The effects of exposure to a rotating environment /10 rpm/ on four aviators for a period of twelve days

Motion sickness studies of aviators exposed to rotating environment - Aerospace medicin

Appropriateness of antibiotic treatment in intravenous drug users, a retrospective analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infectious disease is often the reason for intravenous drug users being seen in a clinical setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of treatment and outcomes for this patient population in a hospital setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Retrospective study of all intravenous drug users hospitalized for treatment of infectious diseases and seen by infectious diseases specialists 1/2001–12/2006 at a university hospital. Treatment was administered according to guidelines when possible or to alternative treatment program in case of patients for whom adherence to standard protocols was not possible. Outcomes were defined with respect to appropriateness of treatment, hospital readmission, relapse and mortality rates. For statistical analysis adjustment for multiple hospitalizations of individual patients was made by using a generalized estimating equation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The total number of hospitalizations for infectious diseases was 344 among 216 intravenous drug users. Skin and soft tissue infections (n = 129, 37.5% of hospitalizations), pneumonia (n = 75, 21.8%) and endocarditis (n = 54, 15.7%) were most prevalent. Multiple infections were present in 25%. Treatment was according to standard guidelines for 78.5%, according to an alternative recommended program for 11.3%, and not according to guidelines or by the infectious diseases specialist advice for 10.2% of hospitalizations. Psychiatric disorders had a significant negative impact on compliance (compliance problems in 19.8% of hospitalizations) in multiple logistic regression analysis (OR = 2.4, CI 1.1–5.1, p = 0.03). The overall readmission rate and relapse rate within 30 days was 13.7% and 3.8%, respectively. Both non-compliant patient behavior (OR = 3.7, CI 1.3–10.8, p = 0.02) and non-adherence to treatment guidelines (OR = 3.3, CI 1.1–9.7, p = 0.03) were associated with a significant increase in the relapse rate in univariate analysis. In 590 person-years of follow-up, 24.6% of the patients died: 6.4% died during hospitalization (1.2% infection-related) and 13.6% of patients died after discharge.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Appropriate antibiotic therapy according to standard guidelines in hospitalized intravenous drug users is generally practicable and successful. In a minority alternative treatments may be indicated, although associated with a higher risk of relapse.</p

Diets containing sea cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus) meals are hypocholesterolemic in young rats

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Relativistic effects and two-body currents in 2H(e⃗,e′p)n^{2}H(\vec{e},e^{\prime}p)n using out-of-plane detection

Measurements of the ${^2}H(\vec{e},e^{\prime}p)n$ reaction were performed using an 800-MeV polarized electron beam at the MIT-Bates Linear Accelerator and with the out-of-plane magnetic spectrometers (OOPS). The longitudinal-transverse, $f_{LT}$ and $f_{LT}^{\prime}$, and the transverse-transverse, $f_{TT}$, interference responses at a missing momentum of 210 MeV/c were simultaneously extracted in the dip region at Q$^2$=0.15 (GeV/c)$^2$. On comparison to models of deuteron electrodisintegration, the data clearly reveal strong effects of relativity and final-state interactions, and the importance of the two-body meson-exchange currents and isobar configurations. We demonstrate that these effects can be disentangled and studied by extracting the interference response functions using the novel out-of-plane technique.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, and submitted to PRL for publicatio

Identification and characterization of a novel non-structural protein of bluetongue virus

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is the causative agent of a major disease of livestock (bluetongue). For over two decades, it has been widely accepted that the 10 segments of the dsRNA genome of BTV encode for 7 structural and 3 non-structural proteins. The non-structural proteins (NS1, NS2, NS3/NS3a) play different key roles during the viral replication cycle. In this study we show that BTV expresses a fourth non-structural protein (that we designated NS4) encoded by an open reading frame in segment 9 overlapping the open reading frame encoding VP6. NS4 is 77–79 amino acid residues in length and highly conserved among several BTV serotypes/strains. NS4 was expressed early post-infection and localized in the nucleoli of BTV infected cells. By reverse genetics, we showed that NS4 is dispensable for BTV replication in vitro, both in mammalian and insect cells, and does not affect viral virulence in murine models of bluetongue infection. Interestingly, NS4 conferred a replication advantage to BTV-8, but not to BTV-1, in cells in an interferon (IFN)-induced antiviral state. However, the BTV-1 NS4 conferred a replication advantage both to a BTV-8 reassortant containing the entire segment 9 of BTV-1 and to a BTV-8 mutant with the NS4 identical to the homologous BTV-1 protein. Collectively, this study suggests that NS4 plays an important role in virus-host interaction and is one of the mechanisms played, at least by BTV-8, to counteract the antiviral response of the host. In addition, the distinct nucleolar localization of NS4, being expressed by a virus that replicates exclusively in the cytoplasm, offers new avenues to investigate the multiple roles played by the nucleolus in the biology of the cell

Episodic Therapy for Genital Herpes in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Pooled Analysis from Three Randomized Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND: A randomized controlled trial in South Africa found a beneficial effect of acyclovir on genital ulcer healing, but no effect was seen in trials in Ghana, Central African Republic and Malawi. The aim of this paper is to assess whether the variation in impact of acyclovir on ulcer healing in these trials can be explained by differences in the characteristics of the study populations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Pooled data were analysed to estimate the impact of acyclovir on the proportion of ulcers healed seven days after randomisation by HIV/CD4 status, ulcer aetiology, size and duration before presentation; and impact on lesional HIV-1. Risk ratios (RR) were estimated using Poisson regression with robust standard errors. Of 1478 patients with genital ulcer, most (63%) had herpetic ulcers (16% first episode HSV-2 ulcers), and a further 3% chancroid, 2% syphilis, 0.7% lymphogranuloma venereum and 31% undetermined aetiology. Over half (58%) of patients were HIV-1 seropositive. The median duration of symptoms before presentation was 6 days. Patients on acyclovir were more likely to have a healed ulcer on day 7 (63% vs 57%, RR = 1.08, 95% CI 0.98-1.18), shorter time to healing (p = 0.04) and less lesional HIV-1 RNA (p = 0.03). Small ulcers (<50 mm(2)), HSV-2 ulcers, first episode HSV-2 ulcers, and ulcers in HIV-1 seropositive individuals responded best but the better effectiveness in South Africa was not explained by differences in these factors. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: There may be slight benefit in adding acyclovir to syndromic management in settings where most ulcers are genital herpes. The stronger effect among HIV-1 infected individuals suggests that acyclovir may be beneficial for GUD/HIV-1 co-infected patients. The high prevalence in this population highlights that genital ulceration in patients with unknown HIV status provides a potential entry point for provider-initiated HIV testing

MTSS1 and SCAMP1 cooperate to prevent invasion in breast cancer

Cell–cell adhesions constitute the structural “glue” that retains cells together and contributes to tissue organisation and physiological function. The integrity of these structures is regulated by extracellular and intracellular signals and pathways that act on the functional units of cell adhesion such as the cell adhesion molecules/adhesion receptors, the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and the cytoplasmic plaque/peripheral membrane proteins. In advanced cancer, these regulatory pathways are dysregulated and lead to cell–cell adhesion disassembly, increased invasion and metastasis. The Metastasis suppressor protein 1 (MTSS1) plays a key role in the maintenance of cell–cell adhesions and its loss correlates with tumour progression in a variety of cancers. However, the mechanisms that regulate its function are not well-known. Using a system biology approach, we unravelled potential interacting partners of MTSS1. We found that the secretory carrier-associated membrane protein 1 (SCAMP1), a molecule involved in post-Golgi recycling pathways and in endosome cell membrane recycling, enhances Mtss1 anti-invasive function in HER2+/ER−/PR− breast cancer, by promoting its protein trafficking leading to elevated levels of RAC1-GTP and increased cell–cell adhesions. This was clinically tested in HER2 breast cancer tissue and shown that loss of MTSS1 and SCAMP1 correlates with reduced disease-specific survival. In summary, we provide evidence of the cooperative roles of MTSS1 and SCAMP1 in preventing HER2+/ER−/PR− breast cancer invasion and we show that the loss of Mtss1 and Scamp1 results in a more aggressive cancer cell phenotype

Dental service patterns among private and public adult patients in Australia

Background While the majority of dental care in Australia is provided in the private sector those patients who attend for public care remain a public health focus due to their socioeconomic disadvantage. The aims of this study were to compare dental service profiles provided to patients at private and public clinics, controlling for age, sex, reason for visit and income. Methods Data were collected in 2004–06, using a three-stage, stratified clustered sample of Australians aged 15+ years, involving a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI), oral examination and mailed questionnaire. Analysis was restricted to those who responded to the CATI. Results A total of 14,123 adults responded to the CATI (49% response) of whom 5,505 (44% of those interviewed) agreed to undergo an oral epidemiological examination. Multivariate analysis controlling for age, sex, reason for visit and income showed that persons attending public clinics had higher odds [Odds ratio, 95%CI] of extraction (1.69, 1.26–2.28), but lower odds of receiving oral prophylaxis (0.50, 0.38–0.66) and crown/bridge services (0.34, 0.13–0.91) compared to the reference category of private clinics. Conclusion Socio-economically disadvantaged persons who face barriers to accessing dental care in the private sector suffer further oral health disadvantage from a pattern of services received at public clinics that has more emphasis on extraction of teeth and less emphasis on preventive and maintenance care.David S Brennan, Liana Luzzi and Kaye F Roberts-Thomso

Exponential Megapriming PCR (EMP) Cloning-Seamless DNA Insertion into Any Target Plasmid without Sequence Constraints

We present a fast, reliable and inexpensive restriction-free cloning method for seamless DNA insertion into any plasmid without sequence limitation. Exponential megapriming PCR (EMP) cloning requires two consecutive PCR steps and can be carried out in one day. We show that EMP cloning has a higher efficiency than restriction-free (RF) cloning, especially for long inserts above 2.5 kb. EMP further enables simultaneous cloning of multiple inserts.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM077537