In conclusion, preoperative and intra operative administration

In conclusion, preoperative and intra operative administration Sapitinib of the antifibrinolytic agent, tranexamic acid, is effective in controlling blood loss and improving the quality of the surgical field.”
“Introduction: Stomach cancer is the third most common cancer in South India. A higher incidence has been reported from certain states in northern India, where potential risk factors have been identified. Similar data is available only to a limited extent from southern India. The aim of this case-control study was to evaluate the effects of lifestyle habits and dietary factors on the risk of gastric cancer in South Indians.\n\nMethods: A hospital-based case-control study

of matched pairs was conducted in Chennai, India, from 2002 to 2006 in a large tertiary care referral centre in South India. We studied 89 gastric cancer patients and 89 age- and gender-matched healthy controls of the same socioeconomic status. All subjects were interviewed face-to-face

by a trained interviewer using a structured questionnaire to HDAC activity assay collect data about lifestyle habits, such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, tobacco chewing and dietary factors, with special attention to known factors like salted fish, smoked and pickled foods as well as intake of vegetables and fruits.\n\nResults: The response rate was 100 percent. There were 64 male and 25 female patients. The male to female ratio was 2.6:1. The demographic characteristics were similar in the case and control populations. Less than ten percent of patients were below the age of 30 years. Approximately 50 percent were between 30 and 60 years of age, and the rest were over 60 years of age. Multivariate logistic regression models indicated that alcohol consumption

(odds ratio [OR] 2.3, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] 1.1-4.9, p-value is 0.04) and consumption of pickled food (OR 1.8, 95 percent CI 1.2-3.9, p-value is 0.05) are independent risk factors EPZ-6438 concentration for the development of gastric cancer. A protective effect of the consumption of pulses (OR 0.4, 95 percent CI 0.2-0.9, p-value is 0.05), showing a 55 percent reduction in risk, was also identified; this could be of use for possible control and prevention of this cancer. Tobacco chewing and cigarette smoking did not emerge as high risk factors for stomach cancer.\n\nConclusion: The study showed alcohol and pickled food consumption as independent risk factors for the development of gastric cancer, while consumption of pulses were protective. Cigarette smoking did not predict an increased risk of contracting the disease.”
“Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between fatty liver disease (FLD) and cerebrovascular disease. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 76 consecutive healthy subjects who participated in a two-day hospitalized health checkup program.


“A bistable donor-acceptor [2]catenane, which is composed


“A bistable donor-acceptor [2]catenane, which is composed of a crown ether containing a hydroquinone unit and a 1,5-diaminonaphthalene unit, interlocked mechanically by cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) as its tetrachloride, see more exists as a mixture of translational isomers, both in the solid state and in aqueous solution. UV/vis and H-1 NMR spectroscopies demonstrate that this isomeric mixture can be switched in water in the presence of hydrochloric acid to afford a single diprotonated derivative in which only the hydroquinone unit resides inside the cavity of the tetracationic cyclophane. Treatment with 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane resets the molecular switch.”
“In

recent years, carbon-hydrogen bond functionalization has evolved from an organometallic curiosity to a tool used in mainstream applications in the synthesis of complex natural products and drugs. The use of C-H bonds as a transformable functional group is advantageous because these bonds are the most abundant functionality in organic molecules. One-step conversion of these bonds to the desired functionality

shortens synthetic pathways, saving reagents, solvents, and labor. Less chemical waste LY3039478 is generated as well, showing that this chemistry is environmentally beneficial. This Account describes the development and use of bidentate, monoanionic auxiliaries for transition-metal-catalyzed C-H bond functionalization reactions. The chemistry was initially developed to overcome the limitations with palladium-catalyzed C-H bond functionalization assisted by monodentate directing groups. By the use of electron-rich bidentate directing groups, functionalization of unactivated sp(3) C-H bonds under palladium catalysis has been developed. Furthermore, a number of abundant base-metal complexes catalyze functionalization of sp(2) C-H bonds. At this point, aminoquinoline, picolinic acid, and related compounds are among the most used and versatile directing moieties in C-H bond functionalization chemistry. These groups facilitate catalytic functionalization of sp(2) and sp(3) C-H bonds

by iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium complexes. Exceptionally general reactivity is observed, enabling, among JQ-EZ-05 datasheet other transformations, direct arylation, alkylation, fluorination, sulfenylation, amination, etherification, carbonylation, and alkenylation of carbon-hydrogen bonds. The versatility of these auxilaries can be attributed to the following factors. First, they are capable of stabilizing high oxidation states of transition metals, thereby facilitating the C-H bond functionalization step. Second, the directing groups can be removed, enabling their use in synthesis and functionalization of natural products and medicinally relevant substances. While the development of these directing groups presents a significant advance, several limitations of this methodology are apparent.


“OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this study was


“OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this study was selleck to compile a rich description of the phenomenon Magnet (R) journey by registered nurses in clinical settings who provide direct patient care in community healthcare systems recently receiving Magnet designation. BACKGROUND: Evidence supports that Magnet designation leads to improved nursing, patient, and organizational outcomes. Descriptions abound regarding the organizational and cultural transformation during the time leading up to the Magnet designation, commonly referred to as the Magnet journey. There are no published reports regarding the impact of this transformational process on staff nurses. METHODS: Focus groups were conducted at recently designated Magnet hospitals; data were transcribed, reviewed, coded, and themed. The 58 subjects represented various work areas, specialties, and practice sites. RESULTS: Key themes emerged consistent with components of the Magnet model: relationships with leaders, professional accountability, staff voice, Magnet continuum, professional relationships, professional development, and resources/supports. Overall, staff nurses

emphasized buy NU7441 the positive impact of the transformation that occurred during the journey and the resultant Magnet designation on stakeholders. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study offer guidance for Magnet project directors, chief nursing

officers, managers, advanced practice nurses, and staff nurses involved in or considering the Magnet journey. GSK2126458 research buy “Magnet slippage” emerged as a new concept.”
“In this article, various methods including soxhlet, Bligh & Dyer (B&D), and ultrasonic-assisted B&D were investigated for the extraction of lipid from algal species Chlorella vulgaris. Relative polarity/water content and impolar per polar ratios of solvents were considered to optimize the relative proportions of each triplicate agent by applying the response surface method (RSM). It was found that for soxhlet, hexane-methanol (54-46%, respectively) with total lipid extraction of 14.65% and chloroform-methanol (54-46%, respectively) with the extraction of 19.87% lipid were the best set of triplicate where further addition of acetone to the first group and ethanol to the second group did not contributed to further extraction. In B&D, however, chloroform-methanol-water (50%-35%-15%, respectively) reached the all-time maximum of 24%. Osmotic shock as well as ultrasonication contributed to 3.52% of further extraction, which is considered to promote the total yield up to almost 15%. From the growth data and fatty acid analysis, the applied method was assessed to be appropriate for biodiesel production with regard to selectivity and extraction yield.


“The Binocular Depth Inversion Test (BDIT) measures a comm


“The Binocular Depth Inversion Test (BDIT) measures a common illusion of visual perception whereby implausible objects are seen as normal, e.g., a hollow face is perceived as a normal, convex face. Such inversion is frequent, especially for objects with a high degree of familiarity. Under normal conditions, cognitive factors apparently override the binocular disparity cues of stereopsis. This internal mechanism of censorship of perception, which balances top-down and bottom-up processes

of perception to come to a cognitive coherence, which is congruent to previous experience and concepts, appears to be disturbed in (pro-)psychotic states. The BDIT has been shown to be a sensitive measure of impaired higher visual processing and conceptual cognition common to conditions including schizophrenia, SelleckIPI145 cannabinoid-intoxication, selleckchem and sleep deprivation but not depression. In this pilot study, we tested the performance of patients with anxiety disorders (ICD-10 F40 and F41) compared to matched controls using the BDIT paradigm. Anxiety patients scored significantly higher on the BDIT than controls, in a range comparable to propsychotic conditions. The findings suggest that anxiety patients could have abnormalities in central perceptual processing, top-down processing (conceptual cognition), and reality testing similar to (pro-)psychotic conditions. Implications of these findings are discussed in

relation to therapeutic interventions with anxiety disorders.”
“Myc oncogenic transcription factors (c-Myc, N-Myc, and L-Myc) coordinate

the control of cell growth, division, and metabolism. In cancer, MCC-950 Myc overexpression is often associated with aggressive disease, which is in part due to the destruction of select targets by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (eg, SCFSkp2 -directed destruction of the Cdk inhibitor p27(Kip1)). We reasoned that Myc would also regulate SUMOylation, a related means of posttranslational modification of proteins, and that this circuit would play essential roles in Myc-dependent tumorigenesis. Here, we report marked increases in the expression of genes that encode regulators and components of the SUMOylation machinery in mouse and human Myc-driven lymphomas, resulting in hyper-SUMOylation in these tumors. Further, inhibition of SUMOylation by genetic means disables Myc-induced proliferation, triggering G2/M cell-cycle arrest, polyploidy, and apoptosis. Using genetically defined cell models and conditional expression systems, this response was shown to be Myc specific. Finally, in vivo loss-of-function and pharmacologic studies demonstrated that inhibition of SUMOylation provokes rapid regression of Myc-driven lymphoma. Thus, targeting SUMOylation represents an attractive therapeutic option for lymphomas with MYC involvement.”
“The local administration of antibodies can represent in many cases a significant improvement for antibody-based therapies.

Data from this study period were analyzed separately and in combi

Data from this study period were analyzed separately and in combination with our preliminary study (January 2000 to December 2005) for a 10-year analysis (January 2000 to December 2009). The primary outcome was incidence of vaginal cuff dehiscence after total laparoscopic hysterectomy compared with abdominal, vaginal, and laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy MEK162 datasheet (LAVH).\n\nRESULTS: Between 2006 and 2009, the overall incidence of dehiscence was 0.39% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21-0.56). The incidence after total laparoscopic

hysterectomy was 0.75% (95% CI 0.09-1.4), which was the highest among all modes of hysterectomy (LAVH was 0.46% [95% CI 0.0-1.10]; total abdominal hysterectomy was 0.38% [95% CI 0.16-0.61]; and total vaginal hysterectomy was 0.11%, [95% CI 0.0-0.32]). This incidence was appreciably lower than previously reported (4.93% in 2007 publication, 2.76% readjusted calculation).

FGFR inhibitor The 10-year cumulative incidence of dehiscence after all modes of hysterectomy was 0.24% (95% CI 0.15-0.33) and 1.35% (95% CI 0.72-2.3) among total laparoscopic hysterectomies. During the 10-year study period, total laparoscopic hysterectomy-related dehiscence was significantly increased compared with other modes of hysterectomy, with a risk ratio of dehiscence after total laparoscopic hysterectomy of 9.1 (95% CI 4.1-20.3) compared with total abdominal hysterectomy, risk ratio of 17.2 (95% CI 3.9-75.9) compared with total vaginal hysterectomy, and risk ratio of

4.9 (95% CI 1.1-21.5) compared with LAVH.\n\nCONCLUSION: Our updated 1.35% incidence of dehiscence after total laparoscopic hysterectomy is much lower than previously reported. (Obstet Gynecol 2011;118:794-801) DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e31822f1c92″
“Posttraumatic herniation of brain and CSF into the eyelid, variously termed as blepharocele, blepharoencephalocele, or encephalocele, is not a common entity, with only a few reported cases in the literature. A 4-year-old girl was seen for gradually increasing left upper eyelid swelling after she had sustained a head injury due to a fall from height. A few days later she developed swelling of the upper eyelid. Posttraumatic CSF blepharocele was suspected. The patient underwent surgery with excellent cosmetic outcome. This case is discussed GSK2399872A with a review of literature. (http://thejns.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/doi/abs/10.3171/2012.12.PEDS11500)”
“Purpose of review\n\nLuteal phase support (LPS) is an integral part of the IVF cycles treated by gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues. There is a worldwide controversy concerning the type of hormones used for LPS, its dose, duration, when to start and when to stop. This review will cover original as well as recent data on this topic.\n\nRecent findings\n\nThere is a consensus in the literature among IVF centers that LPS is necessary for IVF cycles.

In the present study, addition of 12-methyltetradecanoic acid (12

In the present study, addition of 12-methyltetradecanoic acid (12-MTA, anteiso-C15:0) to an agar medium markedly repressed surfactant activity in the extracellular fraction of a P. aeruginosa culture in a drop collapse assay. Further, an extracellular fraction of a culture of rhlA mutant P. aeruginosa, which did not produce both rhamnolipids and HAAs, showed a complete loss of surfactant activity and markedly reduced swarming activity. In contrast, an extracellular fraction of a culture of rhlB mutant P. aeruginosa, which produced HAAs but not rhamnolipids, showed Selleckchem BGJ398 moderate swarming activity

and weak extracellular surfactant activity that was lost on the addition of 12-MTA to the agar medium. Expression of the rhlAB operon from

the plasmid pMR2 restored normal swarming motility on 12-MTA-containing agar medium. Taken together, these findings indicate that 12-MTA reduced extracellular surfactant activity, thus resulting in a swarming defect in P. aeruginosa PAO1.”
“Objective: An increased dose of the prescribed drug or a change of the drug is recommended in the treatment for the patients with urticaria refractory to the standard dose of antihistamines. Efficacy and safety of doubling the dose of cetirizine were compared with olopatadine in the patients with symptoms like wheal or itching, despite the treatment with the standard dose of cetirizine. Methods: Cetirizine was administered at 10 mg once daily to 51 patients with GSI-IX in vitro urticaria

for a mean of 10.1 +/- 7.3 days (Period A). Patients with inadequate responses were randomized to either cetirizine 20 mg once daily (dose-increase group) or olopatadine 5 mg twice daily (drug-change group) for a mean of 13.3 +/- 8.3 days (Period B). The severity of wheal and itching, Selleckchem Small molecule library and the quality of life (QOL) measured by Skindex-16 were evaluated. Results: In Period A, an adequate response was obtained in 64.7% (33/51). Nine patients each with inadequate response were randomized to either the drug-change or dose-increase groups. A significant improvement was observed in the severity of wheal and itching in the dose-increase group in Period B. The QOL was significantly improved in all sub-scales of Skindex-16. Conclusion: Doubling the dose of cetirizine may be efficacious to the patients with urticaria refractory to the regular dose of cetirizine.”
“We report the first documented case of pancreatitis associated with rotavirus infection in an infant. Estimation of amylase level is important in infants with severe rotavirus gastroenteritis, hyperamylasemia should alert one to the presence of overt pancreatitis which should be investigated by lipase estimation and/or imaging.”
“The game domination subdivision number of a graph is defined by the following game. Two players and , playing first, alternately mark or subdivide an edge of which is not yet marked nor subdivided.

Our studies showed that during 1 day of hypoxia (with

or

Our studies showed that during 1 day of hypoxia (with

or without hypercapnia) Hct increased through both increased MCV and [RBC] in day 15 (d15) embryo, but only through increased MCV in d17 embryo and therefore enhancement of O-2 transport was age-dependent. Hypercapnia alone caused a similar to 14% decrease in Hct through decreased [RBC] and therefore did not compensate for decreased blood oxygen affinity resulting from the Bohr shift. The 11% (d15) and 14% (d17) decrease in Hct during hyperoxia in advanced embryos was because of an 8% and 9% decrease, respectively, in [RBC], coupled with an associated 3% and 5% decrease in MCV. Younger, d13 embryos were able to metabolically compensate for respiratory acidosis induced by hypercapnic hypoxia, and so were more tolerant learn more of disturbances in acid-base status induced via alterations in environmental respiratory gas composition than their more advanced counterparts. This counter-intuitive increased tolerance likely results from the relatively low M-O2 and immature physiological functions of younger embryos. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Women at risk for Lynch Syndrome/HNPCC have an increased lifetime risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer. This study investigates the cost-effectiveness

of prophylactic surgery versus surveillance in women with Lynch Syndrome. A decision analytic model was designed incorporating key clinical decisions and existing probabilities, Selleckchem DMH1 costs, and outcomes from the literature. Clinical forum where risk-reducing surgery and surveillance were considered. A theoretical population of women with Lynch Syndrome at age 30 was used for the analysis. A decision analytic model was designed comparing the health outcomes of prophylactic hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy at age 30 versus annual gynecologic screening versus annual gynecologic exam. The literature was searched

for probabilities of different health outcomes, results of screening modalities, and costs of cancer diagnosis and treatment. Cost-effectiveness expressed in dollars per discounted life-years. Risk-reducing surgery is the least expensive option, costing $23,422 per patient for 25.71 quality-adjusted HSP990 life-years (QALYs). Annual screening costs $68,392 for 25.17 QALYs; and annual examination without screening costs $100,484 for 24.60 QALYs. Further, because risk-reducing surgery leads to both the lowest costs and the highest number of QALYs, it is a dominant strategy. Risk-reducing surgery is the most cost-effective option from a societal healthcare cost perspective.”
“Irrigated rice is subject to interference caused by biotic and abiotic factors. Among the former, weeds are the main causes of decreased productivity, directly interfering in rice yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of irrigation starting times, application times and penoxsulam rates on the yield components of irrigated rice, cultivar Qualimax 1.

aCCH and QF-PCR help to delineate the genomic imbalance in prenat

aCCH and QF-PCR help to delineate the genomic imbalance in prenatally detected de novo chromosome aberration, and the information acquired is useful for genetic counseling. Copyright (C) 2012, Taiwan Association of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. All rights reserved.”
“Objective. To examine the association between sleep duration and metabolic syndrome in an apparently healthy Chinese population.\n\nMethod. The baseline data were collected from a health examination center in Tainan, Taiwan, from October 1, 2006, to August 31, 2009.

A total of 7100 adults were recruited. Subjects were classified into three groups according to their sleep duration: short (<6 h), normal (6-8 h), and long sleepers (>8 h).\n\nResults. There were significant differences in age, gender, education level, fasting plasma glucose, and the proportion of smoking status and CAL-101 purchase exercise frequency among different sleep groups. Based on multiple logistic regression, short sleepers were positively associated with metabolic syndrome (OR = 128, 95% CI: 1.01-1.63) in males but not in females (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.72-1.51). Long sleepers were not related with metabolic syndrome in both genders. Short sleep duration was independently related to hyperglycemia (OR = 139.95% CI: 1.10-1.74) also in males only. Other

components such as hypertriglyceridemia, low high density lipoprotein cholesterol, high blood pressure and central obesity were not VX-680 associated with short sleep duration.\n\nConclusion. Males with short sleep duration are positively associated with metabolic syndrome and they also exhibited a higher prevalence of hyperglycemia. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“With increased popularity and pervasiveness, mobile networking has become a definite trend for future networks. Users strongly demand that the connectivity of ongoing services be retained while roaming across different points of attachment. selleck chemicals llc Efficient handover schemes

are essential to the aforementioned vision. However, there are time-consuming procedures in the process. Various research has been devoted to the acceleration of movement detection and registration. However, a time-consuming operation, i.e., duplicate-address detection (DAD), was overlooked by most studies. One novel scheme that features anycast technique is developed and presented in this paper. The proposed approach switches to anycast addressing during handover and switches back to normal unicast addressing after all required operations are completed. By switching to anycast addressing, a mobile node can continue the reception of packets from its corresponding node before its new care-of address is actually validated. Thus, transmission disruption can effectively be minimized. In addition, a simple but effective buffer-control scheme is designed to reduce possible packet loss and prevent the out-of-order problem.

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) appears to be the causative factor fo

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) appears to be the causative factor for the development of this neoplasm. Transplant programs are concerned about the frequencies of HHV-8 infection either in general population or transplant patients.\n\nMethods: The current study was conducted in two phases. Firstly, we detected antibodies against HHV-8 in 790 otherwise healthy blood donors. Secondly, a total of 125 kidney allograft recipients evaluated as being seropositive for HHV-8. We utilized enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for serologic studies.\n\nResults: Among blood donors, the male to female ratio was 1.05 (405 vs.

385) while the mean age was 38.9 +/- 11.7 years. The serostatus of none of these blood donors find more were positive for HHV-8. Among kidney recipients, the male to female ratio was 1.9 (82 vs. 43). The mean age was 39.01 +/- 14.77 years. Two (1.6%) patients were seropositive for HHV-8.\n\nConclusion: The prevalence of HHV-8 infection

among Iranians is likely to be low. Yet, owing to the evidence of this infection among kidney allograft recipients and its probable role in developing post-transplantation KS (PT-KS), further studies appear to be required to keep the various aspects of this infection under close surveillance.”
“Swine skin is one of the best structural models for human Pitavastatin supplier skin, widely used to probe drug transcutaneous passage and to test new skin vaccination devices. However, little is known about its composition in immune cells, and among them dendritic click here cells (DC), that are essential in the initiation of the immune response. After a first seminal work describing four different DC subpopulations in

pig skin, we hereafter deepen the characterization of these cells, showing the similarities between swine DC subsets and their human counterparts. Using comparative transcriptomic study, classical phenotyping as well as in vivo and in vitro functional studies, we show that swine CD163(pos) dermal DC (DDC) are transcriptomically similar to the human CD14(pos) DDC. CD163(pos) DDC are recruited in inflamed skin, they migrate in inflamed lymph but they are not attracted toward CCL21, and they modestly activate allogeneic CD8 T cells. We also show that CD163(low) DDC are transcriptomically similar to the human CD1a(pos) DDC. CD163(low) DDC migrate toward CCL21, they activate allogeneic CD8 and CD4 T cells and, like their potential human lung counterpart, they skew CD4 T cells toward a Th17 profile. We thus conclude that swine skin is a relevant model for human skin vaccination.”
“We investigated the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of two hesperertin glycosides, namely, hesperidin and cyclodextrin (CD)-clathrated hesperetin, in Goto-Kakizaki (GK) weanling rats with type 2 diabetes.

42 to 3 72 cV) for the distinct morphologies The blue and green

42 to 3.72 cV) for the distinct morphologies. The blue and green PI. emissions observed in these crystals were ascribed to the intermediary energy levels arising from the distortions on the [MoO4] clusters clue to intrinsic defects in the lattice of anisotropic/isotropic crystals.”
“An ongoing program to continuously collect time- and size-resolved aerosol samples from ambient air at Summit Station, Greenland (72.6 N, 38.5 W) is building a long-term data base to both record individual transport events GSI-IX in vitro and provide long-term

temporal context for past and future intensive studies at the site. As a “first look” at this data set, analysis of samples collected from summer 2005 to spring 2006 demonstrates the utility of continuous sampling to characterize air masses over the ice learn more pack, document

individual aerosol transport events, and develop a long-term record. Seven source-related aerosol types were identified in this analysis: Asian dust, Saharan dust, industrial combustion, marine with combustion tracers, fresh coarse volcanic tephra, and aged volcanic plume with fine tephra and sulfate, and the well-mixed background “Arctic haze”. The Saharan dust is a new discovery; the other types are consistent with those reported from previous work using snow pits and intermittent ambient air sampling during intensive study campaigns. Continuous sampling complements the fundamental characterization of Greenland aerosols developed in intensive field programs by providing a year-round record of aerosol size and composition at all temporal scales relevant to ice core analysis, ranging from individual deposition events and seasonal cycles, to a record of inter-annual variability of aerosols from both natural and anthropogenic sources. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Tryptophyllins buy BTSA1 are a group of small (4-14 amino acids),

heterogenous peptides, mostly from the skins of hylid frogs from the genera, Phyllomedusa and Litoria. To date, more than forty TPHs have been discovered in species from these two genera. Here, we describe the identification of a novel tryptophyllin type 3 peptide, PhT-3, from the extracts of skin of the orange-legged monkey frog, Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis, and molecular cloning of its precursor-encoding cDNA from a cDNA library constructed from the same skin sample. Full primary structural characterization was achieved using a combination of direct Edman degradation, mass spectrometry and deduction from cloned skin-derived cDNA. The open-reading frame of the precursor cDNA was found to consist of 63 amino acid residues. The mature peptide arising from this precursor contains a post-translationally modified N-terminal pyroglutamate (pGlu) residue, formed from acid-mediated cyclization of an N-terminal Gln (Q) residue, and with the structure: pGlu-Asp-Lys-Pro-Phe-Trp-Pro-Pro-Pro-Ile-Tyr-Pro-Met.