Clinical and immunological characteristics of 150 systemic lupus erythematosus patients in Jamaica: a comparative analysis.

Background Epidemiological studies in systemic lupus erythematosus have been reported in the literature in many countries and ethnic groups. Although systemic lupus erythematosus in Jamaica has been described in the past, there has not been a detailed evaluation of systemic lupus erythematosus patients in urban Jamaica, a largely Afro-Caribbean population. The goal of this study was to describe the clinical features, particularly disease activity, damage index and immunological features, of 150 systemic lupus erythematosus subjects.

A case of Candida orthopsilosis associated septic arthritis in a patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

We report a case of persistent Candida orthopsilosis associated septic arthritis. Repeated isolation of C. orthopsilosis from tissue and joint fluid was confirmed by identification of the ITS region of the rRNA gene using a Candida-Specific Luminex based assay and gene sequencing of the D1/D2 regions.

Defining the palliative care patient: a systematic review.

Background: The lack of a clear definition of the palliative care patient hampers the comparison of results across different studies and impedes implementation of research findings in everyday practice.

Aim: The aim of this article is to propose minimum characteristics that define a palliative care patient.

Design: The design involved a systematic review of medical literature searching randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in palliative care for clear descriptions of their palliative care patients.

Morphological changes in the small intestinal smooth muscle layers of horses suffering from small intestinal strangulation. Is there a basis for predisposition for reduced contractility?

Reasons For Performing Study: Intestinal strangulation often leads to enterectomy after which ileus can develop. This has prompted research to look into possible pathophysiological processes triggering equine ileus. However, morphological changes of the small intestinal smooth muscle in relation to equine colic have not yet been studied.

The use of slaughterhouse-obtained small intestinal tissue as control material in histological studies should be applied with prudence.

This study aimed to evaluate the reliability of slaughterhouse-obtained small intestinal tissue as control material in equine colic research where molecular stress responses in small intestinal tissue are investigated. For this purpose, small intestinal samples from colic horses were collected during surgery or immediately after euthanasia at the oral border of strangulation resection sites and routinely processed for histopathology (i.c.