Development and evaluation of a software system for medical students to teach and practice anamnestic interviews with virtual patient avatars.

Background And Objectives: Taking a medical history is a core competence of the diagnostic process. At the beginning of their study medical students need to learn and practice the necessary techniques, initially focusing on good structuring and completeness. For this purpose, an interactive software system (ViPATalk) was developed in which the student can train to pose questions to virtual patient avatars in free conversation.

Response of maize biomass and soil water fluxes on elevated CO and drought-From field experiments to process-based simulations.

The rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO ) is known to increase the total aboveground biomass of several C3 crops, whereas C4 crops are reported to be hardly affected when water supply is sufficient. However, a free-air carbon enrichment (FACE) experiment in Braunschweig, Germany, in 2007 and 2008 resulted in a 25% increased biomass of the C4 crop maize under restricted water conditions and elevated CO (550 ppm). To project future yields of maize under climate change, an accurate representation of the effects of eCO and drought on biomass and soil water conditions is essential.

Globally consistent influences of seasonal precipitation limit grassland biomass response to elevated CO.

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration should stimulate biomass production directly via biochemical stimulation of carbon assimilation, and indirectly via water savings caused by increased plant water-use efficiency. Because of these water savings, the CO fertilization effect (CFE) should be stronger at drier sites, yet large differences among experiments in grassland biomass response to elevated CO appear to be unrelated to annual precipitation, preventing useful generalizations. Here, we show that, as predicted, the impact of elevated CO on biomass production in 19 globally distributed temperate grassland experiments reduces as mean precipitation in seasons other than spring increases, but that it rises unexpectedly as mean spring precipitation increases.

Thymic pathologies in myasthenia gravis: a preoperative assessment of CAT scan and nuclear based imaging.

Precise diagnostic work up of a suspected thymic pathology in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) is very important for potential surgical implications and further disease course. In this study the diagnostic value of combined preoperative radiological (CAT scan) and nuclear based imaging (octreotide and thallium scintigraphy) in patients with MG was evaluated. Twenty four patients were included.

Preview. SKPing a hurdle: Sox2 and adult dermal stem cells.

In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Biernaskie et al. (2009) demonstrate that a specific subpopulation of dermal papilla fibroblasts, marked by Sox2 expression, displays properties of adult stem cells, including serial hair follicle initiation, dermal cell differentiation, and skin-derived precursor production.

Keratins and protein synthesis: the plot thickens.

In addition to protecting epithelial cells from mechanical stress, keratins regulate cytoarchitecture, cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and organelle transport. In this issue, Vijayaraj et al. (2009.

Interaction between the keratin cytoskeleton and eEF1Bgamma affects protein synthesis in epithelial cells.

Eukaryotic elongation factor-1 (eEF1) is essential for peptide-chain elongation during translation. We report that its gamma subunit (eEF1Bgamma) specifically binds, and bundles, keratin intermediate filaments. Disrupting this interaction depresses translation by approximately 20% and selectively increases 80S ribosomes in epithelial cells, an outcome recapitulated by RNA interference-mediated silencing of eEF1Bgamma.

Actions of two naturally occurring saturated N-acyldopamines on transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channels.

Four long-chain, linear fatty acid dopamides (N-acyldopamines) have been identified in nervous bovine and rat tissues. Two unsaturated members of this family of lipids, N-arachidonoyl-dopamine (NADA) and N-oleoyl-dopamine, were shown to potently activate the transient receptor potential channel type V1 (TRPV1), also known as the vanilloid receptor type 1 for capsaicin. However, the other two congeners, N-palmitoyl- and N-stearoyl-dopamine (PALDA and STEARDA), are inactive on TRPV1.