Fluorescent nanoparticles for multiplexed bacteria monitoring.

Rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of pathogenic bacteria is extremely important for proper containment, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases like foodborne illness, sepsis, and bioterrorism. Most current bacterial detection methods are time-consuming and laborious and can detect only one bacterial pathogen at a time. We have developed a method for sensitive, multiplexed monitoring of bacterial pathogens within 30 min using multicolored FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) silica NPs (nanoparticles).

Association of atrial fibrillation and amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide concentrations in dyspneic subjects with and without acute heart failure: results from the ProBNP Investigation of Dyspnea in the Emergency Department (PRIDE) study.

Background: Amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) testing is useful for diagnosis or exclusion of heart failure (HF) in dyspneic patients. Atrial fibrillation (AF) may cause dyspnea in the absence of acute HF and may also affect plasma levels of NT-proBNP.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 599 patients presenting with dyspnea to the emergency department and obtained a blood sample for NT-proBNP measurement.

Three and five year changes in intraocular pressures after clear corneal phacoemulsification in open angle glaucoma patients, glaucoma suspects, and normal patients.

Purpose: This study evaluates the change in intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma medication requirements after clear corneal phacoemulsification in open angle glaucoma patients, glaucoma suspects, and normal patients at 3 years and last follow-up (mean 5 y).

Patients And Methods: This study represents a retrospective analysis of patients who had clear corneal phacoemulsification and at least 3 years of follow-up. The patients were classified into 3 groups: glaucoma (G), glaucoma suspects (GS), and no glaucoma (NG).

Prognostic utility of heart-type fatty acid binding protein in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Background: Heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) is a cytosolic protein that is released rapidly from the cardiomyocyte in response to myocardial injury. Although it has been investigated as an early marker of acute myocardial infarction, its prognostic utility in acute coronary syndromes has not been established.

Methods And Results: We measured H-FABP in 2287 patients with acute coronary syndromes from the OPUS-TIMI 16 trial.

Effects of pupil stretch technique during phacoemulsification on postoperative vision, intraocular pressure, and inflammation.

Purpose: To determine whether pupil stretch during phacoemulsification affects postoperative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), and inflammation compared with results in patients without pupil stretch.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 115 eyes that had pupil stretch during phacoemulsification (study group) and 125 eyes without pupil stretch (control group) was performed with a minimum of 12 months follow-up. Single-factor analysis of variance and 2-tailed homoscedastic t tests were used for statistical analysis.

Mechanisms and predictors of carotid artery stent restenosis: a serial intravascular ultrasound study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the mechanisms and predictors of carotid artery restenosis after carotid artery stenting (CAS) using serial intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging.

Background: Carotid artery stenting is increasingly used to treat high-grade obstructive carotid disease, but our knowledge of carotid in-stent restenosis and remodeling remains limited.

Methods: Post-procedural and 6-month (median 6 months) follow-up quantitative carotid angiography and IVUS were performed after self-expanding stent deployment in 50 internal carotid arteries (ICA).

Comparison of 1-site versus 2-site phacotrabeculectomy.

Purpose: To compare the results of 1-site versus 2-site combination glaucoma filtration and phacoemulsification surgery with respect to visual acuity, intraocular pressure (IOP), and glaucoma medication requirements via a case control study.

Methods: Results of 2-site phacotrabeculectomy surgery in 64 eyes of 59 patients were retrospectively reviewed with a minimum follow-up of 1 year. The 2-site procedures were compared with a randomly chosen control group of 71 1-site phacotrabeculectomies performed by the same surgeon.

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 and its association with cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes in the PROVE IT-TIMI 22 (PRavastatin Or atorVastatin Evaluation and Infection Therapy-Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction) trial.

Background: Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is associated with the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in population-based studies. The prognostic value of Lp-PLA2 in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) has not been established.

Methods And Results: Plasma levels of Lp-PLA2 activity were measured at baseline (n=3648) and 30 days (n=3265) in patients randomized to atorvastatin 80 mg/d or pravastatin 40 mg/d after ACS in the PROVE IT-TIMI 22 (PRavastatin Or atorVastatin Evaluation and Infection Therapy-Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction) trial.

Frontal assault on tuberculosis. Interview by Eileen Fursland.

Nurses working with people who have TB in London battle to reduce the stigma attached to the disease. For many patients, TB is just one of many problems they have to contend with. People living in shared accommodation can face homelessness as a result of their infection.

Utility of amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide testing for prediction of 1-year mortality in patients with dyspnea treated in the emergency department.

Background: Amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is useful for diagnosis and triage of patients with dyspnea, but its role for predicting outcomes in such patients remains undefined.

Methods: A total of 599 breathless patients treated in the emergency department were prospectively enrolled, and a sample of blood was obtained for NT-proBNP measurements. After 1 year, the vital status of each patient was ascertained, and the association between NT-proBNP values at presentation and mortality was assessed.

Appropriate invasive and conservative treatment approaches for patients with ST-elevation MI.

The combination of aspirin, heparin, and fibrinolytics was established in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the foundation for pharmacologic reperfusion therapy for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Since that time, many attempts have been made to improve on this regimen with limited success. In the late 1990s, primary percutaneous coronary intervention emerged as an invasive approach for reperfusion that offered superior outcomes to fibrinolytic therapy.

Antihistamines and their role as antipruritics.

Antihistamines that bind to the histamine 1 receptor (H1) serve as important therapeutic agents to counter the effects of histamine in the skin. Two generations of antihistamines exist; however, second-generation agents are more advantageous because they cause less sedation, have a longer half life and are more selective for the H1 receptor. While H1 antihistamines have proven to be effective at reversing the pruritus and cutaneous lesions of chronic urticaria, their ability to treat pruritus associated with other cutaneous and systemic diseases is unproven.

The effects of ejection fraction on N-terminal ProBNP and BNP levels in patients with acute CHF: analysis from the ProBNP Investigation of Dyspnea in the Emergency Department (PRIDE) study.

Background: Limited data exist regarding the impact of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) on N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels in patients with acute congestive heart failure (CHF).

Methods And Results: LVEF data were analyzed for 153 subjects with acute CHF. LVEF > or =50% was defined as non-systolic CHF (NS-CHF); LVEF >50% was defined as systolic CHF (S-CHF).

N-terminal proBNP: a novel biomarker for the diagnosis, risk stratification and management of congestive heart failure.

Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world and is now the leading cause of hospitalizations in adults over 65 years of age with an estimated annual expenditure in excess of USD 20 billion. In addition, it is the only cardiovascular disorder that continues to increase in both incidence and prevalence, and as the population continues to age, it is expected that the prevalence of this disease will continue to rise. Ironically, the armamentarium of medications that decrease mortality due to congestive heart failure also continues to grow; however, the relative number of eligible patients with congestive heart failure (or at risk for congestive heart failure) that receive these important therapies remains low.

The prevalence and source of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the community in Hong Kong.

Although reports of isolation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from patients admitted from the community have increased, few studies have investigated colonization of healthy subjects. This study aimed to determine community levels of MRSA in Hong Kong. Nasal swabs from a cross section of young adults and family units were cultured for MRSA.

Efficacy of glaucoma filtration surgery in pseudophakic patients with or without conjunctival scarring.

Purpose: To analyze the intraocular pressure (IOP), glaucoma medication requirements, and visual acuity after glaucoma filtration surgery in pseudophakic eyes.

Setting: Private practice, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Methods: The results of glaucoma filtration surgery in 47 eyes of 40 pseudophakic patients with a minimum follow-up of 1 year were retrospectively reviewed.

Drug resistance in fecal enterococci in Hong Kong.

Our purpose was to estimate the rate of carriage of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in hospitalized patients in a district hospital and in healthy subjects in the community in Hong Kong. Rectal swabs were collected from all patients admitted to the intensive care unit, and stool specimens were collected from all patients presenting with suspected antibiotic-associated diarrhea over a 2-month period. Stool specimens were also collected from healthy subjects in the community.

Safety and utility of intravascular ultrasound-guided carotid artery stenting.

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is useful in evaluating coronary stent deployment. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and utility of IVUS in carotid artery stenting (CAS). Ninety-eight consecutive high-risk patients (107 arteries) underwent CAS.

Compliance with antibiotics.

Several factors influence the clinician's choice of antimicrobial therapy. While efficacy and toxicity can be important discriminators in the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections, patient compliance with antibiotic medication is a key component to successful therapy. The general parameters affecting compliance are discussed herein, and antibiotic-specific factors affecting compliance are discussed briefly.

The effect of climatic forcing on population synchrony and genetic structuring of the Canadian lynx.

The abundance of Canadian lynx follows 10-year density fluctuations across the Canadian subcontinent. These cyclic fluctuations have earlier been shown to be geographically structured into three climatic regions: the Atlantic, Continental, and Pacific zones. Recent genetic evidence revealed an essentially similar spatial structuring.

Penicillin and vancomycin tolerance among clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Hong Kong.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of penicillin and vancomycin tolerance in clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Design: Laboratory testing of 50 consecutive clinical isolates.

Setting: District hospital, Hong Kong.

Ecological and genetic spatial structuring in the Canadian lynx.

The Canadian lynx, distributed all across the northern part of North America, is well known for its regular population cycles-cycles that have different underlying structures in different parts of Canada. Using both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers, we report here a close resemblance between the earlier observed spatial ecological structuring of the Canadian lynx and its spatial genetic structuring. Specifically, we demonstrate that the Rocky Mountains represent a barrier to gene flow in western Canada, and, somewhat surprisingly, we detect the presence of a geographically invisible barrier south of Hudson Bay (coinciding with the separation between the ecological Continental and Atlantic regions).

Results of phacoemulsification in eyes with preexisting glaucoma filters.

Purpose: To evaluate the intraocular pressure (IOP), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and glaucoma medication requirements in patients having phacoemulsification after preexisting glaucoma filters.

Setting: Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 58 eyes that had temporal phacoemulsification via a clear corneal (32 eyes) or a scleral tunnel (26 eyes) approach after filtration surgery was performed with a minimum follow-up of 12 months.

Outcomes of phacoemulsification in patients with and without pseudoexfoliation syndrome.

Unlabelled: To characterize the differences in technique, complications, and outcomes in a large series of cataract extractions in patients with and without pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome.

Setting: Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of 297 cases of cataract extraction in patients with PEX and 427 cases of cataract extraction in patients without PEX.