Real-world evidence from the first online healthcare analytics platform-Livingstone. Validation of its descriptive epidemiology module.

Incidence and prevalence are key epidemiological determinants characterizing the quantum of a disease. We compared incidence and prevalence estimates derived automatically from the first ever online, essentially real-time, healthcare analytics platform-Livingstone-against findings from comparable peer-reviewed studies in order to validate the descriptive epidemiology module. The source of routine NHS data for Livingstone was the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).

Oxidative killing of encapsulated and nonencapsulated Streptococcus pneumoniae by lactoperoxidase-generated hypothiocyanite.

Streptococcus pneumoniae (Pneumococcus) infections affect millions of people worldwide, cause serious mortality and represent a major economic burden. Despite recent successes due to pneumococcal vaccination and antibiotic use, Pneumococcus remains a significant medical problem. Airway epithelial cells, the primary responders to pneumococcal infection, orchestrate an extracellular antimicrobial system consisting of lactoperoxidase (LPO), thiocyanate anion and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

Microvillar and ciliary defects in zebrafish lacking an actin-binding bioactive peptide amidating enzyme.

The assembly of membranous extensions such as microvilli and cilia in polarized cells is a tightly regulated, yet poorly understood, process. Peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), a membrane enzyme essential for the synthesis of amidated bioactive peptides, was recently identified in motile and non-motile (primary) cilia and has an essential role in ciliogenesis in Chlamydomonas, Schmidtea and mouse. In mammalian cells, changes in PAM levels alter secretion and organization of the actin cytoskeleton.

International Liver Transplantation Society Consensus Statement on Immunosuppression in Liver Transplant Recipients.

Effective immunosupression management is central to achieving optimal outcomes in liver transplant recipients. Current immunosuppression regimens and agents are highly effective in minimizing graft loss due to acute and chronic rejection but can also produce a substantial array of toxicities. The utilization of immunosuppression varies widely, contributing to the wide disparities in posttransplant outcomes reported between transplant centers.

Characterization of trace metal content in the developing zebrafish embryo.

Trace metals are essential for health but toxic when present in excess. The maintenance of trace metals at physiologic levels reflects both import and export by cells and absorption and excretion by organs. The mechanism by which this maintenance is achieved in vertebrate organisms is incompletely understood.