\n\nDesign: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial.\n\nSetting: An acute stroke unit.\n\nSubjects: Individuals recruited within three weeks of stroke onset with severe arm function deficits.\n\nInterventions: Injections of quarter and half standard dose botulinum toxin A to the upper limb, with a control of normal saline injections.\n\nMain measures: Arm function, active and passive movement, and spasticity at elbow and wrist were recorded at baseline, and at 4, 8, 12 and 20 weeks post intervention. A pre-planned subgroup analysis included only subjects with no arm function at baseline (Action Research Arm Test score = 0).\n\nResults:

Thirty subjects were recruited, and 21 Cytoskeletal Signaling inhibitor completed all assessments. Arm function scores improved in all three groups between baseline and week 20. There was no benefit for active treatment over control in the whole group analysis. In the subgroup www.selleckchem.com/products/dorsomorphin-2hcl.html analysis the active groups improved when compared with the control group and effect sizes for improvement in this subgroup were 0.6 and 0.5 for the quarter dose and half dose groups respectively.\n\nConclusions: Individuals with no arm function within three weeks of stroke may benefit functionally from botulinum toxin. Using the effect size of 0.5, further studies would need a minimum of 101 participants in each group to confirm this finding.”
“Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant polyphenol molecule from green

tea and is known to exhibit antioxidative as well as tumor suppressing activity. In order to examine EGCG tumor invasion and suppressing activity against adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), two HTLV-1 positive leukemia cells (HuT-102 and ABT-737 ic50 C91-PL) were treated with non-cytotoxic concentrations of EGCG for 2 and 4 days. Proliferation was significantly inhibited by 100 mu M at 4 days, with low cell lysis or cytotoxicity. HTLV-1 oncoprotein (Tax) expression in HuT-102 and C91-PL cells was inhibited by

25 mu M and 125 mu M respectively. The same concentrations of EGCG inhibited NF-kB nuclearization and stimulation of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression in both cell lines. These results indicate that EGCG can inhibit proliferation and reduce the invasive potential of HTLV-1-positive leukemia cells. It apparently exerted its effects by suppressing Tax expression, manifested by inhibiting the activation of NF-kB pathway and induction of MMP-9 transcription in HTLV-1 positive cells.”
“Objective: To determine the compliance of US camps with guidelines for health and safety practices as set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the US Department of Homeland Security. Methods: An electronic questionnaire was distributed to US camps during the summer of 2012 as identified by 3 online summer camp directories. Results: Analysis was performed on 433 completed questionnaires. Fourteen percent of camps were considered medically related.