Activities-specific balance confidence in people with multiple sclerosis.

Objective. To evaluate the validity of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC) in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Design.

US Hemophilia Treatment Center population trends 1990-2010: patient diagnoses, demographics, health services utilization.

For several decades, US government agencies have partially supported regional networks of Hemophilia Treatment Centers (HTC). HTC multidisciplinary teams provide comprehensive and coordinated diagnosis, treatment, prevention, education, outreach and surveillance services to improve the health of people with genetic bleeding disorders. However, national data are scarce on HTC-patient population trends and services.

CSF biomarkers correlate with cerebral blood flow on SPECT in healthy elderly.

Background: The preclinical patterns of biological markers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in vivo need further exploration. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate CSF biomarkers, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and cognitive performance in cognitively healthy older individuals.

Method: Within a 2-week period, 32 cognitively healthy older individuals underwent CSF analysis, rCBF measurement and cognitive testing.

Ecotoxicological assessment and evaluation of a pine bark biosorbent treatment of five landfill leachates.

When selecting a landfill leachate treatment method the contaminant composition of the leachate should be considered in order to obtain the most cost-effective treatment option. In this study the filter material pine bark was evaluated as a treatment for five landfill leachates originating from different cells of the same landfill in Sweden. The objective of the study was to determine the uptake, or release, of metals and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) during a leaching test using the pine bark filter material with the five different landfill leachates.

Balance exercise for persons with multiple sclerosis using Wii games: a randomised, controlled multi-centre study.

Background: The use of interactive video games is expanding within rehabilitation. The evidence base is, however, limited.

Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the effects of a Nintendo Wii Fit® balance exercise programme on balance function and walking ability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Communication when patients are conscious during respirator treatment--a hermeneutic observation study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to observe, interpret and describe nurses' communication with conscious patients receiving mechanical ventilation treatment (MVT) in an intensive care unit (ICU), and to examine if such communication could be interpreted as caring.

Design: Hermeneutic observational study inspired by the philosophy of Gadamer.

Method: Nineteen patients were observed on several occasions for a total of 66 hours, when conscious during MVT.

Lessons learned from implementing education on dual-use in Austria, Italy, Pakistan and Sweden.

This paper provides insights into the achievements and challenges of implementing education on dual-use in four countries: Austria, Italy, Pakistan and Sweden. It draws attention to the different institutional mechanisms through which dual-use education may be introduced into academic curricula and some of the difficulties encountered in this process. It concludes that there is no 'one size fits all' approach to the implementation of dual-use education.

The organ transplant symptom and well-being instrument - psychometric evaluation.

Background: There is a need for instruments combining measurements of symptom distress and well-being in the organ transplant population.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a measure of symptoms and well-being in organ transplant recipients labelled the Organ Transplant Symptom and Well-being instrument (OTSWI) and to provide descriptive data on these matters.

Method: In this cross sectional survey, the study sample (n=185) completed several measures including demographic information, the Short form- 36 items (SF-36), and the OTSWI to assess concurrent validity by exploring relationships between OTSWI and measures of health related quality of life (HRQOL).

Self-reported non-adherence and beliefs about medication in a Swedish kidney transplant population.

Background: Patients' non-adherence to immunosuppressant treatment after organ transplantation may lead to organ failure, graft loss and death. Non-adherence among Swedish kidney transplant recipients has not previously been studied. Hence the aim of this study was to explore non-adherence among Swedish kidney transplant recipients by using self-report instruments as well as testing the hypothesis that there is a difference in self-reported symptoms, beliefs about medicine and social support between respondents with or without self reported non-adherence.

Quality of life in haemophilia A: Hemophilia Utilization Group Study Va (HUGS-Va).

This study describes health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of persons with haemophilia A in the United States (US) and determines associations between self-reported joint pain, motion limitation and clinically evaluated joint range of motion (ROM), and between HRQoL and ROM. As part of a 2-year cohort study, we collected baseline HRQoL using the SF-12 (adults) and PedsQL (children), along with self-ratings of joint pain and motion limitation, in persons with factor VIII deficiency recruited from six Haemophilia Treatment Centres (HTCs) in geographically diverse regions of the US. Clinically measured joint ROM measurements were collected from medical charts of a subset of participants.

Residual disability 10 years after falling ill in Guillain-Barré syndrome: a prospective follow-up study.

Objective: To describe residual disability 10years after onset of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and longitudinal changes from 2weeks after onset until 10years afterwards. The Erasmus GBS Outcome score (EGOS) was applied for predicting prognosis at 2 and 10years.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients, mean age at onset 49years, were followed prospectively from 2weeks to 10years after GBS onset.

Characterization of protein glycosylation in Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica: identification of a novel glycosylated lipoprotein required for virulence.

FTH_0069 is a previously uncharacterized strongly immunoreactive protein that has been proposed to be a novel virulence factor in Francisella tularensis. Here, the glycan structure modifying two C-terminal peptides of FTH_0069 was identified utilizing high resolution, high mass accuracy mass spectrometry, combined with in-source CID tandem MS experiments. The glycan observed at m/z 1156 was determined to be a hexasaccharide, consisting of two hexoses, three N-acetylhexosamines, and an unknown monosaccharide containing a phosphate group.

Clinical validation of 18F-AZD4694, an amyloid-β-specific PET radioligand.

Unlabelled: Pioneered with the invention of (11)C-Pittsburgh compound B, amyloid-β imaging using PET has facilitated research in Alzheimer disease (AD). This imaging approach has promise for diagnostic purposes and evaluation of disease-modifying therapies. Broad clinical use requires an (18)F-labeled amyloid-β radioligand with high specific and low nonspecific binding.

Practicability and sensitivity to change of the activities-specific balance confidence scale and 12-item Walking Scale for stroke.

Purpose: To investigate the practicability and sensitivity to change of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) and the 12-item Walking Scale (WS-12) in persons at different phases after stroke.

Method: A longitudinal data collection with repeated measurements at 0 to 14 days and 3 months post stroke combined with a cross-sectional approach for persons more than 1 year post stroke. The participants were 37 persons (median age, 79 years; interquartile range [IQR] 67-86) in the acute phase admitted to the University Hospital of Örebro (sample A) of whom 31 were measured at follow-up, and 67 persons at 4 primary care centers in Örebro County Council (median age, 68 years; IQR, 61-76) who were more than 1 year post stroke (sample B).

Prevalence of colonic neoplasia and advanced lesions in the normal population: a prospective population-based colonoscopy study.

Objective: There are few prospective studies of the prevalence of colonic neoplasia in the normal population. In order to properly evaluate screening-protocols for colorectal cancer in risk groups (e.g.

The lived experiences of adult intensive care patients who were conscious during mechanical ventilation: a phenomenological-hermeneutic study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to illuminate the lived experience of patients who were conscious during mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU).

Method: Interviews with 12 patients assessed as being conscious during mechanical ventilation were conducted approximately one week after discharge from an ICU. The text was analysed using a phenomenological-hermeneutic method inspired by Ricoeur.

Self-reported barriers to hemophilia care in people with factor VIII deficiency.

Background: In 1975, a national network of hemophilia treatment centers (HTCs) was created to increase access to healthcare services for individuals with hemophilia. Studies demonstrate that care in HTCs improves outcomes and reduces costs.

Purpose: The objective of the study was to assess the association of demographic, insurance, and clinical characteristics with self-reported barriers to HTC utilization.

A community-based partnership to promote information infrastructure for bleeding disorders.

Specialists in rare disorders often face challenges in collecting surveillance and research data. As movement toward more fully realizing the potential of electronic health information gains momentum, practitioners who treat individuals with rare disorders are in need of public-private support to tap into the advantages offered by the developing electronic information technologies and the interoperability standards promulgated by the USDHHS. The not-for-profit American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network (ATHN) was created in 2006 to provide stewardship of a secure, national, web-based database to support federally funded hemophilia treatment centers (HTCs) across the country.

The use of PIB-PET as a dual pathological and functional biomarker in AD.

Amyloid imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) is presently used in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research. In this study we investigated the possibility to use early frames (ePIB) of the PIB scans as a rough index of CBF by comparing normalised early PIB values with cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMRglc). PIB-PET and FDG-PET were performed in 37 AD patients, 21 subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 6 healthy controls (HC).

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Instrument: Attitudes Towards Organ Donor Advocacy Scale (ATODAS).

The consequences of advocacy in nursing are critical when caring for a potential organ donor. No specific instrument has been available to measure attitudes toward organ donor advocacy. The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate an instrument for measuring intensive and critical care (ICU) nurses' attitudes toward organ donor advocacy.

Impact of the N-terminal secretor domain on YopD translocator function in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis type III secretion.

Type III secretion systems (T3SSs) secrete needle components, pore-forming translocators, and the translocated effectors. In part, effector recognition by a T3SS involves their N-terminal amino acids and their 5' mRNA. To investigate whether similar molecular constraints influence translocator secretion, we scrutinized this region within YopD from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

ICU nurses' perceptions of responsibilities and organisation in relation to organ donation--a phenomenographic study.

Objectives: According to the Istanbul declaration, health services should create better routines for identifying potential donors. A previous study involving 702 intensive and critical care (ICU) nurses revealed that only 48% trusted clinical diagnosis of brain death without a confirmatory cerebral angiography. The aim was to study ICU nurses' perceptions of their experiences of professional responsibilities and organisational aspects in relation to organ donation and how they understand and perceive brain death.

O-linked glycosylation of the PilA pilin protein of Francisella tularensis: identification of the endogenous protein-targeting oligosaccharyltransferase and characterization of the native oligosaccharide.

Findings from a number of studies suggest that the PilA pilin proteins may play an important role in the pathogenesis of disease caused by species within the genus Francisella. As such, a thorough understanding of PilA structure and chemistry is warranted. Here, we definitively identified the PglA protein-targeting oligosaccharyltransferase by virtue of its necessity for PilA glycosylation in Francisella tularensis and its sufficiency for PilA glycosylation in Escherichia coli.