The maternal temperature is normally increasing during delivery. Maternal fever in labor is a common problem.Such fever could represent a chorioamnionitis (CAM), leading to an increased risk of neonatal encephalopathy andsubsequent cerebral palsy, as well as other complications. There are also noninfectious reasons for elevatedtemperature during delivery. There is no fetal heart rate that is speci

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacterium that causes debilitating infections when the immune defence is compromised. It possesses an arsenal of virulence traits to colonize most compartments of the body and is often highly resistant against commonly used antimicrobial drugs.Outer membrane vesicles (OMV) are spheres released from Gram-negative bacteria. They are packed with proteins, in

The Na(+), K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) maintains the electrochemical gradients of Na(+) and K(+) across the plasma membrane--a prerequisite for electrical excitability and secondary transport. Hitherto, structural information has been limited to K(+)-bound or ouabain-blocked forms. We present the crystal structure of a Na(+)-bound Na(+), K(+)-ATPase as determined at 4.3 Å resolution. Co

The transient receptor potential vanilloid 3 (TRPV3) cation channel is widely expressed in human tissues and has been shown to be activated by mild temperatures or chemical ligands. In spite of great progress in the TRP-channel characterization, very little is known about their structure and interactions with other proteins at the atomic level. This is mainly caused by difficulties in obtaining fu

The human copper exporters ATP7A and ATP7B contain domains common to all P-type ATPases as well as class-specific features such as six sequential heavy-metal binding domains (HMBD1-HMBD6) and a type-specific constellation of transmembrane helices. Despite the medical significance of ATP7A and ATP7B related to Menkes and Wilson diseases, respectively, structural information has only been available

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, although the mortality rates have decreased in the last decades. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, and treatment resistance is a significant clinical problem in spite of the overall high survival rates. Improved screening programs, novel surgical techniques, and adjuvant treatments have contributed to the improved survival, but

Following a macroeconomic stabilization and consistent economicgrowth during the 2000s, Brazil experienced a continuous decrease on povertyincidence for the first time in its contemporary history. While the literatureemphasizes the importance of economic growth alongside social developmentto fight poverty, the Brazilian experience also displays strong governmentaction through expanding social cove

Bacterial genomes typically consist of a single chromosome and, optionally, one or more plasmids. But whole-genome sequencing reveals about ten per-cent of them to be multipartite, with additional replicons which by size and indispensability are considered secondary chromosomes. This raises the questions of how their replication and partition is managed without compromising genome stability and of