Sarcolipin is a newly identified regulator of muscle-based thermogenesis in mammals.

The role of skeletal muscle in nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) is not well understood. Here we show that sarcolipin (Sln), a newly identified regulator of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (Serca) pump, is necessary for muscle-based thermogenesis. When challenged to acute cold (4 °C), Sln(-/-) mice were not able to maintain their core body temperature (37 °C) and developed hypothermia.

Spinal cord stimulation paresthesia and activity of primary afferents.

A patient with failed back surgery syndrome reported paresthesia in his hands and arms during a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) screening trial with a low thoracic electrode. The patient's severe thoracic stenosis necessitated general anesthesia for simultaneous decompressive laminectomy and SCS implantation for chronic use. Use of general anesthesia gave the authors the opportunity to characterize the patient's unusual distribution of paresthesia.

The challenges and realties of diaper area cleansing for parents.

Objective: To explore the complexities of diaper area cleansing reported by women participating in a randomized controlled trial designed to compare optimally formulated baby wipes (Johnson's Baby Skincare fragrance free wipe) with cotton wool and water.

Design: A mixed-method design incorporating quantitative and qualitative methods to explore maternal views and experiences of using baby wipes or cotton wool and water to cleanse their newborn's diaper area over an 8-week period.

Setting: Participants were recruited from a large regional maternity hospital in Northern England.

Mechanisms underlying antigen-specific tolerance of stable and convertible Th17 cells during suppression of autoimmune diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes involves both T helper (Th)1 and Th17 cells. While the mechanisms underlying the control of Th1 cells are relatively well defined, those operating modulation of Th17 cells remain unknown. Moreover, given that Th17 cells are plastic and can drive disease as stable or convertible T cells, effective approaches to counter type 1 diabetes would have to alter Th17 function under both circumstances.

Generation and analysis of blueberry transcriptome sequences from leaves, developing fruit, and flower buds from cold acclimation through deacclimation.

Background: There has been increased consumption of blueberries in recent years fueled in part because of their many recognized health benefits. Blueberry fruit is very high in anthocyanins, which have been linked to improved night vision, prevention of macular degeneration, anti-cancer activity, and reduced risk of heart disease. Very few genomic resources have been available for blueberry, however.

Making good oral hygiene a priority for all our patients.

Oral hygiene is an important aspect of basic patient care, but it is often overlooked among all the other tasks we need to carry out.

Bone marrow-derived IL-13Rα1-positive thymic progenitors are restricted to the myeloid lineage.

The earliest thymic progenitors (ETPs) were recently shown to give rise to both lymphoid and myeloid cells. Whereas the majority of ETPs are derived from IL-7Rα-positive cells and give rise exclusively to T cells, the origin of the myeloid cells remains undefined. In this study, we show both in vitro and in vivo that IL-13Rα1(+) ETPs yield myeloid cells with no potential for maturation into T cells, whereas IL-13Rα1(-) ETPs lack myeloid potential.

Spatial memory deficits in a virtual reality eight-arm radial maze in schizophrenia.

Learning and memory impairments are present in schizophrenia (SZ) throughout the illness course and predict psychosocial function. Abnormalities in prefrontal and hippocampal function are thought to contribute to SZ deficits. The radial arm maze (RAM) is a test of spatial learning and memory in rodents that relies on intact prefrontal and hippocampal function.

HIV-related neuromuscular diseases: nemaline myopathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and bibrachial amyotrophic diplegia.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes diverse disorders of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. Rarely, polymyositis and myoglobinuria are seen. Two other neuromuscular syndromes in people with HIV antibodies are nemaline myopathy and bibrachial amyotrophic diplegia, a form of motor neuron disease.

Disruption of the murine protein kinase Cbeta gene promotes gallstone formation and alters biliary lipid and hepatic cholesterol metabolism.

The protein kinase C (PKC) family of Ca(2+) and/or lipid-activated serine-threonine protein kinases is implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity and insulin resistance. We recently reported that protein kinase Cβ (PKCβ), a calcium-, diacylglycerol-, and phospholipid-dependent kinase, is critical for maintaining whole body triglyceride homeostasis. We now report that PKCβ deficiency has profound effects on murine hepatic cholesterol metabolism, including hypersensitivity to diet-induced gallstone formation.

A simplified model of screening questionnaire and home monitoring for obstructive sleep apnoea in primary care.

Background: To address the growing burden of disease and long waiting lists for sleep services, a simplified two-stage model was developed and validated for identifying obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in primary care using a screening questionnaire followed by home sleep monitoring.

Methods: 157 patients aged 25-70 years attending their primary care physician for any reason at six primary care clinics in rural and metropolitan regions of South Australia participated. The first 79 patients formed the development group and the next 78 patients the validation group.

Senataxin mutations and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

We studied three patients with mutations in the senataxin gene (SETX). One had juvenile onset of ALS. The second case resembled hereditary motor neuropathy.

Demonstration of motor imagery movement and phantom movement-related neuronal activity in human thalamus.

Functional imaging studies show that motor imagery activates multiple structures in the human forebrain. We now show that phantom movements in an amputee and imagined movements in intact individuals elicit responses from neurons in several human thalamic nuclei. These include the somatic sensory nucleus receiving input from the periphery (ventral caudal), and the motor nuclei receiving input from the cerebellum [ventral intermediate (Vim)] and the basal ganglia [ventral oral posterior (Vop)].

Evaluation of steady-state pharmacokinetic interactions between ritonavir-boosted BILR 355, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, and lamivudine/zidovudine in healthy subjects.

What Is Known And Objective: BILR 355 is a second generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. It has shown promising in vitro anti-HIV-1 activities and favourable human pharmacokinetic properties after co-administration with ritonavir (RTV). Lamivudine (3TC) is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.

Research advances in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 2009 to 2010.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease of upper and lower motor neurons that causes progressive weakness and death. The breadth of research in ALS continues to grow with exciting new discoveries in disease pathogenesis and potential future therapeutics. There is a growing list of identified mutations in familial ALS, including those in genes encoding TDP-43 and FUS/TLS, which are expanding our understanding of the role of RNA modulation in ALS pathogenesis.

Parkinsonism and motor neuron diseases: twenty-seven patients with diverse overlap syndromes.

It has long been recognized that signs of motor neuron disease (MND) may accompany clinical evidence of parkinsonism in different neurodegenerative conditions. By using the Columbia University Division of Movement Disorders database, we reviewed data from 5,500 cases of parkinsonism and recorded the presence of upper motor neuron (UMN) dysfunction, lower motor neuron (LMN) dysfunction, or both. Among the 27 patients so identified, we counted those with autonomic dysfunction, cerebellar dysfunction, or dementia.

Increased anterior brain activation to correct responses on high-conflict Stroop task in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objective: An abnormally increased activation in anterior brain networks, accompanied by normal task performance, has been reported in studies on biological mechanisms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We test a hypothesis, that this phenomenon, deemed specific to OCD, will be compromised by a very difficult task, which may lead to reduced cortical information processing and erroneous performance, as found in other disorders such as schizophrenia.

Methods: We designed a new variant of high-conflict Stroop-word-color interference task (Stroop-WCIT) with each incongruent (INC) trial preceded by multiple congruent trials.

Neural changes associated with relational learning in schizophrenia.

Relational learning, which is learning the relationship among items, is impaired in schizophrenia but can be improved with training. This study investigated neural changes with functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after training on a relational learning task in schizophrenia and healthy control subjects. Despite their acquiring similar relational learning performance, the groups exhibited different neural activation patterns before and following training.