Limited prognostic value of pain duration in non-specific neck pain patients seeking chiropractic care.

Background: Pain chronicity is considered an important prognostic factor for outcome. Here, it was investigated whether pain duration influences outcome when only chronic patients (pain >3 months) are considered. Secondary aims were to determine, in patients of any pain duration, how much variance in outcome is explained by pain duration and whether pain duration truly predicts outcomes, that is out-of-sample prediction in independent data.

Comparison of Chiropractic Treatment Outcomes Depending on the Language Region in Switzerland: A Prospective Outcomes Study.

Objectives: Switzerland has optimal conditions for research of language-based cultural influences on low back pain (LBP). The aim of this study was to compare LBP treatment outcomes after chiropractic care between patients from the German- and French-speaking regions of Switzerland.

Methods: Baseline Numeric Rating Scale for pain (NRS), demographic, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) data were collected from patients presenting to 51 Swiss-German and 12 Swiss-French chiropractors.

Biomarker assessment of the immunomodulator effect of atorvastatin in stable renal transplant recipients and hypercholesterolemic patients.

Background: HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) have effects beyond lipid lowering, including immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. Statins are frequently combined with immunosuppressive agents in transplant recipients to modulate the hyperlipidemic side effects of the immunosuppressants. However, the role of statins in the immunosuppressive response that is achieved in individual patients remains to be assessed.

Biomarkers of immunoregulatory status in stable liver transplant recipients undergoing weaning of immunosuppressive therapy.

Biomarkers that reflect immune response recovery and predict clinical events during withdrawal or minimization of immunosuppressive therapy have not been evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate whether immune response recovers after withdrawal of long-term immunosuppressive treatment in stable liver transplant patients and to determine whether specific biomarkers reflect immune response reactivity and predict rejection. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic profiles were determined in 24 patients and 80 healthy donors before immunosuppressive treatment reduction began, at 50%, and at complete withdrawal.

Is the intracellular ATP concentration of CD4+ T-Cells a predictive biomarker of immune status in stable transplant recipients?

Background: Intracellular ATP (iATP) production in CD4(+)-T cells has been proposed as a biomarker for routine personalized monitoring in transplant recipients. The aim of our study was to measure this biomarker in adult renal and liver transplant recipients receiving moderate immunosuppressive treatment (IST) during the maintenance period and to evaluate whether this biomarker can effectively predict clinical status (stability, rejection, or infection) and drug effect.

Methods: iATP concentration and trough blood levels of IST were evaluated in 84 adult transplant recipients (50 renal and 34 liver) during the maintenance period.

Determination of atorvastatin and its metabolite ortho-hydroxyatorvastatin in human plasma by on-line anion-exchange solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

A rapid, sensitive, and specific method was developed and validated using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous quantitation of atorvastatin (ATV) and its major metabolite ortho-hydroxyatorvastatin (o-HATV) in human plasma. The sample preparation involved a liquid-liquid extraction without chlorinated solvents and an on-line solid-phase extraction exploring the possibilities that anion exchange offers. The analytical method presented intraday and day-to-day variation below 10%; intraday and day-to-day accuracy stood between 94% and 105%; the limit of quantification was 0.

Evaluation of new tumors in the setting of stage I/IIA mycosis fungoides.

Although mycosis fungoides is usually a slowly progressive indolent lymphoma, new cutaneous tumors might signal an aggressive phase of the disease. In order to provide appropriate therapeutic management when such tumors arise, it is important to make a correct diagnosis, which requires a bridge between clinical and histopathologic evaluations of the tumors. In this article, we describe 4 patients with preexisting diagnoses of mycosis fungoides, each of whom developed a distinct, new skin tumor.

T-cell function monitoring in stable renal transplant patients treated with sirolimus monotherapy.

Background: Sirolimus is an agent with lymphocyte-specific features similar to those of calcineurin inhibitors but with a different mechanism of action and safety profile. To optimize the use of sirolimus-based immunosuppression, further investigation of appropriate pharmacokinetic (sirolimus exposure) and pharmacodynamic (sirolimus T-cell immunomodulator effect) monitoring is required to determine personalized target concentrations.

Aim: The main objective of the study was to evaluate the feasibility and reproducibility of combined pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic monitoring and to apply biomarkers of immunosuppression in stable kidney transplant recipients receiving sirolimus monotherapy.

Influence of an electric field on the non-Newtonian response of a hybrid-aligned nematic cell under shear flow.

The authors study shear flow in hybrid-aligned nematic cells under the action of an applied electric field by solving numerically a hydrodynamic model. The authors apply this model to a flow-aligning nematic liquid crystal (4'-n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl) and obtain the director's configuration and the velocity profile at the stationary state. The authors calculate the local and apparent viscosities of the system and found that the competition between the shear flow and the electric field gives rise to an interesting non-Newtonian response with regions of shear thickening and thinning.

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous analysis of aflatoxins B1, G1, B2, G2 and ochratoxin A in beer.

The simultaneous analysis of aflatoxins B1, G1, B2, G2 and ochratoxin A in beer was carried out by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS/MS). Mycotoxins were extracted, purified and concentrated from the beer sample in one step using a solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge that contained a polymeric sorbent. Optimization of different parameters, such as type of SPE sorbent, type and amount of wash solvent and pH of the sample, was carried out.

Disseminated sporotrichosis mimicking sarcoidosis.

A 40-year-old Caucasian man presented to the dermatology clinic at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, in February 2003, for the evaluation of three nonhealing ulcers. The patient's past medical history was significant for hypothyroidism and pulmonary sarcoidosis, the diagnosis of which was made in June 2000. In March 2000, the patient had complained of cough and shortness of breath.

Presentation, histopathologic findings, and clinical outcomes in 7 cases of melanoma in situ of the nail unit.

Objective: To report on the presentation, histopathologic findings, and clinical outcomes for a case series of MIS of the nail apparatus because melanoma in situ (MIS) of the nail unit has not been well characterized in the literature.

Setting: A division of a tertiary academic center specializing in micrographic excision of cutaneous neoplasms.

Design: Surgical records were searched for cases of MIS of the nail unit for the period of January 1, 1997, to December 31, 2002.

Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma in a 74-year-old Caucasian male.

Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma is an uncommon neoplasm with classification schemes that may be confusing, but with clinical presentations that are relatively consistent. Clinical exam and history can raise the index of suspicion for this condition, although the diagnosis is confirmed only by pathological evaluation. We report such a scenario in the case of a 74-year old male with a slowly expanding oval plaque on his right upper arm.