Daily functioning and (health-related) quality of life of young adult survivors of childhood bacterial meningitis.

Unlabelled: To investigate daily functioning, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and overall quality of life (QoL) in young adult survivors of childhood bacterial meningitis (BM) thereby shedding light on very long-term outcomes and contributing to global meningitis burden estimates. In this cross-sectional study, the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale-Self Report (WFIRS-S), the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Scale vGlobal Health v1.2 (PROMIS-GH), PROMIS-29 profile v2.

Self-Reported Executive Functioning in Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Bacterial Meningitis.

Objective: This study investigated executive functions (EFs) in young adult survivors of childhood bacterial meningitis (BM). These skills are important for normal development, and their potential vulnerability in early years suggests that childhood BM could affect executive functions in the longer term.

Method: The adult self-report Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function was administered to 474 young adult survivors of childhood BM who participated in the 20|30 Dutch Postmeningitis study.

Effects of Digital Learning Materials on nursing students' mathematics learning, self-efficacy, and task value in vocational education.

The use of digital environments in nursing education offers new opportunities for nursing students' medical mathematics learning. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Digital Learning Materials (DLMs) on nursing students' mathematics learning, self-efficacy, and task value. A pre-test/post-test control group design was used.

Zebrafish Deficiency Impairs Retinal Patterning and Oculomotor Function.

Down syndrome cell adhesion molecules ( and ) are essential regulators of neural circuit assembly, but their roles in vertebrate neural circuit function are still mostly unexplored. We investigated the functional consequences of deficiency in the larval zebrafish (sexually undifferentiated) oculomotor system, where behavior, circuit function, and neuronal activity can be precisely quantified. Genetic perturbation of resulted in deficits in retinal patterning and light adaptation, consistent with its known roles in mammals.

STAT3-mediated activation of is involved in down-regulation of TIMP3 and neovascularization in the ischemic retina.

Retinal neovascularization (RNV) is a sight threatening complication of ischemic retinopathies with limited therapeutic options. The transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) has been shown to play a crucial role in promoting RNV. However, manipulating of STAT3 activity can cause significant adverse side effects due to its neurotrophic properties.

Systemic effects of ophthalmic cyclopentolate on body weight in neonatal mice.

Background: Cyclopentolate is standardly used in ophthalmologic examinations of neonates to facilitate screening for retinopathy of prematurity. Reports of systemic effects have raised concerns of an increased risk of feeding intolerance after the examinations.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate systemic concentrations of cyclopentolate after ophthalmic administration, as well as assess changes in weight as an indirect measure of alteration in feeding.

Eye position compensation improves estimates of response magnitude and receptive field geometry in alert monkeys.

Studies of visual function in behaving subjects require that stimuli be positioned reliably on the retina in the presence of eye movements. Fixational eye movements scatter stimuli about the retina, inflating estimates of receptive field dimensions, reducing estimates of peak responses, and blurring maps of receptive field subregions. Scleral search coils are frequently used to measure eye position, but their utility for correcting the effects of fixational eye movements on receptive field maps has been questioned.

Utility of molecular testing for related retinal dystrophies.

Background: The purpose of this study was to describe our experience with the clinical effects of molecular genetic testing for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and related retinal dystrophies.

Methods: Chart review of 303 consecutive patients with retinal dystrophies was done when blood was sent for molecular genetic testing between 1993 and 2001. Phenotype information was retrieved for patients with identified mutations.

Stimulation of bone cell differentiation by low-intensity ultrasound--a histomorphometric in vitro study.

Several investigations have established a stimulatory effect of low-intensity ultrasound treatment on osteogenesis and fracture healing. The objective of this study was to examine whether the stimulatory effect of low-intensity ultrasound results in increased bone cell activity and/or proliferation. Twenty-four paired triplets of metatarsal bone rudiments of twelve 17-days-old fetal mice were dissected and divided into two groups.

Low-intensity ultrasound stimulates endochondral ossification in vitro.

Animal and clinical studies have shown an acceleration of bone healing by the application of low-intensity ultrasound. The objective of this study was to examine in vitro the influence of low-intensity ultrasound on endochondral ossification of 17-day-old fetal mouse metatarsal rudiments. Forty-six triplets of paired metatarsal rudiments were resected 'en block' and cultured for 7 days with and without low-intensity ultrasound stimulation (30 mw/cm2).

In situ detection of apoptosis in dental and periodontal tissues of the adult mouse using annexin-V-biotin.

An early event in apoptosis is exposure of phosphatidylserine, an aminophospholipid normally present in the inner leaflet of the plasma membranes, at the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane facing the extracellular space. Annexin V (Anx-V) is a 35-kDa protein with high affinity for phosphatidylserine, which can be applied to detect apoptosis. We injected biotin-labelled Anx-V intravenously in adult mice and examined the tissue distribution of Anx-V-labelled cells in dental and periodontal tissues using ABC-peroxidase histochemistry.

Correlation between ALK-6 (BMPR-IB) distribution and responsiveness to osteogenic protein-1 (BMP-7) in embryonic mouse bone rudiments.

Osteogenic protein-1 (OP-1) or bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) stimulates cartilage formation in mouse bone rudiments in vitro but arrests terminal differentiation of prehypertrophic chondrocytes into hypertrophic chondrocytes. In this study we report that these effects of OP-1 depend on the developmental stage of the bone rudiment, early stages (E14 and E15 metatarsals) being most responsive. E17 metatarsals that already contained a hypertrophic area that had initiated mineralization were no longer affected by OP-1.

Use of recombinant human osteogenic protein-1 for the repair of subchondral defects in articular cartilage in goats.

The objective of this pilot study was to examine in vivo the potential of recombinant human osteogenic protein-1 (rhOP-1, also called bone morphogenetic protein-7, BMP-7) for treatment of subchondral lesions by induction of new hyaline cartilage formation. Subchondral left knee defects in 17 mature goats were treated with fresh coagulated blood mixed with (1) rhOP-1 combined with collagen (OP-1 device, 400 microgram/mL); (2) rhOP-1 alone (OP-1 peptide, 200 microgram/mL); (3) OP-1 device with small particles of autologous ear perichondrium; (4) OP-1 peptide with small particles of autologous ear perichondrium; or (5) autologous ear perichondrium alone (controls). rhOP-1 was combined with either collagen (OP-1 device) or not (OP-1 peptide).

Stimulation of cartilage differentiation by osteogenic protein-1 in cultures of human perichondrium.

Exposure of progenitor cells with chondrogenic potential to recombinant human osteogenic protein-1 [rhOP-1, or bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7] may be of therapeutic interest in the regeneration of articular cartilage. Therefore, in this study, we examined the influence of rhOP-1 on cartilage formation by human perichondrium tissue containing progenitor cells with chondrogenic potential in vitro. Fragments of outer ear perichondrium tissue were embedded in clotting autologous blood to which rhOP-1 had been added or not (controls), and the resulting explant was cultured for 3 weeks without further addition of rhOP-1.

Osteogenic protein (OP-1, BMP-7) stimulates cartilage differentiation of human and goat perichondrium tissue in vitro.

The objective of this study was to examine in vitro the influence of recombinant human osteogenic protein-1 [rhOP-1, or bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7)] on cartilage formation by human and goat perichondrium tissue containing progenitor cells with chondrogenic potential. Fragments of outer ear perichondrium tissue were embedded in clotting autologous blood to which rhOP-1 had been added or not added (controls), and the resulting explant was cultured for 3 weeks without further addition of rhOP-1. Cartilage formation was monitored biochemically by measuring [35S]-sulphate incorporation into proteoglycans and histologically by monitoring the presence of metachromatic matrix with cells in nests.

Nonulcerating bacterial keratitis associated with soft and rigid contact lens wear.

Objective: An unusual presentation of contact lens-related bacterial keratitis is that of epithelial nodular infiltrates and stromal inflammation without epithelial ulceration. The authors study the initial diagnosis, clinical features, causative organisms, and outcomes of corneal infections presenting in this manner.

Design: The study design was a 20-month retrospective chart review.

OP-1 (BMP-7) affects mRNA expression of type I, II, X collagen, and matrix Gla protein in ossifying long bones in vitro.

In long bone development, a regulating role of OP-1 is suggested by the local correlated expression of both OP-1 ligand and OP-1 binding receptors in developing mouse hind limbs. OP-1 is expressed in the interdigital mesenchyme, whereas OP-1 binding receptors are found in the bordering perichondrium, and both OP-1 ligand and receptors are present in the zone of (pre)hypertrophic chondrocytes. We investigated the role of OP-1 in long bone development experimentally by treating organ cultures of embryonic mouse metatarsals with rhOP-1.

T cell receptor V beta gene expression in experimental herpes stromal keratitis.

Our study examined T cell receptor (TCR) V beta mRNA expression in a murine model of experimental herpes simplex keratitis (HSK). We employed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to detect TCR V beta mRNA expression in the inoculated eyes of both HSK-susceptible and HSK-resistant mice at different time points after corneal inoculation with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), followed by Southern blotting and densitometry analysis. In eyes from HSK-susceptible C.

Opposite effects of osteogenic protein and transforming growth factor beta on chondrogenesis in cultured long bone rudiments.

Osteogenic protein-1 (OP-1, also called BMP-7) is a bone morphogenetic member of the TGF-beta superfamily. In the present study, we examined the effect of recombinant human OP-1 on cartilage and bone formation in organ cultures of metatarsal long bones of mouse embryos and compared the OP-1 effects with those of human TGF-beta 1 and porcine TGF-beta 1 and beta 2. Cartilage formation was determined by measurement of longitudinal growth of whole bone rudiments during culture and by the incorporation of 35SO4 into glycosaminoglycans.

Antibody to cardiolipin, lupus anticoagulant, and fetal death.

We compared the concordance and predictive powers of activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and of IgG and IgM antibody to cardiolipin (aCL), for predicting fetal death in 50 pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and/or lupus anticoagulant. Overall concordance of any abnormal determination of aCL during pregnancy with any abnormal determination of APTT was 76% (0.05 less than p less than 0.

Antibody to cardiolipin as a predictor of fetal distress or death in pregnant patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

During a prospective study of pregnancies in women with systemic lupus erythematosus, we examined the relation between antibody to cardiolipin, measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and midpregnancy fetal distress, identified by abnormal results of antepartum fetal heart-rate testing or by fetal death. All of nine patients with lupus and this complication had abnormally high antibody levels (mean, 212.3 +/- 55.

Rapid identification of Corynebacterium vaginale in non-purulent vaginitis.

A simple set of tests is proposed to give excellent probability for the identification of Corynebacterium vaginale from clinical material. Using these tests, 380 C vaginale were isolated from genital tract specimens from 1402 patients. Of these isolates 70 were from symptomatic patients.

Corynebacterium vaginale in non-purulent vaginitis.

The diagnostic importance of a cytological evaluation of a Gram-stained smear of the discharge from a case of non-purulent vaginitis (NVP) due to corynebacterium vaginale is emphasized. A battery of rapid laboratory tests designed to identify the organism on the second day of incubation with an accuracy of at least 97% is proposed. In a prospective study of 1402 patients, 310 (22%) were found to be asymptomatic carriers of C.

Systemic vibriosis due to non-cholera vibrio.

A case of extraintestinal vibriosis with septicaemia due to a non-cholera vibrio, from which the patient had recovered, is presented. Diagnostically useful clinical and laboratory data are described together with an outline of the combined medical and surgical treatment regimen which is employed. The association with excessive alcohol consumption and liver diseases is noted.