Acute Effects of Kisspeptin Administration on Bone Metabolism in Healthy Men.

Context: Osteoporosis results from disturbances in bone formation and resorption. Recent nonhuman data suggest that the reproductive hormone kisspeptin directly stimulates osteoblast differentiation in vitro and thus could have clinical therapeutic potential. However, the effects of kisspeptin on human bone metabolism are currently unknown.

The effect of tenofovir on vitamin D metabolism in HIV-infected adults is dependent on sex and ethnicity.

Background: Tenofovir has been associated with renal phosphate wasting, reduced bone mineral density, and higher parathyroid hormone levels. The aim of this study was to carry out a detailed comparison of the effects of tenofovir versus non-tenofovir use on calcium, phosphate and, vitamin D, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and bone mineral density.

Methods: A cohort study of 56 HIV-1 infected adults at a single centre in the UK on stable antiretroviral regimes comparing biochemical and bone mineral density parameters between patients receiving either tenofovir or another nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.

Plasma proteome analysis in HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis.

Background: Human T lymphotropic virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) causes a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system known as HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM) which resembles chronic spinal forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The pathogenesis of HAM remains uncertain. To aid in the differential diagnosis of HAM and to identify pathogenetic mechanisms, we analysed the plasma proteome in asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers (ACs), patients with HAM, uninfected controls, and patients with MS.

Single-center experience in systemic stress and short-term morbidity of single-incision cholecystectomy.

Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) aims to reduce the number and size of skin incisions. The authors compared systemic stress and perioperative outcome of SILS and laparoscopic (LAP) cholecystectomy. Twenty-nine subjects (8 males and 21 females; mean age = 47 years; mean body mass index = 27) were included in the study.

MSK1 regulates the transcription of IL-1ra in response to TLR activation in macrophages.

The activity of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL (interleukin)-1 is closely regulated in vivo via a variety of mechanisms, including both the control of IL-1 production and secretion as well as naturally occurring inhibitors of IL-1 function, such as IL-1ra (IL-1 receptor antagonist). IL-1ra is homologous with IL-1, and is able to bind but not activate the IL-1 receptor. IL-1ra can be produced by a variety of cell types, and its production is stimulated by inflammatory signals.

Quantifying visual field shape for improving accuracy of search performance prediction.

The current study calculated a set of 16 shape indices of six subjects (4 men and 2 women, 21-28 years old) for easy and precise quantification of visual lobe shapes using Visual Lobe Measurement System (VILOMS) software. The indices can be used in mathematical models of visual search for better understanding of search behaviour and higher accuracy of search performance prediction. General patterns in the shape indices showed that visual lobes of the subjects were slightly irregular, with low sphericity, a moderately rough boundary, horizontally elongated and slightly asymmetric along both axes.

Visual performance on detection tasks with double-targets of the same and different difficulty.

This paper reports a study of measurement of horizontal visual sensitivity limits for 16 subjects in single-target and double-targets detection tasks. Two phases of tests were conducted in the double-targets task; targets of the same difficulty were tested in phase one while targets of different difficulty were tested in phase two. The range of sensitivity for the double-targets test was found to be smaller than that for single-target in both the same and different target difficulty cases.