Incorporating medical students into school-based asthma education improves asthma knowledge in children.

Objectives: Asthma affects 1.1 million children in the UK, substantially impacting quality of life and leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Effective asthma self-management, education and empowerment can lead to a reduction in asthma related morbidity and mortality.

BioTranslator: Inferring R-Peaks from Ambulatory Wrist-Worn PPG Signal.

Advancements in wireless sensor networks (WSN) technology and miniaturization of wearable sensors have enabled long-term continuous pervasive biomedical signal monitoring. Wrist-worn photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors have gained popularity given their form factor. However the signal quality suffers due to motion artifacts when used in ambulatory settings, making vital parameter estimation a challenging task.

CorNET: Deep Learning Framework for PPG-Based Heart Rate Estimation and Biometric Identification in Ambulant Environment.

Advancements in wireless sensor network technologies have enabled the proliferation of miniaturized body-worn sensors, capable of long-term pervasive biomedical signal monitoring. Remote cardiovascular monitoring has been one of the beneficiaries of this development, resulting in non-invasive, photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors being used in ambulatory settings. Wrist-worn PPG, although a popular alternative to electrocardiogram, suffers from motion artifacts inherent in daily life.

High-spatial- and high-temporal-resolution dynamic contrast-enhanced MR breast imaging with sweep imaging with Fourier transformation: a pilot study.

Purpose: To report the results of sweep imaging with Fourier transformation (SWIFT) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for diagnostic breast imaging.

Materials And Methods: Informed consent was obtained from all participants under one of two institutional review board-approved, HIPAA-compliant protocols. Twelve female patients (age range, 19-54 years; mean age, 41.

The PhoBR two-component system regulates antibiotic biosynthesis in Serratia in response to phosphate.

Background: Secondary metabolism in Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 (Serratia 39006) is controlled via a complex network of regulators, including a LuxIR-type (SmaIR) quorum sensing (QS) system. Here we investigate the molecular mechanism by which phosphate limitation controls biosynthesis of two antibiotic secondary metabolites, prodigiosin and carbapenem, in Serratia 39006.

Feasibility of single-voxel MRS measurement of apparent diffusion coefficient of water in breast tumors.

We report initial results with single voxel spectroscopy (SVS) using diffusion weighting and localization by adiabatic selective refocusing (LASER) in breast tumors to measure the apparent diffusion coefficient of water (ADCw). This is a quick (30 s) and relatively easy method to implement compared with image-based diffusion measurements, and is insensitive to lipid signal contamination. The ADCw and concentration of total choline containing compounds [tCho] were evaluated for associations with each other and final pathologic diagnosis in 25 subjects.

MR Spectroscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

In vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) is rapidly becoming useful as a clinical tool for diagnosing and characterizing breast cancers. Alterations of the levels of choline-containing metabolites are associated with malignancy. High-field MR scanners at 1.

PigZ, a TetR/AcrR family repressor, modulates secondary metabolism via the expression of a putative four-component resistance-nodulation-cell-division efflux pump, ZrpADBC, in Serratia sp. ATCC 39006.

The Gram-negative enterobacterium, Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 synthesizes several secondary metabolites, including prodigiosin (Pig) and a carbapenem antibiotic (Car). A complex hierarchical network of regulatory proteins control Pig and Car production.

A GntR family transcriptional regulator (PigT) controls gluconate-mediated repression and defines a new, independent pathway for regulation of the tripyrrole antibiotic, prodigiosin, in Serratia.

Biosynthesis of the red, tripyrrole antibiotic prodigiosin (Pig) by Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 (39006) is controlled by a complex regulatory network involving an N-acyl homoserine lactone (N-AHL) quorum-sensing system, at least two separate two-component signal transduction systems and a multitude of other regulators. In this study, a new transcriptional activator, PigT, and a physiological cue (gluconate), which are involved in an independent pathway controlling Pig biosynthesis, have been characterized.

Adding in vivo quantitative 1H MR spectroscopy to improve diagnostic accuracy of breast MR imaging: preliminary results of observer performance study at 4.0 T.

Purpose: To determine whether the addition of in vivo quantitative hydrogen 1 (1H) magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy can improve the radiologist's diagnostic accuracy in interpreting breast MR images to distinguish benign from malignant lesions.

Materials And Methods: The study was approved by the institutional review board and, where appropriate, was compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. All patients provided written informed consent.

Biosynthesis of tripyrrole and beta-lactam secondary metabolites in Serratia: integration of quorum sensing with multiple new regulatory components in the control of prodigiosin and carbapenem antibiotic production.

Summary Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 (39006) uses a complex hierarchical regulatory network allowing multiple inputs to be assessed before genes involved in secondary metabolite biosynthesis are expressed. This taxonomically ill-defined Serratia sp.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy of locally advanced breast cancer: predicting response with in vivo (1)H MR spectroscopy--a pilot study at 4 T.

Purpose: To determine if changes in the concentration of choline-containing compounds (tCho) from before primary systemic therapy (PST) to within 24 hours after the first treatment enable prediction of clinical response in patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: Sixteen women with biopsy-confirmed locally advanced breast cancer scheduled to undergo doxorubicin-based PST were recruited. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and spectroscopy were performed at 4 T prior to treatment, within 24 hours after the first dose, and after the fourth dose.

In vivo quantification of choline compounds in the breast with 1H MR spectroscopy.

This work describes a methodology for quantifying levels of total choline-containing compounds (tCho) in the breast using in vivo (1)H MR spectroscopy (MRS) at high field (4 Tesla). Water is used as an internal reference compound to account for the partial volume of adipose tissue. Peak amplitudes are estimated by fitting one peak at a time over a narrow frequency band to allow measurement of small metabolite resonances in spectra with large lipid peaks.

Phosphate availability regulates biosynthesis of two antibiotics, prodigiosin and carbapenem, in Serratia via both quorum-sensing-dependent and -independent pathways.

Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 produces two secondary metabolite antibiotics, 1-carbapen-2-em-3-carboxylic acid (Car) and the red pigment, prodigiosin (Pig). We have previously reported that production of Pig and Car is controlled by N-acyl homoserine lactone (N-AHL) quorum sensing, with synthesis of N-AHLs directed by the LuxI homologue SmaI, and is also regulated by Rap, a member of the SlyA family.

The regulation of virulence in phytopathogenic Erwinia species: quorum sensing, antibiotics and ecological considerations.

Erwinia carotovora is a Gram-negative bacterial phytopathogen that causes soft-rot disease and potato blackleg. The organism is environmentally widespread and exhibits an opportunistic plant pathogenesis. The ability to secrete multiple plant cell wall-degrading enzymes is a key virulence trait and exoenzyme production is responsive to multiple environmental and physiological cues.

Eliminating spurious lipid sidebands in 1H MRS of breast lesions.

Detecting metabolites in breast lesions by in vivo (1)H MR spectroscopy can be difficult due to the abundance of mobile lipids in the breast which can produce spurious sidebands that interfere with the metabolite signals. Two-dimensional J-resolved spectroscopy has been demonstrated in the brain as a means to eliminate these artifacts from a large water signal; coherent sidebands are resolved at their natural frequencies, leaving the noncoupled metabolite resonances in the zero-frequency trace of the 2D spectrum. This work demonstrates that using the zero-frequency trace-or equivalently the average of spectra acquired with different echo times-can be used to separate noncoupled metabolite signals from the lipid-induced sidebands.

The future of health care, Part 2. The PPMC debate. Panel discussion.

In Part 2 of this second annual panel discussion, Jeff Goldsmith, Barbara LeTourneau, Uwe Reinhardt, and physician executives from three physician practice management companies (PPMCs) examine this burgeoning new industry. They grapple with questions (and occasionally with each other), such as: Are PPMCs delivering what they promise? What will separate successful PPMCs from the rest? When PPMCs win, who loses? What value do PPMCs add to health care? What lies ahead for this industry? Could Wall Street pressure cause PPMCs to put profit ahead of physicians and patients? And, what roles will physician executives play in PPMCs?

Ruptured or intact: what can linear echoes within silicone breast implants tell us?

Objective: During sonographic evaluation of silicone breast implants for possible rupture, we have frequently encountered several patterns of linear echoes within the implants. To our knowledge, the significance of this finding has not been established in the literature. The purpose of this study was to determine whether internal echoes are significant in predicting implant rupture.

Hyperextension strain or "whiplash" injuries to the cervical spine.

Purpose: To define "whiplash" radiologically.

Material And Methods: A full cervical spine radiographic series (including flexion and extension views) was reviewed in 40 patients with clinically proven "whiplash" injuries and compared to the radiographs in 105 normal controls. The level and degree of kinking or kyphosis, subluxation, and the difference in the amount of fanning between spinous processes on flexion and extension films were measured in each patient.

The radiology of total shoulder replacement.

The indications for total shoulder replacement and the radiologic evaluation prior to the operation are discussed in depth in this article. Different approaches to clinical problems are also discussed and illustrated, as are normal findings. This is followed by a discussion of the complications of shoulder reconstruction, including infection, fractures, and heterotopic bone formation.