Use of Telephonetics RESULTS computer-facilitated telephone system with automatic results upload.

Our genitourinary medicine service implemented an automated telephone results system in 2010. This system is used in other services but few are able to upload negative results automatically from laboratory software. The use of this system reduced unanswered calls to a telephone results line and also the number of calls that had to be connected to clinical staff.

Chronic stress-induced alterations in mouse colonic 5-HT and defecation responses are strain dependent.

Mood disorders and chronic stress are frequently associated with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms including diarrhoea or constipation. Locally produced serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] regulates GI motility and is a key factor in the pathophysiology of stress-associated GI disorders. We aimed to establish whether chronic stress can differentially affect faecal output and colon 5-HT concentration in two inbred mouse strains: BALB/c and C57BL/6 which differ in their ability to cope with stress.

Incidence and predictors of anti-bradycardia pacing in patients with Anderson-Fabry disease.

Background: Anderson-Fabry disease (AFD) is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder associated with bradyarrhythmias. We sought to examine the nature of conduction system abnormalities and the indications and determinants of anti-bradycardia pacing in patients with AFD.

Methods And Results: We studied 204 patients with AFD (49% male, mean age 42 years) in an observational, longitudinal, retrospective cohort study.

Microneedle array design determines the induction of protective memory CD8+ T cell responses induced by a recombinant live malaria vaccine in mice.

Background: Vaccine delivery into the skin has received renewed interest due to ease of access to the immune system and microvasculature, however the stratum corneum (SC), must be breached for successful vaccination. This has been achieved by removing the SC by abrasion or scarification or by delivering the vaccine intradermally (ID) with traditional needle-and-syringes or with long microneedle devices. Microneedle patch-based transdermal vaccine studies have predominantly focused on antibody induction by inactivated or subunit vaccines.

The long-term survival and the risks and benefits of implantable cardioverter defibrillators in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Objective: Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are routinely used to prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) in selected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients, but the determinants of device-related complications, therapies and long-term cardiovascular mortality in ICD recipients are not known.

Design: Retrospective observational cohort study.

Setting: Single-centre tertiary referral cardiomyopathy clinic.

Functional genome analysis of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 reveals type IVb tight adherence (Tad) pili as an essential and conserved host-colonization factor.

Development of the human gut microbiota commences at birth, with bifidobacteria being among the first colonizers of the sterile newborn gastrointestinal tract. To date, the genetic basis of Bifidobacterium colonization and persistence remains poorly understood. Transcriptome analysis of the Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 2.

Determination of parameters for successful spray coating of silicon microneedle arrays.

Coated microneedle patches have demonstrated potential for effective, minimally invasive, drug and vaccine delivery. To facilitate cost-effective, industrial-scale production of coated microneedle patches, a continuous coating method which utilises conventional pharmaceutical processes is an attractive prospect. Here, the potential of spray-coating silicon microneedle patches using a conventional film-coating process was evaluated and the key process parameters which impact on coating coalescence and weight were identified by employing a fractional factorial design to coat flat silicon patches.

Building a comprehensive genomic program for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer, causing approximately 660,000 deaths worldwide annually. The preferred treatment of HCC is surgical resection or orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for patients meeting specific criteria. For patients outside these criteria, options are limited and include medical therapy, radiofrequency ablation, chemoembolization, or palliative measures, and these result in poor outcomes.

A primer on a hepatocellular carcinoma bioresource bank using the cancer genome atlas guidelines: practical issues and pitfalls.

Background: Since the advent of the human genome, the era of personalized genomic medicine is indisputably in progress.

Methods: In an effort to contribute to the evolving knowledge of genomic medicine, we have aimed directly at building a bioresource bank for hepatocellular carcinoma. This tumor bank is based on the rigorous guidelines set forth by the National Cancer Institute, and it offers analytes to help elucidate the mechanisms of progression from cirrhosis to malignancy, risk factors for recurrence, and applicability of current treatment options to a diverse group of people.

Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: case series and review of the literature.

Introduction. Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is caused by nonfunctioning low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors, resulting in high serum cholesterol. Two types of FH are described: the heterozygous form is diagnosed in adults and responds well to medical therapy; the homozygous form is rare, diagnosed in children, and often requires multiple treatments to prevent complications.

Strain differences in the neurochemical response to chronic restraint stress in the rat: relevance to depression.

The neurochemical basis of depression focuses on alterations in the monoaminergic and amino acid neurotransmitter systems. Moreover, decreases in serum levels of the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have led to the more recent neurotrophic hypothesis of depression. Chronic stress is one of the major predisposing factors to developing the disorder and thus we investigated the impact of chronic restraint stress on the levels of several neurotransmitters and their metabolites in a genetic animal model of depression, the Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat.

An early regional experience with expansion of Milan Criteria for liver transplant recipients.

The Milan Criteria (MC) showed that orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) was an effective treatment for patients with nonresectable, nonmetastatic HCC. There is growing evidence that expanding the MC does not adversely affect patient or allograft survival following OLT. The adult OLT programs in UNOS Region 4 reached an agreement allowing lesions outside MC (one lesion <6 cm, ≤3 lesions, none >5 cm and total diameter <9 cm-[R4 T3]) to receive the same exception points as MC lesions.

Diabetes and genital warts: an unhappy coalition.

Through clinical practice, it is often perceived that patients with diabetes are more likely to suffer from severe and recalcitrant warts. This study was set up to investigate if genital warts were more common in patients with diabetes and to determine if patients with diabetes and genital warts required more treatment than those without diabetes. Only female patients with diabetes and genital warts were investigated and were compared to the non-diabetic population.

In-vivo dynamic characterization of microneedle skin penetration using optical coherence tomography.

The use of microneedles as a method of circumventing the barrier properties of the stratum corneum is receiving much attention. Although skin disruption technologies and subsequent transdermal diffusion rates are being extensively studied, no accurate data on depth and closure kinetics of microneedle-induced skin pores are available, primarily due to the cumbersome techniques currently required for skin analysis. We report on the first use of optical coherence tomography technology to image microneedle penetration in real time and in vivo.

Biliary epithelial metastasis of squamous carcinoma of the anus.

Introduction: The liver and biliary tree are common sites of initial metastasis for many primary tumors. However, we recently encountered a patient who presented with biliary-tree tumor encasement as a first metastasis from squamous carcinoma of the anus.

Methods: To our knowledge, this has not been previously described in the literature.

Prevalence of desmosomal protein gene mutations in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is a familial disorder in 25% to 50% of patients, but the genetic basis in the majority of cases remains unknown. Genes encoding desmosomal proteins, currently regarded as synonymous with another disorder, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, are known to cause left ventricular dysfunction, but their importance in unselected patients with unequivocal dilated cardiomyopathy is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of mutations in 5 desmosomal protein genes in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Comparison of hippocampal metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 (mGlu7) mRNA levels in two animal models of depression.

There is increasing evidence to suggest that metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors including mGlu(7) receptor are important in the pathophysiology of stress-related psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and major depression. mGlu(7) receptor is highly expressed in the hippocampus, a key region involved in the modulation of depression-related behaviour. Moreover, mice deficient in mGlu(7) receptor have an antidepressant-like behaviour and altered stress response.

In vivo, in situ imaging of microneedle insertion into the skin of human volunteers using optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: To gather sub-surface in situ images of microneedle-treated human skin, in vivo, using optical coherence tomography (OCT). This is the first study to utilise OCT to investigate the architectural changes that are induced in skin following microneedle application.

Methods: Steel, silicon and polymer microneedle devices, with different microneedle arrangements and morphologies, were applied to two anatomical sites in human volunteers following appropriate ethical approval.

Restraint stress-induced brain activation patterns in two strains of mice differing in their anxiety behaviour.

Genetically identical inbred mouse strains are one of the most useful tools in dissecting the genetic basis of complex disorders. C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice differ markedly in emotionality. In particular, BALB/c mice are more stress-sensitive and have been proposed to be a model of pathological anxiety.