Proteomic analysis of urine in medication-overuse headache patients: possible relation with renal damages

Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is a chronic disorder associated with overuse of analgesic drugs, triptans, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or other acute headache compounds. Various epidemiologic investigations proved that different drug types could cause nephrotoxicity, particularly in chronic patients. The aim of the present work was to analyze, by a proteomic approach, the urinary protein profiles of MOH patients focusing on daily use of NSAIDs, mixtures and triptans that could reasonably be related to potential renal damage. We selected 43 MOH patients overusing triptans (n = 18), NSAIDs (n = 11), and mixtures (n = 14), for 2–30 years with a mean daily analgesic intake of 1.5 ± 0.9 doses, and a control group composed of 16 healthy volunteers. Urine proteins were analyzed by mono-dimensional gel electrophoresis and identified by mass spectrometry analysis. Comparing the proteomic profiles of patients and controls, we found a significantly different protein expression, especially in the NSAIDs group, in which seven proteins resulted over-secreted from kidney (OR = 49, 95% CI 2.53–948.67 vs. controls; OR = 11.6, 95% CI 0.92–147.57 vs. triptans and mixtures groups). Six of these proteins (uromodulin, α-1-microglobulin, zinc-α-2-glycoprotein, cystatin C, Ig-kappa-chain, and inter-α-trypsin heavy chain H4) were strongly correlated with various forms of kidney disorders. Otherwise, in mixtures and in triptans abusers, only three proteins were potentially associated to pathological conditions (OR = 4.2, 95% CI 0.33–53.12, vs. controls). In conclusion, this preliminary proteomic study allowed us to define the urinary protein pattern of MOH patients that is related to the abused drug. According with the obtained results, we believe that the risk of nephrotoxicity should be considered particularly in MOH patients who abuse of NSAIDs

The national portfolio for postgraduate family medicine training in South Africa : a descriptive study of acceptability, educational impact, and usefulness for assessment

Background: Since 2007 a portfolio of learning has become a requirement for assessment of postgraduate family medicine training by the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. A uniform portfolio of learning has been developed and content validity established among the eight postgraduate programmes. The aim of this study was to investigate the portfolio's acceptability, educational impact, and perceived usefulness for assessment of competence. Methods: Two structured questionnaires of 35 closed and open-ended questions were delivered to 53 family physician supervisors and 48 registrars who had used the portfolio. Categorical and nominal/ordinal data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics. The open-ended questions were analysed with ATLAS.ti software. Results: Half of registrars did not find the portfolio clear, practical or feasible. Workshops on portfolio use, learning, and supervision were supported, and brief dedicated time daily for reflection and writing. Most supervisors felt the portfolio reflected an accurate picture of learning, but just over half of registrars agreed. While the portfolio helped with reflection on learning, participants were less convinced about how it helped them plan further learning. Supervisors graded most rotations, suggesting understanding the summative aspect, while only 61% of registrars reflected on rotations, suggesting the formative aspects are not yet optimally utilised. Poor feedback, the need for protected academic time, and pressure of service delivery impacting negatively on learning. Conclusion: This first introduction of a national portfolio for postgraduate training in family medicine in South Africa faces challenges similar to those in other countries. Acceptability of the portfolio relates to a clear purpose and guide, flexible format with tools available in the workplace, and appreciating the changing educational environment from university-based to national assessments. The role of the supervisor in direct observations of the registrar and dedicated educational meetings, giving feedback and support, cannot be overemphasized

Third-Party Effects

Most theories about effects of social embeddedness on trust define mechanisms that assume someone’s decision to trust is based on the reputation of the person to be trusted or on other available information. However, there is little empirical evidence about how subjects use the information that is available to them. In this chapter, we derive hypotheses about the effects of reputation and other information on trust from a range of theories and we devise an experiment that allows for testing these hypotheses simultaneously. We focus on the following mechanisms: learning, imitation, social comparison, and control. The results show that actors learn particularly from their own past experiences. Considering third-party information, imitation seems to be especially important

Structural change, land use and the state in China

Rapid economic growth involves significant changes in land use patterns. The paper uses the recent history of Chinese economic growth to highlight and interrogate the implication of such changes within the context of structural transformation. It argues that though land use change is an important underlying dimension of the massive structural transformation accompanying China’s explosive economic growth, the dominant theoreti

Regional food trade and policy in West Africa in relation to structural adjustment

Drell-Yan lepton pairs are produced in the process $p\bar{p} \rightarrow e^+e^- + X$ through an intermediate $\gamma^*/Z$ boson. The lepton angular distributions are used to provide information on the electroweak-mixing parameter $sin^2\theta_W$ via its observable effective-leptonic $sin^2\theta_W$, or $sin^2\theta^{lept}_{eff}$. A new method to infer $sin^2\theta_W$, or equivalently, the W-boson mass M_W, is developed and tested using a previous CDF Run II measurement of angular distributions from electron pairs in a sample corresponding to 2.1 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from $p\bar{p}$ collisions at a center-of-momentum energy of 1.96 TeV. The value of $sin^2\theta^{lept}_{eff}$ is found to be 0.2328 +- 0.0011. Within a specified context of the standard model, this results in $sin^2\theta_W$ = 0.2246 +- 0.0011 which corresponds to a W-boson mass of 80.297 +- 0.055 GeV/c^2, in agreement with previous determinations in electron-position collisions and at the Tevatron collider

Measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry of top-quark and antiquark pairs using the full CDF Run II data set

Citation: Aaltonen, T., Amerio, S., Amidei, D., Anastassov, A., Annovi, A., Antos, J., . . . Zucchelli, S. (2016). Measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry of top-quark and antiquark pairs using the full CDF Run II data set. Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology, 93(11). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.93.112005We measure the forward-backward asymmetry of the production of top-quark and antiquark pairs in proton-antiproton collisions at center-of-mass energy s=1.96 TeV using the full data set collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in Tevatron Run II corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.1 fb-1. The asymmetry is characterized by the rapidity difference between top quarks and antiquarks (?y) and measured in the final state with two charged leptons (electrons and muons). The inclusive asymmetry, corrected to the entire phase space at parton level, is measured to be AFBtt=0.12±0.13, consistent with the expectations from the standard model (SM) and previous CDF results in the final state with a single charged lepton. The combination of the CDF measurements of the inclusive AFBtt in both final states yields AFBtt=0.160±0.045, which is consistent with the SM predictions. We also measure the differential asymmetry as a function of ?y. A linear fit to AFBtt(|?y|), assuming zero asymmetry at ?y=0, yields a slope of ?=0.14±0.15, consistent with the SM prediction and the previous CDF determination in the final state with a single charged lepton. The combined slope of AFBtt(|?y|) in the two final states is ?=0.227±0.057, which is 2.0? larger than the SM prediction. © 2016 American Physical Society

Molecular dynamics simulation of aqueous solutions of 26-unit segments of p(NIPAAm) and of p(NIPAAm) "doped" with amino acid based comonomers

We have performed 75-ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of aqueous solutions of a 26-unit NIPAAm oligomer at two temperatures, 302 and 315 K, below and above the experimentally determined lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of p(NIPAAm). We have been able to show that at 315 K the oligomer assumes a compact form, while it keeps a more extended form at 302 K. A similar behavior has been demonstrated for a similar NIPAAm oligomer, where two units had been substituted by methacryloyl-l-valine (MAVA) comonomers, one of them being charged and one neutral. For another analogous oligomer, where the same units had been substituted by methacryloyl-l-leucine (MALEU) comonomers, no transition from the extended to the more compact conformation has been found within the same simulation time. Statistical analysis of the trajectories indicates that this transition is related to the dynamics of the oligomer backbone, and to the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds and water-bridges between distant units of the solute. In the MAVA case, we have also evidenced an important role of the neutral MAVA comonomer in stabilizing the compact coiled structure. In the MALEU case, the corresponding comonomer is not equally efficacious and, possibly, is even hindering the readjustment of the oligomer backbone. Finally the self-diffusion coefficient of water molecules surrounding the oligomers at the two temperatures for selected relevant times is observed to characteristically depend on the distance from the solute molecules

Search for a low-mass neutral Higgs boson with suppressed couplings to fermions using events with multiphoton final states

Citation: Aaltonen, T., Amerio, S., Amidei, D., Anastassov, A., Annovi, A., Antos, J., . . . Zucchelli, S. (2016). Search for a low-mass neutral Higgs boson with suppressed couplings to fermions using events with multiphoton final states. Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology, 93(11). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.93.112010A search for a Higgs boson with suppressed couplings to fermions, hf, assumed to be the neutral, lower-mass partner of the Higgs boson discovered at the Large Hadron Collider, is reported. Such a Higgs boson could exist in extensions of the standard model with two Higgs doublets, and could be produced via pp?H±hf?W?hfhf?4?+X, where H± is a charged Higgs boson. This analysis uses all events with at least three photons in the final state from proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.2 fb-1. No evidence of a signal is observed in the data. Values of Higgs-boson masses between 10 and 100 GeV/c2 are excluded at 95% Bayesian credibility. © 2016 American Physical Society

Measurement of sin2?lepteff using e+e? pairs from ??/Z bosons produced in p¯p collisions at a center-of-momentum energy of 1.96 TeV

Citation: Aaltonen, T., Amerio, S., Amidei, D., Anastassov, A., Annovi, A., Antos, J., . . . Zucchelli, S. (2016). Measurement of sin2 ?eff lept using e+e- pairs from ??/Z bosons produced in pp collisions at a center-of-momentum energy of 1.96 TeV. Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology, 93(11). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.93.112016At the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton (pp) collider, Drell-Yan lepton pairs are produced in the process pp?e+e-+X through an intermediate ??/Z boson. The forward-backward asymmetry in the polar-angle distribution of the e- as a function of the e+e - pair mass is used to obtain sin2?efflept, the effective leptonic determination of the electroweak-mixing parameter sin2?W. The measurement sample, recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), corresponds to 9.4 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from pp collisions at a center-of-momentum energy of 1.96 TeV, and is the full CDF Run II data set. The value of sin2?efflept is found to be 0.23248±0.00053. The combination with the previous CDF measurement based on ?+?- pairs yields sin2?efflept=0.23221±0.00046. This result, when interpreted within the specified context of the standard model assuming sin2?W=1-MW2/MZ2 and that the W- and Z-boson masses are on-shell, yields sin2?W=0.22400±0.00045, or equivalently a W-boson mass of 80.328±0.024 GeV/c2. © 2016 American Physical Society