People living in homeless hostels: a survey of health and care needs.

People experiencing homelessness have extremely poor health outcomes and frequently die young. Many single homeless people live in hostels, the remit of which is to provide support to facilitate recovery out of homelessness. They are not usually designed to support people with high health or care needs.

A Framework of Single-Session Problem-Solving in Elite Sport: A Longitudinal, Multi-Study Investigation.

In this 6-year, multi-study paper we summarize a new and effective framework of single-session problem-solving developed in an elite sport context at a world leading national institute of sport science and medicine (English Institute of Sport: EIS). In Study 1, we used ethnography (3.5 years) to observe how single-session problem-solving methods were being considered, explored, introduced and developed within the EIS.

Need for specific sugar-sweetened beverage lessons for fourth- and fifth-graders.

Objective: Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) is linked to obesity. The authors hypothesized that school-based nutrition education would decrease SSB consumption.

Design: Self-selected interventional cohort with random selection for pre and post measurements.

The role of confidence in world-class sport performance.

In this study, we examined the role of confidence in relation to the cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses it elicits, and identified the factors responsible for debilitating confidence within the organizational subculture of world-class sport. Using Vealey's (2001) integrative model of sport confidence as a broad conceptual base, 14 athletes (7 males, 7 females) were interviewed in response to the research aims. Analysis indicated that high sport confidence facilitated performance through its positive effect on athletes' thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

Bovine mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB.

Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB, an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder of heparan sulfate caused by mutations in the alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAGLU) gene, was recently discovered in cattle. Clinical signs include progressive ataxia, stumbling gait, swaying and difficulty in balance and walking. These clinical signs are usually first observed at approximately 2 years of age and then develop progressively over the lifespan of the animals.

alpha-L-iduronidase premature stop codons and potential read-through in mucopolysaccharidosis type I patients.

alpha-L-Iduronidase is a glycosyl hydrolase involved in the sequential degradation of the glycosaminoglycans heparan sulphate and dermatan sulphate. A deficiency in alpha-L-iduronidase results in the lysosomal accumulation and urinary secretion of partially degraded glycosaminoglycans and is the cause of the lysosomal storage disorder mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I; Hurler and Scheie syndromes; McKusick 25280). The premature stop codons Q70X and W402X are two of the most common alpha-l-iduronidase gene (IDUA) mutations accounting for up to 70% of MPS I disease alleles in some populations.

Interventions led by nurse continence advisers in the management of urinary incontinence: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The short-term efficacy of combined lifestyle and behavioural interventions led by nurses in the management of urinary incontinence has not been rigorously evaluated by randomized controlled trial. We conducted a 6-month randomized controlled trial to determine whether a model of service delivery that included lifestyle and behavioural interventions led by "nurse continence advisers" in collaboration with a physician with expertise in continence management could reduce urinary incontinence and pad use in an outpatient population. We also aimed to evaluate the impact of this approach on subjects' knowledge about incontinence and their quality of life.

The effect of obesity on the ratio of type 3 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mRNA to cytochrome P450 aromatase mRNA in subcutaneous abdominal and intra-abdominal adipose tissue of women.

Objectives: To investigate (1) whether type 3 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17beta-HSD), the enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of androstenedione to testosterone in the testis, is co-expressed with P450aromatase in the preadipocytes of women, and (2) whether the relative expression of type 3 17beta-HSD and aromatase varies in subcutaneous abdominal vs intra-abdominal adipose tissue of women.

Subjects: Subcutaneous abdominal and intra-abdominal adipose tissue was obtained from women undergoing elective abdominal surgery (age 22-78 y, body mass index (BMI) 22.4-52.

Towards an understanding of the personal experience of the 'yips' in cricketers.

The 'yips' is a phenomenon that affects individuals who perform finely controlled motor skills. The result is involuntary movements that occur throughout the execution of a skill. A qualitative study was conducted to identify the psychological characteristics of the 'yips' experience in cricket bowlers.

Expression of Drosophila trpl cRNA in Xenopus laevis oocytes leads to the appearance of a Ca2+ channel activated by Ca2+ and calmodulin, and by guanosine 5'[gamma-thio]triphosphate.

The effects of expression of the Drosophila melanogaster Trpl protein, which is thought to encode a putative Ca2+ channel [Phillips, Bull and Kelly (1992) Neuron 8, 631-642], on divalent cation inflow in Xenopus laevis oocytes were investigated. The addition of extracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]0) to oocytes injected with trpl cRNA and to mock-injected controls, both loaded with the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator fluo-3, induced a rapid initial and a slower sustained rate of increase in fluorescence, which were designated the initial and sustained rates of Ca2+ inflow respectively. Compared with mock-injected oocytes, trpl-cRNA-injected oocytes exhibited a higher resting cytoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), and higher initial and sustained rates of Ca2+ inflow in the basal (no agonist) states.

Injection of rat hepatocyte poly(A)+ RNA to Xenopus laevis oocytes leads to expression of a constitutively-active divalent cation channel distinguishable from endogenous receptor-activated channels.

The expression of hepatocyte plasma membrane receptor-activated divalent cation channels in immature (stages V and VI) Xenopus laevis oocytes and the properties which allow these channels to be distinguished from endogenous receptor-activated divalent cation channels were investigated. Divalent cation inflow to oocytes housed in a multiwell plate was measured using the fluorescent dyes Fluo-3 and Fura-2. In control oocytes, ionomycin, cholera toxin, thapsigargin, 3-fluoro-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3F) and guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate (GTP gamma S) stimulated Ca2+ and Mn2+ inflow following addition of these ions to the oocytes.

Falciparum malaria in a displaced Haitian population.

Falciparum malaria was a major problem among displaced Haitians in temporary camps at the US Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. From December 1991 to March 1992, 235 cases of unmixed falciparum malaria were diagnosed in the laboratory, giving a cumulative attack rate of 160 per 10 000 camp residents. All cases were successfully treated with oral chloroquine.

Improvement of the merthiolate-iodine-formalin (MIF) fecal technique for hookworm, Trichuris trichiura, and Ascaris lumbricoides eggs.

The merthiolate-iodine-formalin (MIF) technique to detect human intestinal parasites in feces was inefficient for the detection of hookworm and Trichuris trichiura eggs. Addition of a saturated-brine flotation step increased recovery of hookworm eggs by 77% and Trichuris trichiura eggs by 87%. Recovery of Ascaris lumbricoides also was increased by 71%.

X-linked pyridoxine-responsive sideroblastic anemia due to a Thr388-to-Ser substitution in erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase.

Background: X-linked sideroblastic anemia is usually associated with reduced 5-aminolevulinate synthase activity in erythroid cells, and some cases are responsive to treatment with pyridoxine, the precursor to the cofactor of the enzyme. The recently identified gene for an erythroid-specific 5-aminolevulinate synthase isoenzyme and its localization to the X chromosome make it likely that one or more defects in this gene underlie the anemia.

Methods: Using a polymorphic dinucleotide-repeat sequence in the erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase gene, we confirmed the linkage of this gene to the disorder in a family with X-linked pyridoxine-responsive sideroblastic anemia.

Human erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase. Gene structure and species-specific differences in alternative RNA splicing.

Erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS) is expressed exclusively in differentiating erythroid cells as the principal isoform of the enzyme to catalyze the first step of the heme biosynthetic pathway. The human gene encoding this isozyme was isolated from a cosmid library, and its structure was characterized with restriction mapping followed by sequencing of fragments. The gene is 22 kilobases long and has 11 exons.

Human erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase: promoter analysis and identification of an iron-responsive element in the mRNA.

5-Aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS) catalyzes the first step of the heme biosynthetic pathway. cDNA clones for the human erythroid ALAS isozyme were isolated from a fetal liver library. It can be deduced that the erythroid ALAS precursor protein has a molecular weight of 64.

X-linked sideroblastic anemia and ataxia: linkage to phosphoglycerate kinase at Xq13.

Molecular linkage analysis was performed on a kindred with X-linked sideroblastic anemia and ataxia. Two-point analysis with a DNA probe for phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK1), which maps to Xq13, suggested linkage to the disorder by a lod score of at least 2.60 at a recombination fraction of zero.

Enhancing the coping skills of mothers with developmentally delayed children.

Recent studies have shown that mothers of developmentally delayed children are at risk for depression. During weekly psychoeducational group meetings, Roy's adaptation model was used to identify the focal, contextual, and residual stimuli that contributed to the mothers' depression. Nursing interventions that encouraged adaptation in the four modes were implemented by group facilitators providing parent education and emotional support.

Hemin administration to rats reduces levels of hepatic mRNAs for phenobarbitone-inducible enzymes.

The levels of hepatic mRNAs for several enzymes involved in drug metabolism were measured following administration to rats of either phenobarbitone or 2-allyl-2-isopropylacetamide. There was a substantial elevation in the mRNA levels for cytochromes P450 IIB1, IIB2, and IIIA1, epoxide hydrolase, glutathione-S-transferase Ya/Yc subunit, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase isoenzyme (UDPGTr-2), NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, and 5-aminolevulinate synthase. When rats were treated with hemin, together with inducing drug, there was a marked reduction in the induced levels of these mRNAs, with decreases in the range of 55-95%.

Molecular regulation of 5-aminolevulinate synthase. Diseases related to heme biosynthesis.

All nucleated animal cells synthesize heme to provide the prosthetic group of respiratory cytochromes. Large amounts of heme are synthesized by erythroid cells for hemoglobin production and by liver cells for drug-induced cytochromes P450. This review focuses on the first enzyme of the heme biosynthetic pathway, 5-aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS), which catalyzes the rate-controlling step in liver and possibly other tissues.

Erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase is located on the X chromosome.

The gene for erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase has been mapped to Xpter-Xq26 by Southern blot hybridization analysis of a mouse/human hybrid cell panel. In situ hybridization maps the gene to Xp21-Xq21, with the most likely location being on band Xp11.2.