Interventions for stroke rehabilitation: analysis of the research contained in the OTseeker evidence database

Purpose: To analyse the stroke content in OTseeker in terms of the quantity of the research evidence, the quality of the randomised controlled trials (RCTs), and the types of interventions and outcome measures used. Method: A survey of stroke-related content in the OTseeker database was conducted in 2007. The year of publication and intervention categories used in each stroke-related RCT and systematic review (SR) were recorded. The internal validity of RCTs using the PEDro scale (partitioned) and the outcome measures used were also recorded. Results: Of the 4,369 articles indexed on OTseeker, 452 (10.3%) related to stroke were conducted between 1979 and 2006. The five most frequently studied intervention categories were movement training (43.2%), models of service delivery (31.2%), physical modalities/orthotics/splinting (30.1%), exercise/stretching/strength training (19.5%), and skill acquisition/training (9.3%). Random allocation (96.1%) was the most frequently satisfied internal validity criterion and therapist blinding (3.1%) was least often satisfied. The five most frequently used outcome measurement categories were basic and extended activities of daily living (70.1%), hand and upper limb function (56.1%), walking/gait (44.1%), movement/motor function (32.7%), and quality of life/general overall health (27.9%). Conclusion: The stroke-related content on OTseeker is useful for allied health professionals. This study highlights a need for better definitions of interventions and consensus about the best outcome measures. Few interventions or outcome measures were participation focused

Longitudinal Atomic Beam Spin Echo Experiments: A possible way to study Parity Violation in Hydrogen

We discuss the propagation of hydrogen atoms in static electric and magnetic fields in a longitudinal atomic beam spin echo (lABSE) apparatus. Depending on the choice of the external fields the atoms may acquire both dynamical and geometrical quantum mechanical phases. As an example of the former, we show first in-beam spin rotation measurements on atomic hydrogen, which are in excellent agreement with theory. Additional calculations of the behaviour of the metastable 2S states of hydrogen reveal that the geometrical phases may exhibit the signature of parity-(P-)violation. This invites for possible future lABSE experiments, focusing on P-violating geometrical phases in the lightest of all atoms.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Closing the Gaps: From Science to Action in Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health in Africa

As part of a series on maternal, neonatal, and child health in sub-Saharan Africa, Sara Bennett and Freddie Ssengooba discuss the challenges of getting science into policy in Africa

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Performance Limits of Graphene Devices on SiO2

The linear dispersion relation in graphene[1,2] gives rise to a surprising prediction: the resistivity due to isotropic scatterers (e.g. white-noise disorder[3] or phonons[4-8]) is independent of carrier density n. Here we show that acoustic phonon scattering[4-6] is indeed independent of n, and places an intrinsic limit on the resistivity in graphene of only 30 Ohm at room temperature (RT). At a technologically-relevant carrier density of 10^12 cm^-2, the mean free path for electron-acoustic phonon scattering is >2 microns, and the intrinsic mobility limit is 2x10^5 cm^2/Vs, exceeding the highest known inorganic semiconductor (InSb, ~7.7x10^4 cm^2/Vs[9]) and semiconducting carbon nanotubes (~1x10^5 cm^2/Vs[10]). We also show that extrinsic scattering by surface phonons of the SiO2 substrate[11,12] adds a strong temperature dependent resistivity above ~200 K[8], limiting the RT mobility to ~4x10^4 cm^2/Vs, pointing out the importance of substrate choice for graphene devices[13].Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

Inositol treatment inhibits medulloblastoma through suppression of epigenetic-driven metabolic adaptation.

Deregulation of chromatin modifiers plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of medulloblastoma, the most common paediatric malignant brain tumour. Here, we identify a BMI1-dependent sensitivity to deregulation of inositol metabolism in a proportion of medulloblastoma. We demonstrate mTOR pathway activation and metabolic adaptation specifically in medulloblastoma of the molecular subgroup G4 characterised by a BMI1High;CHD7Low signature and show this can be counteracted by IP6 treatment. Finally, we demonstrate that IP6 synergises with cisplatin to enhance its cytotoxicity in vitro and extends survival in a pre-clinical BMI1High;CHD7Low xenograft model

Target profiling of an antimetastatic RAPTA agent by chemical proteomics: relevance to the mode of action.

The clinical development of anticancer metallodrugs is often hindered by the elusive nature of their molecular targets. To identify the molecular targets of an antimetastatic ruthenium organometallic complex based on 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (RAPTA), we employed a chemical proteomic approach. The approach combines the design of an affinity probe featuring the pharmacophore with mass-spectrometry-based analysis of interacting proteins found in cancer cell lysates. The comparison of data sets obtained for cell lysates from cancer cells before and after treatment with a competitive binder suggests that RAPTA interacts with a number of cancer-related proteins, which may be responsible for the antiangiogenic and antimetastatic activity of RAPTA complexes. Notably, the proteins identified include the cytokines midkine, pleiotrophin and fibroblast growth factor-binding protein 3. We also detected guanine nucleotide-binding protein-like 3 and FAM32A, which is in line with the hypothesis that the antiproliferative activity of RAPTA compounds is due to induction of a G2/M arrest and histone proteins identified earlier as potential targets

Constitutive cytoplasmic localization of p21Waf1/Cip1 affects the apoptotic process in monocytic leukaemia

In the present study, we analysed the expression and localization of p21Waf1/Cip1 in normal and malignant haematopoietic cells. We demonstrate that in normal monocytic cells, protein kinase C (PKC)-induced p21 gene activation, which is nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) independent, results in predominantly cytoplasmic localized p21 protein. In acute monocytic leukaemia (M4, M5), monocytic blasts (N=12) show constitutive cytoplasmic p21 expression in 75% of the cases, while in myeloid leukaemic blasts (N=10), low nuclear and cytoplasmic localization of p21 could be detected, which is also PKC dependent. Constitutive p21 expression in monocytic leukaemia might have important antiapoptotic functions. This is supported by the finding that in U937 cells overexpressing p21, VP16-induced apoptosis is significantly reduced (20.0±0.9 vs 55.8±3.8%, P<0.01, N=5), reflected by a reduced phosphorylation of p38 and JNK. Similarly, AML blasts with high cytoplasmic p21 were less sensitive to VP16-induced apoptosis as compared to AML cases with low or undetectable p21 expression (42.25 vs 12.3%, P<0.01). Moreover, complex formation between p21 and ASK1 could be demonstrated in AML cells, by means of coimmunoprecipitation. In summary, these results indicate that p21 has an antiapoptotic role in monocytic leukaemia, and that p21 expression is regulated in a PKC-dependent and NF-κB independent manner.

A novel role of dendritic gap junction and mechanisms underlying its interaction with thalamocortical conductance in fast spiking inhibitory neurons

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about the roles of dendritic gap junctions (GJs) of inhibitory interneurons in modulating temporal properties of sensory induced responses in sensory cortices. Electrophysiological dual patch-clamp recording and computational simulation methods were used in combination to examine a novel role of GJs in sensory mediated feed-forward inhibitory responses in barrel cortex layer IV and its underlying mechanisms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Under physiological conditions, excitatory post-junctional potentials (EPJPs) interact with thalamocortical (TC) inputs within an unprecedented few milliseconds (i.e. over 200 Hz) to enhance the firing probability and synchrony of coupled fast-spiking (FS) cells. Dendritic GJ coupling allows fourfold increase in synchrony and a significant enhancement in spike transmission efficacy in excitatory spiny stellate cells. The model revealed the following novel mechanisms: <b><it>1) </it></b>rapid capacitive current (I_cap) underlies the activation of voltage-gated sodium channels; <b><it>2) </it></b>there was less than 2 milliseconds in which the I_capunderlying TC input and EPJP was coupled effectively; <b><it>3) </it></b>cells with dendritic GJs had larger input conductance and smaller membrane response to weaker inputs; <b><it>4) </it></b>synchrony in inhibitory networks by GJ coupling leads to reduced sporadic lateral inhibition and increased TC transmission efficacy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Dendritic GJs of neocortical inhibitory networks can have very powerful effects in modulating the strength and the temporal properties of sensory induced feed-forward inhibitory and excitatory responses at a very high frequency band (>200 Hz). Rapid capacitive currents are identified as main mechanisms underlying interaction between two transient synaptic conductances.</p

Breakdown of the adiabatic limit in low dimensional gapless systems

It is generally believed that a generic system can be reversibly transformed from one state into another by sufficiently slow change of parameters. A standard argument favoring this assertion is based on a possibility to expand the energy or the entropy of the system into the Taylor series in the ramp speed. Here we show that this argumentation is only valid in high enough dimensions and can break down in low-dimensional gapless systems. We identify three generic regimes of a system response to a slow ramp: (A) mean-field, (B) non-analytic, and (C) non-adiabatic. In the last regime the limits of the ramp speed going to zero and the system size going to infinity do not commute and the adiabatic process does not exist in the thermodynamic limit. We support our results by numerical simulations. Our findings can be relevant to condensed-matter, atomic physics, quantum computing, quantum optics, cosmology and others.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Nature Physics (originally submitted version

The relationship between literacy and multimorbidity in a primary care setting

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multimorbidity is now acknowledged as a research priority in primary care. The identification of risk factors and people most at risk is an important step in guiding prevention and intervention strategies. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between literacy and multimorbidity while controlling for potential confounders.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were adult patients attending the family medicine clinic of a regional health centre in Saguenay (Quebec), Canada. Literacy was measured with the Newest Vital Sign (NVS). Multimorbidity was measured with the Disease Burden Morbidity Assessment (DBMA) by self-report. Information on potential confounders (age, sex, education and family income) was also collected. The association between literacy (independent variable) and multimorbidity was examined in bivariate and multivariate analyses. Two operational definitions of multimorbidity were used successively as the dependent variable; confounding variables were introduced into the model as potential predictors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One hundred three patients (36 men) 19–83 years old were recruited; 41.8% had completed 12 years of school or less. Forty-seven percent of patients provided fewer than four correct answers on the NVS (possible low literacy) whereas 53% had four correct responses or more. Literacy and multimorbidity were associated in bivariate analyses (p < 0.01) but not in multivariate analyses, including age and family income.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study suggests that there is no relationship between literacy and multimorbidity when controlling for age and family income.</p