Results of Goeckerman treatment for psoriasis in children: a 21-year retrospective review.

Goeckerman treatment has been used for the management of widespread psoriasis in children for several decades at Mayo Clinic. We aimed to review our institutional experience with the effectiveness of Goeckerman treatment for psoriasis in children. We retrospectively reviewed the records of pediatric patients who underwent Goeckerman treatment over a 21-year period (1983-2003).

Evidence based practice profiles: differences among allied health professions.

Background: Most previous studies of allied health professionals' evidence based practice (EBP) attitudes, knowledge and behaviours have been conducted with profession specific questionnaires of variable psychometric strength. This study compared the self-report EBP profiles of allied health professionals/trainees in an Australian university.

Methods: The Evidence-Based Practice Profile (EBP2) questionnaire assessed five domains (Relevance, Terminology, Practice, Confidence, Sympathy) in 918 subjects from five professional disciplines.

A case of renal cell carcinoma after successful treatment of Wilms tumor.

This case report documents the eighth reported case of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) occurring after treatment of Wilms tumor. Although secondary malignancies after treatment of Wilms tumors are not infrequent, RCC as the second malignancy is rare. We discuss a 17-year-old girl whose RCC was diagnosed 12.

Development and psychometric testing of a trans-professional evidence-based practice profile questionnaire.

Background: Previous survey tools operationalising knowledge, attitudes or beliefs about evidence-based practice (EBP) have shortcomings in content, psychometric properties and target audience.

Aims: This study developed and psychometrically assessed a self-report trans-professional questionnaire to describe an EBP profile.

Methods: Sixty-six items were collated from existing EBP questionnaires and administered to 526 academics and students from health and non-health backgrounds.

Toll-like receptor (TLR) and nucleosome-binding oligomerization domain (NOD) gene polymorphisms and endometrial cancer risk.

Background: Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecological malignancy in women of developed countries. Many risk factors implicated in endometrial cancer trigger inflammatory events; therefore, alterations in immune response may predispose an individual to disease. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and nucleosome-binding oligomerization domain (NOD) genes are integral to the recognition of pathogens and are highly polymorphic.

Efficacy and adverse events of mycophenolate mofetil versus cyclophosphamide for induction therapy of lupus nephritis: systematic review and meta-analysis.

We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to compare complete remission and adverse events (that is, infection, leukopenia, and gastrointestinal [GI] symptoms) between mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and cyclophosphamide (CYC) for the treatment of lupus nephritis (LN). We identified trials from MEDLINE using the PubMed and Ovid search engines, and from The Cochrane Central Register of Randomized Controlled Trials. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials comparing MMF with CYC with 1 of following outcomes: complete remission, complete/partial remission, infection, leukopenia, GI symptoms, serum creatinine, 24-hour urine protein, and urine albumin.

Assessment of dietary fat intake and innate immune activation as risk factors for impaired lung function.

Background/objectives: Preservation of lung health with aging is an important health issue in the general population, as loss of lung function with aging can lead to the development of obstructive lung disease and is a predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Inflammation is increasingly linked to loss of lung function and evidence suggests that consumption of dietary fat exacerbates inflammation. We aimed to determine the association between dietary fat intake and lung function in older people.

Use of the proportion of patients dying on an End of Life Pathway as a quality marker: considerations for interpretation.

The Department of Health as part of its End of Life Care Strategy has developed a set of markers as a quality of care proxy for adults at the end of life. 'The number/proportion of patients dying with the Liverpool Care Pathway (or equivalent) in place' is suggested as a quality metric for all care providers. A retrospective audit of uptake of use of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) in an NHS hospital in the North of England showed that 39% of all patients who died had been placed on the LCP.

Differing ability to transport nonmetal substrates by two RND-type metal exporters.

The metal-exporting systems CusCFBA of Escherichia coli and GesABC of Salmonella are resistance-nodulation-division (RND)-type multiprotein systems responsible for detoxification during metal stress. In this study, the substrate range was determined for each metal transport system and possible amino acid residues important in substrate specificity were identified. The Ges system, previously identified as a gold-efflux system, conferred resistance to the greatest number and variety of organic chemicals including chloramphenicol, not recognized previously as a substrate.

Acinar cell cystadenoma of the pancreas in a 9-year-old boy.

This report describes a rare benign cystic lesion of the pancreas known as acinar cell cystadenoma. There are 12 previously reported cases, the youngest patient from which was age 16. We report the youngest case to date, occurring in a 9-year-old boy.

Exploring new frontiers in occupational epidemiology: the Hunter Community Study (HCS) from Australia.

This article describes a pioneering longitudinal investigation from Australia known as the Hunter Community Study (HCS). The HCS investigates retired and near-retired persons randomly selected in a regional area on the heavily populated east coast. As it collects detailed survey, clinical, and biological measures, the HCS is more comprehensive than most other research of this nature.

Polymorphisms in genes of the steroid hormone biosynthesis and metabolism pathways and endometrial cancer risk.

Objectives: The incidence of endometrial cancer has recently increased substantially and studies have shown that altered levels of exogenous and endogenous hormones are associated with individual variation in endometrial cancer risk. The environmental and reproductive risk factors that influence these hormones are well known, however, genetic variants involved in hormone biosynthesis and estrogen metabolism have not been well established in endometrial cancer.

Methods: To determine whether polymorphisms in genes of the steroid hormone biosynthesis and metabolism pathways are associated with endometrial cancer risk, 28 polymorphisms in 18 genes were genotyped in 191 endometrial cancer cases and 291 healthy controls.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of tumor necrosis factor α-308 polymorphism and Kawasaki disease.

Background: There have been genetic studies assessing the association between tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-308 and Kawasaki disease (KD) but the results have been conflicting due to lack of power. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to increase the power for identifying the association between the TNF-α-308 polymorphism and KD.

Method: Studies were identified from MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and were included if the subjects were children and the frequencies between TNF-α-308 and KD were reported.

Teaching medical students how to use interpreters: a three year experience.

Disparities in health exist among ethnic/racial groups, especially among members with limited English proficiency (LEP). The session described in this paper aimed to teach medical students the skills needed to communicate with patients with LEP. Description - We created a required session titled "Cross-Cultural Communication-Using an Interpreter" for third-year medical students with learning objectives and teaching strategies.

The Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen (ARCS): a flexible hybrid cognitive test instrument.

Objective: To describe and characterise the Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen (ARCS), a novel instrument that uses an audio device to administer selected neuropsychological tests to unsupervised individuals who write their responses in a special booklet for later scoring.

Methods: The ARCS was administered to 733 individuals, comprising 550 from a normative community sample (mean age=59.14, range 18-84 years), 101 clinic patients and a separate validation sample of 82 community controls, who, together with the patients, underwent detailed neuropsychological assessments.

Incidence of psoriasis in children: a population-based study.

Background: Although psoriasis is considered to have a dual peak in age of onset, currently no studies exist regarding the incidence of psoriasis in children.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of psoriasis in childhood.

Methods: A population-based incidence cohort of patients aged younger than 18 years first given the diagnosis of psoriasis between January 1, 1970, and December 31, 1999, was assembled.

Transversus abdominis: changes in thickness during the unsupported upper limb exercise test in older adults.

Novel, short-lived upper limb tasks performed by young adults have been used to investigate the role of transversus abdominis (TrA) in maintaining postural stability. Little information exists concerning the behaviour of TrA in older adults during protracted postural challenges. The primary aim of this study was to describe the change in thickness of TrA during an incremental upper limb exercise test in older adults.

The metal efflux island of Legionella pneumophila is not required for survival in macrophages and amoebas.

Legionella pneumophila is an intracellular pathogen causing pneumonia-like disease in humans. A 43-kb putative heavy metal efflux gene island was found on the L. pneumophila genome.

Fatty acid intake and milk fatty acid composition of Holstein dairy cows under different grazing strategies: herbage mass and daily herbage allowance.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of level of 1) pregrazing herbage mass (HM) and 2) level of daily herbage allowance (DHA) on the performance and fatty acid (FA) composition of milk from grazing dairy cows. Sixty-eight Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were allocated to either a high or low pregrazing HM (1,700 vs. 2,400 kg of DM/ha; >40 mm), and within HM treatment, cows were further allocated to either a high or low DHA (16 vs.

BCG vaccination reduces risk of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis as detected by gamma interferon release assay.

Aims: To investigate whether BCG vaccination, in addition to a reduction of active tuberculosis, leads to a reduction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection during an outbreak of tuberculosis.

Methods: Pupils (n=199) of a Junior School exposed to a pupil with active pulmonary tuberculosis were screened using a gamma interferon release assay for detection of M. tuberculosis infection (ex vivo ELISPOT assay).