Systematic review with meta-analysis: cytokines in fibromyalgia syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on cytokine levels in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Through December 2010 we systematically reviewed the databases PubMed, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO and screened the reference lists of 22 review articles for suitable original articles. Original articles investigating cytokines in patients with FMS were included. Data were extracted by two independent authors. Differences of the cytokine levels of FMS patients and controls were summarized by standardized mean differences (SMD) using a random effects model. Study quality was assessed applying methodological scores: modified Center of Evidence Based Medicine, Newcastle-Ottawa-Scale, and Würzburg Methodological Quality Score.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-five articles were included investigating 1255 FMS patients and 800 healthy controls. Data of 13/25 studies entered meta-analysis. The overall methodological quality of studies was low. The results of the majority of studies were not comparable because methods, investigated material, and investigated target cytokines differed. Systematic review of the selected 25 articles revealed that FMS patients had higher serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist, IL-6, and IL-8, and higher plasma levels of IL-8. Meta-analysis of eligible studies showed that FMS patients had higher plasma IL-6 levels compared to controls (SMD = -0.34 [-0.64, -0.03] 95% CI; p = 0.03). The majority of investigated cytokines were not different between patients and controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The pathophysiological role of cytokines in FMS is still unclear. Studies of higher quality and with higher numbers of subjects are needed.</p

Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus: bad news and good news from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net), formerly EARSS), 2002 to 2009

Based on data collected by the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) and the former EARSS, the present study describes the trends in antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and occurrence of invasive infections caused by Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in the period from 2002 to 2009. Antimicrobial susceptibility results from 198 laboratories in 22 European countries reporting continuously on these two microorganisms during the entire study period were included in the analysis. The number of bloodstream infections caused by E. coli increased remarkably by 71% during the study period, while bloodstream infections caused by S. aureus increased by 34%. At the same time, an alarming increase of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli was observed, whereas for S. aureus the proportion of meticillin resistant isolates decreased. The observed trend suggests an increasing burden of disease caused by E. coli. The reduction in the proportion of meticillin-resistant S. aureus and the lesser increase in S. aureus infections, compared with E. coli, may reflect the success of infection control measures at hospital level in several European countries.</p

Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have measured whisker movements and locomotion to characterise mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. However, these studies have always been completed in isolation, and do not involve standardized procedures for comparisons across multiple mouse models and background strains. NEW METHOD: We present a standard method for conducting whisker movement and locomotion studies, by carrying out qualitative scoring and quantitative measurement of whisker movements from high-speed video footage of mouse models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Cerebellar Ataxia, Somatosensory Cortex Development and Ischemic stroke. RESULTS: Sex, background strain, source breeder and genotype all affected whisker movements. All mouse models, apart from Parkinson's disease, revealed differences in whisker movements during locomotion. R6/2 CAG250 Huntington's disease mice had the strongest behavioural phenotype. Robo3R3-5-CKO and RIM-DKOSert mouse models have abnormal somatosensory cortex development and revealed significant changes in whisker movements during object exploration. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Our results have good agreement with past studies, which indicates the robustness and reliability of measuring whisking. We recommend that differences in whisker movements of mice with motor deficits can be captured in open field arenas, but that mice with impairments to sensory or cognitive functioning should also be filmed investigating objects. Scoring clips qualitatively before tracking will help to structure later analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Studying whisker movements provides a quantitative measure of sensing, motor control and exploration. However, the effect of background strain, sex and age on whisker movements needs to be better understood

Seasonal Patterns of Body Temperature Daily Rhythms in Group-Living Cape Ground Squirrels Xerus inauris

Organisms respond to cyclical environmental conditions by entraining their endogenous biological rhythms. Such physiological responses are expected to be substantial for species inhabiting arid environments which incur large variations in daily and seasonal ambient temperature (Ta). We measured core body temperature (Tb) daily rhythms of Cape ground squirrels Xerus inauris inhabiting an area of Kalahari grassland for six months from the Austral winter through to the summer. Squirrels inhabited two different areas: an exposed flood plain and a nearby wooded, shady area, and occurred in different social group sizes, defined by the number of individuals that shared a sleeping burrow. Of a suite of environmental variables measured, maximal daily Ta provided the greatest explanatory power for mean Tb whereas sunrise had greatest power for Tb acrophase. There were significant changes in mean Tb and Tb acrophase over time with mean Tb increasing and Tb acrophase becoming earlier as the season progressed. Squirrels also emerged from their burrows earlier and returned to them later over the measurement period. Greater increases in Tb, sometimes in excess of 5°C, were noted during the first hour post emergence, after which Tb remained relatively constant. This is consistent with observations that squirrels entered their burrows during the day to ‘offload’ heat. In addition, greater Tb amplitude values were noted in individuals inhabiting the flood plain compared with the woodland suggesting that squirrels dealt with increased environmental variability by attempting to reduce their Ta-Tb gradient. Finally, there were significant effects of age and group size on Tb with a lower and less variable Tb in younger individuals and those from larger group sizes. These data indicate that Cape ground squirrels have a labile Tb which is sensitive to a number of abiotic and biotic factors and which enables them to be active in a harsh and variable environment

Reconstruction of urban space through the dialectics of global and local: evolution of urban space in Sultanahmet-Istanbul

Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

Natural radionuclide emission from coal-fired power plants in the southwestern of Turkey and the population exposure to external radiation in their vicinity

PubMed ID: 20981605To evaluate the effect of radionuclide emission on the environment from Yata?gan, Yeniköy and Kemerköy coal-fired power plants which are located in southwestern Anatolia of Turkey, the concentrations of natural radionuclides such as 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in coal, bottom ash and fly ash samples, have been measured, as well as the concentration of the same radionuclides in surface soils. The dose rate arises from the total radioactivity content of soil that the people living by the power plants are exposed to be assessed additionally. The average activity concentrations of 226Ra for Yata?gan CPP is 80 ± 22 Bq kg-1 ranging from 56 to 131 Bq kg-1, for Yenik öy CPP is 138 ± 20 Bq kg -1 ranging from 115 to 189 Bq kg-1, forKemerköy CPP is 238 ± 80 Bq kg-1 ranging from 134 to 356 Bq kg-1 in coal; average activity concentrations of 226Ra in fly ash and in bottom ash for above-mentioned power plants are 334 ± 60 Bq kg-1 ranging from 291 to 481 Bq kg-1, 461 ± 33 Bq kg-1 ranging from 398 to 511 Bq kg-1, 815 ± 254 Bq kg-1 ranging from 316 to 1260 Bq kg-1, 276 ± 51 Bq kg-1 ranging from 222 to 349 Bq kg-1, 285 ± 69 Bq kg-1 ranging from 213 to 409 Bq kg-1, 743 ± 234 Bq kg-1 ranging from 366 to 1098 Bq kg-1, respectively. The radionuclides activity concentrations of surface soil in the vicinity of coal-fired power plants are 32 ± 9 Bq kg-1 (18-53 Bq kg-1) for 226Ra, 37 ± 16 Bq kg-1 (17-89 Bq kg-1) for 232Th, 455 ± 165 Bq kg-1 (203-794 Bq kg-1) for 40K relevant to Yata?gan CPP; 42 ± 30 Bq kg-1 (9-168 Bq kg -1) for 226Ra, 32 ± 14 Bq kg-1 (6-74 Bq kg -1) for 232Th, 365 ± 151 Bq kg-1 (117-937 Bq kg-1) for 40K relevant to Yeniköy and Kemerköy CPP. As a result, average dose rates in the vicinity of coal-fired power plants have been calculated to be 56 ± 16 nGy h-1 ranging from 30 to 100 nGy h-1 for Yata?gan CPP, 54 ± 22 nGy h-1 ranging from 15 to 126 nGy h-1 for Yeniköy and Kemerköy CPP. To sum up, the natural radionuclide activity concentrations of burnt coal and ashes thrown out from these three power plants are quite high relative to the world average UNSCEAR[1] data. In addition, the average 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activity concentration values of surface soil samples and the calculated gamma dose rates in the vicinity of power plants were located within the worldwide intervals reported by UNSCEAR,[30] with some local differences. Copyright © Taylor &amp; Francis Group, LLC