Lower prevalence of drug resistance mutations at first-line virological failure to first-line therapy with atripla vs. tenofovirRemtricitabine/lamivudineRefavirenz administered on a multiple tablet therapy

Fixed-dose combination antiretroviral therapy administered as a single-tablet regimen (STR) may improve virologic suppression rates. The effect of STRs on development of resistance when virologic failure occurs on STRs is not known

The Dawning Era of Personalized Medicine Exposes a Gap in Medical Education

Medical student Keyan Salari argues that it is crucial that medical students be trained to use and interpret patients' genetic information appropriately and responsibly

Successful pregnancy outcome after laparoscopic-assisted excision of a bizarre leiomyoma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Bizarre leiomyoma is a rare leiomyoma variant that requires a precise histopathological evaluation. Especially when diagnosed in a younger woman, this tumor leads to challenging treatment issues involving fertility preservation. Owing to the low incidence of bizarre leiomyoma, there is insufficient evidence to support myomectomy alone as an appropriate management option. Also, the impact of bizarre leiomyoma on fertility is not well known.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 30-year-old Japanese woman who had never given birth was referred to us because of a uterine tumor with an unusual diagnostic image and was treated by a gasless laparoscopic-assisted excision with a wound retractor. Owing to an unclear margin between her uterine tumor and myometrium, a concomitant excision of adjacent myometrial tissue was required to achieve the maximum resection of her tumor. The histopathological diagnosis was bizarre leiomyoma. Seven months later, she conceived spontaneously and her pregnancy course was uneventful. At 37 weeks of gestation, an elective cesarean section was performed. Although a slight omental adhesion was noted at the postexcisional scar, her uterine wall structure was well preserved and a recurrence of bizarre leiomyoma was not noted.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A laparoscopic-assisted excision of bizarre leiomyoma is a feasible and minimally invasive conservative measure for a woman who wishes to preserve fertility.</p

Evidence for a heritable predisposition to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) came to attention in the 1980s, but initial investigations did not find organic causes. Now decades later, the etiology of CFS has yet to be understood, and the role of genetic predisposition in CFS remains controversial. Recent reports of CFS association with the retrovirus xenotropic murine leukemic virus-related virus (XMRV) or other murine leukemia related retroviruses (MLV) might also suggest underlying genetic implications within the host immune system.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We present analyses of familial clustering of CFS in a computerized genealogical resource linking multiple generations of genealogy data with medical diagnosis data of a large Utah health care system. We compare pair-wise relatedness among cases to expected relatedness in the Utah population, and we estimate risk for CFS for first, second, and third degree relatives of CFS cases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed significant excess relatedness of CFS cases compared to that expected in this population. Significant excess relatedness was observed for both close (p <0.001) and distant relationships (p = 0.010). We also observed significant excess CFS relative risk among first (2.70, 95% CI: 1.56-4.66), second (2.34, 95% CI: 1.31-4.19), and third degree relatives (1.93, 95% CI: 1.21-3.07).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These analyses provide strong support for a heritable contribution to predisposition to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A population of high-risk CFS pedigrees has been identified, the study of which may provide additional understanding.</p

Escherichia coli induces apoptosis and proliferation of mammary cells

Mammary cell apoptosis and proliferation were assessed after injection of Escherichia coli into the left mammary quarters of six cows. Bacteriological analysis of foremilk samples revealed coliform infection in the injected quarters of four cows. Milk somatic cell counts increased in these quarters and peaked at 24 h after bacterial injection. Body temperature also increased, peaking at 12 h postinjection, The number of apoptotic cells was significantly higher in the mastitic tissue than in the uninfected control. Expression of Bax and interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme increased in the mastitic tissue at 24 h and 72 h postinfection, whereas Bcl-2 expression decreased at 24 h but did not differ significantly from the control at 72 h postinfection, Induction of matrix metalloproteinase-g, stromelysin-1 and urokinase-type plasminogen activator was also observed in the mastitic tissue. Moreover, cell proliferation increased in the infected tissue, These results demonstrate that Escherichia coli-induced mastitis promotes apoptosis and cell proliferation

Expression and DNA methylation of TNF, IFNG and FOXP3 in colorectal cancer and their prognostic significance.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) progression is associated with suppression of host cell-mediated immunity and local immune escape mechanisms. Our aim was to assess the immune function in terms of expression of TNF, IFNG and FOXP3 in CRC. METHODS: Sixty patients with CRC and 15 matched controls were recruited. TaqMan quantitative PCR and methylation-specific PCR was performed for expression and DNA methylation analysis of TNF, IFNG and FOXP3. Survival analysis was performed over a median follow-up of 48 months. RESULTS: TNF was suppressed in tumour and IFNG was suppressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with CRC. Tumours showed enhanced expression of FOXP3 and was significantly higher when tumour size was >38 mm (median tumour size; P=0.006, Mann-Whitney U-test). Peripheral blood mononuclear cell IFNG was suppressed in recurrent CRC (P=0.01). Methylated TNFpromoter (P=0.003) and TNFexon1 (P=0.001) were associated with significant suppression of TNF in tumours. Methylated FOXP3cpg was associated with significant suppression of FOXP3 in both PBMC (P=0.018) and tumours (P=0.010). Reduced PBMC FOXP3 expression was associated with significantly worse overall survival (HR=8.319, P=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: We have detected changes in the expression of immunomodulatory genes that could act as biomarkers for prognosis and future immunotherapeutic strategies

Comparison of contact patterns relevant for transmission of respiratory pathogens in Thailand and the Netherlands using respondent-driven sampling

Understanding infection dynamics of respiratory diseases requires the identification and quantification of behavioural, social and environmental factors that permit the transmission of these infections between humans. Little empirical information is available about contact patterns within real-world social networks, let alone on differences in these contact networks between populations that differ considerably on a socio-cultural level. Here we compared contact network data that were collected in the Netherlands and Thailand using a similar online respondent-driven method. By asking participants to recruit contact persons we studied network links relevant for the transmission of respiratory infections. We studied correlations between recruiter and recruited contacts to investigate mixing patterns in the observed social network components. In both countries, mixing patterns were assortative by demographic variables and random by total numbers of contacts. However, in Thailand participants reported overall more contacts which resulted in higher effective contact rates. Our findings provide new insights on numbers of contacts and mixing patterns in two different populations. These data could be used to improve parameterisation of mathematical models used to design control strategies. Although the spread of infections through populations depends on more factors, found similarities suggest that spread may be similar in the Netherlands and Thailand

Optogenetics and deep brain stimulation neurotechnologies

Brain neural network is composed of densely packed, intricately wired neurons whose activity patterns ultimately give rise to every behavior, thought, or emotion that we experience. Over the past decade, a novel neurotechnique, optogenetics that combines light and genetic methods to control or monitor neural activity patterns, has proven to be revolutionary in understanding the functional role of specific neural circuits. We here briefly describe recent advance in optogenetics and compare optogenetics with deep brain stimulation technology that holds the promise for treating many neurological and psychiatric disorders

Spin polarization versus lifetime effects at point contacts between superconducting niobium and normal metals

Point-contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy is used to measure the spin polarization of metals but analysis of the spectra has encountered a number of serious challenges, one of which is the difficulty to distinguish the effects of spin polarization from those of the finite lifetime of Cooper pairs. We have recently confirmed the polarization-lifetime ambiguity for Nb-Co and Nb-Cu contacts and suggested to use Fermi surface mismatch, the normal reflection due to the difference of Fermi wave vectors of the two electrodes, to solve this dilemma. Here we present further experiments on contacts between superconducting Nb and the ferromagnets Fe and Ni as well as the noble metals Ag and Pt that support our previous results. Our data indicate that the Nb - normal metal interfaces have a transparency of up to about 80 per cent and a small, if not negligible, spin polarization.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Proceedings of the 26th Conference on Low Temperature Physic