University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

About: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Pregnancy. The organization has 14634 authors who have published 19610 publications receiving 1041794 citations.

The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF): a state-of-the-science review.

Abstract: The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) is a widely used, multi-dimensional self-report instrument for the evaluation of male sexual function. It is has been recommended as a primary endpoint for clinical trials of erectile dysfunction (ED) and for diagnostic evaluation of ED severity. The IIEF was developed in conjunction with the clinical trial program for sildenafil, and has since been adopted as the 'gold standard' measure for efficacy assessment in clinical trials of ED. It has been linguistically validated in 32 languages and used as a primary endpoint in more than 50 clinical trials. This review summarizes early stages in the psychometric validation of the instrument, its subsequent adoption in randomized clinical trials with sildenafil and other ED therapies, and its use in classifying ED severity and prevalence. The IIEF meets psychometric criteria for test reliability and validity, has a high degree of sensitivity and specificity, and correlates well with other measures of treatment outcome. It has demonstrated consistent and robust treatment responsiveness in studies in USA, Europe and Asia, as well as in a wide range of etiological subgroups. Although only one direct comparator trial has been performed to date, the IIEF is also sensitive to therapeutic effects with treatment agents other than sildenafil. A severity classification for ED has recently been developed, in addition to a brief screening version of the instrument. This review includes the strengths as well as limitations of the IIEF, along with some potential areas for future research.

MBD2 is a transcriptional repressor belonging to the MeCP1 histone deacetylase complex.

Abstract: Mammalian DNA is methylated at many CpG dinucleotides The biological consequences of methylation are mediated by a family of methyl-CpG binding proteins (1–4) The best characterized family member is MeCP2, a transcriptional repressor that recruits histone deacetylases (5–7) Our report concerns MBD2, which can bind methylated DNA in vivo and in vitro4 and has been reported to actively demethylate DNA (ref 8) As DNA methylation causes gene silencing, the MBD2 demethylase is a candidate transcriptional activator Using specific antibodies, however, we find here that MBD2 in HeLa cells is associated with histone deacetylase (HDAC) in the MeCP1 repressor complex (1,9) An affinity-purified HDAC1 corepressor complex (10,11) also contains MBD2, suggesting that MeCP1 corresponds to a fraction of this complex Exogenous MBD2 represses transcription in a transient assay, and repression can be relieved by the deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA; ref 12) In our hands, MBD2 does not demethylate DNA Our data suggest that HeLa cells, which lack the known methylationdependent repressor MeCP2, use an alternative pathway involving MBD2 to silence methylated genes

Growing and analyzing static biofilms

Abstract: Many bacteria can exist as surface-attached aggregations known as biofilms. Presented in this unit are several approaches for the study of these communities. The focus here is on static biofilm systems, which are particularly useful for examination of the early stages of biofilm formation, including initial adherence to the surface and microcolony formation. Furthermore, most of the techniques presented are easily adapted to the study of biofilms under a variety of conditions and are suitable for either small- or relatively large-scale studies. Unlike assays involving continuous-flow systems, the static biofilm assays described here require very little specialized equipment and are relatively simple to execute. In addition, these static biofilm systems allow analysis of biofilm formation with a variety of readouts, including microscopy of live cells, macroscopic visualization of stained bacteria, and viability counts. Used individually or in combination, these assays provide useful means for the study of biofilms.