Collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy of neutron-deficient francium isotopes.

The magnetic moments and isotope shifts of the neutron-deficient francium isotopes (202-205)Fr were measured at ISOLDE-CERN with use of collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy. A production-to-detection efficiency of 1% was measured for (202)Fr. The background from nonresonant and collisional ionization was maintained below one ion in 10(5) beam particles.

Viewing Golgi structure and function from a different perspective--insights from electron tomography.

Historically, ultrastructural investigations, which have focused on elucidating the biological idiosyncrasies of the Golgi apparatus, have tended towards oversimplified or fallacious hypotheses when postulating how the Golgi apparatus reorganizes itself both structurally and functionally to fulfill the plethora of cellular processes underpinned by this complex organelle. Key questions are still unanswered with regard to how changes in Golgi architecture correlate so reproducibly to changes in its functional priorities under different physiological conditions or experimental perturbations. This fact alone serves to highlight how the technical limitations associated with conventional two-dimensional imaging approaches employed in the past failed to adequately capture the extraordinary complexity of the Golgi's three-dimensional (3D) structure-now a hallmark of this challenging organelle.

Silyl-protected dioxaborinanes: application in the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction.

The synthesis of a range of novel silyl-protected dioxaborinanes as a column- and bench-stable boron reagent were found to be advantageous to achieving good yields in palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reactions under standard conditions.

Relationship of intimate partner violence to health status, chronic disease, and screening behaviors.

While victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) have increased risk of chronic disease, little is known about their preventive screening behaviors. The objective of this study was to relate IPV to health status, chronic disease, and preventive screening behaviors. We hypothesized that women who reported poorer health statuses, higher rates of HIV, no primary care, and less-frequent HIV testing, breast exams, and Pap smears would be more likely to experience IPV.

Measurement of the first ionization potential of astatine by laser ionization spectroscopy.

The radioactive element astatine exists only in trace amounts in nature. Its properties can therefore only be explored by study of the minute quantities of artificially produced isotopes or by performing theoretical calculations. One of the most important properties influencing the chemical behaviour is the energy required to remove one electron from the valence shell, referred to as the ionization potential.

Omitting Follow-up Food After Initial Hypoglycaemic Treatment Does not Increase the Likelihood of Repeat Hypoglycaemia.

Introduction: Guidelines for self-treatment of hypoglycaemia specify initial treatment with quick-acting carbohydrate until blood glucose levels normalize and then follow-up with longer-acting carbohydrate. The few studies investigating follow-up show 29-57% omission or undertreatment with follow-up carbohydrate but do not investigate the association of this with repeat hypoglycaemia. This study aimed to develop, validate and administer a questionnaire to delineate this association.

Rab6a/a' are important Golgi regulators of pro-inflammatory TNF secretion in macrophages.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF) to elicit innate immune responses. Secretion of these cytokines is also a major contributing factor in chronic inflammatory disease. In previous studies we have begun to elucidate the pathways and molecules that mediate the intracellular trafficking and secretion of TNF.

Potentially resistant microorganisms in intubated patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia: the interaction of ecology, shock and risk factors.

Purpose: As per 2005 American Thoracic Society and Infectious Disease Society of America (ATS/IDSA) guidelines for managing hospital-acquired pneumonia, patients with early-onset pneumonia and without risk factors do not need to be treated for potentially resistant microorganisms (PRM).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective, observational, cohort, multicentre study conducted in 27 ICUs from nine European countries.

Results: From a total of 689 patients with nosocomial pneumonia who required mechanical ventilation, 485 patients with confirmed etiology and antibiotic susceptibility were further analysed.

Association between Intimate Partner Violence and Health Behaviors of Female Emergency Department Patients.

Introduction: We assessed the correlation between intimate partner violence (IPV) and health behaviors, including seat belt use, smoke alarm in home, handgun access, body mass index, diet, and exercise. We hypothesized that IPV victims would be less likely to have healthy behaviors as compared to women with similar demographics.

Methods: All adult female patients who presented to 3 Atlanta-area emergency department waiting rooms on weekdays from 11AM to 7PM were asked to participate in a computer-based survey by trained research assistants.

Dietary treatment of hypoglycaemia: should the Australian recommendation be increased?

Australian recommendations for treatment of hypoglycaemia are 15 g of carbohydrate repeated at 10-15 min if hypoglycaemia persists. Cited evidence is expert opinion or older studies not pertinent to current insulin regimens. This study aimed to determine the effect of increasing initial treating carbohydrate and decreasing wait-time to retreatment on resolution of hypoglycaemia in 92 free-living adults on current insulin regimens.

A 3D image filter for parameter-free segmentation of macromolecular structures from electron tomograms.

3D image reconstruction of large cellular volumes by electron tomography (ET) at high (≤ 5 nm) resolution can now routinely resolve organellar and compartmental membrane structures, protein coats, cytoskeletal filaments, and macromolecules. However, current image analysis methods for identifying in situ macromolecular structures within the crowded 3D ultrastructural landscape of a cell remain labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to user-bias and/or error. This paper demonstrates the development and application of a parameter-free, 3D implementation of the bilateral edge-detection (BLE) algorithm for the rapid and accurate segmentation of cellular tomograms.

Sustained reduction in tuberculosis incidence following a community-based participatory intervention.

Background: Rates of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and tuberculosis (TB) disease are elevated in the rural southeastern United States and among US- and foreign-born Black residents. To prevent TB and reduce TB transmission, community-based strategies are essential.

Objective: To describe a community-based participatory intervention for improving the detection and treatment of LTBI and TB and reducing TB incidence.

Upgrade of the resonance ionization laser ion source at ISOLDE on-line isotope separation facility: new lasers and new ion beams.

The resonance ionization laser ion source (RILIS) produces beams for the majority of experiments at the ISOLDE on-line isotope separator. A substantial improvement in RILIS performance has been achieved through a series of upgrade steps: replacement of the copper vapor lasers by a Nd:YAG laser; replacement of the old homemade dye lasers by new commercial dye lasers; installation of a complementary Ti:Sapphire laser system. The combined dye and Ti:Sapphire laser system with harmonics is capable of generating beams at any wavelength in the range of 210-950 nm.

Electron tomography reveals Rab6 is essential to the trafficking of trans-Golgi clathrin and COPI-coated vesicles and the maintenance of Golgi cisternal number.

We have shown previously that Rab6, a small, trans-Golgi-localized GTPase, acts upstream of the conserved oligomeric Golgi complex (COG) and ZW10/RINT1 retrograde tether complexes to maintain Golgi homeostasis. In this article, we present evidence from the unbiased and high-resolution approach of electron microscopy and electron tomography that Rab6 is essential to the trans-Golgi trafficking of two morphological classes of coated vesicles; the larger corresponds to clathrin-coated vesicles and the smaller to coat protein I (COPI)-coated vesicles. On the basis of the site of coated vesicle accumulation, cisternal dilation and the normal kinetics of cargo transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi followed by delayed Golgi to cell surface transport, we suggest that Golgi function in cargo transport is preferentially inhibited at the trans-Golgi/trans-Golgi network (TGN).

Leak K⁺ channel mRNAs in dorsal root ganglia: relation to inflammation and spontaneous pain behaviour.

Two pore domain potassium (K2P) channels (KCNKx.x) cause K⁺ leak currents and are major contributors to resting membrane potential. Their roles in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons normally, and in pathological pain models, are poorly understood.

Dual skin tests with Mycobacterium avium sensitin and PPD to detect misdiagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection.

Background: A positive tuberculin skin test (TST) may indicate cross-reacting immunity to non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and not latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI).

Objectives: To assess misclassification of LTBI, as assessed by skin testing with Mycobacterium avium sensitin (MaS), and to determine how this misclassification affects the analysis of risk factors for LTBI.

Methods: In a population-based survey, participants underwent skin testing with M.

LPS preconditioning redirects TLR signaling following stroke: TRIF-IRF3 plays a seminal role in mediating tolerance to ischemic injury.

Background: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is activated in response to cerebral ischemia leading to substantial brain damage. In contrast, mild activation of TLR4 by preconditioning with low dose exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) prior to cerebral ischemia dramatically improves outcome by reprogramming the signaling response to injury. This suggests that TLR4 signaling can be altered to induce an endogenously neuroprotective phenotype.

Islet cholesterol accumulation due to loss of ABCA1 leads to impaired exocytosis of insulin granules.

Objective: The ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) is essential for normal insulin secretion from β-cells. The aim of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the impaired insulin secretion in islets lacking β-cell ABCA1.

Research Design And Methods: Calcium imaging, patch clamp, and membrane capacitance were used to assess the effect of ABCA1 deficiency on calcium flux, ion channel function, and exocytosis in islet cells.

A Sleeping Beauty transposon-mediated screen identifies murine susceptibility genes for adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc)-dependent intestinal tumorigenesis.

It is proposed that a progressive series of mutations and epigenetic events leads to human colorectal cancer (CRC) and metastasis. Furthermore, data from resequencing of the coding regions of human CRC suggests that a relatively large number of mutations occur in individual human CRC, most at low frequency. The functional role of these low-frequency mutations in CRC, and specifically how they may cooperate with high-frequency mutations, is not well understood.

Early onset of ground state deformation in neutron deficient polonium isotopes.

In-source resonant ionization laser spectroscopy of the even-A polonium isotopes (192-210,216,218)Po has been performed using the 6p(3)7s (5)S(2) to 6p(3)7p (5)P(2) (λ=843.38  nm) transition in the polonium atom (Po-I) at the CERN ISOLDE facility. The comparison of the measured isotope shifts in (200-210)Po with a previous data set allows us to test for the first time recent large-scale atomic calculations that are essential to extract the changes in the mean-square charge radius of the atomic nucleus.

New type of asymmetric fission in proton-rich nuclei.

A very exotic process of β-delayed fission of 180Tl is studied in detail by using resonant laser ionization with subsequent mass separation at ISOLDE (CERN). In contrast to common expectations, the fission-fragment mass distribution of the post-β-decay daughter nucleus 180Hg (N/Z=1.25) is asymmetric.

Epidemiology, clinical characteristics and resource implications of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in intensive care units in Ireland.

Objective: To describe the incidence, clinical characteristics and outcomes of critically ill patients in Ireland with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 infection, and to provide a dynamic assessment of the burden of such cases on Irish intensive care units.

Design, Setting And Participants: Multicentre prospective observational study of all adult patients admitted to any of the 30 ICUs in the Republic of Ireland between 15 July 2009 and 30 May 2010.

Main Outcome Measures: Patient demographics, clinical characteristics and ICU mortality; ICU admissions, bed-days, bed occupancy rates and distribution.

Organocatalytic diimide reduction of enamides in water.

Bridged flavinium organocatalysts have displayed efficacy in the diimide mediated reduction of enamides in aqueous conditions. This represents the first diimide reduction of an electron rich alkene and offers a clean alternative to the use of alkylating agents for N-alkylation.