Impaired hepatitis B vaccine responses during chronic hepatitis C infection: involvement of the PD-1 pathway in regulating CD4(+) T cell responses.

Vaccination for hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the setting of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is recommended, but responses to vaccination are blunted when compared to uninfected populations. The mechanism for this failure of immune response in HCV-infected subjects remains unknown but is thought to be a result of lymphocyte dysfunction during chronic viral infection. We have recently demonstrated that PD-1, a novel negative immunomodulator for T cell receptor (TCR) signaling, is involved in T and B lymphocyte dysregulation during chronic HCV infection.

Association between arsenic exposure from drinking water and proteinuria: results from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study.

Background: Proteinuria has been recognized as a marker for an increased risk of chronic renal disease. It is unclear whether arsenic (As) exposure from drinking water is associated with proteinuria.

Methods: We evaluated the association between As exposure from drinking water and proteinuria in 11,122 participants in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS).

Damage control resuscitation: from emergency department to the operating room.

Damage control surgery emphasizes limited operations with control of bleeding and contamination. Traditional management centered upon correction of acidosis and hypotension with crystalloids. Damage control resuscitation (DCR) is permissive hypotension and early hemostatic resuscitation combined identified and corrects coagulopathy with fresh-frozen plasma (FFP), restricting use of crystalloids.

Prevalence of essential tremor in Araihazar, Bangladesh: a population-based study.

Background: Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common neurological diseases. Few prevalence studies have been conducted in South Asia, and none in Bangladesh, one of the most populated countries in the world. We estimated the prevalence of ET in a population-based study in Araihazar, Bangladesh.

Arsenic exposure, dietary patterns, and skin lesion risk in bangladesh: a prospective study.

Dietary factors are believed to modulate arsenic toxicity, potentially influencing risk of arsenical skin lesions. The authors evaluated associations among dietary patterns, arsenic exposure, and skin lesion risk using baseline food frequency questionnaire data collected in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS) in Araihazar, Bangladesh (2000-2009). They identified dietary patterns and estimated dietary pattern scores using factor analysis.

A prospective study of the synergistic effects of arsenic exposure and smoking, sun exposure, fertilizer use, and pesticide use on risk of premalignant skin lesions in Bangladeshi men.

Skin lesions are classic clinical signs of toxicity due to long-term exposure to arsenic, and they are considered precursors to arsenic-related skin cancer. The authors prospectively evaluated synergisms between effects of arsenic exposure and those of tobacco use, sun exposure, and pesticide and fertilizer use on incident skin lesions using risk factor data from 5,042 men from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study in Araihazar, Bangladesh, which recruited participants from October 2000 to May 2002. Discrete time hazard models were used to estimate measures of synergistic interactions on the additive scale.

Appearance of primary lymphoid malignancies on lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging using ferumoxtran-10.

Patients with pathologically confirmed lymphoma/leukemia were retrospectively identified from a large single-institution phase III clinical trial with ferumoxtran-10. Five (2.3%) of 220 patients had lymphoid malignancies involving lymph nodes.

Keratouveitis as a first presentation of relapsing polychondritis.

This paper provides images and a description of an unusual manifestation of relapsing polychondritis presenting initially with isolated ocular signs, mimicking infective keratitis. We present an interventional case report of a 75-year-old man who presented with marked left ocular irritation and photophobia. Ophthalmological examination disclosed corneal intrastromal infiltrate and hypopyon which failed to respond to intensive antimicrobial drops.

Genetic variations in nitric oxide synthase and arginase influence exhaled nitric oxide levels in children.

Background: Exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a biomarker of airway inflammation. In the nitric oxide (NO) synthesis pathway, nitric oxide synthases (encoded by NOS1, NOS2A, and NOS3) and arginases (encoded by ARG1 and ARG2) compete for L-arginine. Although FeNO levels are higher in children with asthma/allergy, influence of these conditions on the relationships between variations in these genes and FeNO remains unknown.

DNA fragmentation and cell cycle arrest: a hallmark of apoptosis induced by crocin from kashmiri saffron in a human pancreatic cancer cell line.

Background: Apoptosis, a widely important mechanism that contributes to cell growth reduction, is reported to be induced by Crocus sativus in different cancer types. The present study was designed to elucidate apoptosis induction by crocin, a main component of Crocus sativus in a human pancreatic cancer cell line (BxPC-3).

Methods: Cell viability was measured by MTT assay, Hoechest33258 staining was used to detect the chromatin condensation characteristic of apoptosis, and DNA fragmentation was assessed by gel electrophoresis and cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry.

The effect of ambient air pollution on exhaled nitric oxide in the Children's Health Study.

We assessed the effect of daily variations in ambient air pollutants on exhaled nitric oxide fraction (F(eNO)) using data from a cohort of school children with large differences in air pollutant exposures from the Children's Health Study. Based on a cohort of 2,240 school children from 13 Southern Californian communities, cumulative lagged average regression models were fitted to determine the association between F(eNO) and ambient air pollution levels from central site monitors with lags of up to 30 days prior to F(eNO) testing. Daily 24-h cumulative lagged averages of particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.

Race and gender are not independent risk factors of allograft loss after kidney transplantation.

Background: Little is known about the impact of gender on kidney allograft survival in black recipients.

Methods: A total of 805 kidney transplant recipients were reviewed retrospectively.

Results: All blacks compared with all whites had significantly reduced graft survival at 1, 2, and 3 years (89%, 84%, 82% vs 93%, 89%, 87%, respectively, log-rank P = .

Detection of lymph nodes in pelvic malignancies with Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Thirty patients with prostate or bladder cancer underwent CT and MRI for nodal staging. CT detected 189 nodes, and MRI detected 271 nodes. This difference was statistically significant in the external iliac (CT/MRI=73/87 nodes), obturator (CT/MRI=48/75 nodes), and internal iliac (CT/MRI=24/46 nodes) nodal chains.

Association of depression with antihypertensive medication adherence in older adults: cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from CoSMO.

Background: Little is known about the associations between depressive symptoms, social support and antihypertensive medication adherence in older adults.

Purpose: We evaluated the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms, social support and antihypertensive medication adherence in a large cohort of older adults.

Methods: A cohort of 2,180 older adults with hypertension was administered questionnaires, which included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Index, and the hypertension-specific Morisky Medication Adherence Scale at baseline and 1 year later.

Arsenic exposure from drinking water, and all-cause and chronic-disease mortalities in Bangladesh (HEALS): a prospective cohort study.

Background: Millions of people worldwide are chronically exposed to arsenic through drinking water, including 35-77 million people in Bangladesh. The association between arsenic exposure and mortality rate has not been prospectively investigated by use of individual-level data. We therefore prospectively assessed whether chronic and recent changes in arsenic exposure are associated with all-cause and chronic-disease mortalities in a Bangladeshi population.

Exhaled nitric oxide, susceptibility and new-onset asthma in the Children's Health Study.

A substantial body of evidence suggests an aetiological role of inflammation, and oxidative and nitrosative stress in asthma pathogenesis. Exhaled nitric oxide fraction (F(eNO)) may provide a noninvasive marker of oxidative and nitrosative stress, and aspects of airway inflammation. We examined whether children with elevated F(eNO) are at increased risk for new-onset asthma.

Damage control resuscitation in combination with damage control laparotomy: a survival advantage.

Background: Damage control laparotomy (DCL) improves outcomes when used in patients with severe hemorrhage. Correction of coagulopathy with close ratio resuscitation while limiting crystalloid forms a new methodology known as damage control resuscitation (DCR). We hypothesize a survival advantage in DCL patients managed with DCR when compared with DCL patients managed with conventional resuscitation efforts (CRE).

A prospective study of respiratory symptoms associated with chronic arsenic exposure in Bangladesh: findings from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS).

Background And Aims: A prospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the effect of arsenic (As) exposure from drinking water on respiratory symptoms using data from the Health Effects of Arsenic Exposure Longitudinal Study (HEALS), a large prospective cohort study established in Ariahazar, Bangladesh in 2000-2002. A total of 7.31, 9.

Donor-recipient gender and size mismatch affects graft success after kidney transplantation.

Background: Female recipients of male kidneys have an inferior graft survival, and patients receiving larger kidneys relative to their body size may have a graft survival advantage. Thus, graft survival may be affected by both gender and kidney size mismatches. The objective of this study was to analyze the possible confounding effect of body mass mismatch (body mass as proxy for kidney size) between female recipients of male donor kidneys.

Wilms tumor in adult.

Wilms Tumor (WT) is a very rare malignancy in adults representing 1% of all renal neoplasms. It is however the most common renal tumor of children and adult patients are treated like pediatric cases. Bilateral tumors occur in 5% of adult cases.

Red light cameras: do they change driver behavior and reduce accidents?

Background: : Installation of red light cameras (RLC) at intersections associated with a high number of traffic accidents are currently in use to reduce the number of traffic collisions. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the sustained effect of RLC on driver behavior. The secondary objective was to evaluate the number of collisions before and after RLC implementation.

Pediatric disease burden and vaccination recommendations: understanding local differences.

Background: Diphtheria (D), tetanus (T), pertussis (P), hepatitis B (HepB), invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease, and measles cause substantial global morbidity and mortality.

Methods: This unique review highlights geographic differences in disease burden across certain countries in the African, Americas, Mediterranean, South-East Asian, and Western Pacific World Health Organization (WHO) regions, and relates this to vaccination coverage and local vaccine recommendations using the authors' countries as illustrations.

Results: Substantial differences were observed in the incidence of these diseases and in vaccination coverage between the countries studied.

Transepithelial corneal collagen cross-linking in keratoconus.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical effects of transepithelial corneal cross-linking (CXL) on keratoconic eyes pre-treated with substances enhancing epithelial permeability.

Methods: Prospective, consecutive, single-masked, paired-eye study on 51 patients. The eye with more severe keratoconus was treated; the fellow eye served as the control.