The correlation between high-sensitivity troponin-T and cell-free cardiac DNA in the blood of patients undergoing noncardiac, predominantly vascular surgery.

Objective: To present a novel method that uses an epigenetic fingerprint to measure changes in plasma concentrations of cardiac-specific cell-free DNA (CS-cfDNA) as a marker of myocardial cell death.

Methods: This prospective, analytic, observational comparative study included patients with heart disease or multiple risk factors for heart disease undergoing major noncardiac, mostly vascular surgery, requiring an arterial-line, and at least 24 h hospitalization in the post anaesthesia care unit or critical care unit after surgery. Blood samples were collected at least four times per patient to measure troponin-T (via high-sensitivity troponin-T test) and CS-cfDNA pre- and postoperatively.

Thirteen years of experience with the endoscopic midface lift.

Background: Numerous techniques have been used to rejuvenate the aging midface. The Endotine midface technique involves an endoscopic temporal approach, including midface dissection and malar suspension with fixation. The Endotine device (Microaire, Charlottesville, Virginia) eliminates the intraoral incision and use of sutures, enabling multipoint fixation and fast, simple adjustability for optimal control of midface elevation and volume.

Primary lateral sclerosis: predicting functional outcome.

Our objective was to investigate functional outcome in primary lateral sclerosis (PLS). We followed a group of 24 patients with PLS. Clinical (ALSFRS), respiratory, and neurophysiological (electromyography and transcranial magnetic stimulation) evaluations were performed at entry and regularly over the follow-up period.

Economic cost of home-telemonitoring care for BiPAP-assisted ALS individuals.

Our objective was to measure direct (hospital and NHS) and indirect (patient/caregiver) costs of following up in-home compliance to non-invasive ventilation via wireless modem. We constructed a prospective controlled trial of 40 consecutive ALS home-ventilated patients, randomly assigned according to their residence area to G1 (nearby hospital, office-based follow-up) and G2 (outside hospital area, telemetry device-based follow-up). Total NHS direct cost encompassed costs related to outpatients' visits (office and emergency room) and hospitalizations.

Patrikios syndrome in two patients with treatable flail-leg weakness.

Flail-leg syndrome or lower limb diplegia is a form of motor neuron disease characterized by a slower progression rate. The differential diagnosis with motor neuropathy is important. We present two patients with a previous diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-flail-leg syndrome, in whom neurophysiological studies suggested proximal conduction block.

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of memantine for functional disability in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Our objective is to describe the results of a phase II/III, 12-months, double-blinded, single-centre, randomized, parallel (1:1), clinical trial performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of memantine in ALS. Patients with probable or definite ALS of less than 36 months disease duration and progression over a one-month lead-in period were randomly assigned to placebo or memantine at 20 mg/day. The primary endpoint was 12-months ALSFRS decline.

Infectious aetiologies in elderly patients hospitalised with non-pneumonic lower respiratory tract infection.

Objective: to identify the infectious aetiologies of non-pneumonic lower respiratory tract infections in hospitalised elderly patients, and to characterise the patients in terms of demographic, clinical and therapeutic variables.

Design: a prospective, non-interventional, purely serologically based diagnostic study.

Setting: a tertiary university hospital in southern Israel.

Atypical pathogen infection in adults with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma.

In a serologically based prospective study, acute infections with four atypical pathogens were determined in 100 adults hospitalized for acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma, and compared with the corresponding rate in a matched control group. Paired sera were tested using immunofluorescence or enzyme immunoassay methods to establish the serologic diagnosis. In 18 patients (18%), there was evidence of acute infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, compared with 3% in the control group (p = 0.

Serological evidence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in acute exacerbation of COPD.

A prospective study was conducted to identify and characterize hospitalizations for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) with serologic evidence of infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp). Two hundred forty hospitalizations for AECOPD were included in a 17-month prospective study. Paired sera were obtained for each of the hospitalizations and were tested serologically for Mp using a commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit.

A comparative study of the etiology of adult upper and lower respiratory tract infections in the community.

Lower respiratory tract infection and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) are very common, but the etiology is not diagnosed in routine practice. The objective of this study was to determine and compare the frequency distribution of the various infectious etiologies for these diseases. One hundred seventy five adults in the community with febrile LRTI and 75 with febrile URTI were included in a purely serologically based prospective study.

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: analysis of 250 hospitalizations.

Two hundred fifty hospitalizations were included in a serologically based prospective study to assess the role of Chlamydia pneumoniae in episodes of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) and the percentage of COPD patients chronically infected with this pathogen. Chlamydia pneumoniae-specific IgG, IgA and IgM antibody titers were determined using a commercial kit with the microimmunofluorescence method. A significantly higher geometric mean titer in the COPD patients compared to the control group was found for IgG (P<0.

Infectious etiologies in acute exacerbation of COPD.

Acute exacerbation (AE) is a frequent episode during the prolonged chronic course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which entails significant morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency distribution of infectious etiologies in these episodes. Two hundred forty hospitalizations for AECOPD were included in a prospective, purely serologically based study.

Novel approach for specific detection of herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2 antibodies and immunoglobulin G and M antibodies.

Recently a few new herpes simplex virus (HSV) type-specific serological diagnostic tests have been introduced to the commercial market, but these tests have some limitations. Moreover, it is not yet clear which commercial test can be regarded as a "gold standard" for the serodiagnosis of HSV infections. In order to improve the clinical diagnostic value of serological tests for the detection of HSV infections, we developed novel, competition-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for the specific determination of HSV type 2 antibodies (SeroHSV2) and HSV type 1 antibodies (SeroHSV1) and two complementary tests for the detection of HSV immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG antibodies (SeroHSV IgM and SeroHSV IgG).

Etiology of respiratory tract infection in adults in a general practice setting.

A prospective study was conducted over a 3-month winter period in three general practice clinics in an urban population in southern Israel to identify the etiological agents of respiratory tract infections (RTI) in adults. RTI was defined as an acute febrile illness with cough, coryza, sore throat or hoarseness. Serum samples were taken from all patients in both the acute and convalescent phases of their illness.

The type 1 human immunodeficiency virus Tat binding protein is a transcriptional activator belonging to an additional family of evolutionarily conserved genes.

The type 1 human immunodeficiency virus Tat protein is a powerful transcriptional activator when bound to an RNA structure (TAR) present at the extreme 5' terminus of viral mRNA. Since transcriptional activation requires binding of Tat to RNA, it has been suggested that Tat enhances initiation or elongation through a direct interaction with cellular transcription factors. Here we show through protein fusion experiments that the previously identified cellular Tat binding protein, TBP-1, although unable to bind DNA, is a strong transcriptional activator when brought into proximity of several promoter elements.

Molecular dissection of cholinergic binding sites: how do snakes escape the effect of their own toxins?

Snakes have evolved a novel binding site demonstrating selective biorecognition. The snake nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is sensitive to acetylcholine while resistant to the effect of the lethal neurotoxins secreted in their own venom. By subjecting recombinant binding sites to point mutagenesis, biochemical analyses and NMR spectroscopy the binding characteristics of three cholinergic ligands have been measured.

NMR studies of recombinant active site peptides of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

Interactions of ligands with recombinant cholinergic binding sites have been monitored by NMR. Monitoring the selective T1 relaxation of the protons of acetylcholine, nicotine, d-tubocurarine, and gallamine reveals specific binding to peptide constructs containing the alpha 183-204 or shorter sequences of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor of Torpedo, Human, Chicken, Xenopus, Mouse, Calf, and Drosophila. The trend of the KD values of the different ligands shows that the binding of the low molecular weight agonists and antagonists is very weak to the Drosophila sequence which is different from the vertebrate sequences in the N and C terminals.

Comparison of the toxin binding sites of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor from Drosophila to human.

Recombinant toxin binding proteins have been previously found to provide a convenient experimental system for the study of receptor-ligand recognition (Aronheim et al., 1988). Here, this system has been used to produce the binding sites of the cholinergic receptor derived from seven organisms, Torpedo californica, Xenopus, chick, mouse, calf, human, and Drosophila.

Fate of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis under Simulated Field Conditions.

The fate of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis in a natural aquatic habitat was studied in a model system by using laboratory-simulated field waters and a mutant of the bacterium resistant to three antibiotics. Contact with mud of a sporal culture of the mutant resulted in an immediate disappearance of the larvicidal activity but had no influence on viability.