Modulators of the human CCR5 receptor. Part 2: SAR of substituted 1-(3,3-diphenylpropyl)-piperidinyl phenylacetamides.

SAR and DMPK studies led to the identification of substituted N-alkyl-N-[1-(3,3-diphenylpropyl)piperidin-4-yl]-2-phenylacetamides as potent and orally bioavailable ligands for the human CCR5 chemokine receptor.

Explicit rationing of elective services: implementing the New Zealand reforms.

In an attempt to make rationing of elective surgery in the publicly funded health system more explicit, New Zealand has developed a booking system for surgery using clinical priority assessment criteria (CPAC). This paper is based on research undertaken to evaluate the use of CPAC. To explore whether the goals of explicit rationing were being met 69 interviews were undertaken with policy advisors, administrators and clinicians in six localities throughout New Zealand.

Stereocontrolled assembly of tetrasubstituted tetrahydrofurans: a concise synthesis of virgatusin.

The condensation of substituted allylsiloxanes with aldehydes leads to the highly stereoselective construction of 2,3,4,5-tetrasubstituted tetrahydrofurans. With electron-rich aryl and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes as substrates, the stereochemical outcome at C5 can be dictated by appropriate choice of Lewis acid. The reaction has been applied to a concise (nine step) synthesis of (+)-virgatusin (ent-1).

Assessing the capacity of the health services research community in Australia and New Zealand.

BACKGROUND: In order to profile the health services research community in Australia and New Zealand and describe its capacity, a web-based survey was administered to members of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand (HSRAANZ) and delegates of the HSRAANZ's Third Health Services Research and Policy Conference. RESULTS: Responses were received from 191 individuals (68%). The responses of the 165 (86%) who conducted or managed health services research indicated that the health services research community in Australia and New Zealand is characterised by highly qualified professionals who have come to health services research via a range of academic and professional routes (including clinical backgrounds), the majority of whom are women aged between 35 and 54 who have mid- to senior- level appointments.

Isolation of naturally occurring aluminium ligands using immobilized metal affinity chromatography for analysis by ESI-MS.

Aluminium (iii) is one of the most abundant metal ions found in soil. Typically, Al(+3) is bound to minerals, but its bioavailability and toxicity toward vascular plants increases with increasing soil acidity. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, which live symbiotically on the roots of numerous woody plants, often confer Al(+3) resistance to host plants by reducing metal availability to the plant by unknown mechanisms.

Modulators of the human CCR5 receptor. Part 1: Discovery and initial SAR of 1-(3,3-diphenylpropyl)-piperidinyl amides and ureas.

Investigation of weak screening hits led to the identification of N-alkyl-N-[1-(3,3-diphenylpropyl)piperidin-4-yl]-2-phenylacetamides and N-alkyl-N-[1-(3,3-diphenylpropyl)piperidin-4-yl]-N'-benzylureas as potent, selective ligands for the human CCR5 chemokine receptor.

Clinicians' reported use of clinical priority assessment criteria and their attitudes to prioritization for elective surgery: a cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: To explore the attitudes of clinicians working in New Zealand publicly funded hospitals towards prioritizing patients for elective surgery, and their reported use of clinical priority assessment criteria (CPAC).

Design: A cross-sectional study using a postal questionnaire. The questionnaire drew on themes identified from an earlier qualitative study.

Equity of access to elective surgery: reflections from NZ clinicians.

Objectives: To explore factors potentially influencing equitable access to elective surgery in New Zealand by describing clinicians' perceptions of equity and the factors they consider when prioritising patients for elective surgery.

Methods: A qualitative study in selected New Zealand localities. A purposive sample of 49 general practitioners, specialists and registrars were interviewed.

Indigenous participation in the 'new' New Zealand health structure.

Objectives: This paper presents preliminary evaluative findings from research on key areas of concern to Māori and forms part of a wider project on the 2001 health system reforms in New Zealand. The paper reports on the development and implementation of the Māori Health Strategy, representation in decision making at governance level in District Health Boards, the inclusion of the Treaty of Waitangi in legislation and workforce issues.

Methods: Key informant interviews with 35 Māori and non-Māori respondents, in addition to data from five case study districts, were thematically analysed to gain an understanding of views on the health system reforms to date.

Contracting for health services in a public health system: the New Zealand experience.

This paper reports on the process and outcomes of contracting for health services in New Zealand between 1993 and 2000 when a purchaser-provider split was in place. Key factors that shaped the contracting environment were the legal framework, funding constraints, and the cultural and professional norms of contracting personnel. A lack of good information-especially on costs, volumes and quality-increased the costs of contracting and made monitoring and accountability difficult.

Novel, potent and selective anilinoquinazoline and anilinopyrimidine inhibitors of p38 MAP kinase.

SAR studies led to the identification of 4-(3-benzoylamino-6-methyl-anilino)quinazolines as potent and selective inhibitors of p38 MAP kinase. Further optimisation led to the identification of a series of 4-(3-benzoylamino-6-methyl-anilino)pyrimidines as potent inhibitors of the p38 MAP kinase signalling pathway in vitro and in vivo.

Design and development of BACE-1 inhibitors.

In early 1999, beta-amyloid cleaving enzyme-1 (BACE-1) was identified as the protease responsible for the critical first step in the processing of beta-amyloid precursor protein that ultimately leads to the production of Abeta peptides in the brain. Accumulation of these peptides has been implicated in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). An inhibitor of BACE-1 would therefore have therapeutic potential to slow or halt the progression of this debilitating and ultimately fatal disease.

Variation in aluminum resistance among arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi mediate interactions between plants and soils, and are important where nutrient or metal concentrations limit plant growth. Variation in fungal response to edaphic conditions may influence the effectiveness of the plant-mycorrhizal association in some soil environments. Andropogon virginicus (broomsedge) colonizes disturbed sites in the eastern United States, including acidic mine soils where aluminum (Al) is phytotoxic, and Al resistance in broomsedge has been associated with colonization by the AM fungus Glomus clarum.

Opposing effects of aluminum on inward-rectifier potassium currents in bean root-tip protoplasts.

Inward currents in root cap protoplasts of the aluminum-tolerant cultivar, Dade, of Phaseolus vulgaris L. were investigated using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. The properties of these currents were similar to those seen in inward rectifying K+ channels in other plant tissues.

Use of, and attitudes to, clinical priority assessment criteria in elective surgery in New Zealand.

Objectives: To describe the ways patients access elective surgery in New Zealand, and to understand the use of, and attitudes to, clinical priority assessment criteria (CPAC) in determining access to publicly funded elective surgery.

Methods: A qualitative study in selected New Zealand localities. A purposive sample of general practitioners, surgeons and administrators in publicly funded hospitals were interviewed.

Physiological implications of seasonal variation in membrane-associated calcium in red spruce mesophyll cells.

We examined the pattern of seasonal variation in total foliar calcium (Ca) pools and plasma membrane-associated Ca (mCa) in mesophyll cells of current-year and 1-year-old needles of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) and the relationship between mCa and total foliar Ca on an individual plant and seasonal basis. Foliar samples were collected from seedlings and analyzed on 16 dated at 2- to 3-week intervals between June 1994 and March 1995.

Imagery use in elite youth sport participants: reinforcing the applied significance of achievement goal theory.

This study examined the motivational profiles of elite youth athletes to determine whether individual differences in goal orientation corresponded with differential levels of imagery use. Two hundred ninety male (n = 88) and female (n = 202) young athletes (M = 16.6 years, SD = 1.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance aluminium resistance of broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus L.).

In the eastern United States, broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus L.) is found growing on abandoned coal-mined lands that have extremely acidic soils with high residual aluminium (Al) concentrations. Broomsedge may be inherently metal-resistant and nutrient-efficient or may rely on the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal association to overcome limitations on such sites.

Acid mist and soil Ca and Al alter the mineral nutrition and physiology of red spruce.

We examined the effects and potential interactions of acid mist and soil solution Ca and Al treatments on foliar cation concentrations, membrane-associated Ca (mCa), ion leaching, growth, carbon exchange, and cold tolerance of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) saplings. Soil solution Ca additions increased foliar Ca and Zn concentrations, and increased rates of respiration early in the growing season (July).

Activation of metallothioneins and alpha-crystallin/sHSPs in human lens epithelial cells by specific metals and the metal content of aging clear human lenses.

Purpose: To identify those metallothionein and alpha-crystallin/small heat-shock genes induced by toxic metals in human lens cells and to evaluate the levels of these metals between young and aged human lenses.

Methods: Human SRA01/04 and primary human lens epithelial cells were cultured and exposed to Cd(2+), Cu(2+), and Zn(2+). The levels of lens metallothioneins (Ig, If, Ih, Ie, and IIa) and alpha-crystallin/small heat-shock (alphaA-crystallin, alphaB-crystallin, and HSP27) genes were analyzed by semiquantitative and quantitative competitive RT-PCR.

Is laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair with mesh a reasonable alternative to conventional repair?

Background: Laparoscopic mesh repair has been advocated as treatment of choice for ventral hernias. The term "ventral hernia" refers to a variety of abdominal wall defects and laparoscopic papers have not reported defect specific analysis. The purpose of this study was to determine any advantages to laparoscopic mesh repair of umbilical hernias.

Current management of common bile duct stones: is there a role for laparoscopic cholecystectomy and intraoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography as a single-stage procedure?

Background: Although laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) have revolutionized the management of secondary common bile duct (CBD) stones, the use of these modalities as a single-stage procedure remains controversial. The aim of this study is to determine whether LC and intraoperative ERCP as a single procedure has any advantages to LC and either preoperative or postoperative therapeutic ERCP performed in 2 stages.

Methods: A retrospective 5-year review involved all patients undergoing both LC and ERCP for management of CBD stones from January 1997 to December 2001.