A modified Delphi process to establish research priorities in hernia surgery

Funding British Hernia Society.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Glutamate receptors and nitric oxide production in the cerebellum and hippocampus of the rat

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX177494 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The potassium channel KcsA and its interaction with the lipid bilayer

The crystal structure of the K+ channel KcsA explains many features of ion channel function. The selectivity filter corresponds to a narrow region about 12 Å long and 3 Å wide, lined by carbonyl groups of the peptide backbone, through which a K+ ion can only move in a dehydrated form. The selectivity filter opens into a central, water-filled cavity leading to a gating site on the intracellular side of the channel. The channel is tetrameric, each monomer containing two transmembrane a helices, M1 and M2. Helix M1 faces the lipid bilayer and helix M2 faces the central channel pore; the M2 helices participate in subunit-subunit interactions. Helices M1 and M2 in each subunit pack as a pair of antiparallel coils with a heptad repeat, but the M2 helices of neighbouring subunits show fewer interactions, crossing at an angle of about –40°. Trp residues at the ends of the transmembrane helices form clear girdles on the two faces of the membrane, which, together with girdles of charged residues, define a hydrophobic thickness of about 37 Å for the channel. Binding constants for phosphatidylcholines to KcsA vary with fatty acyl chain length, the optimum chain length being C22. A phosphatidylcholine with this chain length gives a bilayer of thickness about 34 Å in the liquid crystalline phase, matching the hydrophobic thickness of the protein. However, a typical biological membrane has a hydrophobic thickness of about 27 Å. Thus either the transmembrane a helices of KcsA are more tilted in the native membrane than they are in the crystal structure, or the channel is under stress in the native membrane. The efficiency of hydrophobic matching between KcsA and the surrounding lipid bilayer is high over the chain length range C10–C24. The channel requires the presence of some anionic lipids for function, and fluorescence quenching studies show the presence of two classes of lipid binding site on KcsA; at one class of site (nonannular sites) anionic phospholipids bind more strongly than phosphatidylcholine, whereas at the other class of site (annular sites) phosphatidylcholines and anionic phospholipids bind with equal affinity

DASH Diet Education for Improvement in Hypertensive Outcomes

Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease (AHA, 2015). Although hypertension is a modifiable risk factor, 54% of an estimated one million adults with hypertension have poorly controlled hypertension (CDC, 2017). Lifestyle modification, such as the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, have demonstrated reduced blood pressure (National Heart Lung Blood Institute, 2015). This project introduced the DASH diet plan to pre-hypertensive and hypertensive employees of a corporation that utilizes an onsite workplace clinic. The structured education was scheduled for 8-weeks of bi-weekly sessions. This project aimed to determine if a structured DASH education program along with DASH reference pamphlets would improve knowledge and awareness, change eating habits, and subsequentially show a reduction in diastolic and systolic blood pressure. The results indicated that nine of the 27 participants had a reduction in diastolic and systolic blood pressure. Ninety-six percent responded that they understood the relationship between DASH nutrition and blood pressure. The post-education food frequency questionnaire showed 33% (11) responded had increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and grains by two or more servings. The findings indicated that a structured DASH intervention could be successful in changing attitudes and knowledge about nutrition, and showed a positive impact on the reduction of blood pressure