To evaluate the diagnostic performance of T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) cholangiopancreatography pulse sequences in comparison with MR cholangiopancreatography sequences combined with nonenhanced T1-weighted images in the detection of biliary cast syndrome in liver transplant recipients. This retrospective study was conducted in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki. Institutional review board ...

We conducted a retrospective study of Escherichia coli isolates recovered from human and food animal samples during 1950-2002 to assess historical changes in antimicrobial drug resistance. A total of 1,729 E. coli isolates (983 from humans, 323 from cattle, 138 from chickens, and 285 from pigs) were tested for susceptibility ...

TO THE EDITOR: Diversity of genotypes among Pneumocystis jirovecii (human-specific Pneumocystis species) isolates mainly involves internal transcribed spacer (ITS) loci (1). Type Eg, one of the most frequently detected ITS genotypes, has been found worldwide (2). The locus of dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) is also of interest because DHPS is the ...

The fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is reduced by anti-inflammatory treatment in asthma. However, the FENO level is also regulated by individual demographics and there is considerable variation among clinically stable patients. We hypothesized that some demographics may be responsible for persistent FENO elevation despite inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) therapy ...

To describe the use of radiosurgery (RS) alone to the resection cavity after resection of brain metastases as an alternative to adjuvant whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT). Sixty-two patients with 64 cavities were treated with linear accelerator-based RS alone to the resection cavity after surgical removal of brain metastases between March 2007 ...

See article in J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2012; 27: 857-861.

Medical Education 2012: 46: 454-463 Context  Clinical reasoning is a core skill in medical practice, but remains notoriously difficult for students to grasp and teachers to nurture. To date, an accepted model that adequately captures the complexity of clinical reasoning processes does not exist. Knowledge-modelling software such as mot Plus ...

Major depressive disorders are frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated. Collaborative Care models developed from the Chronic Care Model during the past 20 years have improved the quality of depression management in the community, raising intervention cost incrementally above usual care. This paper assesses the economic efficiency of collaborative care for management ...

The Choose to Move for + (Positive) Living program was implemented to increase physical activity among obese women. A holistic approach was used to promote stage of health behavior change, social support, and quality of life and reduce depression. Within 6 months, physical fitness improved and depressive symptoms decreased.

ABSTRACT: Paulo CA, Roschel H, Ugrinowitsch C, Kobal R and Tricoli V. Influence of different resistance exercise loading schemes on mechanical power output in work to rest ratio-equated and -nonequated conditions. J Strength Cond Res 26(5): 1308-1312, 2012-It is well known that most sports are characterized by the performance of ...

Little is known about weight control strategies associated with successful weight loss among obese U.S. adults in the general population. To identify strategies associated with losing at least 5% and 10% of body weight. Multivariable analysis of data from obese adult (BMI ≥30) participants in the 2001-2006 NHANES to identify ...

Identifying neighborhood environment attributes related to childhood obesity can inform environmental changes for obesity prevention. To evaluate child and parent weight status across neighborhoods in King County (Seattle metropolitan area) and San Diego County differing in GIS-defined physical activity environment (PAE) and nutrition environment (NE) characteristics. Neighborhoods were selected to ...

Purpose: To assess image quality and radiation dose reduction with hybrid iterative reconstruction of pediatric chest and abdominal computed tomographic (CT) data compared with conventional filtered back projection (FBP). Materials and Methods: A total of 234 patients (median age, 12 years; age range, 6 weeks to 18 years) underwent chest ...

TO THE EDITOR: In a recent issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Seuberlich et al. (1) reported a novel prion protein in cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Two cows in Switzerland, 8 and 15 years of age, tested positive in 2 approved screening tests, the PrioSTRIP test and the Prionics ...

TO THE EDITOR: The 2007-2010 Q fever epidemic among humans in the Netherlands was among the largest reported in magnitude and duration (1). The increase in human Q fever cases coincided with an increase in spontaneous abortions among dairy goats in the southeastern part of the Netherlands, an area that ...

The classification of asthma to identify forms which have different contributing causes is useful for all cases in which the disease requires regular treatment, but it is essential for the management of severe asthma. Many forms of the disease can occur, and complex mixtures are not uncommon; here we artificially ...

To assess the impact of increasing experience with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) after extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The records of all patients who received IMRT following EPP at Duke University Medical Center between 2005 and 2010 were reviewed. Target volumes included the preoperative extent of the ...

Angelopoulou M. V., Vlachou V., Halazonetis D.J. Pharmacological management of pain during orthodontic treatment: a meta-analysis Orthod Craniofac Res 2012; 15: 71-83. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S STRUCTURED ABSTRACT: Objectives -  To evaluate the effectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in managing pain arising from orthodontic interventions, such as ...

: There are numerous dressings designed to manage the overabundance of matrix metalloproteinases, while also addressing the excessive bioburden found in chronic wounds. The authors compared the efficacy of 2 such dressings: a sodium carboxymethylcellulose/1.2% ionic silver (CMC), which theoretically reduces bacteria by providing silver ions, versus a bovine native ...

Background  Blue nevi are a group of congenital and acquired dermal melanocytoses characterized by a blue-gray appearance on the skin. The common blue nevus and cellular blue nevus are the most common subtypes. Patch-type blue nevus is rather rare. Observations  We describe a 77-year-old Chinese male with a 6 × 8-cm non-palpable ...

Apical surgery is an important treatment option for teeth with post-treatment apical periodontitis. Knowledge of the long-term prognosis is necessary when weighing apical surgery against alternative treatments. This study assessed the 5-year outcome of apical surgery and its predictors in a cohort for which the 1-year outcome was previously reported. ...

Most plants grow in dense vegetation with the risk of being out-competed by neighboring plants. These neighbors can be detected not only through the depletion in light quantity that they cause, but also through the change in light quality, which plants perceive using specific photoreceptors. Both the reduction of the ...

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) was detected in 2 patients with acute meningitis in southern Spain within a 3-year period. Although the prevalence of LCMV infection was low (2 [1.3%] of 159 meningitis patients), it represents 2.9% of all pathogens detected. LCMV is a noteworthy agent of neurologic illness in immunocompetent ...

TO THE EDITOR: West Nile virus (WNV) infections were reported in horses in Morocco in 1996, 2003 (1), and 2010 (2). The isolates from 1996 and 2003 belong to WNV lineage 1, clade 1a (1). In 1996, WNV infection was reported in a human in Morocco (3), and in 2008, ...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as health reform, is designed to expand health coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans by 2019 and makes significant changes to public and private health insurance systems that will affect providers of HIV care. We review the major features of ...

Objective-To compare 2 assays for use in the identification of dogs with a protective antibody titer (PAT) against canine parvovirus (CPV) and canine distemper virus (CDV). Design-Prospective cross-sectional study. Animals-431 dogs admitted to a municipal animal shelter in north central Florida. Procedures-Blood samples were collected from dogs on the day ...

Plasmodium vivax is causing increasingly more cases of severe malaria worldwide. Among 25 cases in India during 2010-2011, associated conditions were renal failure, thrombocytopenia, jaundice, severe anemia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock, cerebral malaria, hypoglycemia, and death. Further studies are needed to determine why P. vivax malaria is becoming more ...

Exacerbations occur frequently in severe asthma. They result in significant morbidity and can lead to hospitalization and death. Severe exacerbations can also lead to an accelerated decline in lung function. Phenotyping severe asthma can aid with both prognostication of exacerbation risk and maintenance treatment selection to minimize future risks of ...

Biologic therapies targeting tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha have become a mainstay in the management of a number of autoimmune diseases. We report a series of adverse skin eruptions in six patients (four females, two males, age: 21-58 years, mean: 39) receiving 4 months to 10 years (mean 3.1 years) of ...

Bartonella spp. infection has been reported in association with an expanding spectrum of symptoms and lesions. Among 296 patients examined by a rheumatologist, prevalence of antibodies against Bartonella henselae, B. koehlerae, or B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii (185 [62%]) and Bartonella spp. bacteremia (122 [41.1%]) was high. Conditions diagnosed before referral ...

The focus of the PhenX (Phenotypes and eXposures) Toolkit is to provide researchers whose expertise lies outside a particular area with key measures identified by experts for uniform use in large-scale genetic studies and other extensive epidemiologic efforts going forward. The current paper specifically addresses the PhenX Toolkit research domain ...

Few studies have addressed the potential influence of neighborhood characteristics on adolescent obesity risk, and findings have been inconsistent. Identify patterns among neighborhood food, physical activity, street/transportation, and socioeconomic characteristics and examine their associations with adolescent weight status using three statistical approaches. Anthropometric measures were taken on 2682 adolescents (53% ...

Simian T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (STLV-1) strains occasionally infect humans. However, the frequency of such infections is unknown. We show that direct transmission of STLV-1 from nonhuman primates to humans may be responsible for a substantial proportion of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 infections in rural Côte d'Ivoire, where primate ...

Purpose A weighted scoring system was used to select a pharmacy layout redesign. Summary Facilities layout design techniques were applied at a local hospital pharmacy using a step-by-step design process. The process involved observing and analyzing the current situation, observing the current available space, completing activity flow charts of the ...

We report a novel human adenovirus D (HAdV-65) isolated from feces of 4 children in Bangladesh who had acute gastroenteritis. Corresponding genes of HAdV-65 were related to a hexon gene of HAdV-10, penton base genes of HAdV-37 and HAdV-58, and a fiber gene of HAdV-9. This novel virus may be ...

To determine whether spatiotemporal information could help predict multidrug resistance at the time of tuberculosis diagnosis, we investigated tuberculosis patients who underwent drug susceptibility testing in Lima, Peru, during 2005-2007. We found that crude representation of spatial location at the level of the health center improved prediction of multidrug resistance.

Patients with asthma have on average a more rapid decline in FEV (1) as compared with the general population. Recent cluster analysis has revealed different asthma phenotypes that can be distinguished by age of onset and reversibility of airflow limitation. This study aimed at detecting risk factors associated with persistent ...

Geriatric dermatoses are a challenging job for the physician in terms of diagnosis, management, and followup. Since skin of the elderly population is going through a lot of changes from both an intrinsic and extrinsic point of view, it is imperative for the physician to have a better understanding of ...

See article in J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2012; 27: 888-892.

Purpose Results of the 2011 ASHP national survey of pharmacy practice in hospital settings that pertain to dispensing and administration are presented. Methods A stratified random sample of pharmacy directors at 1401 general and children's medical-surgical hospitals in the United States were surveyed by mail. Results In this national probability ...

The aim was to compare patient discomfort during bitewing examination using five intra-oral receptors: a conventional film, a storage phosphor plate with a new soft cover, an already manufactured and sold sensor with a wire and two square and two rounded corners, a new version of a previously developed sensor ...

To develop and evaluate accurate and objective on-line patient setup based on a novel semiautomatic technique in which three-dimensional marker trajectories were estimated from two-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) projections. Seven treatment courses of stereotactic body radiotherapy for liver tumors were delivered in 21 fractions in total to 6 patients ...

Congenital disorders of glycosylation comprise most of the nearly 70 genetic disorders known to be caused by impaired synthesis of glycoconjugates. The effects are expressed in most organ systems, and most involve the nervous system. Typical manifestations include structural abnormalities (eg, rapidly progressive cerebellar atrophy), myopathies (including congenital muscular dystrophies ...

The role of kappa-opioid receptors (KOR) in the regulation of alcohol-related behaviors is not completely understood. For example, alcohol consumption has been reported to increase following treatment with KOR antagonists in rats, but was decreased in mice with genetic deletion of KOR. Recent studies have further suggested that KOR antagonists ...

To determine the cause of an unprecedented outbreak of encephalitis among horses in New South Wales, Australia, in 2011, we performed genomic sequencing of viruses isolated from affected horses and mosquitoes. Results showed that most of the cases were caused by a variant West Nile virus (WNV) strain, WNV(NSW2011), that ...

ABSTRACT: Comfort, P, Udall, R, and Jones, PA. The effect of loading on kinematic and kinetic variables during the midthigh clean pull. J Strength Cond Res 26(5): 1208-1214, 2012-The ability to develop high levels of muscular power is considered a fundamental component for many different sporting activities; however, the load ...

ABSTRACT: Shimizu, K, Suzuki, N, Nakamura, M, Aizawa, K, Imai, T, Suzuki, S, Eda, N, Hanaoka, Y, Nakao, K, Suzuki, N, Mesaki, N, Kono, I, and Akama, T. Mucosal immune function comparison between amenorrheic and eumenorrheic distance runners. J Strength Cond Res 26(5): 1402-1406, 2012-This study examined the effects of ...

To better describe the genetic diversity of hantaviruses associated with human illness in South America, we screened blood samples from febrile patients in Chapare Province in central Bolivia during 2008-2009 for recent hantavirus infection. Hantavirus RNA was detected in 3 patients, including 1 who died. Partial RNA sequences of small ...

In March 2010, an outbreak of low pathogenicity avian influenza A (H10N7) occurred on a chicken farm in Australia. After processing clinically normal birds from the farm, 7 abattoir workers reported conjunctivitis and minor upper respiratory tract symptoms. Influenza virus A subtype H10 infection was detected in 2 workers.

Underdiagnosis and low levels of asthma control are frequent occurring problems in patients with asthma. The study aim was to evaluate the ability of non-invasive inflammatory markers in exhaled breath to predict exacerbations of childhood asthma, and to assess the time course of changes in these exhaled markers before, during ...