Short communication: Association analysis of microsatellites and Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis antibody response in German Holsteins.

Paratuberculosis in ruminants is characterized by chronic granulomatous enteritis, resulting in persistent diarrhea and progressive wasting of cattle infected with Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP). The disease occurs worldwide with high frequency, leading to growing economic losses in beef and dairy industries.

Comparison of three modes of measuring stress, coping, and humor in school-age children.

Computer-assisted administration of surveys is gaining popularity among many researchers, but the equivalence of this method to more traditional approaches such as using paper and pencil has not been determined for many commonly used questionnaires, particularly among school-age children. This study examined systematic differences in the responses of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to measures of stress, coping, and humor among three modes of assessment: paper-and-pencil questionnaires, computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI), or a combination of paper-and-pencil and CASI. Participants were 1,245 ethnically diverse children enrolled in public schools in the central region of the United States.

C-reactive protein, carotid atherosclerosis, and cerebral small-vessel disease: results of the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study.

Background And Purpose: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an inflammatory marker known to be a risk factor for stroke. We examined the associations between CRP, carotid atherosclerosis, white matter lesions, and lacunes as manifestations of cerebral large- and small-vessel disease.

Methods: In the community-based Austrian Stroke Prevention Study, CRP concentrations were measured by a highly sensitive assay in 700 participants at baseline.

Home visiting for intervention delivery to improve rural family asthma management.

The focus of this article is on the use of home visits in an asthma self-management intervention study with rural families who have a school-aged child with asthma. The study design involved randomization of the sample by elementary schools, then baseline (pretest) and postintervention data collection.(1) The purpose of this article is to describe challenges with, and pose solutions for, implementing home visits for asthma self-management in rural areas.

Measuring asthma severity: instrument refinement.

The focus of this study is to evaluate a brief parent-report instrument, the Severity of Chronic Asthma (SCA) scale, that conforms to the national guidelines for assessing asthma. Convergent validity was found between the SCA and other measures related to asthma severity including an illness severity scale (How Bad is the Asthma?), asthma management scales for parents and children, and the pediatric quality-of-life scale. The SCA is a multidimensional scale with appropriate evidence of reliability and validity that may be a heuristic and effective measure in both clinical practice and research endeavors.

Enhancing intervention fidelity: a means of strengthening study impact.

Purpose: Intervention studies that address the goals of the Healthy People initiative are increasing, and many focus on health concerns of children and adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to present strategies and discuss the rationale for including intervention fidelity in study design.

Conclusion: Researchers need to verify that their interventions were delivered as designed (intervention fidelity), and that variations from the design can be assessed.

The impact of genetic information on policy and clinical practice.

This article discusses genetics-related policy issues that have an impact on health care systems, health care providers, and their patients: privacy, mass screening, family screening, and knowledge dissemination. Access, cost, and ethical implications are important discussant points for each of these genetic-related policy issues. Embedded in the issue of privacy are concerns of insurability, confidentiality, and discrimination.

Detection of bovine viral diarrhoea virus infected cattle--testing tissue samples derived from ear tagging using an Erns capture ELISA.

A new diagnostic approach testing tissue samples derived from cattle ear tagging for bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) antigen in a commercially available antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ACE) was developed. To validate this method, 99 positive and 469 negative samples were tested. With those samples the assay yielded a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of >or=99.

The novel suramin analogue NF864 selectively blocks P2X1 receptors in human platelets with potency in the low nanomolar range.

The role of ATP-stimulated P2X1 receptors in human platelets is still unclear. They may act alone or in synergy with other pathways, such as P2Y1 or P2Y12 receptors, to accelerate and enhance calcium mobilisation, shape change and aggregation. To date very few pharmacological means of selectively inhibiting platelet P2X1 receptors have been described, although recent work has shown that suramin is a useful lead compound for the development of high-affinity P2X1 antagonists.

A proteomic biosensor for enteropathogenic E. coli.

The study of proteins and the molecules with which they interact on an organismwide scale is critical to understanding basic biology, and understanding and improving human health. New platform technologies allowing label-free, quantitative array-based analysis of proteins are particularly desirable. We have developed an analytical technology, reflective interferometry (RI), which provides specific, rapid, and label-free optical detection of biomolecules in complex mixtures.

Barriers that influence eating behaviors in adolescents.

Adolescence is a time of rapid growth and development with biologic, psychological, and emotional changes occurring simultaneously. We conducted a critical review of the literature to analyze key topics in the study of adolescents' eating behaviors and to identify barriers to healthy eating experienced by adolescents. The literature documents that nutritional deficits and poor eating established during adolescence have long-term health, growth, and developmental consequences.

Synthesis and structure of K+ [iPrN=C=P]-, a 1-aza-3lambda3-phospha-3-allenide.

2-Isopropyl(trimethylsilyl)amino-1lambda3-phosphaalkyne 1 reacts with potassium tert-butoxide to form potassium 1-isopropyl-1-aza-3lambda3-phospha-3-allenide (2). This compound was structurally characterized as the corresponding 18-crown-6 ether complex 3. The molecular structure of 1 was also determined in order to compare the bonding situation in the anion and the neutral lambda3-phosphaalkyne.

Neuropathological studies on cycloate-induced neuronal cell death in the rat brain.

The herbicide cycloate (carbamothioic acid, ethyl(cyclohexyl)-S-ethyl ester) given as a single oral dose to rats, caused selective neuronal cell death in two regions in the rat forebrain, the pyramidal neurons of layers II-III throughout the pyriform cortex and in granule cells of the caudal ventro-lateral dentate gyrus. Male Alderley Park rats, 6-8-week-old, were given a single oral dose of either 0 or 2000 mg/kg cycloate and killed for neuropathological investigation 1, 2, 3, 7, 14 or 28 days after dosing, using a regime of perfusion fixation with modified Karnovsky's fixative, followed by routine paraffin embedding. Seven transverse levels of brain were examined from each rat.

Right-to-left shunt assessed by contrast transcranial Doppler sonography: new insights.

Objective: Simple diagnostic techniques such as contrast transcranial Doppler sonography (cTCDS) are popular for assessing a right-to-left shunt (RLS) because of their high sensitivity. In this study, we applied cTCDS to a large patient group with a patent foramen ovale, proved by contrast transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).

Methods: One hundred one patients with stroke, in whom a patent RLS had been shown on contrast TEE, were investigated by TCDS of both middle cerebral arteries.

A genetics course for advanced clinical nursing practice.

Purpose: To describe a genetics course for advanced clinical nursing practice.

Background: The Human Genome Project is yielding new discoveries in genetics. The sheer volume of new information threatens to overwhelm healthcare providers as they must find ways to interpret and use these discoveries.

Lack of neurotoxicity of the vascular targeting agent ZD6126 following repeated i.v. dosing in the rat.

The vascular targeting agent ZD6126 is a water-soluble prodrug of N-acetylcolchinol that acts by disrupting the cytoskeleton of tumor endothelial cells. It is currently undergoing clinical evaluation in man. As peripheral neuropathy is a major dose-limiting toxicity associated with tubulin binding agents, the neurotoxic potential of ZD6126 was investigated in male and female Wistar rats.

Computer-assisted survey interviewing of school-age children.

Longitudinal surveys of children in school settings can yield large volumes of data for use in exploring research questions that may influence development of intervention programs. However, traditional methods of data collection such as paper-and-pencil questionnaires or person-to-person interviewing present major threats to validity throughout the process of data collection, data management, and data analysis. The use of computer-assisted survey interviewing is an alternative that has both advantages and disadvantages.

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting in extended supra-aortic artery dissection.

A 51-year-old man underwent two percutaneous transluminal angioplasties with stenting for a dissection that extended from the right brachiocephalic trunk into the proximal part of the internal carotid artery. The patient presented with transient dysphasia one month after surgical treatment of a type A dissecting aortic aneurysm. Initially, he was managed with conservative treatment, with no effect on the dissected arteries.

Youth Resilience Framework for reducing health-risk behaviors in adolescents.

Adolescents engage in risky behaviors that compromise their health. Leading causes of morbidity and mortality are associated with a few preventable health-risk behaviors initiated in childhood and early adolescence. Interventions that enhance protective factors in childhood are needed to offset these vulnerabilities and thus promote the health of adolescents.

Repression of the human papillomavirus E6 gene initiates p53-dependent, telomerase-independent senescence and apoptosis in HeLa cervical carcinoma cells.

Cervical cancer cells express high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 and E7 proteins. When both HPV oncogenes are repressed in HeLa cervical carcinoma cells, the dormant p53 and retinoblastoma (Rb) tumor suppressor pathways are activated, and the cells undergo senescence in the absence of apoptosis. When the E6 gene is repressed in cells that continue to express an E7 gene, the p53 pathway, but not the Rb pathway, is activated, and both senescence and apoptosis are triggered.

Luminescent gold(I) and silver(I) complexes of 2-(diphenylphosphino)-1-methylimidazole (dpim): characterization of a three-coordinate Au(I)-Ag(I) dimer with a short metal-metal separation.

The Au(I) and Ag(I) closed-shell metal dimers of 2-(diphenylphosphino)-1-methylimidazole, dpim, were investigated. dpim formed the discreet binuclear species [Ag2(dpim)2(CH3CN)2](2+) (1) when reacted with appropriate Ag(I) salts. Likewise, [Au2(dpim)2](2+) (3) and [AuAg(dpim)3](2+) (4) were produced via reactions with (tht)AuCl, tht is tetrahydrothiophene, and Ag(I).