Infection with Helicobacter pylori is associated with protection against tuberculosis.

Background: Helicobacter pylori, a lifelong and typically asymptomatic infection of the stomach, profoundly alters gastric immune responses, and may benefit the host in protection against other pathogens. We explored the hypothesis that H. pylori contributes to the control of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The course of intracranial pressure in traumatic brain injury: relation with outcome and CT-characteristics.

Background: One of the predictive factors of outcome in traumatic brain injury is high intracranial pressure (ICP). Recently, the time course of ICP has been described but few data are available on the relation of these ICP profiles and outcome. The aim of this study is to investigate the relation of the time course of ICP with CT-findings and outcome.

Immunogenicity of antigens from the TbD1 region present in M. africanum and missing from "modern" M. tuberculosis: a cross- sectional study.

Background: Currently available tools cannot be used to distinguish between sub-species of the M. tuberculosis complex causing latent tuberculosis (TB) infection. M.

Differences between tuberculosis cases infected with Mycobacterium africanum, West African type 2, relative to Euro-American Mycobacterium tuberculosis: an update.

Mycobacterium africanum (MAF) is a common cause of human pulmonary tuberculosis in West Africa. We previously described phenotypic differences between MAF and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) among 290 patients. In the present analysis, we compared 692 tuberculosis patients infected with the two most common lineages within the (MTB) complex found in the Gambia, namely MAF West African type 2 (39% prevalence) and Euro-American MTB (55% prevalence).

A foodborne norovirus outbreak at a manufacturing company.

Over 400 office workers from the same unit of a manufacturing company in Stockholm County, Sweden, fell ill with gastroenteritis. A retrospective cohort study of office workers in the affected unit demonstrated that canteen visitors on one day had an increased risk of illness [risk ratio (RR) 27.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 15.

Impaired visual processing preceding image recognition in Parkinson's disease patients with visual hallucinations.

Impaired visual processing may play a role in the pathophysiology of visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease. In order to study involved neuronal circuitry, we assessed cerebral activation patterns both before and during recognition of gradually revealed images in Parkinson's disease patients with visual hallucinations (PDwithVHs), Parkinson's disease patients without visual hallucinations (PDnonVHs) and healthy controls. We hypothesized that, before image recognition, PDwithVHs would show reduced bottom-up visual activation in occipital-temporal areas and increased (pre)frontal activation, reflecting increased top-down demand.

Supervised learning for the automated transcription of spacer classification from spoligotype films.

Background: Molecular genotyping of bacteria has revolutionized the study of tuberculosis epidemiology, yet these established laboratory techniques typically require subjective and laborious interpretation by trained professionals. In the context of a Tuberculosis Case Contact study in The Gambia we used a reverse hybridization laboratory assay called spoligotype analysis. To facilitate processing of spoligotype images we have developed tools and algorithms to automate the classification and transcription of these data directly to a database while allowing for manual editing.

Clinical implications of cerebral reorganisation after primary digital flexor tendon repair.

After flexor tendon injury, most attention is given to the quality of the tendon repair and postoperative early passive dynamic mobilisation. Schemes for active mobilisation have been developed to prevent tendon adhesions and joint stiffness. This paper describes five patients to demonstrate the cerebral consequences of immobilisation allowing only passive movements, which implies a prolonged absence of actual motor commands.

Changes in cerebral activations during movement execution and imagery after parietal cortex TMS interleaved with 3T MRI.

The left parietal cortex contributes to goal-directed hand movement. In this study, we targeted this region with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to assess the effects on a wider distributed circuitry related to motor control. Ten healthy subjects underwent 3 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with interleaved TMS.

Respiratory pathogens in respiratory tract illnesses during the first year of life: a birth cohort study.

Background: Respiratory virus infections are the most important trigger of respiratory illnesses in childhood. Data on the occurrence and the clinical impact of respiratory pathogens in the general population of infants are scarce. Therefore, we described the occurrence and clinical impact of respiratory pathogens in infants with respiratory tract infections during the first year of life.

Changes in the penile arteries of the rat after fractionated irradiation of the prostate: a pilot study.

Introduction: External beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer leads to erectile dysfunction in 36%-43% of patients. The underlying mechanism is largely unknown, although some clinical studies suggest that the arterial supply to the corpora cavernosa is responsible. Two animal experimental studies reported on the effects of a single fraction of prostate irradiation on the penile structures.

Acute-phase responsiveness of mannose-binding lectin in community-acquired pneumonia is highly dependent upon MBL2 genotypes.

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a pattern recognition receptor of the complement system and plays an important role in innate immunity. Whether or not MBL acts as an acute-phase response protein in infection has been an issue of extensive debate, because MBL responses have shown a high degree of heterogeneity. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter (wild-type Y versus X) and exon 1 (A versus 0) of the MBL2 gene can lead to MBL deficiency.

Higher capillary electrophoresis injection settings as an efficient approach to increase the sensitivity of STR typing.

Evidentiary traces may contain low quantities of DNA, and regularly incomplete short tandem repeat (STR) profiles are obtained. In this study, higher capillary electrophoresis injection settings were used to efficiently improve incomplete STR profiles generated from low-level DNA samples under standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) conditions. The method involves capillary electrophoresis with higher injection voltage and extended injection time.

Respiratory symptoms in young infancy: child, parent and physician related determinants of drug prescription in primary care.

Purpose: Respiratory symptoms account for the majority of drug prescriptions in the first year of life. We investigated the influence of child, parent and physician factors on drug prescriptions for respiratory symptoms in primary care in infancy.

Methods: Infants participated in the WHeezing Illnesses STudy LEidsche Rijn (WHISTLER), a prospective birth cohort on respiratory illnesses.

Effects of motor imagery on hand function during immobilization after flexor tendon repair.

Objective: To determine whether motor imagery during the immobilization period after flexor tendon injury results in a faster recovery of central mechanisms of hand function.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Tertiary referral hospital.

Sensitivity and specificity of the 3-item memory test in the assessment of post traumatic amnesia.

Primary Objective: To investigate how the type of stimulus (pictures or words) and the method of reproduction (free recall or recognition after a short or a long delay) affect the sensitivity and specificity of a 3-item memory test in the assessment of post traumatic amnesia (PTA).

Methods: Daily testing was performed in 64 consecutively admitted traumatic brain injured patients, 22 orthopedically injured patients and 26 healthy controls until criteria for resolution of PTA were reached. Subjects were randomly assigned to a test with visual or verbal stimuli.

[Reproductive phenology of tree species in the Tenosique tropical forest, Tabasco, Mexico].

Between August 2003 and August 2005 we registered the flowering and fruiting of 75 tree species (341 individual trees) in a tropical rain forest at Tenosique, Tabasco, Mexico. Monthly we checked five transects (500 m long; 5 m wide). To test the homogeneity of flowering and fruiting during the year, and between adjacent months, we applied a chi2 test.

Use of spoligotyping and large sequence polymorphisms to study the population structure of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in a cohort study of consecutive smear-positive tuberculosis cases in The Gambia.

Mycobacterium africanum, first described in Senegal in 1968, causes up to half of the smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases in West Africa, but it has not been found in other geographical areas except among recent West African migrants. The reasons for the geographic restriction of M. africanum are unknown.

Hemolytic assay for the measurement of functional human mannose-binding lectin: a modification to avoid interference from classical pathway activation.

Diagnostic assays for measurement of functional mannose-binding lectin (MBL) in serum are widely performed as part of immune status assessment. Classical pathway mediated complement activity can interfere in these functional MBL assays. Here we describe classical pathway interference incidentally occurring in a previously described hemolytic MBL assay and the modification of this assay to prevent this artifact by addition of anti-C1q antibodies.

Overlap and segregation in predorsal premotor cortex activations related to free selection of self-referenced and target-based finger movements.

In reaching movements, parietal contributions can be distinguished that are based on representations of external space and body scheme. By functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined 16 healthy subjects to see whether such segregation similarly exists in the frontal lobes when visuomotor actions are not specified but when free choices are allowed. Free selection was button based (target based) or finger based (self-referenced), with invariant instructions as control.

Changes in striatal dopamine D2 receptor binding in pre-clinical Huntington's disease.

Background: Carriers of the Huntington disease (HD) mutation develop a progressive neurodegenerative disorder after a pre-clinical phase. We examined the value of (11)C-raclopride PET (RAC) as a biomarker for pre-clinical HD pathophysiology.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study with clinical and neuropsychological assessment we collected complete RAC data in 18 pre-clinical mutation carriers (HD-PMC) and 11 controls.

A food-borne outbreak of cryptosporidiosis among guests and staff at a hotel restaurant in Stockholm county, Sweden, September 2008.

In September 2008, 21 cases of cryptosporidiosis occurred among guests and staff at a wedding reception in a hotel restaurant in Stockholm county, Sweden. The most probable source of the outbreak was bearnaise sauce containing chopped fresh parsley.