THE TREATMENT OF CONGENITAL HYDROCEPHALUS

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Die sesweke-ondersoek ná koronêre vatchirurgie: bevindinge by Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic Hospitaal

The six-week examination after coronary bypass surgery: findings at a Medi-Clinic Hospital in Bloemfontein. Background: Surgery provides symtomatic relief and improves the prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease. The general practitioner manages the postoperative patient. The aim of the study was to establish which symptoms and signs are present at the time of the six-week follow-up after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Methods: A descriptive database search with a retrospective direction of enquiry was undertaken to establish the symptoms and signs experienced by patients six weeks after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). The patients were operated on by one surgeon in one hospital. The prevalence of readmissions, chest pain, angina, blood pressure, NYHA class, lung auscultation, wounds and medications were noted. Results: Records were available for 181 patients. However, only 158 patients were seen in the surgeon\'s rooms six weeks after surgery. Patients were also consulted before and after the six weeks, but usually in hospital. One patient died before her appointment and two patients did not return for follow-up. Fifteen (8.5%; 95% CI 4.9% to 13.7%) patients were readmitted to a hospital for a variety of reasons, Severe chest pain was present in 3.4% (95% CI 1.3% to 7.2%) patients. One patient had a myocardial infarction with patent grafts at cardiac catheterisation. Another two patients were investigated for possible angina, but it could not be proved. A total of 82.2% (95% CI 76.5% to 87.9%) of the patients were in NYHA I, whereas 3.5% (95% CI 1.3% to 7.4%) were class III, of whom two thirds were in class III before the operation. Hypertension was noticed in 70.1% of the patients (95% CI 62.9% to 77.2%). During auscultation of the lungs, abnormalities were picked up in 4.9% of the patients, while the sternum was not properly healed in 3.4% (95% VI 1.3% tot 7.2%). All the patients were on aspirin, but only 57% took an ACE inhibitor, 37% took a statin and 29% a beta-blocker.Conclusions:This study provides a picture of what to expect six weeks after a CABG.South African Family Practice Vol. 47(3) 2005: 61-6

A structural annotation resource for the selection of putative target proteins in the malaria parasite

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein structure plays a pivotal role in elucidating mechanisms of parasite functioning and drug resistance. Moreover, protein structure aids the determination of protein function, which can together with the structure be used to identify novel drug targets in the parasite. However, various structural features in <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>proteins complicate the experimental determination of protein structures. Limited similarity to proteins in the Protein Data Bank and the shortage of solved protein structures in the malaria parasite necessitate genome-scale structural annotation of <it>P. falciparum </it>proteins. Additionally, the annotation of a range of structural features facilitates the identification of suitable targets for experimental and computational studies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An integrated structural annotation system was developed and applied to <it>P. falciparum</it>, <it>Plasmodium vivax </it>and <it>Plasmodium yoelii</it>. The annotation included searches for sequence similarity, patterns and domains in addition to the following predictions: secondary structure, transmembrane helices, protein disorder, low complexity, coiled-coils and small molecule interactions. Subsequently, candidate proteins for further structural studies were identified based on the annotated structural features.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The annotation results are accessible through a web interface, enabling users to select groups of proteins which fulfil multiple criteria pertaining to structural and functional features <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp>. Analysis of features in the <it>P. falciparum </it>proteome showed that protein-interacting proteins contained a higher percentage of predicted disordered residues than non-interacting proteins. Proteins interacting with 10 or more proteins have a disordered content concentrated in the range of 60–100%, while the disorder distribution for proteins having only one interacting partner, was more evenly spread.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A series of <it>P. falciparum </it>protein targets for experimental structure determination, comparative modelling and <it>in silico </it>docking studies were putatively identified. The system is available for public use, where researchers may identify proteins by querying with multiple physico-chemical, sequence similarity and interaction features.</p

Ultra-Rapid Categorization of Fourier-Spectrum Equalized Natural Images: Macaques and Humans Perform Similarly

BACKGROUND: Comparative studies of cognitive processes find similarities between humans and apes but also monkeys. Even high-level processes, like the ability to categorize classes of object from any natural scene under ultra-rapid time constraints, seem to be present in rhesus macaque monkeys (despite a smaller brain and the lack of language and a cultural background). An interesting and still open question concerns the degree to which the same images are treated with the same efficacy by humans and monkeys when a low level cue, the spatial frequency content, is controlled. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used a set of natural images equalized in Fourier spectrum and asked whether it is still possible to categorize them as containing an animal and at what speed. One rhesus macaque monkey performed a forced-choice saccadic task with a good accuracy (67.5% and 76% for new and familiar images respectively) although performance was lower than with non-equalized images. Importantly, the minimum reaction time was still very fast (100 ms). We compared the performances of human subjects with the same setup and the same set of (new) images. Overall mean performance of humans was also lower than with original images (64% correct) but the minimum reaction time was still short (140 ms). CONCLUSION: Performances on individual images (% correct but not reaction times) for both humans and the monkey were significantly correlated suggesting that both species use similar features to perform the task. A similar advantage for full-face images was seen for both species. The results also suggest that local low spatial frequency information could be important, a finding that fits the theory that fast categorization relies on a rapid feedforward magnocellular signal

Biochemical characterization of Acacia schweinfurthii serine proteinase inhibitor

One of the many control mechanisms of serine proteinases is their specific inhibition by protein proteinase inhibitors. An extract of Acacia schweinfurthii was screened for potential serine proteinase inhibition. It was successfully purified to homogeneity by precipitating with 80% (v/v) acetone and sequential chromatographic steps, including ion-exchange, affinity purifica- Q2 tion and RP-HPLC. Reducing SDS-PAGE conditions revealed an inhibitor (ASTI) consisting of two polypeptide chains A and B of approximate molecular weights of 16 and 10 kDa, respectively, and under non-reducing conditions, 26 kDa was observed. The inhibitor was shown to inhibit bovine trypsin (Ki of 3.45 nM) at an approximate molar ratio of inhibitor: trypsin (1:1). The A- and B-chains revealed complete sequences of 140 and 40 amino acid residues, respectively. Sequence similarity (70%) was reported between ASTI A-chain and ACTI A-chain (Acacia confusa) using the ClustalW. The B-chain produced a 76% sequence similarity between ASTI and Leucaena leucocephala trypsin inhibitor

Extended fine structure and continuum emission from S140/L1204

Grating spectra, covering the wavelength range 45 to 187μm have been taken with the ISO Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) at a series of pointing positions over the S 140 region, centred on the cluster of embedded young stellar objects at the south-west corner of the L1204 molecular cloud. Extended emission from [CII]158μm and [OI]63μm is seen, peaking near the position of the embedded stars. The measurements of the fine structure lines are interpreted in terms of PDR models for the emission, as well as the underlying thermal continuum for the heated gas and dust

The ISO LWS grating spectrum of NGC 7027

We present a high signal-to-noise ISO Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) grating spectrum of the planetary nebula NGC 7027 from 43-194μm. In total 40 emission lines have been detected, with 30 identified. From the ionized region, we observe fine-structure lines from [N II], [N III] and [O III]. The [O I] and [C II] fine-structure lines from the photodissociation region are the strongest features observed in this spectral region. Amongst the molecular lines, 11 pure rotation CO lines from J=14-13 up to J=24-23 have been detected. The most striking result, however, is the detection in this carbon-rich nebula of the o-H_2_O 179.53μm and the OH 119.3μm fundamental lines. Astrophysical implications are briefly discussed

Discovery: an interactive resource for the rational selection and comparison of putative drug target proteins in malaria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Up to half a billion human clinical cases of malaria are reported each year, resulting in about 2.7 million deaths, most of which occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the over-and misuse of anti-malarials, widespread resistance to all the known drugs is increasing at an alarming rate. Rational methods to select new drug target proteins and lead compounds are urgently needed. The Discovery system provides data mining functionality on extensive annotations of five malaria species together with the human and mosquito hosts, enabling the selection of new targets based on multiple protein and ligand properties.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A web-based system was developed where researchers are able to mine information on malaria proteins and predicted ligands, as well as perform comparisons to the human and mosquito host characteristics. Protein features used include: domains, motifs, EC numbers, GO terms, orthologs, protein-protein interactions, protein-ligand interactions and host-pathogen interactions among others. Searching by chemical structure is also available.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An <it>in silico</it> system for the selection of putative drug targets and lead compounds is presented, together with an example study on the bifunctional DHFR-TS from <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Discovery system allows for the identification of putative drug targets and lead compounds in Plasmodium species based on the filtering of protein and chemical properties.</p