High prevalence of edin-C encoding RhoA-targeting toxin in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus, a major causative agent of human infection, produces a large array of virulence factors, including various toxins. Among them, the host RhoA GTPase ADP-ribosylating EDIN toxins are considered as potential virulence factors. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, we analyzed the virulence profile of 256 S.

Factor structure of pain medication questionnaire in community-dwelling older adults with chronic pain.

Objectives: This study was to develop a version of the Pain Medication Questionnaire (PMQ) specific to the elderly chronic pain population and to identify relevant subscales and items for that population. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to assess the factor structure of the PMQ, to eliminate items that are not appropriate for this population, and to improve ease of administration in the elderly population.

Methods: Data were obtained through a survey administered to older adults with chronic pain who consumed opioid medications in a cross-sectional study at outpatient clinics affiliated with the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Maryland Medical System.

Contribution of 3-D time-lapse ERT to the study of leachate recirculation in a landfill.

Leachate recirculation is a key process in the operation of municipal waste landfills as bioreactors. It aims at increasing the moisture content to optimise the biodegradation. Because waste is a very heterogeneous and anisotropic porous media, the geometry of the leachate plume recirculation is difficult to delineate from the surface at the scale of the bioreactor site.

Dyspnea in lung cancer patients: a systematic review.

Dyspnea is a common and distressing symptom experienced by 19%-51% of patients with advanced cancer. Higher incidences are reported in patients approaching end of life. While the prevalence of dyspnea has been reported to be as frequent as pain in people with lung cancer, less attention has been paid to the distress associated with dyspnea.

Perceived exertion and heart rate models for estimating metabolic workload in elite British soldiers performing a backpack load-carriage task.

Identifying field measures to estimate backpack load-carriage work intensity in elite soldiers is of interest to the military. This study developed rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate models to define metabolic workload for a backpack load-carriage task valid for a population of elite soldiers using serial data. Male soldiers (n = 18) from the British Parachute or Special Air Service Regiment completed an incremental treadmill walking and (or) running protocol while carrying a 20-kg backpack.

Using temperature to optimize resolution and reduce analysis times for bioanalytical diastereomer LC-MS/MS separations.

A rugged and reproducible liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric bioanalytical method was developed for the quantitation of drug stereoisomers in human plasma. Column temperature was shown to be an important variable toward optimizing diastereomer selectivity, resolution and analysis cycle time. Non-linear Van't Hoff plots and changes in peak shape with temperature suggested that selectivity was governed by multiple retention mechanisms.

Dioxin analysis by gas chromatography-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (GC-FTICRMS).

The feasibility of utilizing a gas chromatograph-tandem quadrupole-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (GC-MS/MS-FTICRMS) to analyze chlorinated-dioxins/furans (CDDs/CDFs) and mixed halogenated dioxins/furans (HDDs/HDFs) was investigated by operating the system in the GC-FTICRMS mode. CDDs/CDFs and mixed HDDs/HDFs could be analyzed at 50,000 to 100,000 resolving power (RP) on the capillary gas chromatographic time scale. Initial experiments demonstrated that 1 pg of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and 5 pg of 2-bromo-3,7,8-trichlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (BTrCDD) could be detected.

[The concept of characterized malpractice in wrongful birth].

Objectives: The law of March2002 was introducing a new concept of liability in the field of prenatal diagnosis, survey and investigations. For wrongful birth, medical physicians are responsible for newborn infants with congenital or hereditary disorder only in a case of characterized malpractices.

Materials And Methods: We performed a study about decisions that awarded or refused monetary damages specifically to the parents in the light of this new law.

Respiratory, circulatory, and neurological responses to hanging: a review of animal models.

The pathophysiology of hanging is still poorly understood. This article presents a review of eight animal models: four models of isolated occlusion of the vessels of the neck (group 1), one model of combined tracheal and vessel occlusion (group 2), and three models of true animal hanging (group 3). Occlusion of the airway passages in group 2 did not accelerate respiratory arrest compared to group 1.

The Staphylococcus aureus epidermal cell differentiation inhibitor toxin promotes formation of infection foci in a mouse model of bacteremia.

Inactivation of the host GTPase RhoA by staphylococcal epidermal cell differentiation inhibitor (EDIN) exotoxins triggers the formation of large transcellular tunnels, named macroapertures, in endothelial cells. We used bioluminescent strains of Staphylococcus aureus to monitor the formation of infection foci during the first 24 h of hematogenous bacterial dissemination. Clinically derived EDIN-expressing S.

Mechanism of death in hanging: a historical review of the evolution of pathophysiological hypotheses.

In cases of hanging, the exact mechanism leading to death has yet to be elucidated. Most of our contemporary knowledge is still based on writings from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. This article reviews the historic experiments that shaped our current theories.

Dealing with disjunct concentration measurements in eddy covariance applications: a comparison of available approaches.

Using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry equipped with a quadrupol mass analyser to quantify the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of volatile organic compounds (VOC), concentrations of different VOC are measured sequentially. Depending on how many VOC species are targeted and their respective integration times, each VOC is measured at repeat rates on the order of a few seconds. This represents an order of magnitude longer sample interval compared to the standard eddy covariance (EC) method (5-20 Hz sampling rates).

Improvement of electrical resistivity tomography for leachate injection monitoring.

Leachate recirculation is a key process in the scope of operating municipal waste landfills as bioreactors, which aims to increase the moisture content to optimize the biodegradation in landfills. Given that liquid flows exhibit a complex behaviour in very heterogeneous porous media, in situ monitoring methods are required. Surface time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is usually proposed.

The phenotype and potential origin of nestin+ cardiac myocyte-like cells following infarction.

Nestin+ cardiac myocyte-like cells were detected in the peri-infarct/infarct region of the ischemically damaged heart. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the phenotype and potential origin of nestin+ cardiac myocyte-like cells and identify stimuli implicated in their appearance. In the infarcted human and rat heart, nestin+ cardiac myocyte-like cells were morphologically and structurally immature, exhibited a desmin-immunoreactive striated phenotype, expressed the beta(1)-adrenergic receptor, and associated with an aberrant pattern of connexin-43 expression and/or organization.

Infarct size is increased in female post-MI rats treated with rapamycin.

Rapamycin represents a recognized drug-based therapeutic approach to treat cardiovascular disease. However, at least in the female heart, rapamycin may suppress the recruitment of putative signalling events conferring cardioprotection. The present study tested the hypothesis that rapamycin-sensitive signalling events contributed to the cardioprotective phenotype of the female rat heart after an ischemic insult.

A high-throughput LC-MS/MS method for the quantitation of posaconazole in human plasma: Implementing fused core silica liquid chromatography.

A rapid and robust liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for the determination of posaconazole concentrations in human plasma was validated. Posaconazole was extracted from human plasma using mixed-mode cation exchange solid phase extraction in a 96-well plate format followed by gradient separation on a fused-core Halo C18 column. The analyte and its corresponding internal standard were detected using a Sciex API 4000 triple quadrupole LC-MS/MS system equipped with a TurboIonSpray ionization source operated in the positive ion mode.