BACKGROUND In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of the most common mutations occurring in Enhancer II (EnhII), Basal Core Promoter (BCP), Precore (PC), and Core (C) regions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome. OBJECTIVES We also investigated the correlation between HBV variants, their genotypes, and patients' HBe antigen (HBeAg: soluble shape of the capsid antigen) status. PATIENTS AND ...

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of loading rhBMP-2 onto biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) and calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) on bone regeneration, and to examine the efficacies of BCP and CPP as rhBMP-2 carriers. Specimens were divided into the BCP, CPP, BCP/BMP, and CPP/BMP groups; BCP and CPP were in granules and not coated with rhBMP-2. BCP/BMP and CPP/BMP were prepared as di...

Upstream mutations that lead to constitutive activation of Erk in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) are relatively common. In the era of personalized medicine, flow cytometry could be used as a rapid method for selection of optimal therapies, which may include drugs that target the Erk pathway. Here, we evaluated the utility of phospho-flow, compared to Western blotting, t...

BACKGROUND Viral genomic mutations have become increasingly recognized as being associated with the outcome of chronic HBV infection. However, the role of viral mutations as a predictor of response to pegylated-interferon (PEG-IFN) therapy has so far remained unclear. STUDY DESIGN Viral mutations in the enhancer II/basal core promoter (BCP)/precore and the pre-S regions were characterized by ...

BACKGROUND Porous biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) ceramics exhibit good biocompatibility and bone conduction but are not inherently osteoinductive. To overcome this disadvantage, we coated conventional porous BCP ceramics with nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA). nHA was chosen as a coating material due to its high osteoinductive potential. METHODS We used a hydrothermal deposition method to coat conv...

Circular dichroism (CD) spectra and density functional theory (DFT) calculations are reported for a series of conformationally bistable chiroporphyrins with 8-methylene bridles MBCP-8, which can display either an alphaalphaalphaalpha or an alphabetaalphabeta orientation of their meso substituents. From DFT geometry optimizations, the most stable form of ZnBCP-8 is found to be the alphaalphaalph...

This study reports an analysis of the IR reflectance and Raman spectra of Cd x Zn(1 - x)P2 solid solutions. We have analyzed the effect of the doping of the CdP2 single crystal by the ZnP2 nanoclusters on the vibrational properties of studied samples: ε 0, ε inf, phonon frequencies, and strengths. These dependencies might be used as an alternative non-destructive way for the control of the Cd x...

Background: Dysregulation of LncRNA antisense non-coding RNA in the INK4 locus (ANRIL) expression is implicated in pathogenesis and disease progression of a variety of cancer types. However, the expression level of ANRIL in pediatric patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) has not been elucidated, yet. The present study is an attempt to evaluate the expression leve...

OBJECTIVES Basic calcium phosphate (BCP) crystals have been implicated in the pathogenesis of OA and stimulate cyclo-oxygenase (COX) expression and PGE(2) production. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism of COX-1 up-regulation by BCP crystals and to characterize the PGs produced in OA synovial fibroblasts (OASFs) in response to BCP crystals. METHODS OASFs were stimulated with BCP cryst...

in this paper, preparation, bioactivity, and osteoblast cell behavior of cortical bone derived nanobiphasic calcium phosphate (nano-bcp) are presented. the calcined bovine bone samples with the addition of di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate were heated at 700°c for 100 min, and thus nano-bcp with the composition of 63/37 hydroxyapatite (ha)/β-tricalcium phosphate (β-tcp) was produced. scanning elec...