Interactive decision support for risk management: a qualitative evaluation in cancer genetic counselling sessions.

Genetic counselling for inherited susceptibility to cancer involves communication of a significant amount of information about possible consequences of different interventions. This study explores counsellors' attitudes to computer software designed to aid this process. Eight genetic counsellors used the software with actors playing patients.

Living with the anorexic voice: a thematic analysis.

Objectives: A factor said to drive the behaviours of people with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa is the inner voice some recount hearing. However, little systematic examination has been made of this entity. The study aimed to investigate experiences of and reflections on living with an anorexic voice.

PEGylation of a maltose biosensor promotes enhanced signal response when immobilized in a silica sol-gel.

A robust method to immobilize a maltose biosensor is described using an engineered maltose periplasmic binding protein (PBP) covalently coupled to NBDamide, an environmentally sensitive fluorophore. A mesoporous silica sol-gel derived from diglycerylsilane (DGS) was constructed to embed the maltose biosensor, and the ligand reporting fluorescence properties were measured. When sequestered in the DGS-derived silica matrix, the biosensor retained maltose-dependent fluorescence sensing capability with micromolar affinity, which is consistent with the protein free in solution.

Antagonists of the calcium receptor. 2. Amino alcohol-based parathyroid hormone secretagogues.

When administered as a single agent to rats, the previously reported calcium receptor antagonist 3 elicited a sustained elevation of plasma PTH resulting in no increase in overall bone mineral density. The lack of a bone building effect for analogue 3 was attributed to the large volume of distribution (V(dss)(rat) = 11 L/kg), producing a protracted plasma PTH profile. Incorporation of a carboxylic acid functionality into the amino alcohol template led to the identification of 12 with a lower volume of distribution (V(dss)(12) = 1.

ST-segment depression in aVR as a predictor of culprit artery and infarct size in acute inferior wall ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Background: ST-segment depression in lead aVR in acute inferior wall ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has recently been suggested as a predictor of left circumflex (LCx) artery involvement. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical significance of aVR depression during inferior wall STEMI.

Methods: This study included 106 consecutive patients who presented with inferior wall STEMI and underwent urgent coronary angiogram.

An orally active calcium-sensing receptor antagonist that transiently increases plasma concentrations of PTH and stimulates bone formation.

Daily subcutaneous administration of exogenous parathyroid hormone (PTH) promotes bone formation in patients with osteoporosis. Here we describe two novel, short-acting calcium-sensing receptor antagonists (SB-423562 and its orally bioavailable precursor, SB-423557) that elicit transient PTH release from the parathyroid gland in several preclinical species and in humans. In an ovariectomized rat model of bone loss, daily oral administration of SB-423557 promoted bone formation and improved parameters of bone strength at lumbar spine, proximal tibia and midshaft femur.

Genome-wide association study identifies variants in the ABO locus associated with susceptibility to pancreatic cancer.

We conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study of pancreatic cancer, a cancer with one of the lowest survival rates worldwide. We genotyped 558,542 SNPs in 1,896 individuals with pancreatic cancer and 1,939 controls drawn from 12 prospective cohorts plus one hospital-based case-control study. We conducted a combined analysis of these groups plus an additional 2,457 affected individuals and 2,654 controls from eight case-control studies, adjusting for study, sex, ancestry and five principal components.

Eating disorders: a basic emotion perspective.

Recent research and theory have started to highlight how eating disorder symptoms are often used to regulate painful emotions. However, there has not been one study that has looked at the contributory effect of all the basic emotions onto disordered eating patterns. This study was designed to address this gap within the literature with a detailed examination of the five basic emotions (anger, sadness, disgust, fear and happiness) in relation to disordered eating patterns.

Eating disorders and multi-level models of emotion: an integrated model.

This paper examines the relationship between emotions, depression and eating disorders. Initially, a review is undertaken of the current state of the research and clinical literature with regard to emotional factors in eating disorders. This literature is then integrated within a version of the multi-level model of emotion proposed by Power and Dalgleish.

A qualitative exploration of the perception of emotions in anorexia nervosa: a basic emotion and developmental perspective.

Difficulties in emotional processing have long been regarded as a core difficulty within anorexia nervosa. Recent research and theory have started to highlight how eating disorder symptoms are often used to regulate painful emotions. However, there has been a lack of theoretical sophistication in how emotions have been considered within the eating disorders.

Perception of threat from emotions and its role in poor emotional expression within eating pathology.

Recent research has documented links between eating disorder (ED) symptomatology and emotional expression deficits. Relevant theoretical models have alluded to the functional role of disordered eating in alleviating affect that is felt to be otherwise unmanageable and threatening. Nevertheless, research examining ED individuals' perceptions of emotional states has been sparse, while empirical studies have predominantly focused on global conceptualizations of emotion, failing to address discrete affect states.

Illness perceptions in anorexia nervosa: a qualitative investigation.

Objectives: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterized by the egosyntonic nature of symptoms, denial of illness, and ambivalence about treatment engagement. Within the physical health literature, people's beliefs about their illness have been found to impact upon coping and treatment outcomes and this has largely been explored using the self-regulation model. This model has also been applied to mental health and more recently to AN, with beliefs about the disorder being associated with readiness to change.

Antagonists of the calcium receptor I. Amino alcohol-based parathyroid hormone secretagogues.

Functional screening of the former SmithKline Beecham compound collection against the human calcium receptor (CaR) resulted in the identification of the amino alcohol-based hit 2 (IC(50) = 11 microM). Structure-activity studies of 2 focused on the optimization of the right- and left-hand side aromatic moieties as well as the amino alcohol linker region. Critical to the optimization of this antagonist template was the discovery that the chirality of the C-2 secondary alcohol played a key role in enhancing both CaR potency as well as selectivity over the beta-adrenergic receptor subtypes.

Cardioscopic tricuspid valve repair in a beating ovine heart.

Background: Open heart surgery is commonly associated with cardiopulmonary bypass and cardioplegic arrest. The attendant risks of cardiopulmonary bypass may be prohibitive in high-risk patients. We present a novel endoscopic technique of performing tricuspid valve repair without cardiopulmonary bypass in a beating ovine heart.

Randomized controlled trial of ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous catheter placement versus traditional techniques in difficult-access pediatric patients.

Objectives: We hypothesized that the use of ultrasound guidance would improve the success rate of peripheral intravenous catheter placement in pediatric patients with difficult access in a pediatric emergency department (ED). Our secondary hypotheses were that ultrasound guidance would reduce the number of attempts, the number of needle redirections, and the overall time to catheter placement.

Methods: This was a prospective randomized study of pediatric ED patients younger than 10 years old requiring intravenous access, presenting between August 2006 and May 2007.

Multivessel coronary artery thrombosis.

Simultaneous thrombosis of multiple epicardial coronary arteries is an uncommon clinical finding in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We describe a 37-year-old male present with inferior wall STEMI who was found to have large thrombi in both the right coronary artery (RCA) and the left anterior descending artery (LAD). We reviewed 23 patients with multivessel thrombosis in acute myocardial infarction in the literature.

A qualitative exploration of emotional inhibition: a basic emotions and developmental perspective.

In recent years, emotional inhibition (EI) has come to be regarded as an important transdiagnostic concept within cognitive-behavioural theories/therapies. However, there is still a paucity of empirical knowledge on understanding EI's development, maintenance and consequences within psychopathology. It was due to this lack of research that this study used an exploratory/qualitative approach to investigate EI.

Prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy: A randomized controlled trial of sodium bicarbonate and N-acetylcysteine.

Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) continues to be a common cause of acute renal failure in high-risk patients undergoing radiocontrast studies. However, there is still a lack of consensus regarding the most effective measures to prevent CIN.

Methods: ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS AND/OR RENAL INSUFFICIENCY, SCHEDULED FOR CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY OR INTERVENTION, WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO ONE OF FOUR TREATMENT GROUPS: intravenous (IV) 0.

The relation of anger to disgust: the potential role of coupled emotions within eating pathology.

Objective: difficulties with anger and disgust have been highlighted within females with eating pathology (FEP). However, research has not investigated whether FEP experience greater levels of anger compared to controls or how these two emotions may interact in FEP. It was predicted that FEP would show significantly higher levels of state anger and this would also lead to a significant increase in disgust for FEP.

Real-time visualization and quantification of retrograde cardioplegia delivery using near infrared fluorescent imaging.

Background And Aim: Homogeneous delivery of cardioplegia is essential for myocardial protection during cardiac surgery. Presently, there exist no established methods to quantitatively assess cardioplegia distribution intraoperatively and determine when retrograde cardioplegia is required. In this study, we evaluate the feasibility of near infrared (NIR) imaging for real-time visualization of cardioplegia distribution in a porcine model.

Education level moderates learning on two versions of the Iowa Gambling Task.

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is the major plank of behavioral support for the Somatic Marker Hypothesis--a prominent theory of emotionally-based decision making. Despite its widespread use, some have questioned the ecological and discriminative validity of the IGT because a substantial proportion of neurologically-normal adults display a response pattern indistinguishable from those with ventromedial prefrontal cortical brain lesions. In a large sample of healthy adults, we examined the statistical influence of several demographic variables on two versions of the IGT, with the specific prediction that educational attainment would moderate learning across trials.

Real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in valve disease: comparison with surgical findings and evaluation of prosthetic valves.

Background: Recently, a novel real-time 3-dimensional (3D) matrix-array transesophageal echocardiographic (3D-MTEE) probe was found to be highly effective in the evaluation of native mitral valves (MVs) and other intracardiac structures, including the interatrial septum and left atrial appendage. However, the ability to visualize prosthetic valves using this transducer has not been evaluated. Moreover, the diagnostic accuracy of this new technology has never been validated against surgical findings.