Rescoring the NIH chronic prostatitis symptom index: nothing new.

The National Institutes of Health-chronic prostatitis symptom index (NIH-CPSI) is a commonly used 13-item questionnaire for the assessment of symptom severity in men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). For each item, score ranges are 0-1 (6 items), 0-3 (2 items), 0-5 (3 items), 0-6 (1 item) and 0-10 (1 item). This scoring system is straightforward, but items with wider score ranges are de facto weighted more, which could adversely affect the performance characteristics of the questionnaire. We rescored the NIH-CPSI so that equal weights were assigned to each item, and compared the performance of the standard and rescored questionnaires using the original validation dataset. Both the original and revised versions of the scoring algorithm discriminated similarly among groups of men with CP (n=151), benign prostatic hyperplasia (n=149) and controls (n=134). The internal consistency of the questionnaire was slightly better with the revised scoring, but values with the standard scoring were sufficiently high (Cronbach's >or=0.80). We conclude that although the rescored NIH-CPSI provides better face validity than the standard scoring algorithm, it requires additional calculation efforts and yields only marginal improvements in performance

Effect of bio-engineering on size, shape, composition and rigidity of bacterial microcompartments

Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are proteinaceous organelles that are found in a broad range of bacteria and are composed of an outer shell that encases an enzyme cargo representing a specific metabolic process. The outer shell is made from a number of different proteins that form hexameric and pentameric tiles, which interact to allow the formation of a polyhedral edifice. We have previously shown that the Citrobacter freundii BMC associated with 1,2-propanediol utilization can be transferred into Escherichia coli to generate a recombinant BMC and that empty BMCs can be formed from just the shell proteins alone. Herein, a detailed structural and proteomic characterization of the wild type BMC is compared to the recombinant BMC and a number of empty BMC variants by 2D-gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Specifically, it is shown that the wild type BMC and the recombinant BMC are similar in terms of composition, size, shape and mechanical properties, whereas the empty BMC variants are shown to be smaller, hollow and less malleable

Quail Genomics: a knowledgebase for Northern bobwhite

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Quail Genomics knowledgebase (<url>http://www.quailgenomics.info</url>) has been initiated to share and develop functional genomic data for Northern bobwhite (<it>Colinus virginianus</it>). This web-based platform has been designed to allow researchers to perform analysis and curate genomic information for this non-model species that has little supporting information in GenBank.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>A multi-tissue, normalized cDNA library generated for Northern bobwhite was sequenced using 454 Life Sciences next generation sequencing. The Quail Genomics knowledgebase represents the 478,142 raw ESTs generated from the sequencing effort in addition to assembled nucleotide and protein sequences including 21,980 unigenes annotated with meta-data. A normalized MySQL relational database was established to provide comprehensive search parameters where meta-data can be retrieved using functional and structural information annotation such as gene name, pathways and protein domain. Additionally, blast hit cutoff levels and microarray expression data are available for batch searches. A Gene Ontology (GO) browser from Amigo is locally hosted providing 8,825 unigenes that are putative orthologs to chicken genes. In an effort to address over abundance of Northern bobwhite unigenes (71,384) caused by non-overlapping contigs and singletons, we have built a pipeline that generates scaffolds/supercontigs by aligning partial sequence fragments against the indexed protein database of chicken to build longer sequences that can be visualized in a web browser. </p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our effort provides a central repository for storage and a platform for functional interrogation of the Northern bobwhite sequences providing comprehensive GO annotations, meta-data and a scaffold building pipeline. The Quail Genomics knowledgebase will be integrated with Japanese quail (<it>Coturnix coturnix</it>) data in future builds and incorporate a broader platform for these avian species. </p

Self-management skills in adolescents with chronic rheumatic disease: A cross-sectional survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For adolescents with a diagnosis of lifelong chronic illness, mastery of self-management skills is a critical component of the transition to adult care. This study aims to examine self-reported medication adherence and self-care skills among adolescents with chronic rheumatic disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cross-sectional survey of 52 adolescent patients in the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic at UCSF. Outcome measures were self-reported medication adherence, medication regimen knowledge and independence in health care tasks. Predictors of self-management included age, disease perception, self-care agency, demographics and self-reported health status. Bivariate associations were assessed using the Student's t-test, Wilcoxon rank sum test and Fisher exact test as appropriate. Independence in self-management tasks were compared between subjects age 13-16 and 17-20 using the chi-squared test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Subjects were age 13-20 years (mean 15.9); 79% were female. Diagnoses included juvenile idiopathic arthritis (44%), lupus (35%), and other rheumatic conditions (21%). Mean disease duration was 5.3 years (SD 4.0). Fifty four percent reported perfect adherence to medications, 40% reported 1-2 missed doses per week, and 6% reported missing 3 or more doses. The most common reason for missing medications was forgetfulness. Among health care tasks, there was an age-related increase in ability to fill prescriptions, schedule appointments, arrange transportation, ask questions of doctors, manage insurance, and recognize symptoms of illness. Ability to take medications as directed, keep a calendar of appointments, and maintain a personal medical file did not improve with age.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests that adolescents with chronic rheumatic disease may need additional support to achieve independence in self-management.</p

Coordinated optimization of visual cortical maps (II) Numerical studies

It is an attractive hypothesis that the spatial structure of visual cortical architecture can be explained by the coordinated optimization of multiple visual cortical maps representing orientation preference (OP), ocular dominance (OD), spatial frequency, or direction preference. In part (I) of this study we defined a class of analytically tractable coordinated optimization models and solved representative examples in which a spatially complex organization of the orientation preference map is induced by inter-map interactions. We found that attractor solutions near symmetry breaking threshold predict a highly ordered map layout and require a substantial OD bias for OP pinwheel stabilization. Here we examine in numerical simulations whether such models exhibit biologically more realistic spatially irregular solutions at a finite distance from threshold and when transients towards attractor states are considered. We also examine whether model behavior qualitatively changes when the spatial periodicities of the two maps are detuned and when considering more than 2 feature dimensions. Our numerical results support the view that neither minimal energy states nor intermediate transient states of our coordinated optimization models successfully explain the spatially irregular architecture of the visual cortex. We discuss several alternative scenarios and additional factors that may improve the agreement between model solutions and biological observations.Comment: 55 pages, 11 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1102.335

Evaluation of the drug solubility and rush ageing on drug release performance of various model drugs from the modified release polyethylene oxide matrix tablets

Hydrophilic matrix systems are currently some of the most widely used drug delivery systems for controlled-release oral dosage forms. Amongst a variety of polymers, polyethylene oxide (PEO) is considered an important material used in pharmaceutical formulations. As PEO is sensitive to thermal oxidation, it is susceptible to free radical oxidative attack. The aim of this study was to investigate the stability of PEO based formulations containing different model drugs with different water solubility, namely propranolol HCl, theophylline and zonisamide. Both polyox matrices 750 and 303 grade were used as model carriers for the manufacture of tablets stored at 40 °C. The results of the present study suggest that the drug release from the matrix was affected by the length of storage conditions, solubility of drugs and the molecular weight of the polymers. Generally, increased drug release rates were prevalent in soluble drug formulations (propranolol) when stored at the elevated temperature (40 °C). In contrast, it was not observed with semi soluble (theophylline) and poorly soluble (zonisamide) drugs especially when formulated with PEO 303 polymer. This indicates that the main parameters controlling the drug release from fresh polyox matrices are the solubility of the drug in the dissolution medium and the molecular weight of the polymer. DSC traces indicated that that there was a big difference in the enthalpy and melting points of fresh and aged PEO samples containing propranolol, whereas the melting point of the aged polyox samples containing theophylline and zonisamide was unaffected

Circadian profiles in young people during the early stages of affective disorder

Although disturbances of the circadian system are strongly linked to affective disorders, no known studies have examined melatonin profiles in young people in early stages of illness. In this study, 44 patients with an affective disorder underwent clinical and neuropsychological assessments. They were then rated by a psychiatrist according to a clinical staging model and were categorized as having an ‘attenuated syndrome' or an ‘established disorder'. During the evening, salivary melatonin was sampled under dim light conditions over an 8-h interval and for each patient, the time of melatonin onset, total area under the curve and phase angle (difference between time of melatonin onset and time of habitual sleep onset) were computed. Results showed that there was no difference in the timing of melatonin onset across illness stages. However, area under the curve analyses showed that those patients with ‘established disorders' had markedly reduced levels of melatonin secretion, and shorter phase angles, relative to those with ‘attenuated syndromes'. These lower levels, in turn, were related to lower subjective sleepiness, and poorer performance on neuropsychological tests of verbal memory. Overall, these results suggest that for patients with established illness, dysfunction of the circadian system relates clearly to functional features and markers of underlying neurobiological change. Although the interpretation of these results would be greatly enhanced by control data, this work has important implications for the early delivery of chronobiological interventions in young people with affective disorders

Molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from Australian veterinarians

This work investigated the molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from veterinarians in Australia in 2009. The collection (n = 44) was subjected to extensive molecular typing (MLST, spa, SCCmec, dru, PFGE, virulence and antimicrobial resistance genotyping) and antimicrobial resistance phenotyping by disk diffusion. MRSA was isolated from Australian veterinarians representing various occupational emphases. The isolate collection was dominated by MRSA strains belonging to clonal complex (CC) 8 and multilocus sequence type (ST) 22. CC8 MRSA (ST8-IV [2B], spa t064; and ST612-IV [2B] , spa variable,) were strongly associated with equine practice veterinarians (OR = 17.5, 95% CI = 3.3-92.5, P &lt; 0.001) and were often resistant to gentamicin and rifampicin. ST22-IV [2B], spa variable, were strongly associated with companion animal practice veterinarians (OR = 52.5, 95% CI = 5.2-532.7, P &lt; 0.001) and were resistant to ciprofloxacin. A single pig practice veterinarian carried ST398-V [5C2], spa t1451. Equine practice and companion animal practice veterinarians frequently carried multiresistant-CC8 and ST22 MRSA, respectively, whereas only a single swine specialist carried MRSA ST398. The presence of these strains in veterinarians may be associated with specific antimicrobial administration practices in each animal species

Sexual Display and Mate Choice in an Energetically Costly Environment

Sexual displays and mate choice often take place under the same set of environmental conditions and, as a consequence, may be exposed to the same set of environmental constraints. Surprisingly, however, very few studies consider the effects of environmental costs on sexual displays and mate choice simultaneously. We conducted an experiment, manipulating water flow in large flume tanks, to examine how an energetically costly environment might affect the sexual display and mate choice behavior of male and female guppies, Poecilia reticulata. We found that male guppies performed fewer sexual displays and became less choosy, with respect to female size, in the presence of a water current compared to those tested in still water. In contrast to males, female responsive to male displays did not differ between the water current treatments and females exhibited no mate preferences with respect to male size or coloration in either treatment. The results of our study underscore the importance of considering the simultaneous effects of environmental costs on the sexual behaviors of both sexes

Phenology of Scramble Polygyny in a Wild Population of Chrysolemid Beetles: The Opportunity for and the Strength of Sexual Selection

Recent debate has highlighted the importance of estimating both the strength of sexual selection on phenotypic traits, and the opportunity for sexual selection. We describe seasonal fluctuations in mating dynamics of Leptinotarsa undecimlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). We compared several estimates of the opportunity for, and the strength of, sexual selection and male precopulatory competition over the reproductive season. First, using a null model, we suggest that the ratio between observed values of the opportunity for sexual selections and their expected value under random mating results in unbiased estimates of the actual nonrandom mating behavior of the population. Second, we found that estimates for the whole reproductive season often misrepresent the actual value at any given time period. Third, mating differentials on male size and mobility, frequency of male fighting and three estimates of the opportunity for sexual selection provide contrasting but complementary information. More intense sexual selection associated to male mobility, but not to male size, was observed in periods with high opportunity for sexual selection and high frequency of male fights. Fourth, based on parameters of spatial and temporal aggregation of female receptivity, we describe the mating system of L. undecimlineata as a scramble mating polygyny in which the opportunity for sexual selection varies widely throughout the season, but the strength of sexual selection on male size remains fairly weak, while male mobility inversely covaries with mating success. We suggest that different estimates for the opportunity for, and intensity of, sexual selection should be applied in order to discriminate how different behavioral and demographic factors shape the reproductive dynamic of populations