985 research outputs found
Psychometric Properties of the Malay Language Version of Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Questionnaire among Knee Osteoarthritis Patients: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Introduction: This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt a
Malay version of Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome
Score (KOOS) and to evaluate its psychometric properties in
patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).
Materials and Methods: The English version KOOS was
translated into a Malay version using forward and backward
translation process, followed by face validity and content
validity. Two hundred and twenty-six knee OA patients
attending the Outpatient and Orthopaedic Clinics, Universiti
Sains Malaysia Hospital, completed the Malay version
KOOS. Construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis
and internal reliability assessment were performed.
Results: The results showed that the original five-factor
model with 42 items failed to achieve acceptable values of
the goodness of fit indices, indicating poor model fit. A new
five-factor model of 26 items demonstrated acceptable level
of goodness of fit (comparative fit index= 0.929, incremental
fit index= 0.930, Tucker Lewis fit index= 0.920, root mean
square error of approximation= 0.073 and Chisquared/
degree of freedom= 2.183) indices to signify a
model fit. The Cronbach’s alpha value for the new model
ranged from 0.776 to 0.946. The composite reliability values
of each construct ranged between 0.819 and 0.921,
indicating satisfactory to high level of convergent validity.
Conclusion: The five-factor model with 26 items in the
Malay version of KOOS questionnaire demonstrated a good
degree of goodness of fit and was found to be valid, reliable
and simple as an assessment tool for symptoms, pain,
activity of daily living, sports and recreational activity and
quality of life for Malaysian adults suffering from knee
osteoarthritis
The attachments of the anteromedial and posterolateral fibre bundles of the anterior cruciate ligament. Part 2: femoral attachment.
Accepted versio
Podoconiosis and soil-transmitted helminths (STHs): double burden of neglected tropical diseases in Wolaita zone, rural southern Ethiopia
Background
Both podoconiosis and soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections occur among barefoot people in areas of extreme poverty; however, their co-morbidity has not previously been investigated. We explored the overlap of STH infection and podoconiosis in Southern Ethiopia and quantified their separate and combined effects on prevalent anemia and hemoglobin levels in podoconiosis patients and health controls from the same area.
Methods and Principal Findings
A two-part comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia. Data were collected from adult patients presenting with clinically confirmed podoconiosis, and unmatched adult neighborhood controls living in the same administrative area. Information on demographic and selected lifestyle factors was collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Stool samples were collected and examined qualitatively using the modified formalin-ether sedimentation method. Hemoglobin level was determined using two different methods: hemoglobinometer and automated hematology analyzer. A total of 913 study subjects (677 podoconiosis patients and 236 controls) participated. The prevalence of any STH infection was 47.6% among patients and 33.1% among controls (p<0.001). The prevalence of both hookworm and Trichuris trichiura infections was significantly higher in podoconiosis patients than in controls (AOR 1.74, 95% CI 1.25 to2.42, AOR 6.53, 95% CI 2.34 to 18.22, respectively). Not wearing shoes and being a farmer remained significant independent predictors of infection with any STH. There was a significant interaction between STH infection and podoconiosis on reduction of hemoglobin level (interaction p value = 0.002).
Conclusions
Prevalence of any STH and hookworm infection was higher among podoconiosis patients than among controls. A significant reduction in hemoglobin level was observed among podoconiosis patients co-infected with hookworm and ‘non-hookworm STH’. Promotion of consistent shoe-wearing practices may have double advantages in controlling both podoconiosis and hookworm infection in the study area
The pH of the skin surface and its impact on the barrier function
The `acid mantle' of the stratum corneum seems to be important for both permeability barrier formation and cutaneous antimicrobial defense. However, the origin of the acidic pH, measurable on the skin surface, remains conjectural. Passive and active influencing factors have been proposed, e. g. eccrine and sebaceous secretions as well as proton pumps. In recent years, numerous investigations have been published focusing on the changes in the pH of the deeper layers of the stratum corneum, as well as on the influence of physiological and pathological factors. The pH of the skin follows a sharp gradient across the stratum corneum, which is suspected to be important in controlling enzymatic activities and skin renewal. The skin pH is affected by a great number of endogenous factors, e. g. skin moisture, sweat, sebum, anatomic site, genetic predisposition and age. In addition, exogenous factors like detergents, application of cosmetic products, occlusive dressings as well as topical antibiotics may influence the skin pH. Changes in the pH are reported to play a role in the pathogenesis of skin diseases like irritant contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, ichthyosis, acne vulgaris and Candida albicans infections. Therefore, the use of skin cleansing agents, especially synthetic detergents with a pH of about 5.5, may be of relevance in the prevention and treatment of those skin diseases. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Base
Mapping an atlas of tissue-specific drosophila melanogaster metabolomes by high resolution mass spectrometry
Metabolomics can provide exciting insights into organismal function, but most work on simple models has focussed on the whole organism metabolome, so missing the contributions of individual tissues. Comprehensive metabolite profiles for ten tissues from adult Drosophila melanogaster were obtained here by two chromatographic methods, a hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) method for polar metabolites and a lipid profiling method also based on HILIC, in combination with an Orbitrap Exactive instrument. Two hundred and forty two polar metabolites were putatively identified in the various tissues, and 251 lipids were observed in positive ion mode and 61 in negative ion mode. Although many metabolites were detected in all tissues, every tissue showed characteristically abundant metabolites which could be rationalised against specific tissue functions. For example, the cuticle contained high levels of glutathione, reflecting a role in oxidative defence; the alimentary canal (like vertebrate gut) had high levels of acylcarnitines for fatty acid metabolism, and the head contained high levels of ether lipids. The male accessory gland uniquely contained decarboxylated S-adenosylmethionine. These data thus both provide valuable insights into tissue function, and a reference baseline, compatible with the FlyAtlas.org transcriptomic resource, for further metabolomic analysis of this important model organism, for example in the modelling of human inborn errors of metabolism, aging or metabolic imbalances such as diabetes
Laser-induced etching of few-layer graphene synthesized by Rapid-Chemical Vapour Deposition on Cu thin films
The outstanding electrical and mechanical properties of graphene make it very
attractive for several applications, Nanoelectronics above all. However a
reproducible and non destructive way to produce high quality, large-scale area,
single layer graphene sheets is still lacking. Chemical Vapour Deposition of
graphene on Cu catalytic thin films represents a promising method to reach this
goal, because of the low temperatures (T < 900 Celsius degrees) involved during
the process and of the theoretically expected monolayer self-limiting growth.
On the contrary such self-limiting growth is not commonly observed in
experiments, thus making the development of techniques allowing for a better
control of graphene growth highly desirable. Here we report about the local
ablation effect, arising in Raman analysis, due to the heat transfer induced by
the laser incident beam onto the graphene sample.Comment: v1:9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to SpringerPlus; v2: 11 pages,
PDFLaTeX, 9 figures, revised peer-reviewed version resubmitted to
SpringerPlus; 1 figure added, figure 1 and 4 replaced,typos corrected,
"Results and discussion" section significantly extended to better explain
etching mechanism and features of Raman spectra, references adde
Artificial graphene as a tunable Dirac material
Artificial honeycomb lattices offer a tunable platform to study massless
Dirac quasiparticles and their topological and correlated phases. Here we
review recent progress in the design and fabrication of such synthetic
structures focusing on nanopatterning of two-dimensional electron gases in
semiconductors, molecule-by-molecule assembly by scanning probe methods, and
optical trapping of ultracold atoms in crystals of light. We also discuss
photonic crystals with Dirac cone dispersion and topologically protected edge
states. We emphasize how the interplay between single-particle band structure
engineering and cooperative effects leads to spectacular manifestations in
tunneling and optical spectroscopies.Comment: Review article, 14 pages, 5 figures, 112 Reference
‘Down with communism – Power to the people’: The legacies of 1989 and beyond
This special issue brings together reflections on the thirtieth anniversary of the revolutions of 1989 and considers their consequences for our understandings of European and global society. What seemed for some at least the surprising and rapid collapse of Eastern European state socialism prompted rethinking in social theory about the potential for emancipatory politics and new modes of social and political organization. At the same time, there was increased reflection on the nature of varieties of capitalism and the meaning of socialism beyond the failure of at least its etatist and autarkic mode. The five articles here and the editors’ introduction address themes such as utopian hopes, civil society, the transformation of Europe, the world beyond 1989, and new configurations of power and conflict
Gene expression profiling identifies distinct molecular subgroups of leiomyosarcoma with clinical relevance
YesBackground: Soft tissue sarcomas are heterogeneous and a major complication in their management is that the existing
classification scheme is not definitive and is still evolving. Leiomyosarcomas, a major histologic category of soft tissue sarcomas,
are malignant tumours displaying smooth muscle differentiation. Although defined as a single group, they exhibit a wide range of
clinical behaviour. We aimed to carry out molecular classification to identify new molecular subgroups with clinical relevance.
Methods: We used gene expression profiling on 20 extra-uterine leiomyosarcomas and cross-study analyses for molecular
classification of leiomyosarcomas. Clinical significance of the subgroupings was investigated.
Results: We have identified two distinct molecular subgroups of leiomyosarcomas. One group was characterised by high
expression of 26 genes that included many genes from the sub-classification gene cluster proposed by Nielsen et al. These
sub-classification genes include genes that have importance structurally, as well as in cell signalling. Notably, we found a
statistically significant association of the subgroupings with tumour grade. Further refinement led to a group of 15 genes that
could recapitulate the tumour subgroupings in our data set and in a second independent sarcoma set. Remarkably, cross-study
analyses suggested that these molecular subgroups could be found in four independent data sets, providing strong support for
their existence.
Conclusions: Our study strongly supported the existence of distinct leiomyosarcoma molecular subgroups, which have clinical
association with tumour grade. Our findings will aid in advancing the classification of leiomyosarcomas and lead to more
individualised and better management of the disease.Alexander Boag Sarcoma Fund
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