The impact of hyperhidrosis on patients' daily life and quality of life : A qualitative investigation

Background: An understanding of the daily life impacts of hyperhidrosis and how patients deal with them, based on qualitative research, is lacking. This study investigated the impact of hyperhidrosis on the daily life of patients using a mix of qualitative research methods. Methods: Participants were recruited through hyperhidrosis patient support groups such as the Hyperhidrosis Support Group UK. Data were collected using focus groups, interviews and online surveys. A grounded theory approach was used in the analysis of data transcripts. Data were collected from 71 participants, out of an initial 100 individuals recruited. Results: Seventeen major themes capturing the impacts of hyperhidrosis were identified; these covered all areas of life including daily life, psychological well-being, social life, professional /school life, dealing with hyperhidrosis, unmet health care needs and physical impact. Conclusions: Psychosocial impacts are central to the overall impacts of hyperhidrosis, cutting across and underlying the limitations experienced in other areas of life.Peer reviewe

Can we continue research in splenectomized dogs? Mycoplasma haemocanis: Old problem - New insight

We report the appearance of a Mycoplasma haemocanis infection in laboratory dogs, which has been reported previously, yet, never before in Europe. Outbreak of the disease was triggered by a splenectomy intended to prepare the dogs for a hemorrhagic shock study. The clinical course of the dogs was dramatic including anorexia and hemolytic anemia. Treatment included allogeneic transfusion, prednisone, and oxytetracycline. Systematic follow-up (n=12, blood smears, antibody testing and specific polymerase chain reaction) gives clear evidence that persistent eradication of M. haemocanis is unlikely. We, therefore, had to abandon the intended shock study. In the absence of effective surveillance and screening for M. haemocanis, the question arises whether it is prudent to continue shock research in splenectomized dogs. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Alcohol-induced retrograde facilitation renders witnesses of crime less suggestible to misinformation

RATIONALE: Research has shown that alcohol can have both detrimental and facilitating effects on memory: intoxication can lead to poor memory for information encoded after alcohol consumption (anterograde amnesia) and may improve memory for information encoded before consumption (retrograde facilitation). This study examined whether alcohol consumed after witnessing a crime can render individuals less vulnerable to misleading post-event information (misinformation). METHOD: Participants watched a simulated crime video. Thereafter, one third of participants expected and received alcohol (alcohol group), one third did not expect but received alcohol (reverse placebo), and one third did not expect nor receive alcohol (control). After alcohol consumption, participants were exposed to misinformation embedded in a written narrative about the crime. The following day, participants completed a cued-recall questionnaire about the event. RESULTS: Control participants were more likely to report misinformation compared to the alcohol and reverse placebo group. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that we may oversimplify the effect alcohol has on suggestibility and that sometimes alcohol can have beneficial effects on eyewitness memory by protecting against misleading post-event information

The broad phenotypic spectrum of 17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase (CYP17A1) deficiency: a case series

CONTEXT: 17α-Hydroxylase/17,20-lyase deficiency (17OHD) caused by mutations in the CYP17A1 gene is a rare form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia typically characterised by cortisol deficiency, mineralocorticoid excess and sex steroid deficiency. OBJECTIVE: To examine the phenotypic spectrum of 17OHD by clinical and biochemical assessment and corresponding in silico and in vitro functional analysis. DESIGN: Case series. PATIENTS AND RESULTS: We assessed eight patients with 17OHD, including four with extreme 17OHD phenotypes: two siblings presented with failure to thrive in early infancy and two with isolated sex steroid deficiency and normal cortisol reserve. Diagnosis was established by mass spectrometry-based urinary steroid profiling and confirmed by genetic CYP17A1 analysis, revealing homozygous and compound heterozygous sequence variants. We found novel (p.Gly111Val, p.Ala398Glu, p.Ile371Thr) and previously described sequence variants (p.Pro409Leu, p.Arg347His, p.Gly436Arg, p.Phe53/54del, p.Tyr60IlefsLys88X). In vitro functional studies employing an overexpression system in HEK293 cells showed that 17,20-lyase activity was invariably decreased while mutant 17α-hydroxylase activity retained up to 14% of WT activity in the two patients with intact cortisol reserve. A ratio of urinary corticosterone over cortisol metabolites reflective of 17α-hydroxylase activity correlated well with clinical phenotype severity. CONCLUSION: Our findings illustrate the broad phenotypic spectrum of 17OHD. Isolated sex steroid deficiency with normal stimulated cortisol has not been reported before. Attenuation of 17α-hydroxylase activity is readily detected by urinary steroid profiling and predicts phenotype severity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Here we report, supported by careful phenotyping, genotyping and functional analysis, a prismatic case series of patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 17α-hydroxylase (CYP17A1) deficiency (17OHD). These range in severity from the abolition of function, presenting in early infancy, and unusually mild with isolated sex steroid deficiency but normal ACTH-stimulated cortisol in adult patients. These findings will guide improved diagnostic detection of CYP17A1 deficiency

Mapping and characterization of novel parthenocarpy QTLs in tomato

Parthenocarpy is the development of the fruit in absence of pollination and/or fertilization. In tomato, parthenocarpy is considered as an attractive trait to solve the problems of fruit setting under unfavorable conditions. We studied the genetics of parthenocarpy in two different lines, IL5-1 and IVT-line 1, both carrying Solanum habrochaites chromosome segments. Parthenocarpy in IL5-1 is under the control of two QTLs, one on chromosome 4 (pat4.1) and one on chromosome 5 (pat5.1). IVT-line 1 also contains two parthenocarpy QTLs, one on chromosome 4 (pat4.2) and one on chromosome 9 (pat9.1). In addition, we identified one stigma exsertion locus in IL5-1, located on the long arm of chromosome 5 (se5.1). It is likely that pat4.1, from IL5-1 and pat4.2, from IVT-line 1, both located near the centromere of chromosome 4 are allelic. By making use of the microsynteny between tomato and Arabidopsis in this genetic region, we identified ARF8 as a potential candidate gene for these two QTLs. ARF8 is known to act as an inhibitor for further carpel development in Arabidopsis, in absence of pollination/fertilization. Expression of an aberrant form of the ArabidopsisARF8 gene, in tomato, has been found to cause parthenocarpy. This candidate gene approach may lead to the first isolation of a parthenocarpy gene in tomato and will allow further use in several crop species

Household consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potato and its associated factors in Chipata District, Eastern Province Zambia

BACKGROUND: The Integrating Orange Project promotes production and consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) to address vitamin A deficiency among rural populations of Zambia since 2011. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed household production and consumption of OFSP and identified factors associated with consumption thereof in Integrating Orange Project areas in Chipata district, Zambia. METHODS: Respondents of 295 randomly selected households were interviewed using a structured questionnaire during the sweet potato harvest season. Associations between OFSP consumption and household factors were assessed using w2 tests. RESULTS: Frequency of OFSP consumption was categorized as 4 days during the last 7 days (30.2%), 1 to 3 days during the last 7 days (49.5%), eats OFSP but not during the last 7 days (7.1%), and never (13.2%). In total, 60.3% of households planted OFSP, and 40.0% bought OFSP, mostly from farmers within the community. Orange-fleshed sweet potato consumption was associated with the presence of children aged less than 5 years in the household (P ¼ .018), production of OFSP (P < .001), purchasing of OFSP (P < .001), and respondent having knowledge on health benefits of OFSP (P ¼ .014). Age and sex of the household head and household size had no association with OFSP consumption (P > .05). CONCLUSION: A high percentage of households consumed OFSP during the harvesting season in Integrating Orange Project areas. Programs promoting OFSP consumption should thus focus on OFSP production and sensitizing households on nutritional benefits of OFSP and target households with children aged less than 5 years as entry point.IS

Factorization Properties of Soft Graviton Amplitudes

We apply recently developed path integral resummation methods to perturbative quantum gravity. In particular, we provide supporting evidence that eikonal graviton amplitudes factorize into hard and soft parts, and confirm a recent hypothesis that soft gravitons are modelled by vacuum expectation values of products of certain Wilson line operators, which differ for massless and massive particles. We also investigate terms which break this factorization, and find that they are subleading with respect to the eikonal amplitude. The results may help in understanding the connections between gravity and gauge theories in more detail, as well as in studying gravitational radiation beyond the eikonal approximation.Comment: 35 pages, 5 figure

Preconditioning of mesenchymal stromal cells with low-intensity ultrasound: influence on chondrogenesis and directed SOX9 signaling pathways

Background: Continuous low-intensity ultrasound (cLIUS) facilitates the chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in the absence of exogenously added transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) by upregulating the expression of transcription factor SOX9, a master regulator of chondrogenesis. The present study evaluated the molecular events associated with the signaling pathways impacting SOX9 gene and protein expression under cLIUS. Methods: Human bone marrow-derived MSCs were exposed to cLIUS stimulation at 14 kPa (5 MHz, 2.5 Vpp) for 5 min. The gene and protein expression of SOX9 was evaluated. The specificity of SOX9 upregulation under cLIUS was determined by treating the MSCs with small molecule inhibitors of select signaling molecules, followed by cLIUS treatment. Signaling events regulating SOX9 expression under cLIUS were analyzed by gene expression, immunofluorescence staining, and western blotting. Results: cLIUS upregulated the gene expression of SOX9 and enhanced the nuclear localization of SOX9 protein when compared to non-cLIUS-stimulated control. cLIUS was noted to enhance the phosphorylation of the signaling molecule ERK1/2. Inhibition of MEK/ERK1/2 by PD98059 resulted in the effective abrogation of cLIUS-induced SOX9 expression, indicating that cLIUS-induced SOX9 upregulation was dependent on the phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Inhibition of integrin and TRPV4, the upstream cell-surface effectors of ERK1/2, did not inhibit the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and therefore did not abrogate cLIUS-induced SOX9 expression, thereby suggesting the involvement of other mechanoreceptors. Consequently, the effect of cLIUS on the actin cytoskeleton, a mechanosensitive receptor regulating SOX9, was evaluated. Diffused and disrupted actin fibers observed in MSCs under cLIUS closely resembled actin disruption by treatment with cytoskeletal drug Y27632, which is known to increase the gene expression of SOX9. The upregulation of SOX9 under cLIUS was, therefore, related to cLIUS-induced actin reorganization. SOX9 upregulation induced by actin reorganization was also found to be dependent on the phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Conclusions: Collectively, preconditioning of MSCs by cLIUS resulted in the nuclear localization of SOX9, phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and disruption of actin filaments, and the expression of SOX9 was dependent on the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 under cLIUS

High resolution synteny maps allowing direct comparisons between the coffee and tomato genomes

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and coffee (Coffea canephora) belong to the sister families Solanaceae and Rubiaceae, respectively. We report herein the mapping of a common set of 257 Conserved Ortholog Set II genes in the genomes of both species. The mapped markers are well distributed across both genomes allowing the first syntenic comparison between species from these two families. The majority (75%) of the synteny blocks are short (<4 cM); however, some extend up to 50 cM. In an effort to further characterize the synteny between these two genomes, we took advantage of the available sequence for the tomato genome to show that tomato chromosome 7 is syntenic to half of the two coffee linkage groups E and F with the putative break point in tomato localized to the boundary of the heterochromatin and euchromatin on the long arm. In addition to the new insight on genome conservation and evolution between the plant families Solanaceae and Rubiaceae, the comparative maps presented herein provide a translational tool by which coffee researchers may take benefit of DNA sequence and genetic information from tomato and vice versa. It is thus expected that these comparative genome information will help to facilitate and expedite genetic and genomic research in coffee