Measures of health-related quality of life for adults with acute sinusitis. A systematic review.

Context: Symptoms suggestive of acute sinusitis are a common reason for patients to visit primary care providers. Since objective measures of outcome have not been shown to be related to patient reported outcomes, measures of treatment success have focused on symptom relief and improved health-related quality of life (HRQL). Assessing the appropriate role of treatment - for example, antibiotics for patients with acute sinusitis - requires valid, reliable, and responsive measures of outcome.

Muscle activity in pilots with and without pressure breathing during acceleration.

Background: Fighter pilots are frequently exposed to high acceleration (+Gz) forces during sorties. To counter these forces the pilots wear anti-G ensembles, use positive pressure breathing for G protection (PBG), and perform anti-G straining maneuvers (AGSMs). The purpose of this study was to analyze the muscle activity during sustained high G when no positive pressure breathing was used (control) compared with that during the use of PBG.

Neck muscle activity in helicopter pilots: effect of position and helmet-mounted equipment.

Background: Helicopter pilots usually work in unfavorable ergonomic positions, often with bulky head-worn equipment during flying missions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare immediate muscle response in the dorsal neck muscles to different positions with a variety of head-worn equipment.

Methods: Fourteen healthy male helicopter pilots volunteered for this study.

Prison hospice and pastoral care services in California.

Hospice at the California Medical Facility (CMF) Vacaville dates back to the mid-1980s, when the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic began to be felt throughout California's Department of Corrections. Vacaville has served for decades as the principal location for delivering health services to California's incarcerated men. Informal hospice-like services were inspired by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and through inmate and community calls for more humane care for dying inmates.

Changing use of antibiotics in community-based outpatient practice, 1991-1999.

Background: Judicious use of antibiotics can slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance. However, overall patterns of antibiotic use among ambulatory patients are not well understood.

Objective: To study patterns of outpatient antibiotic use in the United States, focusing on broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Prevalence of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction: can results from specialized centers be generalized?

Recent studies suggest a high prevalence of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD) in patients referred to specialized centers for sphincter of Oddi manometry (SOM). Whether these results can be generalized to other centers is unknown. From September 1998 to April 2000, patients undergoing SOM were prospectively identified.

Skin cooling before periocular botulinum toxin A injection.

Purpose: To determine if skin cooling decreases the pain associated with periocular botulinum toxin A injections.

Methods: In this prospective study, 14 patients given bilateral periocular injections for blepharospasm or wrinkle reduction were included. Prior to the injections, one side received a skin cooling agent and the other side served as the control.

Diagnostic yield and clinical implications of push enteroscopy: results from a nonspecialized center.

BACKGROUND Push enteroscopy is increasingly used as an investigative tool for the evaluation of gastrointestinal bleeding, and studies from specialized centers have shown an overall diagnostic yield of push enteroscopy in such patients ranging from 38% to 75%. The aim of our study was to characterize the yield and clinical effect of push enteroscopy to determine the applicability of prior observations to other academic centers. STUDY We retrospectively studied patients who underwent push enteroscopy between January 1995 and December 2000 at our institution.

Hospice care for the incarcerated in the United States: an introduction.

Prison populations throughout the Unites States are growing; the 1990s saw an average 6.5% per year increase. Average inmate age is increasing, as are both the number and rate of inmate deaths.

A new hydrostatic anti-G suit vs. a pneumatic anti-G system: preliminary comparison.

Hypothesis: A newly developed hydrostatic anti-G suit is now commercially available. The suit is said to offer a high level of protection against +Gz acceleration. However, past experience shows that it is difficult to produce a hydrostatic suit with effective high-G protection.

A GAF-domain-regulated adenylyl cyclase from Anabaena is a self-activating cAMP switch.

The gene cyaB1 from the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 codes for a protein consisting of two N-terminal GAF domains (GAF-A and GAF-B), a PAS domain and a class III adenylyl cyclase catalytic domain. The catalytic domain is active as a homodimer, as demonstrated by reconstitution from complementary inactive point mutants.

Depression predicts disability in long-term chronic pain patients.

Purpose: Investigators have examined factors that predict treatment outcome and disability status in chronic pain patients, including psychopathology and personality characteristics with equivocal results. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of personality characteristics, depression, and personality disorders in predicting disability status in pain patients with long-term follow-up. The setting was a rehabilitation hospital in Southern Sweden.

Guanylyl cyclases in unicellular organisms.

Guanylyl cyclases in eukaryotic unicells were biochemically investigated in the ciliates Paramecium and Tetrahymena, in the malaria parasite Plasmodium and in the ameboid Dictyostelium. In ciliates guanylyl cyclase activity is calcium-regulated suggesting a structural kinship to similarly regulated membrane-bound guanylyl cyclases in vertebrates. Yet, cloning of ciliate guanylyl cyclases revealed a novel combination of known modular building blocks.

Antibiotic treatment of acute bronchitis in smokers: a systematic review.

Objective: Community physicians in the United States prescribe antibiotics to 80% to 90% of smokers with acute bronchitis. We performed a systematic review of the literature to determine the efficacy of antibiotics for smokers with acute bronchitis.

Design: A medline search was done using the keywords bronchitis, cough, and antibiotics to identify English language articles published from January 1966 to September 2001.

Adenylyl cyclase Rv1264 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis has an autoinhibitory N-terminal domain.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis contains 15 class III adenylyl cyclase genes. The gene Rv1264 is predicted to be composed of two distinct protein modules. The C terminus seems to code for a catalytic domain belonging to a subfamily of adenylyl cyclase isozymes mostly found in Gram-positive bacteria.

Antibiotic treatment of adults with sore throat by community primary care physicians: a national survey, 1989-1999.

Context: Most sore throats are due to viral upper respiratory tract infections. Group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GABHS), the only common cause of sore throat warranting antibiotics, is cultured in 5% to 17% of adults with sore throat. The frequency of antibiotic use for pharyngitis has greatly exceeded the prevalence of GABHS, but less is known about specific classes of antibiotics used.

Sage advice. Experienced physician executives share the secrets of their success. Interview by David O. Weber.

Seven successful physician executives, now retired from distinguished careers, look back over their experiences and offer advice for those who follow. Be a good doctor first, and never let business interests undermine the ethics of the health care profession. Prepare for management responsibilities with business training.

Adenylyl cyclase Rv1625c of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a progenitor of mammalian adenylyl cyclases.

The gene Rv1625c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes a membrane-anchored adenylyl cyclase corresponding to exactly one-half of a mammalian adenylyl cyclase. An engineered, soluble form of Rv1625c was expressed in Escherichia coli. It formed a homodimeric cyclase with two catalytic centers.