pa...

The dynamics of the renal lymphatic circulation in diabetic nephropathy is not fully elucidated. The present study evaluated the effect of diabetic nephropathy on the renal lymphatic circulation in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic mice (ICR-STZ) and in type 2 diabetic KK/Ta mice which were fed a high fat diet (KK/Ta-HF). The diabetic mouse kidneys developed edema because of the neph...

Nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, has been reported to exert pleiotropic effects on atherosclerosis, mainly through its antioxidative properties. However, the effect of the calcium channel blocker on cognitive impairment associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus is not well known. Here, we examined the possibility that a calcium channel blocker could improve cognitive function in a type 2 d...

We analyze the effect of flat universal extra dimensions (i.e., extra dimensions accessible to all SM fields) on the process b → sγ. With one Higgs doublet, the dominant contribution at one-loop is from Kaluza-Klein (KK) states of the charged would-be-Goldstone boson (WGB) and of the top quark. The resulting constraint on the size of the extra dimension is comparable to the constraint from T pa...

Coffee has an anti-diabetic effect, specifically the amelioration of both hyperglycemia and insulin resistance, in KK-A(y) mice, a type 2 diabetes animal model. To investigate coffee's effect on insulin signaling in liver, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue (epididymal fat), we assayed the tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor (IR) and serine phosphorylation of Akt. In Expt. 1, we assay...

This study evaluated parasitological and molecular techniques for the diagnosis and assessment of cure of schistosomiasis mansoni. A population-based study was performed in 201 inhabitants from a low transmission locality named Pedra Preta, municipality of Montes Claros, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Four stool samples were analysed using two techniques, the Kato-Katz® (KK) technique (18 slide...

The most recent calculations of π + π + and K + K + scattering by the NPLQCD collaboration using domain-wall valence quarks on staggered MILC configurations are presented. In addition, a quenched calculation of the potentials between two B-mesons is discussed.

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, KK-211, isolated by the long-term bioprocess of stereoselective reduction in isooctane, showed extremely high tolerance to the solvent, which is toxic to yeast cells, but, in comparison with its wild-type parent, DY-1, showed low tolerance to hydrophilic organic solvents, such as dimethyl sulfoxide and ethanol. In order to detect the isooctane tolerance-associ...

Using ideas from shape theory we embed the coarse category of metric spaces into the category of direct sequences of simplicial complexes with bonding maps being simplicial. Two direct sequences of simplicial complexes are equivalent if one of them can be transformed to the other by contiguous factorizations of bonding maps and by taking infinite subsequences. That embedding can be realized by ...