To determine the prevalence of obesity and how accurately standard anthropometric measures identify obesity among men and women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was performed for 141 persons with RA (56 men and 85 women). Two anthropometric proxies of obesity (body mass index [BMI] and waist circumference ...

We evaluated whether African Americans in the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) have a greater risk (versus whites) of poor 4-year function outcome within strata defined by sex, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference. Using Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index function, 20-meter walk, and chair stand performance, poor outcome ...

The accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is under the influence of hydrogen sulfide (H(2) S), which regulates hypoxia responses. The regulation of HIF-1α accumulation by H(2) S has been shown, but the mechanisms for this effect are largely elusive and controversial. This study aimed at addressing the controversial mechanisms for ...

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family members are involved in the regulation of articular cartilage homeostasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the function of FGF receptor 1 (FGFR-1) in the development of osteoarthritis (OA) and its underlying mechanisms. FGFR-1 was deleted from the articular chondrocytes of adult mice ...

Glucocorticoid (GC) therapy is associated with increased risk of fracture in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To elucidate the cause of this increased risk, we examined the effects of chronic erosive inflammatory arthritis and GC treatment on bone quality, structure, and biomechanical properties in a murine model. Mice with established ...

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne alphavirus that causes a chronic debilitating polyarthralgia/polyarthritis, for which current treatments are often inadequate. To assess whether new drugs being developed for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) might find utility in the treatment of alphaviral arthritides, we sought to determine whether the inflammatory gene expression signature ...

To determine the role of leptin in modulating Th17 cell response and joint inflammation in mice with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). Leptin receptor expression on T cells was examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, immunofluorescence microscopy, and flow cytometry. Effects of leptin on Th17 cell differentiation and proliferation were evaluated ...

The design and synthesis of hydroxyethylamine isosteres as inhibitors of cathepsin D based on SAR data have been accomplished. A library of 96 of these hydroxyethylamine isosteres are described and many have proven to be very potent inhibitors of human cathepsin D activity as measured using a fluorometric assay technique, ...

The consumption of moderate amounts of cocoa products has been associated with reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. In animal studies, the flavanol (-)-epicatechin (Epi) yields cardioprotection. The effects may be partly due to its capacity to stimulate endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). The sustained activation of eNOS, as ...

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most frequently occurring vasculitis in elderly individuals, and its pathogenesis is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to decipher the role of the major CD4+ T cell subsets in GCA and its rheumatologic form, polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). A prospective study of ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibody production and altered type I interferon expression. Genetic surveys and genome-wide association studies have identified >30 SLE susceptibility genes. One of these genes, TNIP1, encodes the ABIN1 protein. ABIN1 functions in the immune system by restricting NF-κB signaling. The ...

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are a common but asymptomatic disease that has high susceptibility to rupture. Current therapeutic options are limited to surgical procedures because no pharmacological approaches have been proven to decrease either expansion or rupture of human AAAs. The current dearth of effective medical treatment is attributed to ...

BACKGROUND: Accurate and precise tunnel placement is critical to the success of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. A new development, computer-assisted surgery, aids in placement of the ACL bone tunnels during surgery. Our hypothesis was that computer-assisted ACL reconstruction would allow more accurate and precise tunnel placement compared with conventional ...

BACKGROUND: The oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban is recommended for venous thromboembolic prophylaxis following lower limb arthroplasty. Concerns regarding high rates of wound complications following its use have prompted this multicenter comparison with low-molecular-weight heparins. METHODS: English hospital trusts that replaced a low-molecular-weight heparin with rivaroxaban for thromboprophylaxis in lower limb arthroplasty ...

Few randomized controlled trials have compared operative with nonoperative treatment of clavicular fractures. Patients with displaced midshaft clavicular fractures were randomized either to nonoperative treatment with a sling or to operative treatment with a stainless steel 3.5-mm reconstruction plate. Outcome measures were the Constant shoulder score, DASH (Disabilities of the ...

To evaluate the effect of elevated pCO(2) exposure on the juvenile growth of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus, we reared individuals for three months in one of three target pCO(2) levels: ambient seawater (380 µatm) and two scenarios that are projected to occur by the middle (560 µatm) and end ...

The current study examined whether age after menopause impacted the effect of estradiol (E2) on mood after a psychosocial stress manipulation. Previous studies have shown that E2 improves mood in women around the menopause transition but does not improve mood for older postmenopausal women. We have previously shown that E2 ...

The purpose of this study was to determine if a particular set of health behaviors of health care providers and African American men (AAM) influence patient satisfaction from the AAM's perspective. This descriptive, correlational study consisted of 505 AAM in North Carolina diagnosed with prostate cancer and enrolled in the ...

Cardiac manifestations of neonatal lupus include anti-SSA/Ro-SSB/La-mediated conduction system disease and endocardial/myocardial damage resulting in cardiomyopathy. This review will focus on recent data regarding updates on the proposed pathogenesis of disease, morbidity and mortality, and preventive and treatment therapies. Evidence from animal models suggests that reactivity to the p200 region ...

Arsenic exposure has been linked to epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation in in-vitro and animal studies. This association has also been explored in highly exposed human populations, but studies among populations environmentally exposed to low arsenic levels are lacking. We evaluated the association between exposure to arsenic, measured in ...

Cover Picture: Hyperspectral confocal fluorescence imaging and multivariate curve resolution analysis of free fatty acid producing cyanobacteria reveal changes in photosynthetic pigment content (indicated by color) and subcellular pigment location. (Image courtesy of Howland D.T. Jones and Anne M. Ruffing.).

mcauliffe l., brown d. & fetherstonhaugh d. (2012) Pain and dementia: an overview of the literature. International Journal of Older People Nursing7, 219-226 doi: 10.1111/j.1748-3743.2012.00331.x This paper discusses how pain and its undertreatment impacts upon older people with dementia. It outlines how the contributing factors to the underassessment of pain are ...

wall s. & white t. (2012) Pain and dementia - an application to practice: an example. International Journal of Older People Nursing7, 227-232 doi: 10.1111/j.1748-3743.2012.00330.x There are fundamental clinical implications around assessment and evaluation of pain as well as management strategies for pain that have the potential of impacting and improving ...

nay r. & fetherstonhaugh d. (2012) What is pain? A phenomenological approach to understanding. International Journal of Older People Nursing7, 233-239 doi: 10.1111/j.1748-3743.2012.00329.x Pain is an individual experience. This paper presents four phenomenological accounts of pain which describe: the pain at the time of the experience; the meaning the pain had ...

Computer assisted surgery (CAS) was first used in neurosurgery. Currently, CAS has gained popularity in several surgical disciplines including urology and abdominal surgery. In trauma and orthopaedic surgery, computer assisted systems are used for fracture reduction, planning and positioning of implants as well as the accurate implantation of hip and ...

Previous studies have indicated environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) are formed when hydroxyl- and chlorine-substituted aromatics chemisorbed on Cu(II)O and Fe(III)(2)O(3) surfaces and were stabilized through their interactions with the surface metal cation. The current study reports our laboratory investigation on the formation and stabilization of EPFRs on a Ni(II)O ...

UDP-D-apiose/UDP-D-xylose synthase (AXS) catalyzes the conversion of UDP-D-glucuronic acid to UDP-D-apiose and UDP-D-xylose. An acetyl-protected phosphonate analogue of UDP-D-apiose was synthesized and used in an in situ HPLC assay to demonstrate for the first time the ability of AXS to interconvert the two reaction products. Density functional theory calculations provided ...

Interrogation of the evolutionary history underlying the remarkable structures and biological activities of natural products has been complicated by not knowing the functions they have evolved to fulfill. Siderophores-soluble, low molecular weight compounds-have an easily understood and measured function: acquiring iron from the environment. Bacteria engage in a fierce competition ...

Drosophila melanogaster is a common animal model for genetics studies, and quantitative proteomics studies of the fly are emerging. Here, we present in detail the development of a procedure to incorporate stable isotope-labeled amino acids into the fly proteome. In the method of stable isotope labeling with amino acids in ...

A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor was developed for the quantitation of calcium phosphate mineralization and the assessment of DNA as a template molecule. Inherent advantages of QCM, such as nanogram sensitivity, temporal resolution, surface-based measurements, and flow capabilities, were leveraged in the design of this sensor, and in-line fluidic ...

We report a convenient new technique for the labeling of filamentous phage capsid proteins. Previous reports have shown that phage coat protein residues can be modified, but the lack of chemically distinct amino acids in the coat protein sequences makes it difficult to attach high levels of synthetic molecules without ...

The bleomycins (BLMs) are used clinically in combination with a number of other agents for the treatment of several types of tumors, and the BLM, etoposide, and cisplatin treatment regimen cures 90-95% of metastatic testicular cancer patients. BLM-induced pneumonitis is the most feared, dose-limiting side effect of BLM in chemotherapy, ...

In this article, we introduce a chip-capillary hybrid device to integrate capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF) with parallel capillary sodium dodecyl sulfate- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) or capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) toward automating two-dimensional (2D) protein separations. The hybrid device consists of three chips that are butted together. The middle chip ...

The reaction of thioamino acids and N-terminal peptides, mediated by hindered isonitriles and hydroxybenzotriazole, gives rise to peptide bonds. In one pathway, oxytocin was synthesized by eight such reiterative amidations. In another stereospecific track, oxytocin was constructed by native chemical ligation, wherein the two building blocks were assembled by thioacid ...

Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant paediatric brain tumour, is currently treated with nonspecific cytotoxic therapies including surgery, whole-brain radiation, and aggressive chemotherapy. As medulloblastoma exhibits marked intertumoural heterogeneity, with at least four distinct molecular variants, previous attempts to identify targets for therapy have been underpowered because of small samples sizes. ...

Medulloblastoma is an aggressively growing tumour, arising in the cerebellum or medulla/brain stem. It is the most common malignant brain tumour in children, and shows tremendous biological and clinical heterogeneity. Despite recent treatment advances, approximately 40% of children experience tumour recurrence, and 30% will die from their disease. Those who ...

To determine the prevalence of asthma and the association between sociodemographic characteristics, spirometry, respiratory symptoms, quality of life and sleep in adults > 40 years. This report is part of our study (Latin American Research Project Obstructive Pulmonary), held in Mexico City and the metropolitan area in 2003. We used ...

This paper explores the impact of contextual variables at the neighborhood level on a health marker in the city of Hermosillo, Mexico and discusses the importance of collaboration between planners and health professional to minimize the negative effect of contextual factors on urban health. Few studies in Mexico have assessed ...

Forging new ground for minority nurses in the community.

The purpose of this EP wire is to examine clinical practice in the field of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) management, with special focus on in-hospital diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Fifty-three European centres, all members of the EHRA-EP Research network, completed the questions of the survey. A dedicated strategy for OHCA ...

Clay/polymer nanocomposites have recently raised much interest because of their widespread industrial applications. Nevertheless, controlling both clay platelet exfoliation and orientation during polymerization still remains challenging. Herein, we report the elaboration of clay/polymer nanocomposite hydrogels from aqueous suspensions of natural swelling clays submitted to high-frequency a.c. electric fields. X-ray scattering ...

Following their discovery in 1961, it was speculated that satellite cells were dormant myoblasts, held in reserve until required for skeletal muscle repair. Evidence for this accumulated over the years, until the link between satellite cells and the myoblasts that appear during muscle regeneration was finally established. Subsequently, it was ...

Inflammatory processes are an integral part of the stress response and are likely to result from a programmed adaptation that is vital to the organism's survival and well-being. The whole inflammatory response is mediated by largely overlapping circuits in the limbic forebrain, hypothalamus and brainstem, but is also under the ...

The approach of health care publications to author credentials remains inconsistent.

Simultaneous multisite recording using multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) in cultured and acutely-dissociated brain slices and other tissues is an emerging technique in the field of network electrophysiology. Over the past 40 years, great efforts have been made by both scientists and commercial concerns, to advance this technique. The MEA technique has ...

Nurses need to be aware of these revisions to provide necessary patient education.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) limits the development and application of many therapeutic compounds and presents major challenges to the pharmaceutical industry and clinical medicine. Acetaminophen-containing compounds are among the most frequently prescribed drugs and are also the most common cause of DILI. Here we describe a pharmacological strategy that targets ...

Neuronal synapses are functional nodes in neural circuits. Their organization and activity define an individual's level of intelligence, emotional state and mental health. Changes in the structure and efficacy of synapses are the biological basis of learning and memory. However, investigation of the molecular architecture of synapses has been impeded ...

To identify factors associated with the seeking of the legal-interruption-pregnancy (LIP) services in Mexico City. We used a case-control design. Users who utilized the LIP were defined as cases, while users of the antenatal care service with gestational age 13 or more weeks and who reported having an unwanted pregnancy ...

To measure the underregistry of mortality in children under five years old, and the coverage of the Birth Certificate (BC) in municipalities with very low human development index (HDI) in Mexico. We studied all deaths of children under five years old occurred in 2007 and all births occurred in 2007 ...