Free cysteine modulates the conformation of human C/EBP homologous protein.

The C/EBP Homologous Protein (CHOP) is a nuclear protein that is integral to the unfolded protein response culminating from endoplasmic reticulum stress. Previously, CHOP was shown to comprise extensive disordered regions and to self-associate in solution. In the current study, the intrinsically disordered nature of this protein was characterized further by comprehensive in silico analyses.

Undocumented pregnant women: what does the literature tell us?

The present literature review was conducted to determine what information has been published on the topic of undocumented pregnant migrants. Scientific databases and gray literature sources were searched for articles published between January 1967 and September 2010. Eighty-seven articles met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed.

Liposuction for chronic lymphoedema of the upper limb: 5 years of experience.

Background: Lymphoedema of the upper limb is a well-recognised complication of axillary surgery for breast cancer. Effective long-term treatment of lymphoedema by liposuction has previously been demonstrated. In this study we present our first five years of experience using this technique in treatment of upper limb lymphoedema.

A comparison between two strategies for monitoring hepatic function during antituberculous therapy.

Rationale: The optimum strategy for monitoring liver function during antituberculous therapy is unclear.

Objectives: To assess the value of the American Thoracic Society risk-factor approach for predicting drug-induced liver injury and to compare with a uniform policy of liver function testing in all patients at 2 weeks.

Methods: We conducted an observational study of adult patients undergoing therapy for active tuberculosis at a tertiary center.

Comprehensive analysis of the bacterial content of stool from patients with chronic pouchitis, normal pouches, or familial adenomatous polyposis pouches.

Background: Chronic pouchitis is an important long-term complication following ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis. Antibiotic administration reduces symptoms of pouchitis, indicating that bacteria have a role in pathogenesis. The aim of the research was to investigate the bacterial content of pouches using nucleic acid-based methods.

Treatment and secondary prevention effects of the probiotics Lactobacillus paracasei or Bifidobacterium lactis on early infant eczema: randomized controlled trial with follow-up until age 3 years.

Background: Allergic disease has been associated with altered intestinal microbiota. Therefore, probiotics have been suggested as a potential treatment for eczema.

Objective: We investigated whether dietary supplementation of infants with eczema at age 3-6 months with Lactobacillus paracasei CNCM I-2116 or Bifidobacterium lactis CNCM I-3446 had a treatment effect or altered allergic disease progression.

A cross sectional survey of the views of newly registered pharmacists in Great Britain on their potential prescribing role: a cautious approach.

What Is Already Known About This Subject: Pharmacists, along with certain other health professionals, may train and practice as supplementary or independent prescribers. The implementation and sustainability of pharmacist prescribing services throughout Britain will require a sizeable workforce. However, a survey of GB pharmacists highlighted that only a minority has taken any action to investigate prescribing training.

Ex vivo water diffusion tensor properties of the fibroid uterus at 7 T and their relation to tissue morphology.

Purpose: To investigate the water diffusion tensor properties of ex vivo tissue in the fibroid uterus, including the influence of degeneration, and the relevance of the principal eigenvector orientation to the underlying tissue structure.

Materials And Methods: Following hysterectomy, high-resolution structural T(2) -weighted and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) were performed on nine uteri at 7 T. Mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), and principal eigenvector orientation were measured in myometrium and in myxoid and dense tissue in fibroids.

Nutrient metal sequestration by calprotectin inhibits bacterial superoxide defense, enhancing neutrophil killing of Staphylococcus aureus.

By sequestering manganese and zinc, the neutrophil protein calprotectin plays a crucial role in host defense against bacterial and fungal pathogens. However, the essential processes disrupted by calprotectin remain unknown. We report that calprotectin enhances the sensitivity of Staphylococcus aureus to superoxide through inhibition of manganese-dependent bacterial superoxide defenses, thereby increasing superoxide levels within the bacterial cell.

Trauma and psychotic symptoms: data from a pediatric mental health inpatient unit.

This study describes differences in symptoms in young people with psychosis, with and without a history of trauma. The files of 118 mental health inpatients, aged 8 to 18 years, all reporting hallucinations and/or delusions, were reviewed for a history of trauma. Symptoms reported by inpatients with and without a history of trauma were compared.

The placebo effect and the influence of participant expectation on hearing aid trials.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of participant expectation on the outcome of a trial that compared two behind-the-ear hearing aids with identical electroacoustic performance, except that one was called a "new" hearing aid and the other a "conventional" hearing aid.

Design: Twenty experienced adult hearing aid users were told that they were taking part in a trial that compared new and conventional hearing aid technology. They attended a single test session where they were fitted with each hearing aid, in a balanced design, set to the same National Acoustic Laboratories' nonlinear fitting procedure (Version 1) prescription target for a typical age-related hearing impairment.

Obligatory cortical auditory evoked potential waveform detection and differentiation using a commercially available clinical system: HEARLab™.

Objective: The aim was to investigate detection and differentiation of obligatory cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) in normal-hearing listeners with and without a simulated conductive hearing impairment using the HEARLab™.

Design: Sound field CAEPs were obtained from 24 normal-hearing adults, with and without earplugs, using three natural speech sounds (/m/, /g/, and /t/) presented at 55, 65, and 75 dB SPL.

Results: Response detection was good except for the lowest presentation level; however, differentiation of waveforms was generally poor for individual listeners.

Testing probiotic strain Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (Mutaflor) for its ability to reduce carriage of multidrug-resistant E. coli by elderly residents in long-term care facilities.

A high carriage rate of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli (MDREC) was observed in elderly residents in long-term care facilities. A double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was carried out to determine whether the probiotic product E. coli strain Nissle 1917 (Mutaflor) would compete with MDREC in the bowel and thereby reduce the prevalence of the multiresistant bacteria in faeces and urine.

Characterization of GmCaMK1, a member of a soybean calmodulin-binding receptor-like kinase family.

Calmodulin(CaM)-regulated protein phosphorylation forms an important component of Ca(2+) signaling in animals but is less understood in plants. We have identified a CaM-binding receptor-like kinase from soybean nodules, GmCaMK1, a homolog of Arabidopsis CRLK1. We delineated the CaM-binding domain (CaMBD) of GmCaMK1 to a 24-residue region near the C-terminus, which overlaps with the kinase domain.

Listening effort at signal-to-noise ratios that are typical of the school classroom.

Objective: The aim of the study was to measure listening effort at typical classroom signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs).

Design: Listening effort was measured using a dual task paradigm. Participants repeated monosyllabic words presented in a background of children's chatter (primary task) at SNRs that are considered typical of the school classroom environment (quiet, +4, 0, -4 dB) while simultaneously rehearsing sets of five digits for recall (secondary task).

Inter-aural attenuation with insert earphones.

The aim of the present study was to determine inter-aural attenuation (IA) values for pure tones and a broadband click obtained using an ER-3A insert earphone with a foam plug and with a customized hard acrylic earmould. Participants were 15 adults with a longstanding unilateral dead ear. IA was operationally defined as the difference between the good-ear and poorer-ear not-masked air conduction threshold.

A new macrocyclic antibiotic, fidaxomicin (OPT-80), causes less alteration to the bowel microbiota of Clostridium difficile-infected patients than does vancomycin.

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common identifiable cause of diarrhoea in hospitalized patients. Current therapies rely on the administration of metronidazole or vancomycin, which reduce vegetative populations of C. difficile in the bowel.

Do New Zealand children with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis show disease progression?

Background: There is minimal literature available on the long-term outcome of pediatric non-cystic fibrosis (CF) bronchiectasis.

Aim: To document 5-year outcomes of children with chest computerized tomography (CT) scan diagnosed bronchiectasis from a tertiary New Zealand (NZ) respiratory clinic.

Methods: Review of a clinical database identified 91 children.

LPA receptor expression in the central nervous system in health and following injury.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is released from platelets following injury and also plays a role in neural development but little is known about its effects in the adult central nervous system (CNS). We have examined the expression of LPA receptors 1-3 (LPA(1-3)) in intact mouse spinal cord and cortical tissues and following injury. In intact and injured tissues, LPA(1) was expressed by ependymal cells in the central canal of the spinal cord and was upregulated in reactive astrocytes following spinal cord injury.

Uncomfortable loudness levels in experienced unilateral and bilateral hearing aid users: evidence of adaptive plasticity following asymmetrical sensory input?

Munro and Trotter [Inter J Audiol 45, 684-688, 2006] reported an asymmetry in uncomfortable loudness levels (ULLs) in a preliminary study using 12 experienced unilateral hearing aids users. The aim of the present study was to investigate ULLs in a larger sample of listeners with unilateral and bilateral hearing aid experience. Participants were adults with symmetrical high-frequency hearing impairment.

Structural and functional characterization of the monomeric U-box domain from E4B.

Substantial evidence has accumulated indicating a significant role for oligomerization in the function of E3 ubiquitin ligases. Among the many characterized E3 ligases, the yeast U-box protein Ufd2 and its mammalian homologue E4B appear to be unique in functioning as monomers. An E4B U-box domain construct (E4BU) has been subcloned, overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and purified, which enabled determination of a high-resolution NMR solution structure and detailed biophysical analysis.

Diagnosing cochlear dead regions in children.

Objective: A dead region (DR) is defined as a region in the cochlea where inner hair cells and/or neurons are functioning so poorly that a tone producing peak vibration in this region is detected by off-frequency listening, i.e., via a place on the basilar membrane with a characteristic frequency different from that of the tone.

Fast method for psychophysical tuning curve measurement in school-age children.

The 'fast' method for measuring psychophysical tuning curves (PTC) uses a masker that sweeps across frequency and a Békésy threshold tracking procedure. The fast-PTC procedure has been recommended as a technique for diagnosing cochlear dead regions in adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fast-PTC procedure in children.