Prevalence, characteristics and clinical impact of work-related musculoskeletal pain in echocardiography.

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal pain (WRMSP) is increasingly recognised in cardiac ultrasound practice. WRMSP can impact workforce health, productivity and sustainability. We sought to investigate the prevalence, characteristics and clinical impact of WRMSP.

Single allele loss-of-function mutations select and sculpt conditional cooperative networks in breast cancer.

The most common events in breast cancer (BC) involve chromosome arm losses and gains. Here we describe identification of 1089 gene-centric common insertion sites (gCIS) from transposon-based screens in 8 mouse models of BC. Some gCIS are driver-specific, others driver non-specific, and still others associated with tumor histology.

The F-box protein gene - is a target for reverse engineering enzyme hypersecretion in filamentous fungi.

Carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) are vital for the lignocellulose-based biorefinery. The development of hypersecreting fungal protein production hosts is therefore a major aim for both academia and industry. However, despite advances in our understanding of their regulation, the number of promising candidate genes for targeted strain engineering remains limited.

Development of genetic tools for the thermophilic filamentous fungus .

Background: Fungal enzymes are vital for industrial biotechnology, including the conversion of plant biomass to biofuels and bio-based chemicals. In recent years, there is increasing interest in using enzymes from thermophilic fungi, which often have higher reaction rates and thermal tolerance compared to currently used fungal enzymes. The thermophilic filamentous fungus produces large amounts of highly thermostable plant cell wall-degrading enzymes.

Purification and characterization of a native lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase from Thermoascus aurantiacus.

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) have emerged as key proteins for depolymerization of cellulose. These copper-containing enzymes oxidize C-1 and/or C-4 bonds in cellulose, promoting increased hydrolysis of the oxidized cellulose chains. The LPMO from Thermoascus aurantiacus, a thermophilic ascomycete fungus, has been extensively studied and has served as a model LPMO.

The meaning of menarche: A cross-cultural semantic network analysis.

The psychological meaning of menarche was explored in 102 college students from Mexico and the United States. The Natural Semantic Networks Technique was used and participants were asked to respond to the prompt "My first period was …" The strongest components of the Mexican women's semantic network were scary, confusing, and unexpected; the strongest components of the American women's semantic network were unexpected, annoying, and painful. Only the Americans listed positive words (i.

Queer periods: attitudes toward and experiences with menstruation in the masculine of centre and transgender community.

Menstruation has long been viewed as an important aspect of women's health. However, scholars and healthcare providers have only recently begun to recognise that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities also menstruate, thus little is known about their attitudes toward and experiences with menstruation. A sample of masculine of centre and transgender individuals with a mean age of 30 years was recruited online to complete measures of attitudes toward menstruation and menstrual suppression and to answer exploratory questions about their experiences managing menstruation.

Burden of migraine related to menses: results from the AMPP study.

Background: Studies of the difference between menstrually associated and non-menstrually associated migraine are somewhat controversial. The majority of studies have focused on comparing menstrual to non-menstrual attacks rather than comparing study groups with different migraine diagnoses with respect to menstruation. As there is limited knowledge available on the overall impact and burden of migraine among groups of women with and without menstrually associated migraine our goal was to examine differences between these groups.

Body appreciation and attitudes toward menstruation.

Menstruation is an important function of the female body, yet it has rarely been included in research on body image. As women's attitudes toward menstruation are so often negative, this study was designed to examine whether women with positive body image would have more positive attitudes toward menstruation. Seventy-two American women, ages 18-45 years, were recruited online to complete the Body Appreciation Scale (Avalos et al.

Perioperative hyperglycemia is associated with postoperative neurocognitive disorders after cardiac surgery.

Objective: Neurocognitive disorders commonly occur following cardiac surgery. However, the underlying etiology of these disorders is not well understood. The current study examined the association between perioperative glucose levels and other risk factors and the onset of neurocognitive disorders in adult patients following coronary artery bypass and/or valvular surgery.

Angiotensin II evokes angiogenic signals within skeletal muscle through co-ordinated effects on skeletal myocytes and endothelial cells.

Skeletal muscle overload induces the expression of angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, leading to new capillary growth. We found that the overload-induced increase in angiogenesis, as well as increases in VEGF, MMP-2 and MT1-MMP transcripts were abrogated in muscle VEGF KO mice, highlighting the critical role of myocyte-derived VEGF in controlling this process. The upstream mediators that contribute to overload-induced expression of VEGF have yet to be ascertained.

Sex differences in the prevalence, symptoms, and associated features of migraine, probable migraine and other severe headache: results of the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) Study.

Background: The strikingly higher prevalence of migraine in females compared with males is one of the hallmarks of migraine. A large global body of evidence exists on the sex differences in the prevalence of migraine with female to male ratios ranging from 2:1 to 3:1 and peaking in midlife. Some data are available on sex differences in associated symptoms, headache-related disability and impairment, and healthcare resource utilization in migraine.

Suffering by comparison: Twitter users' reactions to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Social comparison theory suggests that evaluating the self in comparison with others (e.g., peers, celebrities, models) can influence body image.

Ambivalent sexism and attitudes toward women in different stages of reproductive life: a semantic, cross-cultural approach.

College students in southeastern Mexico (n = 185) and the northeastern United States (n = 96) utilized a semantic differential scale to rate subtypes of women: a menstruating woman, a menopausal woman, a pregnant woman, a premenstrual woman, a woman with a hysterectomy, a teenage girl, a woman in love, and a woman with a young baby. Americans reported significantly more negative attitudes than Mexicans did toward a menstruating woman, a premenstrual woman, a teenage girl, and a pregnant woman. Participants chose more positive words to describe a teenage girl, a woman in love, a pregnant woman, and a woman with a young baby, which is suggestive of a pronatal bias.

Randomized controlled trial comparing two procedures for anterior vaginal wall prolapse.

Objective: To compare success rates between anterior colporrhaphy and abdominal paravaginal defect repair for treatment of anterior vaginal wall prolapse.

Methods: This was a prospective randomized controlled trial comparing anterior colporrhaphy plus polyglactin 910 mesh (vaginal) to paravaginal defect repair (abdominal) in women with symptomatic anterior vaginal wall prolapse. Pelvic organ prolapse quantification staging (POP-Q), pelvic floor distress inventory, pelvic floor impact questionnaire, and pelvic organ prolapse/urinary incontinence sexual questionnaires were administered pre and post-operatively.

Evaluation of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in experimentally inoculated sheep and determination of Anaplasma spp seroprevalence in 8 free-ranging sheep flocks in California and Oregon.

Objective: To evaluate disease progression in sheep experimentally inoculated with Anaplasma phagocytophilum and determine the Anaplasma spp seroprevalence in sheep in free-ranging flocks in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Oregon Coast Range.

Animals: 10 mature ewes seronegative for Anaplasma spp and 251 sheep from 8 flocks.

Procedures: 10 ewes received 1 of 3 treatments: A phagocytophilum Webster strain (n = 4), A phagocytophilum MRK strain (4), or human promyelocytic leukemia cells (control treatment [2]).

Pilot immunization of mice infected with an equine strain of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis.

This pilot study evaluated protection of an equine autogenous bacterin-toxoid vaccine against Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection. Twenty-four BALB/c mice were inoculated with two doses of bacterin-toxoid vaccine or two injections of a placebo. Clinical, microbiologic, and pathologic outcomes were assessed after intradermal infection with one of two equine-origin C.

Pharmacogenetic differences in response to albuterol between Puerto Ricans and Mexicans with asthma.

Background: In the United States, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans have the highest and lowest asthma prevalence, morbidity, and mortality, respectively. Ethnic-specific differences in the response to drug treatment may contribute to differences in disease outcomes. Genetic variants at the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (beta(2)AR) may modify asthma severity and albuterol responsiveness.

Particular HLA-DRB1 shared epitope genotypes are strongly associated with rheumatoid vasculitis.

Objective: To examine the relationship of the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope (SE) to rheumatoid vasculitis, using individual patient data (IPD) meta-analytic methods.

Methods: Published studies that enrolled adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were identified by searches of Medline and Embase, and by manual searches of medical journals. All authors were contacted for IPD.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: an illustrated, step-by-step guide.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses synthesize data from existing primary research, and well-conducted reviews offer clinicians a practical solution to the problem of staying current in their fields of interest. A whole generation of secondary journals, pre-appraised evidence libraries and periodically updated electronic texts are now available to clinicians. However, not all systematic reviews are of high quality, and it is important to be able to critically assess their validity and applicability.

Lack of association of the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope with rheumatoid nodules: an individual patient data meta-analysis of 3,272 Caucasian patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: The objective of this individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis was to examine the relationship of rheumatoid nodules to the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope (SE) and to individual SE genotypes.

Methods: English-language studies that enrolled adult non-Hispanic Caucasian patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were identified by searches of Medline and Embase, and by manual searches of medical journals. All authors were contacted for IPD.

Impact of shared epitope genotype and ethnicity on erosive disease: a meta-analysis of 3,240 rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: The strongest known genetic association in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is with HLA-DRB1 alleles that share a similar amino acid sequence, termed the shared epitope (SE). Although many studies have examined the association of the SE with disease severity, the results have been inconsistent, which may reflect the relatively small sample sizes or ethnic differences. The aim of this study was to assess the association of HLA-DRB1 SE alleles and genotype with the development of bony erosions in RA by meta-analysis.

Responsiveness and discriminative capacity of the assessments in ankylosing spondylitis disease-controlling antirheumatic therapy core set and other outcome measures in a trial of etanercept in ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: To investigate the responsiveness and discriminative capacity, and the relationship between both, of instruments selected for the disease-controlling antirheumatic therapy (DC-ART) core set by the Assessments in Ankylosing Spondylitis Working Group (ASAS).

Methods: Responsiveness and discriminative capacity of different measures reflecting disease activity and function, either included in the ASAS DC-ART core set or not, were evaluated in a randomized controlled clinical trial comparing etanercept with placebo in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Guyatt's method was used as the primary analysis for responsiveness, and Student's t-test for discriminative capacity.

Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis by inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Background: There are few effective treatments for ankylosing spondylitis, which causes substantial morbidity. Because of the central role of tumor necrosis factor alpha in the spondyloarthritides, we performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of etanercept, a recombinant human tumor necrosis factor receptor (p75):Fc fusion protein, in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Methods: Forty patients with active, inflammatory ankylosing spondylitis were randomly assigned to receive twice-weekly subcutaneous injections of etanercept (25 mg) or placebo for four months.