Performance of the 2007 WHO Algorithm to diagnose Smear-negative Pulmonary Tuberculosis in a HIV prevalent setting

The 2007 WHO algorithm for diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) culture was evaluated in a HIV prevalent area of Kenya

STRUCTURE OF CONFINED ALKANE LIQUIDS

Polymer integral equation theory is employed to calculate structural properties of undecane and short polymer liquids confined between Parallel plates. A strong dependence is found on the strength of fluid-surface interactions which is consistent with solvation force measurements using both strongly attractive mica and weakly repulsive hydrocarbon surfaces

Mutation screen and association studies for the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) gene and early onset and adult obesity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The orexigenic effects of cannabinoids are limited by activation of the endocannabinoid degrading enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). The aim of this study was to analyse whether <it>FAAH </it>alleles are associated with early and late onset obesity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We initially assessed association of five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in <it>FAAH </it>with early onset extreme obesity in up to 521 German obese children and both parents. SNPs with nominal p-values ≤ 0.1 were subsequently analysed in 235 independent German obesity families. SNPs associated with childhood obesity (p-values ≤ 0.05) were further analysed in 8,491 adult individuals of a population-based cohort (KORA) for association with adult obesity. One SNP was further analysed in 985 German obese adults and 588 normal and underweight controls. In parallel, we screened the <it>FAAH </it>coding region for novel sequence variants in 92 extremely obese children using single-stranded-conformation-polymorphism-analysis and denaturing HPLC and assessed the implication of the identified new variants for childhood obesity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The trio analysis revealed some evidence for an association of three SNPs in <it>FAAH </it>(rs324420 rs324419 and rs873978) with childhood obesity (two-sided p-values between 0.06 and 0.10). Although analyses of these variants in 235 independent obesity families did not result in statistically significant effects (two-sided p-values between 0.14 and 0.75), the combined analysis of all 603 obesity families supported the idea of an association of two SNPs in <it>FAAH </it>(rs324420 and rs2295632) with early onset extreme obesity (p-values between 0.02 and 0.03). No association was, however, found between these variants and adult obesity. The mutation screen revealed four novel variants, which were not associated with early onset obesity (p > 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>As we observed some evidence for an association of the <it>FAAH </it>variants rs2295632 rs324420 with early onset but not adult obesity, we conclude that the <it>FAAH </it>variants analyzed here at least do not seem to play a major role in the etiology of obesity within our samples.</p