425 research outputs found

    Apolipoprotein epsilon 3 alleles are associated with indicators of neuronal resilience

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epilepsy is associated with precocious development of Alzheimer-type neuropathological changes, including appearance of senile plaques, neuronal loss and glial activation. As inheritance of <it>APOE ε4 </it>allele(s) is reported to favor this outcome, we sought to investigate neuronal and glial responses that differ according to <it>APOE </it>genotype. With an eye toward defining ways in which <it>APOE ε3 </it>alleles may foster neuronal well-being in epilepsy and/or <it>APOE ε4 </it>alleles exacerbate neuronal decline, neuronal and glial characteristics were studied in temporal lobectomy specimens from epilepsy patients of either <it>APOE ε4,4 </it>or <it>APOE ε3,3 </it>genotype.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Tissue and/or cellular expressions of interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α), apolipoprotein E (ApoE), amyloid β (Aβ) precursor protein (βAPP), synaptophysin, phosphorylated tau, and Aβ were determined in frozen and paraffin-embedded tissues from 52 <it>APOE ε3,3 </it>and 7 <it>APOE ε4,4 </it>(0.25 to 71 years) epilepsy patients, and 5 neurologically normal patients using Western blot, RT-PCR, and fluorescence immunohistochemistry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tissue levels of IL-1α were elevated in patients of both <it>APOE ε3,3 </it>and <it>APOE ε4,4 </it>genotypes, and this elevation was apparent as an increase in the number of activated microglia per neuron (<it>APOE </it>ε<it>3,3 </it>vs <it>APOE ε4,4 </it>= 3.7 ± 1.2 vs 1.5 ± 0.4; <it>P </it>< 0.05). This, together with increases in βAPP and ApoE, was associated with apparent neuronal sparing in that <it>APOE ε4,4 </it>genotype was associated with smaller neuron size (<it>APOE ε4,4 </it>vs <it>APOE ε3,3 </it>= 173 ± 27 vs 356 ± 45; <it>P </it>≤ 0.01) and greater DNA damage (<it>APOE ε4,4 </it>vs <it>APOE ε3,3 </it>= 67 ± 10 vs 39 ± 2; <it>P </it>= 0.01). 3) Aβ plaques were noted at early ages in our epilepsy patients, regardless of <it>APOE </it>genotype (<it>APOE ε4,4 </it>age 10; <it>APOE ε3,3 </it>age 17).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings of neuronal and glial events, which correlate with lesser neuronal DNA damage and larger, more robust neurons in epilepsy patients of <it>APOE ε3,3 </it>genotype compared to <it>APOE ε4,4 </it>genotype carriers, are consistent with the idea that the <it>APOE </it>ε<it>3,3 </it>genotype better protects neurons subjected to the hyperexcitability of epilepsy and thus confers less risk of AD (Alzheimer's disease).</p> <p>Please see related article: <url>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/36</url></p

    A review of patients who suddenly deteriorate in the presence of paramedics

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The report of the Ministerial Review of Trauma and Emergency Services in Victoria, Australia, recommended that paramedics be permitted to divert to the closest hospital in incidences of life threatening situations prior to and during transport. An audit of patients that suddenly deteriorated in paramedic care was recommended by the Ministerial Review. The objective of the study was to identify the number and outcome of patients who suddenly deteriorated in the presence of paramedics.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective cohort study of trauma patients who suddenly deteriorated in the presence of paramedics during 2002. As there was no standard definition, sudden deterioration was defined using a predetermined set of physiological criteria. Patient care record data of patients who suddenly deteriorated were compared with the State Trauma Registry to determine those who sustained hospital defined major trauma. Patient care records where hospital bypass was undertaken were identified and analysed. Ethics committee approval was obtained.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 2,893 patients that suddenly deteriorated according to predefined criteria. 2,687 (5.1% of the total trauma patients for 2002) were suitable for further analysis. The majority of patients had a sudden decrease in BP (n = 2,463) with 4.3% having hospital defined major trauma. For patients with a sudden decrease in conscious state or a total GCS score of less than 13 (n = 77), 37.7% had hospital defined major trauma; and a sudden increase/decrease in pulse rate and sudden decrease in BP (n = 65), 26.2% had hospital defined major trauma. Only 28 documented incidents of hospital bypass were identified.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study suggests that the incidents of patients suddenly deteriorating in the presence of paramedics are low and the incidence of hospital bypass is not well documented.</p

    Microservice Transition and its Granularity Problem: A Systematic Mapping Study

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    Microservices have gained wide recognition and acceptance in software industries as an emerging architectural style for autonomic, scalable, and more reliable computing. The transition to microservices has been highly motivated by the need for better alignment of technical design decisions with improving value potentials of architectures. Despite microservices' popularity, research still lacks disciplined understanding of transition and consensus on the principles and activities underlying "micro-ing" architectures. In this paper, we report on a systematic mapping study that consolidates various views, approaches and activities that commonly assist in the transition to microservices. The study aims to provide a better understanding of the transition; it also contributes a working definition of the transition and technical activities underlying it. We term the transition and technical activities leading to microservice architectures as microservitization. We then shed light on a fundamental problem of microservitization: microservice granularity and reasoning about its adaptation as first-class entities. This study reviews state-of-the-art and -practice related to reasoning about microservice granularity; it reviews modelling approaches, aspects considered, guidelines and processes used to reason about microservice granularity. This study identifies opportunities for future research and development related to reasoning about microservice granularity.Comment: 36 pages including references, 6 figures, and 3 table

    Renal artery stenosis-when to screen, what to stent?

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    Renal artery stensosis (RAS) continues to be a problem for clinicians, with no clear consensus on how to investigate and assess the clinical significance of stenotic lesions and manage the findings. RAS caused by fibromuscular dysplasia is probably commoner than previously appreciated, should be actively looked for in younger hypertensive patients and can be managed successfully with angioplasty. Atheromatous RAS is associated with increased incidence of cardiovascular events and increased cardiovascular mortality, and is likely to be seen with increasing frequency. Evidence from large clinical trials has led clinicians away from recommending interventional revascularisation towards aggressive medical management. There is now interest in looking more closely at patient selection for intervention, with focus on intervening only in patients with the highest-risk presentations such as flash pulmonary oedema, rapidly declining renal function and severe resistant hypertension. The potential benefits in terms of improving hard cardiovascular outcomes may outweigh the risks of intervention in this group, and further research is needed

    Common Atlas Format and 3D Brain Atlas Reconstructor: Infrastructure for Constructing 3D Brain Atlases

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    One of the challenges of modern neuroscience is integrating voluminous data of diferent modalities derived from a variety of specimens. This task requires a common spatial framework that can be provided by brain atlases. The first atlases were limited to two-dimentional presentation of structural data. Recently, attempts at creating 3D atlases have been made to offer navigation within non-standard anatomical planes and improve capability of localization of different types of data within the brain volume. The 3D atlases available so far have been created using frameworks which make it difficult for other researchers to replicate the results. To facilitate reproducible research and data sharing in the field we propose an SVG-based Common Atlas Format (CAF) to store 2D atlas delineations or other compatible data and 3D Brain Atlas Reconstructor (3dBAR), software dedicated to automated reconstruction of three-dimensional brain structures from 2D atlas data. The basic functionality is provided by (1) a set of parsers which translate various atlases from a number of formats into the CAF, and (2) a module generating 3D models from CAF datasets. The whole reconstruction process is reproducible and can easily be configured, tracked and reviewed, which facilitates fixing errors. Manual corrections can be made when automatic reconstruction is not sufficient. The software was designed to simplify interoperability with other neuroinformatics tools by using open file formats. The content can easily be exchanged at any stage of data processing. The framework allows for the addition of new public or proprietary content

    A Novel Strategy Involved Anti-Oxidative Defense: The Conversion of NADH into NADPH by a Metabolic Network

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    The reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) is pivotal to the cellular anti-oxidative defence strategies in most organisms. Although its production mediated by different enzyme systems has been relatively well-studied, metabolic networks dedicated to the biogenesis of NADPH have not been fully characterized. In this report, a metabolic pathway that promotes the conversion of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), a pro-oxidant into NADPH has been uncovered in Pseudomonas fluorescens exposed to oxidative stress. Enzymes such as pyruvate carboxylase (PC), malic enzyme (ME), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), malate synthase (MS), and isocitrate lyase (ICL) that are involved in disparate metabolic modules, converged to create a metabolic network aimed at the transformation of NADH into NADPH. The downregulation of phosphoenol carboxykinase (PEPCK) and the upregulation of pyruvate kinase (PK) ensured that this metabolic cycle fixed NADH into NADPH to combat the oxidative stress triggered by the menadione insult. This is the first demonstration of a metabolic network invoked to generate NADPH from NADH, a process that may be very effective in combating oxidative stress as the increase of an anti-oxidant is coupled to the decrease of a pro-oxidant

    Post-Epidemic Chikungunya Disease on Reunion Island: Course of Rheumatic Manifestations and Associated Factors over a 15-Month Period

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    Although the acute manifestations of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) illness are well-documented, few data exist about the long-term rheumatic outcomes of CHIKV-infected patients. We undertook between June and September 2006 a retrospective cohort study aimed at assessing the course of late rheumatic manifestations and investigating potential risk factors associated with the persistence of these rheumatic manifestations over 15 months. 147 participants (>16 yrs) with laboratory-confirmed CHIKV disease diagnosed between March 1 and June 30, 2005, were identified through a surveillance database and interviewed by telephone. At the 15-month-period evaluation after diagnosis, 84 of 147 participants (57%) self-reported rheumatic symptoms. Of these 84 patients, 53 (63%) reported permanent trouble while 31 (37%) had recurrent symptoms. Age ≥45 years (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.7–9.7), severe initial joint pain (OR = 4.8, 95% CI 1.9–12.1), and presence of underlying osteoarthritis comorbidity (OR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.1–7.4) were predictors of nonrecovery. Our findings suggest that long-term CHIKV rheumatic manifestations seem to be a frequent underlying post-epidemic condition. Three independent risk factors that may aid in early recognition of patients with the highest risk of presenting prolonged CHIKV illness were identified. Such findings may be particularly useful in the development of future prevention and care strategies for this emerging virus infection

    Characterization of the Oral Fungal Microbiome (Mycobiome) in Healthy Individuals

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    The oral microbiome–organisms residing in the oral cavity and their collective genome–are critical components of health and disease. The fungal component of the oral microbiota has not been characterized. In this study, we used a novel multitag pyrosequencing approach to characterize fungi present in the oral cavity of 20 healthy individuals, using the pan-fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) primers. Our results revealed the “basal” oral mycobiome profile of the enrolled individuals, and showed that across all the samples studied, the oral cavity contained 74 culturable and 11 non-culturable fungal genera. Among these genera, 39 were present in only one person, 16 genera were present in two participants, and 5 genera were present in three people, while 15 genera (including non-culturable organisms) were present in ≥4 (20%) participants. Candida species were the most frequent (isolated from 75% of participants), followed by Cladosporium (65%), Aureobasidium, Saccharomycetales (50% for both), Aspergillus (35%), Fusarium (30%), and Cryptococcus (20%). Four of these predominant genera are known to be pathogenic in humans. The low-abundance genera may represent environmental fungi present in the oral cavity and could simply be spores inhaled from the air or material ingested with food. Among the culturable genera, 61 were represented by one species each, while 13 genera comprised between 2 and 6 different species; the total number of species identified were 101. The number of species in the oral cavity of each individual ranged between 9 and 23. Principal component (PCO) analysis of the obtained data set followed by sample clustering and UniFrac analysis revealed that White males and Asian males clustered differently from each other, whereas both Asian and White females clustered together. This is the first study that identified the “basal mycobiome” of healthy individuals, and provides the basis for a detailed characterization of the oral mycobiome in health and disease
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