Development and evaluation of a common data model enabling active drug safety surveillance using disparate healthcare databases.

Objective: Active drug safety surveillance may be enhanced by analysis of multiple observational healthcare databases, including administrative claims and electronic health records. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a common data model (CDM) enabling rapid, comparable, systematic analyses across disparate observational data sources to identify and evaluate the effects of medicines.

Design: The CDM uses a person-centric design, with attributes for demographics, drug exposures, and condition occurrence.

High-resolution forest carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon.

Efforts to mitigate climate change through the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) depend on mapping and monitoring of tropical forest carbon stocks and emissions over large geographic areas. With a new integrated use of satellite imaging, airborne light detection and ranging, and field plots, we mapped aboveground carbon stocks and emissions at 0.1-ha resolution over 4.

Semi-automated risk estimation using large databases: quinolones and Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea.

Purpose: The availability of large databases with person time information and appropriate statistical methods allow for relatively rapid pharmacovigilance analyses. A semi-automated method was used to investigate the effect of fluoroquinolones on the incidence of C. difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD).

Disruption of two defensive signaling pathways by a viral RNA silencing suppressor.

The Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) 2b counter-defense protein disrupts plant antiviral mechanisms mediated by RNA silencing and salicylic acid (SA). We used microarrays to investigate defensive gene expression in 2b-transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Surprisingly, 2b inhibited expression of few SA-regulated genes and, in some instances, enhanced the effect of SA on certain genes.

Immediate-release versus controlled-release carbamazepine in the treatment of epilepsy.

Background: Epilepsy is defined as the tendency to spontaneous, excessive neuronal discharge, manifesting as seizures. It is a common disorder with an incidence of 50 per 100,000 per year and a prevalence of 0.5% to 1% (Hauser 1993) in the developed world.

The effects of antifungal therapy on severe asthma with fungal sensitization and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.

Background And Objective: Very little is known about the response rates to or appropriateness of treatment for patients with allergic fungal diseases of the lung. This study assessed the effect of antifungal therapy in patients with severe asthma with fungal sensitization (SAFS) and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 33 adult patients who fulfilled the criteria for either SAFS (n = 22) or ABPA (n = 11) was conducted.

The RAP1 gene confers effective, race-specific resistance to the pea aphid in Medicago truncatula independent of the hypersensitive reaction.

Plant resistance to pathogens is commonly associated with a hypersensitive response (HR), but the degree to which the HR is responsible for incompatibility is subject to debate. Resistance to aphids is likely to share features with resistance to pathogens but is less well understood. Here, we report effective resistance to the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum in Medicago truncatula.

Refolding active human DNA polymerase nu from inclusion bodies.

Human DNA polymerase nu (Pol nu) is a conserved family A DNA polymerase of uncertain biological function. Physical and biochemical characterization aimed at understanding Pol nu function is hindered by the fact that, when over-expressed in Escherichia coli, Pol nu is largely insoluble, and the small amount of soluble protein is difficult to purify. Here we describe the use of high hydrostatic pressure to refold Pol nu from inclusion bodies, in soluble and active form.

Excess mortality, length of stay and cost attributable to candidaemia.

Background: There were 1967 reports of Candida species isolated from blood specimens in 2007 in the UK (excluding Scotland). Such infections are particularly common in the intensive care unit (ICU). The impact of candidaemia on mortality, length of stay (LOS) and cost in a UK hospital was examined.

Evaluating Cutimed Sorbact: using a case study approach.

This article uses a case study approach to demonstrate good clinical outcomes using a bacterial binding dressing range on a variety of difficult wounds. A case study approach can demonstrate a clinician's perspective on the practicalities of dressing choice in practice. All wounds, whether acute or chronic, offer pathogenic micro-organisms the opportunity to flourish - this can result in slow healing.

Modifying the alkylglucosinolate profile in Arabidopsis thaliana alters the tritrophic interaction with the herbivore Brevicoryne brassicae and parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae.

Arabidopsis thaliana was used as an experimental model plant to investigate a tritrophic interaction between the plant, a specialist aphid herbivore, Brevicoryne brassicae, and its natural enemy, the parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae. The A. thaliana ecotype Col-5 was transformed with a functional 2-oxoglutarate dependent dioxygenase (BniGSL-ALK) that converts 3-methylsulfinylpropylglucosinolate and 4-methylsulfinylbutylglucosinolate to 2-propenylglucosinolate and 3-butenylglucosinolate, respectively.

Comparison of skin prick tests with specific serum immunoglobulin E in the diagnosis of fungal sensitization in patients with severe asthma.

Background: It has been shown that patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and patients with severe asthma with fungal sensitization (SAFS) can benefit from antifungal therapy. It is not known whether allergy skin prick tests (SPT) or specific IgE tests are more sensitive in the identification of patients who are sensitized to fungi and who are therefore candidates for antifungal therapy.

Objectives: To compare SPT and specific serum IgE tests for fungal sensitization in patients with severe asthma.

Radiation therapy in the treatment of desmoid tumours reduces surgical indications.

Background: While several modalities have been proposed for the treatment of desmoid tumour/aggressive fibromatosis, high local recurrence rates have been reported. We present a retrospective study of including patients treated with radiation therapy, some of them in combination with surgical resection.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-four consecutive patients were included (mean age 40+/-16 years, 9 male).

Probing the conformation and orientation of adsorbed enzymes using side-chain modification.

The bioactivity of enzymes that are adsorbed on surfaces can be substantially influenced by the orientation of the enzyme on the surface and adsorption-induced changes in the enzyme's structure. Circular dichroism (CD) is a powerful method for observing the secondary structure of proteins; however, it provides little information regarding the tertiary structure of a protein or its adsorbed orientation. In this study, we developed methods using side-chain-specific chemical modification of solvent-exposed tryptophan residues to complement CD spectroscopy and bioactivity assays to provide greater detail regarding whether changes in enzyme bioactivity following adsorption are due to adsorbed orientation and/or adsorption-induced changes in the overall structure.

Gender-specific activity of chemotherapy correlates with outcomes in chemosensitive cancers of young adulthood.

Good evidence indicates that adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer do badly compared with children with similar cancers. The reasons are poorly understood. Australian registry data on 14,824 cancers of adolescence and young adulthood seen between 1982 and 2002 were reviewed.

The new Start dressing range--Urgotul Start, UrgoCell Start.

Delayed wound healing has implications both for the clinician and the patient, as well as having a financial burden on the National Health Service. UrgoCell Start and Urgotul Start are the first dressings on the drug tariff to be impregnated with Nano-OligoSaccharide Factor (NOSF), a new compound that aims to promote wound closure through the inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity. The dressings are designed to 'kick-start' wounds that are at risk of delayed healing.

Aphid biodiversity is positively correlated with human population in European countries.

At large spatial scales, high numbers of people tend to be located in regions rich in biodiversity. This pattern has been reported for plants, some invertebrate groups, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, but little is known about whether aphids conform to it. Aphids originated from temperate regions of the boreal hemisphere and are thus exceptionally species-poor in the tropics.

Effort testing in contemporary UK neuropsychological practice.

A survey of members of the British Psychological Society Division of Neuropsychology (N = 588) was conducted via email to ascertain current practice with respect to the use of symptom validity testing (SVT) in clinical and legal neuropsychological assessments. Replies were received from 130 practicing neuropsychologists. Results showed that 59% frequently use SVT in legal assessments, but a minority (15%) employ them in clinical assessments.

Do plant viruses facilitate their aphid vectors by inducing symptoms that alter behavior and performance?

Aphids can respond both positively and negatively to virus-induced modifications of the shared host plant. It can be speculated that viruses dependent on aphids for their transmission might evolve to induce changes in the host plant that attract aphids and improve their performance, subsequently enhancing the success of the pathogen itself. We studied how pea aphids [Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris)] responded to infection of tic beans (Vicia faba L.

A common MYBPC3 (cardiac myosin binding protein C) variant associated with cardiomyopathies in South Asia.

Heart failure is a leading cause of mortality in South Asians. However, its genetic etiology remains largely unknown. Cardiomyopathies due to sarcomeric mutations are a major monogenic cause for heart failure (MIM600958).

Nd:YAG laser in caries prevention: a clinical trial.

Background And Objective: It is widely known that Nd:YAG can increase enamel resistance to demineralization; however, there are no studies that report the application of Nd:YAG associated with topical application of fluoride in vivo. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Nd:YAG laser, when associated with the topical application of acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF), for preventing enamel demineralization in vivo.

Materials And Methods: A double-blind crossover experimental design was used, in which 121 teeth of 33 volunteers were selected.

Randomized controlled trial of oral antifungal treatment for severe asthma with fungal sensitization: The Fungal Asthma Sensitization Trial (FAST) study.

Rationale: Some patients with severe asthma are immunologically sensitized to one or more fungi, a clinical entity categorized as severe asthma with fungal sensitization (SAFS). It is not known whether SAFS responds to antifungal therapy.

Objectives: To evaluate the response of SAFS to oral itraconazole.

Comparative innate responses of the aphid parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae to alkenyl glucosinolate derived isothiocyanates, nitriles, and epithionitriles.

Cruciferous plants (Brassicaceae) are characterized by the accumulation of a group of secondary metabolites known as glucosinolates that, following attack by pathogens or herbivores, may be hydrolyzed to one of a number of products including isothiocyanates and nitriles. Despite the range of hydrolysis products that may be produced, the toxicity of glucosinolates to pathogens and herbivores may be explained largely by the production of isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates are also known to provide an indirect defense by acting as host finding cues for parasitoids of insect herbivores that attack crucifers.