Azithromycin in severe malaria bacterial co-infection in African children (TABS-PKPD): a phase II randomised controlled trial.

Background: African children with severe malaria are at increased risk of non-typhoidal salmonellae co-infection. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are recommended by guidelines but the optimal class and dose have not been established. We investigated the optimal dose of oral dispersible azithromycin and whether simple clinical criteria and point-of-care biomarkers could target antibiotics to those at greatest risk of bacterial co-infection.

Statistical analysis in support of maintaining a healthy traditional Siamese cat population.

Background: For many years, breeders of companion animals have applied inbreeding or line breeding to transfer desirable genetic traits from parents to their offspring. Simultaneously, this resulted in a considerable spread of hereditary diseases and phenomena associated with inbreeding depression.

Results: Our cluster analysis of kinship and inbreeding coefficients suggests that the Thai or traditional Siamese cat could be considered as a subpopulation of the Siamese cat, which shares common ancestors, although they are considered as separate breeds.

Facilities that make the PDB data collection more powerful.

We describe a series of databases and tools that directly or indirectly support biomedical research on macromolecules, with focus on their applicability in protein structure bioinformatics research. DSSP, that determines secondary structures of proteins, has been updated to work well with extremely large structures in multiple formats. The PDBREPORT database that lists anomalies in protein structures has been remade to remove many small problems.

Postural orthostatic tachycardia is not a useful diagnostic marker for chronic fatigue syndrome.

Background: Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is considered a diagnostic marker for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Objectives: The aims of this study were to (i) compare POTS prevalence in a CFS cohort with fatigued patients not meeting CFS criteria, and (ii) assess activity, impairment and response to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in CFS patients with POTS (POTS-CFS) and without POTS (non-POTS-CFS).

Methods: Prospective cohort study at the Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands.

Oral health-related quality of life in patients with removable dentures.

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that affected oral health-related quality of life (Oral Health Related Quality of Life = OHRQoL) in patients with removable dentures (RD). Quality of life was evaluated by using the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI). We analysed data of 250 patients aged 63 ± 11.

A single assay for multiple storage-sensitive red blood cell characteristics by means of infrared spectroscopy.

Background: To maintain a high quality of red blood cells (RBCs), RBC characteristics must be followed during storage under blood bank conditions. By means of infrared (IR) spectroscopy, several characteristics can be measured simultaneously.

Study Design And Methods: IR spectra were acquired for samples from RBCs that were collected and stored according to Dutch blood bank procedures for a period of up to 50 days.

Production of yeastolates for uniform stable isotope labelling in eukaryotic cell culture.

Preparation of stable isotope-labelled yeastolates opens up ways to establish more cost-effective stable isotope labelling of biomolecules in insect and mammalian cell lines and hence to employ higher eukaryotic cell lines for stable isotope labelling of complex recombinant proteins. Therefore, we evaluated several common yeast strains of the Saccharomycetoideae family as a source of high-quality, non-toxic yeastolates with the major aim to find a primary amino acid source for insect and mammalian cell culture that would allow cost-effective uniform stable isotope labelling (13C, 15N). Strains of the facultative methylotrophic yeasts Pichia pastoris and Hansenula polymorpha (Pichia angusta) as well as a strain of the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were compared as a source of yeastolate with respect to processing, recovery and ability to sustain growth of insect and mammalian cell lines.

Monitoring of biomass composition from microbiological sources by means of FT-IR spectroscopy.

An FT-IR spectroscopic method was developed for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of biomacromolecular components in biomass, originating from various microbiological sources. For the determination of protein, lipid and carbohydrate content, creatine phosphokinase, egg phosphatidyl choline and starch hydrolysate were chosen as external standards. This selection was based on spectral similarity and ease of availability.

Periodontal disease status of pregnant women with diabetes mellitus.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between type I diabetes mellitus (DM) and periodontal disease in pregnant women. Fifty-two pregnant women aged 27.9 +/- 6.

Microbicide trials for preventing HIV/AIDS in South Africa: phase II trial partricipants' experiences and psychological needs.

The Microbicide Division of the Department of Medical Microbiology at MEDUNSA, South Africa, recently completed a phase II expanded safety trial of the candidate microbicide Carraguard. A microbicide is a vaginal product that women might use, if proven safe and effective, to protect themselves from HIV and possibly other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The study participants were from Ga-Rankuwa and its neighbouring areas, an historically disadvantaged residential township near Pretoria.

Phase III microbicide trial methodology: opinions of experienced expanded safety trial participants in South Africa.

In preparation for effectiveness trials of candidate vaginal microbicides, scientists are debating trial design and implementation challenges, including choice of control arm(s), product-sharing across arms, and visit schedules. This study involved a survey of South African women participating in an expanded safety trial of the candidate microbicide Carraguard gel. The first 100 consenting women who attended the study clinics in Ga-Rankuwa and Gugulethu (total N = 200) were interviewed; all women had been using a study gel for at least 6 months at the time of the interview.

Usefulness of combining clinical and radiological dental findings for a more accurate noninvasive age estimation.

The aim of this study was to establish correlations of clinical and radiological dental findings, alone or in combination, with chronological age in adults. Dental findings and orthopantomograms of 984 patients (aged 20-60 years; 524 females/460 males) were analyzed. DMF-T index and distance (alveolar bone level, ABL) between cemento-enamel junction and alveolar bone margin were recorded.

pH dependence of copper geometry, reduction potential, and nitrite affinity in nitrite reductase.

Many properties of copper-containing nitrite reductase are pH-dependent, such as gene expression, enzyme activity, and substrate affinity. Here we use x-ray diffraction to investigate the structural basis for the pH dependence of activity and nitrite affinity by examining the type 2 copper site and its immediate surroundings in nitrite reductase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.

Biochemistry and pharmacology of novel anthranilic acid derivatives activating heme-oxidized soluble guanylyl cyclase.

The heme-enzyme soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) is an ubiquitous NO receptor, which mediates NO downstream signaling by the generation of cGMP. We studied the mechanism of action of the anthranilic acid derivatives 5-chloro-2-(5-chloro-thiophene-2-sulfonylamino-N-(4-(morpholine-4-sulfonyl)-phenyl)-benzamide sodium salt (HMR1766) (proposed international nonproprietary name, ataciguat sodium) and 2-(4-chloro-phenylsulfonylamino)-4,5-dimethoxy-N-(4-(thiomorpholine-4-sulfonyl)-phenyl)-benzamide (S3448) as a new class of sGC agonists. Both compounds activated different sGC preparations (purified from bovine lung, or crude from human corpus cavernosum) in a concentration-dependent and quickly reversible fashion (EC50 = 0.

The clinical application of hyaluronic acid in gingivitis therapy.

Objective: The efficacy of a topical application of hyaluronic acid (HA) was tested for treating gingivitis.

Method And Materials: Sixty nonsmoking outpatients in good general condition, with clinical signs of gingivitis, were included in the study. Forty patients (HA group, 20 men, 20 women; age: 32.

Influence of dental restorative materials on salivary Streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli in the primary dentition.

Purpose: When restoring deciduous teeth with extensive lesions, preformed stainless steel crowns are increasingly used in addition to resin-based materials. The aim of the present clinical study was to examine the influence of composites and stainless steel crowns on the cariogenic bacteria S. mutans and Lactobacilli by means of a commercially available salivary test (CRT bacteria) in 100 children.

The ring of the rhodopsin chromophore in a hydrophobic activation switch within the binding pocket.

The current view that the beta-ionone ring of the rhodopsin chromophore vacates its binding pocket within the protein early in the photocascade has been adopted in efforts to provide structural models of photoreceptor activation. This event casts doubt on the ability of this covalently bonded ligand to participate directly in later stages involving activation of the photoreceptor and it is difficult to translate into predictions for the activation of related G protein-coupled receptors by diffusable ligands (e.g.

Effect of apical root-end filling materials on gingival fibroblasts.

Aim: To determine the influence of root-end filling materials on specific cellular responses of gingival fibroblasts (GF).

Methodology: The reactions of cells in contact with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), amalgam and a chemically inert titanium alloy were determined based on the assessment of prostaglandin (PGE2) release with and without arachidonic acid stimulation, protein and lactate synthesis, and cell proliferation. Cells cultured without test materials served as controls (100%).

Efficacy of subgingival irrigation using herbal extracts on gingival inflammation.

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of an herbal-based mouthrinse in combination with an oral irrigator in reducing gingival inflammation.

Methods: A total of 89 patients (45 females, 44 males; mean age 49.1 +/- 1.

Survey about the knowledge of the HIV infection amongst recruits of the German military.

Aims: In the complex organizational unit of the German military (Bundeswehr), certain social conflicts and tensions may occur because of potential extreme situations and specific areas of conflict. The aim of this study was to obtain information from German military recruits regarding their knowledge of and behavioral patterns on the subject of HIV/AIDS.

Methods: 219 Soldiers in the military barracks in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany) were surveyed by means of a questionnaire (return rate 96.

Review of existing prophylaxis programs for 3880 first graders from Rhineland Palatinate, Germany.

A large study amongst 6-7 years old children was conducted in one of the German Federal States to evaluate the success of presently existing prophylaxis programs and to determine groups at high risk for dental caries. - A total of 3880 children (1844 girls and 2036 boys) received a dental exam while in first grade in the year 2000. 37.

Effects of selected immunouppressive drugs on prostaglandin release, protein synthesis and cell proliferation in human gingival fibroblasts and on the growth of plaque bacteria.

Background: Immunosuppressants play an essential role in transplantation therapy. In view of the side effects, e.g.

Treatment aspects for patients with infectious diseases in dental practices--results of a survey.

Aims: The dental treatment of patients with infectious diseases can pose certain problems and irritations not only for the dental team but also for other patients. In this study, a large number of patients were questioned to obtain a spectrum of opinions about problems associated with patients with infectious diseases in dental practices.

Methods: An especially formulated questionnaire for five selected infectious diseases (HIV infection, hepatitis A, B, and C and tuberculosis) has been distributed amongst 1,100 dental patients (statistical analysis: univariable and bivariable frequencies, contingency table, Wilcoxon text, Fisher text; error probability =<5 %).

Relationship between stress factors and periodontal disease.

Aims: In addition to bacterial infections, adverse effects of immunological changes, in particular, stress factors may represent precipitating parameters of inflammatory periodontal diseases. The purpose of the present clinical study was to identify a possible relationship between an increase in life stress and the development of the loss of periodontal attachment.

Methods: A total number of 120 patients with chronic periodontitis (PA group) were examined and compared with a control group of 122 patients (exclusion criterion: pathological periodontal changes) matched for age and gender.

Biocompatibility of dental materials in two human cell lines.

It was the aim of this study to investigate the biocompatibility of metallic (titan, gold, amalgam) and ceramic dental materials in contact with gingival (GF) and epithelial tumour cells (EpiCa). The cells were incubated with the test specimens (5 mg/piece) over a period of six days. Cellular proliferation rate, protein synthesis, and prostaglandin release (PGE2) served as parameters to determine the biocompatibility of the materials.