Epidemiologic, clinical, and basic research has identified several antecedent conditions that predispose individuals to heart failure and its predecessor, asymptomatic left ventricular remodeling and dysfunction (stage B heart failure). Many biochemical markers have been described that characterize the remodeling process and the development of cardiac dysfunction. Although natriuretic peptides and ...

Evidence is growing that dry eye represents a common disease process resulting from a number of underlying pathologies that impact the ocular surface and that clinical estimates of dry eye severity reflect the magnitude of a single dry eye disease state variable, Θ. A theory for estimating Θ from scaled ...

Usage-based theory considers analogical reasoning as a cognitive process required in language development. We hypothesized that difficulties with analogical reasoning could hinder the abstraction of construction schemas, thus slowing down morphosyntactic development for children with specific language impairment (SLI). We also hypothesized, in accordance with usage-based theory, that the same ...

High-reliability health care organizations are those that provide care that is safe and one that minimizes errors while achieving exceptional performance in quality and safety. This article presents major concepts and characteristics of a patient safety culture and a high-reliability health care organization and explains how building a culture of ...

This case study discusses the management of type I respiratory failure (RF) secondary to diffuse alveolar-induced acute lung injury. Type I RF occurs with ventilation-perfusion mismatch resulting in inadequate oxygenation. Arterial oxygen saturation is usually less than 90% despite supplemental fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) greater than 60%. Type I ...

Background:  Cardiac syndrome X (CSX) is a condition in which patients have the pain of angina despite normal coronary angiogram. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection causes chronic inflammation which may play a pathogenic role in CSX. We surveyed the association of inflammation with H. pylori and its virulent strain (cytotoxin-associated gene A ...

Hysteroscopic adhesiolysis is shown to significantly improve the outcome of intrauterine adhesions (IUA). The Minimally Invasive Surgical Unit (MISU) of our Department recently acquired a hysteroscope which is being used for hysteroscopic adhesiolysis among others. There were 57 patients diagnosed to have IUA of which 54 case notes were available ...

Background:  UK medical graduates are required to reach standards defined by the General Medical Council (in Tomorrows Doctors) in all specialties, including dermatology. Aims:  We assessed the self-reported competence of Foundation Year 1 (FY1) doctors in the diagnosis and management of skin disease correlated against their undergraduate dermatology experience. Methods:  ...

Heart failure (HF) prevention is an indisputably laudable goal, albeit with undefined global public health impact in an increasingly elderly population with competing cardiovascular and noncardiovascular risks for morbidity and mortality. The understanding of cardiac and noncardiac structural and functional abnormalities that predispose to the diverse clinical HF syndrome is ...

Concurrent analysis (CA) is a process of synthesizing conceptually equivalent data for the purpose of producing a coherent and predictive model in social science. The process of CA is detailed. In short, CA uses Thagard's concept of coherence as a method of explicating links between mental representations. The product is ...

The aim of the study is to determine the pattern of retinopathy seen in diabetic patients attending the outpatient clinic in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. Consecutive patients who were attending the diabetic clinic and who consented were examined over a three-month period. Information obtained includes patient's bio data, ...

Background:  The reliability of assessment is an important issue in the evaluation of competence in medical and allied health practice, particularly when assessments are conducted by multiple examiners. The purpose of this study was to examine the agreement between multiple examiners in the assessment of a postgraduate physiotherapy student using ...

A stability-indicating reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed and validated for the assay of indiquinoline tartrate and its related substances. The method was established by forced degradation experiments and system suitability experiments. The chromatographic separation was achieved with a Hedera ODS-3 column (5 µm, 250 mm × 4.6 ...

Background. Genetic variations in genes coding for cytokines involved in skin inflammation may alter their expression, thus changing the susceptibility to irritant contact dermatitis (ICD). Objectives. To determine the prevalence of polymorphisms in the cytokine genes TNFA-238 and TNFA-308 in patients with occupational ICD, and to compare it with that ...

Background:  In this article some definitions of competency and professionalism will be discussed, and an overview of existing methods that assess competency and professionalism in anaesthesia resident doctors (residents) is provided. In addition, we will discuss how progression to professionalism, education in anaesthesiology and other medical specialties may be improved ...

This article discusses currently available radionuclide techniques in the diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of patients with chronic heart failure, with a focus on stage B/asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction. Radionuclide imaging is promising for such patients because it can simultaneously determine left ventricular function, evaluate for the presence of obstructive coronary ...

Community-based lid surgery for trachomatous trichiasis (TT) is provided in 8 local government areas (LGAs) of Sokoto state since 2003 as part of a trachoma control programme. This study aims to assess the impact of community-based lid surgery on the magnitude of TT in 3 LGAs of Sokoto state. A ...

The claimed low production of CH(4) by kangaroos and marsupials in general has been questioned because of a lack of data. The extent of their CH(4) production is of interest both from the point of view of discussing meat production of marsupials and as a basis for developing methods to ...

The vocalization of preterm infants with extremely low birth weight (ELBW) up to the expansion stage was systematically described and compared with those of healthy full-term infants. The sample consisted of 18 preterm ELBW infants and the control group of 11 full-term infants. The follow-up was performed intensively using video-recordings. ...

Mechanistic studies have shown that inflammation, complement activation, extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover, growth factor imbalance, and oxidative stress are fundamental components of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) mediate ECM turnover but also process various bioactive molecules. Here, we tested whether complement attack on RPE monolayers changes MMP secretion ...

Background:  The established communication skills training (CST) curriculum consists of continuous education, frequent practice with real patients, supervision and feedback from medical teachers. The limitation of this curriculum is that students have to directly apply the theoretical basis they are provided with to real patients. To improve the existing CST ...

Preparing the leaders of any profession is a challenge, and even more so for nursing based on the diversity of settings, the complexity of health care, and the lack of advanced education for many of the leadership roles in nursing. As education costs continue to rise and many eager college ...

Background:  This is the third article in a series on clinical leadership and medical education. In the first two articles in this series we looked at the nature of leadership and examined professional outcomes, standards and competency frameworks from around the world that describe what it is we are trying ...

β-blockers are an important treatment of heart failure (HF) and are useful in reducing the progression of the syndrome. They should be considered for patients with asymptomatic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. Evidence-based β-blocker therapy (bisoprolol, carvedilol, or metoprolol succinate) in combination with standard therapy is a mainstay of treatment of ...

Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) is important because it remains common and serious. A major limitation in the management of CSA-AKI has been ongoing delayed diagnosis by standard clinical approaches, including serum creatinine and calculated glomerular filtration rate. Recent advances in the understanding of CSA-AKI have highlighted the utility ...

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important pathogen commonly associated with opportunistic infections. Here we report the genome sequence of a strain, HS11286, isolated from human sputum in 2011 in Shanghai, China. It contains one chromosome (5.3 Mb), three multidrug resistance plasmids (∼110 kb), including a carbapenemase producer, and three small plasmids ...

IgE-mediated allergy to natural rubber latex was first noted from rubber gloves in 1979. The initial reports in dermatological journals described contact urticarial reactions; later, severe generalized allergic reactions and asthma were documented. A considerable proportion of the people involved in medical and dental care were found to be sensitized ...

Nurse executives are responsible for a workforce that can provide safer and more efficient care in a complex sociotechnical environment. National quality priorities rely on technologies to provide data collection, share information, and leverage analytic capabilities to interpret findings and inform approaches to care that will achieve better outcomes. As ...

Studying the plasma steroid profile offers information about the possible existence of endocrinological alterations. This study describes the development and validation of gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric and gas tandem mass spectrometric methods for the simultaneous identification of 17 steroid hormones in human plasma using five different solvents. The n-hexane/ethyl acetate solvent ...

There is increasing evidence that the intrarenal dopaminergic system plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure, and defects in dopamine signaling appear to be involved in the development of hypertension. Recent experimental models have definitively demonstrated that abnormalities in intrarenal dopamine production or receptor signaling can predispose ...

Six new process related impurities (Imp-08, Imp-09, Imp-10, Imp-12, Imp-13 and Imp-14) of bicalutamide (BCT) have been reported in this paper. BCT was subjected to oxidative, acid, alkaline, hydrolytic, thermal and photolytic degradation conditions and found to degrade in alkaline condition, yielding Imp-11. Stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid ...

Background Patch testing is the most valuable tool for diagnosing allergic contact dermatitis. Whereas previous surveys have evaluated patch test practices and perceptions of dermatologists worldwide, no such information is available relating to Chinese dermatologists. Objectives We surveyed Chinese dermatologists by using questionnaires to investigate their patch test practices and ...

Complete evaluation of chromatographic behavior and establishment of optimal experimental conditions for determination of torasemide and its four impurities are determined by experimental design. Fractional factorial and 3(n) full factorial design were employed for efficient and rapid optimization of liquid chromatography-ultraviolet and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods. Separation is achieved ...

A draft genome sequence of the plant pathogen Streptomyces acidiscabies 84-104, an emergent plant pathogen, is presented here. The genome is among the largest of streptomycetes, at more than 11 Mb, and encodes a 100-kb pathogenicity island (PAI) shared with other plant-pathogenic streptomycetes. The presence of this conserved PAI, and ...

Cosmetic products are known to be able to induce contact dermatitis. Contact dermatitis may also be induced by nickel, and it is estimated that up to 17% of women are allergic to nickel. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether nickel sensitized individuals react to make-up products ...

Background and Aim:  We aimed to evaluate the changes in histopathologic features, concentrations of vitamins C and E in gastric mucosa, and total antioxidant capacity of the body after ingestion of ascorbic acid and alpha tocopherol in patients with Helicobacter pylori. Material and Method:  Patients with H. pylori-positive nonulcer dyspepsia were ...

It is widely recognized that rabies is grossly under-reported even though it is a notifiable disease and a lack of accurate figures has rendered rabies a low public health and veterinary priority. This study aimed at determining the incidence of dog bite injuries and clinical rabies in a tertiary health ...

A feature of stroke is that it recurs (25% within five-years). Risk factors for stroke and recurrent stroke include smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet, and physical inactivity. To evaluate the effectiveness of secondary prevention lifestyle interventions designed to change lifestyle behavior following stroke. This short paper presents a summary of ...

The probability of type I error, or a false-positive result, increases as the number of statistical comparisons in a study increases. Statisticians have developed numerous corrections to account for the multiple comparison problem. This study discusses recent guidelines involving multiple comparison corrections, calculates the prevalence of corrections in ophthalmic research, ...

The aim of this study was to systematically describe the preverbal development of preterm infants from canonical babbling up to the first word and to compare it with that of healthy full-term infants. In addition, the amount of vocalization between the preterm and full-term groups was compared. The sample consisted ...

The hormone melatonin regulates the biological clock and assist in various other physiologies of vertebrates. Present work is intended to check the affinity of saccharin towards the melatonin receptors and the possible role of saccharin interference in the melatonin physiology. The present in vitro study is based on the working ...

Background:  Evidence indicates that professional development focused on collaborative practice can improve the quality of care and patient outcomes in specific populations. However, current educational knowledge does not include how to teach professionals to provide interprofessional collaborative care. Methods:  This paper discusses the design, implementation and evaluation of the Interprofessional ...

In this paper I lay out the ground for a creative dialogue between Buddhist thought and contemporary nursing. I start from the observation that in tracing an arc from the existential human experience of suffering to finding compassionate responses to suffering in everyday practice Buddhist thought already appears to present ...

This study investigates whether matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), specifically MMP-2 and MMP-9, interacting with other molecules important in osteoblast differentiation and osteoclastogenesis, could play important roles in the invasion of bone by oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Supernatant (conditioned medium, CM) was collected from OSCC cell lines (SCC15 and SCC25), and ...

This study investigates the use of subject-verb agreement and verb argument structure in the spoken Dutch of monolingual Dutch children with specific language impairment (SLI) and bilingual Frisian-Dutch children with SLI. Both SLI groups appeared to be less efficient in their use of subject-verb agreement and verb argument structure than ...

The 'liver sieve' is a term developed to describe the appearance and the role of fenestrations in the liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC). LSECs are gossamer-thin cells that line the hepatic sinusoid and they are perforated with pores called fenestrations clustered in sieve plates. There is growing evidence that fenestrations ...

Helicobacter pylori infection is usually acquired in childhood, but little is known about its natural history in asymptomatic children, primarily due to the paucity of non-invasive diagnostic methods. H. pylori strains harboring cagA and specific alleles of hopQ and vacA are associated with increased risk for gastric cancer. Many studies ...

Helicobacter pylori-infected children from coastal Tumaco, Colombia, have more parasitism, and adults have lower gastric cancer risk compared with high-altitude Pasto/Tuquerres residents. Because helminth and Toxoplasma gondii infections alter helicobacter gastritis in rodent models, we determined whether seropositivity to Ascaris lumbricoides or T. gondii was associated with Th2-IgG1 or Th1-IgG2 ...

The species Streptococcus macedonicus is associated with the food environment, especially with fermented dairy products. Here we present the complete 2.1-Mb genome sequence of strain ACA-DC 198, which was isolated from naturally fermented Greek kasseri cheese.

WUH4 is a highly pathogenic North American porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). Unlike previous PRRSV isolates, which were mainly recovered from sera or tissues, WUH4 was isolated from a piglet stool sample. Here we announce its complete genome sequence.