Etidronate for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women.

Background: Osteoporosis is an abnormal reduction in bone mass and bone deterioration, leading to increased fracture risk. Etidronate belongs to the bisphosphonate class of drugs which act to inhibit bone resorption by interfering with the activity of osteoclasts - bone cells that break down bone tissue. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2008.

Risedronate for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women.

Background: Osteoporosis is an abnormal reduction in bone mass and bone deterioration leading to increased fracture risk. Risedronate belongs to the bisphosphonate class of drugs which act to inhibit bone resorption by interfering with the activity of osteoclasts. This is an update of a Cochrane Review that was originally published in 2003.

[18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT imaging as a marker of carotid plaque inflammation: Comparison to immunohistology and relationship to acuity of events.

Background: [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake imaged with positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) may serve as a biomarker of plaque inflammation. This study evaluated the relationship between carotid plaque FDG uptake and a) intraplaque expression of macrophage and macrophage-like cellular CD68 immunohistology; b) intraplaque inflammatory burden using leukocyte-sensitive CD45 immunohistology; c) symptomatic patient presentation; d) time from last cerebrovascular event.

Methods: 54 patients scheduled for carotid endarterectomy underwent FDG PET/CT imaging.

Testosterone therapy in hypogonadal men: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Objective: To assess the relative effects of individual testosterone products among hypogonadal men.

Design: Systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, and grey literature (25 May 2017) for randomised-controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomised studies (NRS) that involved hypogonadal men given testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for ≥3 months.

Triptans in the Acute Treatment of Migraine: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.

Background: Although triptans are widely used in the acute management of migraine, there is uncertainty around the comparative efficacy of triptans among each other and vs non-triptan migraine treatments. We conducted systematic reviews and network meta-analyses to compare the relative efficacy of triptans (alone or in combination with other drugs) for acute treatment of migraines compared with other triptan agents, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), acetaminophen, ergots, opioids, or anti-emetics.

Methods: The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE were searched for randomized controlled trials that compared triptans (alone or in combination with other drugs) with placebo-controlled or active migraine treatments.

Divergent properties of prolamins in wheat and maize.

Cereal grains are an important nutritional source of amino acids for humans and livestock worldwide. Wheat, barley, and oats belong to a different subfamily of the grasses than rice and in addition to maize, millets, sugarcane, and sorghum. All their seeds, however, are largely devoid of free amino acids because they are stored during dormancy in specialized storage proteins.

Changes in body weight and psychotropic drugs: a systematic synthesis of the literature.

Introduction: Psychotropic medication use is associated with weight gain. While there are studies and reviews comparing weight gain for psychotropics within some classes, clinicians frequently use drugs from different classes to treat psychiatric disorders.

Objective: To undertake a systematic review of all classes of psychotropics to provide an all encompassing evidence-based tool that would allow clinicians to determine the risks of weight gain in making both intra-class and interclass choices of psychotropics.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Studies of cardiac resynchronization therapy in addition to an implantable cardioverter defibrillator in patients with mild to moderate congestive heart failure had not been shown to reduce mortality until the recent RAFT trial (Resynchronization/Defibrillation for Ambulatory Heart Failure Trial). We performed a meta-analysis including the RAFT trial to determine the effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy with or without an implantable defibrillator on mortality.

Methods: We searched electronic databases and other sources for reports of randomized trials using a parallel or crossover design.

Assessing quality of sleep in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

We sought to identify instruments assessing sleep quality that measure the domains of sleep applicable to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and are feasible to use and have appropriate reliability, validity, and responsiveness properties. A systematic review of sleep instruments was conducted. In particular, domains related to sleep that were assessed in the instruments were identified and evaluated.

Herbicide resistance screening assay.

Herbicide resistance screening is a method that can be used not only to determine presence of the enzyme, phosphinothricin acetyltransferase, encoded by either the Bar or the Pat gene in transgenic maize, but also to assess the inheritance ratio of those genes in a segregating population. Herbicide screening can also be used to study linkage of a transgene of interest that was cotransformed with the herbicide resistance marker gene. By combining the herbicide screen assay with a PCR-based screen of leaf tissue DNA for the presence of both the Bar or the Pat gene marker and a cotransformed transgene of interest from the same seedling tissue and maintaining that seedling identity, the researcher can identify linkage or the possible breakdown in linkage of the marker gene and the transgene of interest.

External validation of a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews (AMSTAR).

Background: Thousands of systematic reviews have been conducted in all areas of health care. However, the methodological quality of these reviews is variable and should routinely be appraised. AMSTAR is a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews.

Transgenic maize endosperm containing a milk protein has improved amino acid balance.

In order to meet the protein nutrition needs of the world population, greater reliance on plant protein sources will become necessary. The amino acid balance of most plant protein sources does not match the nutritional requirements of monogastric animals, limiting their nutritional value. In cereals, the essential amino acid lysine is deficient.

A wheat genomic DNA fragment reduces pollen transmission of maize transgenes by reducing pollen viability.

A genomic DNA fragment from wheat carrying the Glu-1Dx5 gene has been shown to exhibit reduced pollen transmission in transgenic maize. To localize the region of the DNA fragment responsible for this reduced pollen transmission, we produced transgenic maize plants in which the wheat genomic DNA proximal to the 1Dx5 coding sequence was replaced with the maize 27 kDa gamma-zein promoter. Like the wheat promoter-driven Glu-1Dx5 transgene, this zein promoter-driven transgene functioned to produce 1Dx5 in maize endosperm.

Quantification of compartmented metabolic fluxes in developing soybean embryos by employing biosynthetically directed fractional (13)C labeling, two-dimensional [(13)C, (1)H] nuclear magnetic resonance, and comprehensive isotopomer balancing.

Metabolic flux quantification in plants is instrumental in the detailed understanding of metabolism but is difficult to perform on a systemic level. Toward this aim, we report the development and application of a computer-aided metabolic flux analysis tool that enables the concurrent evaluation of fluxes in several primary metabolic pathways. Labeling experiments were performed by feeding a mixture of U-(13)C Suc, naturally abundant Suc, and Gln to developing soybean (Glycine max) embryos.

Meta-analyses of therapies for postmenopausal osteoporosis. VII. Meta-analysis of calcium supplementation for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Objective: To summarize controlled trials examining the effect of calcium on bone density and fractures in postmenopausal women.

Data Source: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE up to 1998 and the Cochrane Controlled Register up to 2000, and we examined citations of relevant articles and proceedings of international meetings. We contacted osteoporosis investigators to identify additional studies, and primary authors for unpublished data.

Meta-analyses of therapies for postmenopausal osteoporosis. V. Meta-analysis of the efficacy of hormone replacement therapy in treating and preventing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

Objective: To review the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on bone density and fractures in postmenopausal women.

Data Source: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE from 1966 to 1999, the Cochrane Controlled Register, citations of relevant articles, and proceedings of international meetings for eligible randomized controlled trials. We contacted osteoporosis investigators to identify additional studies, and primary authors for unpublished data.

Ca(2+)-binding proteins of cilia and infraciliary lattice of Paramecium tetraurelia: their phosphorylation by purified endogenous Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinases.

We purified two small, acidic calcium-binding proteins (Paramecium Ca(2+)-binding proteins, PCBP-25alpha and PCBP-25beta) from Paramecium tetraurelia by Ca(2+)-dependent chromatography on phenyl-Sepharose and by anion-exchange chromatography. The proteins were immunologically distinct. Monoclonal antibodies against PCBP-25beta did not react with PCBP-25alpha, and antibodies against centrin from Chlamydomonas reacted with PCBP-25alpha but not with PCBP-25beta.