Pancreatic β-cells are responsible for insulin production, and loss of functional β-cell mass is now recognized as a critical step in the pathogenesis of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. However, the factors controlling the life and death of the pancreatic β-cell have only started to be elucidated. Discovered as the top glucose-induced gene in a human islet microarray study 12 years ago, thiore...

Starting powders of silicon-substituted beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP/Si) were prepared by the polymerized complex method. Silicon ions blended up to 3.0 mol% total P content. The raw product powder was calcined at 1000 °C, formed into pellets, and sintered 1120 °C for 24 h. resultant bodies showed that a single phase β-type tricalcium (β-TCP) can be obtained with silicon addition 0-2.0 subs...

To the Editor: Rural counties have been defined as those lacking a metropolitan center that has a population >50,000 persons (1). Little is known about antimicrobial drug resistance in such communities in the United States. Stevenson and colleagues (2) recently evaluated antimi-crobial drug–resistant gram-positive infections in rural hospitals in Idaho and Utah. These researchers found that bot...

Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and AmpC β-lactamases produced by a clinical isolate of Klebsiella pneumoniae from chickens were detected with confirmatory phenotypic tests of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of 18 antibacterial drugs against K. pneumoniae were determined by the 2-fold microdilution method. The genotype and sub...

The title compound, tetrasodium lithium cobalt aluminium hexa-(orthoarsenate), was synthesized by a solid state reaction route. In the crystal structure, Co(2+) ions are partially substituted by Al(3+) in an octa-hedral environment [M1 with site symmetry 2/m; occupancy ratio Co:Al = 0.286 (10):0.714 (10)]. The charge compensation is ensured by Li(+) cations sharing a tetra-hedral site with Co(2...

Introduction: Interferon beta is one of the members of type I interferons. Creating R27T and V101F mutations is one of the important researches performed to improve function, decrease immunogenicity, increase expression and increase half-life of interferon beta. In this study, the effects of R27T and V101F mutations on interferon beta binding to interferon receptors were studied by molecular do...