Urinary pyridinoline cross-links as biomarkers of osteogenesis imperfecta.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a group of genetic heterogeneous connective tissue disorders characterized by increased bone fragility and susceptibility to fractures. Laboratory diagnosis relies on time-consuming and cost-intensive biochemical and molecular genetics analyses. Therefore, it is desirable to identify and establish new diagnostic markers for OI that are reliable, cost-effective and easily accessible. In our study we have identified the ratio of the urinary pyridinoline cross-links lysyl-pyridinoline and hydroxylysyl-pyridinoline as a promising, time- and cost-effective biomarker for osteogenesis imperfecta, that could be used furthermore to investigate cases of suspected non-accidental injury in infants

Uncovering Shakespeare\u27s Sisters in Special Collections and College Archives, Musselman Library

Foreword by Professor Suzanne J. Flynn I have taught the first-year seminar, Shakespeare’s Sisters, several times, and over the years I have brought the seminar’s students to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. There, the wonderful librarians have treated the students to a special exhibit of early women’s manuscripts and first editions, beginning with letters written by Elizabeth I and proceeding through important works by seventeen and eighteenth-century women authors such as Aemelia Lanyer, Anne Finch, Aphra Behn, and Mary Wollstonecraft. This year I worked with Carolyn Sautter, the Director of Special Collections and College Archives, to give my 2018 seminar students the opportunity to produce a sequel to the Folger exhibit of early modern women writers. Special Collections houses an impressive array of first editions from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of them acquired from Thomas Y. Cooper, the former editor of the Hanover Evening Sun newspaper, who donated over 1600 items to Musselman Library in 1965. Working with Kerri Odess-Harnish, we chose first editions of eight significant works of literature written by American and British women from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. The students worked in pairs, researching a single book and producing a report that outlines important biographical facts about the author, the book’s publication and reception history, and finally the significance of the book in the years since its publication. We hope that our project will draw attention to the wealth of literary treasures housed in Special Collections at Musselman Library, but especially to these works by eight of “Shakespeare’s Sisters.

Microsurgical third ventriculocisternostomy as an alternative to ETV: report of two cases

OBJECTIVE: To describe a microsurgical alternative to endoscopic third ventriculocisternostomy. METHODS: Two children with shunt-dependent hydrocephalus and multiple shunt revisions were considered candidates for third ventriculocisternostomy (TVS). Because of slit ventricles, an endoscopic approach was not possible and, therefore, both patients received a microsurgical TVS by a supraorbital approach. RESULTS: In both cases, microsurgical TVS was successful and the patients became shunt free. CONCLUSION: Microsurgical TVS by a supraorbital craniotomy is a viable alternative to endoscopic TVS in selected cases

The prevalence of self-reported underuse of medications due to cost for the elderly: Results from seven European urban communities

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of self-reported underuse of medications due to procurement costs amongst older persons from seven European urban communities. Methods: The data were collected in a cross-sectional study (“ABUEL, Elder abuse: A multinational prevalence survey”) in 2009. Randomly selected people aged 60–84 years (n = 4,467) from seven urban communities: Stuttgart (Germany), Athens (Greece), Ancona (Italy), Kaunas (Lithuania), Porto (Portugal), Granada (Spain) and Stockholm (Sweden) were interviewed. Response rate - 45.2 %. Ethical permission was received in each country. Results: The results indicate that 3.6 % (n = 162) of the respondents self-reported refraining from buying prescribed medications due to cost. The highest prevalence of this problem was identified in Lithuania (15.7 %, n = 99) and Portugal (4.3 %, n = 28). Other countries reported lower percentages of refraining from buying medications (Germany – 2.0 %, Italy – 1.6 %, Sweden – 1.0 %, Greece – 0.6 %, Spain – 0.3 %). Females refrained more often from buying medications than males (2.6 % vs. 4.4 %, p < 0.0001). The prevalence of this refraining tended to increase with economic hardship. Discussion: These differences between countries can be only partly described by the financing of health-care systems. In spite of the presence of cost reimbursement mechanisms, patients need to make co-payments (or in some cases to pay the full price) for prescribed medications. This indicates that the purchasing power of people in 10.1186/s12913-015-1089-4 the particular country can play a major role and be related with the economic situation in the country. Lithuania, which has reported the highest refrain rates, had the lowest gross domestic product (at the time of conducting this study) of all participating countries in the study. Conclusions: Refraining from buying the prescribed medications due to cost is a problem for women and men in respect to ageing people in Europe. Prevalence varies by country, sex, and economic hardship.The ABUEL was supported by the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC) (Grant No., A/2007123) and participating institutions

Effect of remote ischaemic preconditioning on walking in people with multiple sclerosis: double-blind randomised controlled trial

Background Remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) is the exposure of body parts to brief periods of circulatory occlusion and reperfusion. Recent studies have also shown that RIPC can improve exercise performance in healthy individuals. Objective This study aimed to assess the effect of RIPC on walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods This was a double-blind randomised controlled clinical trial. We used three cycles of RIPC delivered by occluding the upper arm with a blood pressure (BP) cuff inflated to a pressure of 30 mm Hg above the systolic BP. In patients in the sham intervention group, the BP cuff was inflated only to 30 mm Hg below diastolic BP. Outcome measures included the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), gait speed, the Borg rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, the tolerability of the RIPC using a Numerical Rating Scale for discomfort from 0 to 10, and adverse events. We identified responders meeting the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) established in the literature in each group. Results Seventy-five participants completed the study (RIPC: 38 and Sham: 37). The distance walked during the 6MWT improved by 1.9% in the sham group and 5.7% in the RIPC group (p=0.012). The number of responders meeting MCID criteria in the RIPC group was significantly greater compared with the sham intervention group. No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusion Single cycle of RIPC resulted in immediate improvement in walking distances during 6MWT in people with MS. Trial registration numbers NCT0315355

Warfare, Fiscal Capacity, and Performance

We exploit differences in casualties sustained in pre-modern wars to estimate the impact of fiscal capacity on economic performance. In the past, states fought different amounts of external conflicts, of various lengths and magnitudes. To raise the revenues to wage wars, states made fiscal innovations, which persisted and helped to shape current fiscal institutions. Economic historians claim that greater fiscal capacity was the key long-run institutional change brought about by historical conflicts. Using casualties sustained in pre-modern wars to instrument for current fiscal institutions, we estimate substantial impacts of fiscal capacity on GDP per worker. The results are robust to a broad range of specifications, controls, and sub-samples

Suppression of environmental health scientists: real-world examples as a basis for action

Pressures on epidemiologists, toxicologists, and on public health scientists to suppress their work are known to occur worldwide. In this article, we share six stories from environmental health scientists about the pressures they faced in their jobs after bringing public health problems to light. The method used to document each of the stories was to invite scientists who attended meetings of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology to tell their own stories of having experienced research suppression. We then extracted the salient features of each experience into a coherent story, providing references as corroboration where possible. The specific purpose in going public with the six stories presented in this article is to open a conversation to better equip colleagues to stand up to pressures to suppress their work. By publicly sharing the pressures experienced by these scientists in attempts to suppress their scientific work, including intimidation, harassment, threats and/or bullying, other scientists may be better able to withstand such pressures. In the absence of a larger collection of stories, we are unable to identify common approaches taken against suppression. It appears that a focus on scientific excellence and tenacity are two major factors likely to have contributed to the ability to withstand pressure. We encourage others to tell their stories. Bringing examples of these instances to attention will make them familiar enough to be less intimidating should others experience anything similar. Additional documented experiences will expand the base of stories and thus help colleagues to withstand the pressures wielded by special interests. Shining a light on these pressures will remove barriers, not only to advancing the science, but also to protecting the public interest

Les Houches 2015: Physics at TeV Colliders Standard Model Working Group Report

This Report summarizes the proceedings of the 2015 Les Houches workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. Session 1 dealt with (I) new developments relevant for high precision Standard Model calculations, (II) the new PDF4LHC parton distributions, (III) issues in the theoretical description of the production of Standard Model Higgs bosons and how to relate experimental measurements, (IV) a host of phenomenological studies essential for comparing LHC data from Run I with theoretical predictions and projections for future measurements in Run II, and (V) new developments in Monte Carlo event generators.Comment: Proceedings of the Standard Model Working Group of the 2015 Les Houches Workshop, Physics at TeV Colliders, Les Houches 1-19 June 2015. 227 page

Intimate partner violence: a study in men and women from six European countries

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess intimate partner violence (IPV) among men and women from six cities in six European countries. METHODS: Four IPV types were measured in a population-based multicentre study of adults (18-64 years; n = 3,496). Sex- and city-differences in past year prevalence were examined considering victims, perpetrators or both and considering violent acts' severity and repetition. RESULTS: Male victimization of psychological aggression ranged from 48.8 % (Porto) to 71.8 % (Athens) and female victimization from 46.4 % (Budapest) to 70.5 % (Athens). Male and female victimization of sexual coercion ranged from 5.4 and 8.9 %, respectively, in Budapest to 27.1 and 25.3 % in Stuttgart. Male and female victims of physical assault ranged from 9.7 and 8.5 %, respectively, in Porto, to 31.2 and 23.1 % in Athens. Male victims of injury were 2.7 % in Östersund and 6.3 % in London and female victims were 1.4 % in Östersund and 8.5 % in Stuttgart. IPV differed significantly across cities (p < 0.05). Men and women predominantly experienced IPV as both victims and perpetrators with few significant sex-differences within cities. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the need to consider men and women as both potential victims and perpetrators when approaching IPV

Interferon β-1a in relapsing multiple sclerosis: four-year extension of the European IFNβ-1a Dose-C omparison Study

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease requiring long-term monitoring of treatment. Objective: To assess the four-year clinical efficacy of intramuscular (IM) IFNb-1a in patients with relapsing MS from the European IFNb-1a Dose-C omparison Study. Methods: Patients who completed 36 months of treatment (Part 1) of the European IFNb-1a Dose-C omparison Study were given the option to continue double-blind treatment with IFNb-1a 30 mcg or 60 mcg IM once weekly (Part 2). Analyses of 48-month data were performed on sustained disability progression, relapses, and neutralizing antibody (NA b) formation. Results: O f 608/802 subjects who completed 36 months of treatment, 493 subjects continued treatment and 446 completed 48 months of treatment and follow-up. IFNb-1a 30 mcg and 60 mcg IM once weekly were equally effective for up to 48 months. There were no significant differences between doses over 48 months on any of the clinical endpoints, including rate of disability progression, cumulative percentage of patients who progressed (48 and 43, respectively), and annual relapse rates; relapses tended to decrease over 48 months. The incidence of patients who were positive for NAbs at any time during the study was low in both treatment groups. Conclusion: C ompared with 60-mcg IM IFNb-1a once weekly, a dose of 30 mcg IM IFNb-1a once weekly maintains the same clinical efficacy over four years