TB among refugees from Ukraine in European countries.

Background: Since the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine, millions of refugees have moved to neighbouring European countries. We assessed the burden of TB in these refugees and surveyed screening approaches.

Methods: We conducted a survey among 30 European Union/European Economic Area and 13 other European countries, requesting population data on migrant residents and refugees with country of birth (COB) Ukraine, the number of TB notifications among people with COB Ukraine and countries' screening policies for refugees from Ukraine.

Factors influencing operationalization of Integrated Disease Surveillance in Malawi.

Objectives: Malawi's disease surveillance system is built on several different data sources and systems and is informed by the Integrated Diseases Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy. This study was carried out as part of a larger multicountry study to identify context-specific factors, which influence the operationalization of integrated disease surveillance.

Study Design And Methods: A total of six focus group discussions were conducted with 43 relevant personnel at the primary and secondary healthcare levels in two districts (Lilongwe and Dowa) and at the national level.

Updated Swedish advice on reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Unlabelled: This article reviews updated advice and factual material from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare on reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Issues covered by the guidance for parents and healthcare professionals include sleeping positions, smoking, breastfeeding, bed sharing and using pacifiers.

Conclusion: The guidelines conclude that infants under three months of age are safest sleeping in their own cot and that a pacifier can be used when they are going to sleep.

Effect of urea on peptide conformation in water: molecular dynamics and experimental characterization.

Molecular dynamics simulations of a ribonuclease A C-peptide analog and a sequence variant were performed in water at 277 and 300 K and in 8 M urea to clarify the molecular denaturation mechanism induced by urea and the early events in protein unfolding. Spectroscopic characterization of the peptides showed that the C-peptide analog had a high alpha-helical content, which was not the case for the variant. In the simulations, interdependent side-chain interactions were responsible for the high stability of the alpha-helical C-peptide analog in the different solvents.

The effect of dexamethasone on side effects after coronary revascularization procedures.

Unlabelled: Corticosteroids decrease side effects after noncardiac elective surgery. We designed this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study to test the hypothesis that standard doses of dexamethasone (4 mg x2) would reduce postoperative nausea, vomiting, and pain, decrease the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF), and improve appetite after cardiac surgery, thereby facilitating the recovery process. A total of 300 patients undergoing coronary revascularization surgery were enrolled in this clinical study.

Myocardial performance after transmyocardial revascularization with CO(2)laser. A dobutamine stress echocardiographic study.

Aims: Transmyocardial laser revascularization is a treatment for patients with severe angina pectoris not eligible for conventional revascularization. The effects on myocardial function and reversible ischaemia have not been clarified.

Methods And Results: One hundred patients with refractory angina not eligible for conventional revascularization were randomized 1:1 to receive continued optimal medical treatment or transmyocardial revascularization with CO(2)laser in addition to medical treatment.

Structure, dynamics and electrostatics of the active site of glutaredoxin 3 from Escherichia coli: comparison with functionally related proteins.

The chemistry of active-site cysteine residues is central to the activity of thiol-disulfide oxidoreductases of the thioredoxin superfamily. In these reactions, a nucleophilic thiolate is required, but the associated pK(a) values differ vastly in the superfamily, from less than 4 in DsbA to greater than 7 in Trx. The factors that stabilize this thiolate are, however, not clearly established.

Effects of transmyocardial revascularization on myocardial perfusion and systolic function assessed by nuclear and magnetic resonance imaging methods.

Objective: There is no obvious explanation, except placebo, to the symptomatic effect of transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMR) in patients with refractory angina. Whether TMR improves myocardial perfusion or relieves symptoms without altering cardiac function is not clarified.

Methods: One hundred patients with refractory angina were randomized 1:1 to TMR (CO2 laser) and medical treatment, or medical treatment alone.

Cardiac enzymes after transmyocardial laser treatment with CO2 laser.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine postoperative serum levels of cardiac enzymes after transmyocardial laser treatment (TML) and to evaluate any associations between this release, postoperative cardiac events and change in ejection fraction after 3 months' follow-up.

Design: Forty-nine patients with angina pectoris Canadian Cardiovascular Society Angina Score Class III & IV refractory to medical therapy and untreatable by coronary artery bypass or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty treated with CO2 laser were included. Inclusion criteria were age less than 75 years, left ventricular ejection fraction greater than or equal to 30% and myocardial regions with reversible ischemia.

NMR structure of oxidized glutaredoxin 3 from Escherichia coli.

A high precision NMR structure of oxidized glutaredoxin 3 [C65Y] from Escherichia coli has been determined. The conformation of the active site including the disulphide bridge is highly similar to those in glutaredoxins from pig liver and T4 phage. A comparison with the previously determined structure of glutaredoxin 3 [C14S, C65Y] in a complex with glutathione reveals conformational changes between the free and substrate-bound form which includes the sidechain of the conserved, active site tyrosine residue.

Perioperative cardiac function and predictors for adverse events after transmyocardial laser treatment.

Background: Previous studies have reported that mortality and morbidity after transmyocardial laser treatment (TML) mainly occur perioperatively. The present study was designed to evaluate left-ventricular function and identify risk factors for cardiac-related adverse events in this phase.

Methods: Forty-nine patients were studied.

Transmyocardial revascularization with CO2 laser in patients with refractory angina pectoris. Clinical results from the Norwegian randomized trial.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to evaluate clinical effects, exercise performance and effect on maximal oxygen consumption (MVO2) of transmyocardial revascularization with CO2-laser (TMR) in patients with refractory angina pectoris.

Background: Transmyocardial laser revascularization is a new method to treat patients with refractory angina pectoris not eligible for conventional revascularization. Few randomized studies comparing TMR with conventional treatment have been published.

[Transmyocardial laser treatment--a new treatment modality in pronounced angina pectoris?].

Transmyocardial laser treatment is currently being evaluated as a treatment modality for patients with severe coronary artery disease unsuitable for conventional revascularization with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting. The original hypothesis was that laser-made channels could contribute to myocardial perfusion by conducting blood from the left ventricular cavity into the ischemic myocardium. Results from clinical trials suggest that transmyocardial laser treatment leads to a significant decrease in physician-assessed angina scores and improvement of quality of life.

Is atrial fibrillation caused by extracorporeal circulation?

Background: Atrial fibrillation is the most common rhythm disturbance encountered after open heart operations, with a reported incidence up to 40%. Despite its high incidence and clinical relevance its etiology remains obscure. It has been hypothesized that atrial fibrillation might be related to extracorporeal circulation.

Direct NMR observation of the Cys-14 thiol proton of reduced Escherichia coli glutaredoxin-3 supports the presence of an active site thiol-thiolate hydrogen bond.

The active site of Escherichia coli glutaredoxin-3 (Grx3) consists of two redox active cysteine residues in the sequence -C11-P-Y-C14-H-. The 1H NMR resonance of the cysteine thiol proton of Cys-14 in reduced Grx3 is observed at 7.6 ppm.

NMR structure of Escherichia coli glutaredoxin 3-glutathione mixed disulfide complex: implications for the enzymatic mechanism.

Glutaredoxins (Grxs) catalyze reversible oxidation/reduction of protein disulfide groups and glutathione-containing mixed disulfide groups via an active site Grx-glutathione mixed disulfide (Grx-SG) intermediate. The NMR solution structure of the Escherichia coli Grx3 mixed disulfide with glutathione (Grx3-SG) was determined using a C14S mutant which traps this intermediate in the redox reaction. The structure contains a thioredoxin fold, with a well-defined binding site for glutathione which involves two intermolecular backbone-backbone hydrogen bonds forming an antiparallel intermolecular beta-bridge between the protein and glutathione.

Pulmonary intravascular macrophages appear in rats after long-term administration of lipid emulsion and amino acid solution. An ultrastructural morphometric study.

Intravascular macrophages have rarely been seen in normal lungs of humans and rats, but in rats endotoxaemia has induced their presence. To study whether substrates used for parenteral nutrition could have a similar stimulatory effect on mononuclear phagocytes, rats were given lipid emulsion (n=5), amino acid solution (n=5), or isotonic saline (n=5) through central venous catheters for 3 weeks. Structural changes in the lung microvessels were evaluated using electron microscopy.

Heteronuclear correlation experiments for the determination of one-bond coupling constants.

Spin-state selective experiments, HSQC-alpha/beta and CT-HMQC-alpha/beta, are proposed for the simple and rapid measurement of scalar one-bond coupling constants in two-dimensional, 1H-detected 15N-1H or 13C-1H correlation experiments based on HSQC and HMQC schemes. Pairs of subspectra are obtained, containing either the high-field or the low-field component of the doublet representing the one-bond coupling constant. The subspectral editing procedure retains the full sensitivity of HSQC and HMQC spectra recorded without heteronuclear decoupling during data acquisition, with a spectral resolution similar to that of decoupled spectra.

Retrograde internal mammary artery as coronary bypass. A prospective study with postoperative angiographic evaluation.

Although the internal mammary artery (IMA) as a coronary graft offers better long-term patency than the saphenous vein, a factor limiting its use has been the length of the artery's pedicle. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, we evaluated the use of retrograde right IMA in a prospective study. In ten patients scheduled for routine coronary artery bypass surgery, bilateral IMA grafting was used, the left IMA in routine fashion, but the right IMA dissected from the level of the first rib, cut there and placed as an inverted graft.

[Video-assisted heart surgery--an alternative in the future?].

Percutaneous angioplasty has been the procedure of choice for one- or two-vessel coronary artery disease because it is less invasive than open heart surgery. Video-assisted coronary artery bypass surgery, using the internal mammary artery, may be an alternative method which is also less invasive than conventional open heart surgery. A technique of video-assisted coronary bypass surgery is described.

Long term lipid-based parenteral nutrition causes pulmonary hypertension in pigs.

Objective: To study pulmonary perfusion after long term intravenous lipid-based total parenteral nutrition (TPN).

Design: Open experimental study.

Setting: Teaching hospital, Norway.

Lipid entrapment and cellular changes in the rat myocard, lung and liver after long-term parenteral nutrition with lipid emulsion. A light microscopic and ultrastructural study.

We have demonstrated organ damage after long-term administration of lipid-based parenteral nutrition, possibly initiated by intravascular pooling of lipid and phagocytes, in both rats and pigs. To evaluate whether accumulation of lipid could simply be caused by mechanical filtration, a comparative study of three separate capillary beds was performed. Rats were given lipid emulsion (n = 5) or isotonic saline (n = 4) through central venous catheters for 3 weeks.