European priorities for research on health care organizations and service delivery.

Objectives: To provide an overview of the principal areas of research on health care organization and service delivery and to identify priority areas from a European comparative perspective. Given the large quantity of articles produced on health care organizations, we focus on primary care and hospital care.

Method: A combination of methods was used for describing past and current research: (i) bibliometric analyses of published research in Pubmed and Embase 2000-09; (ii) a further classification of research based on a sample of 1,010 articles; and (iii) an identification of relevant EU-funded projects over the period 2000-10.

The applicability of SRTM in [(18)F]fallypride PET investigations: impact of scan durations.

The high-affinity radioligand [(18)F]fallypride (FP) is frequently used for quantification of striatal/extrastriatal D(2/3) receptors and the receptor occupancies of antipsychotics (APs). Its 110 minutes half-life allows long scan durations. However, the optimum scan duration is a matter of debate.

Priorities for health services research in primary care.

Background: All European health systems face several common challenges related to increases in lifestyle and chronic diseases, a decreasing future workforce, inequalities in health and the consequences of societal changes. Primary care, which has the potential to help meet these challenges, would benefit from the contribution of health services research (HSR) on a wide range of topics. As funding for such research is limited, priorities need to be defined.

Improved visual [(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT interpretation for evaluation of parkinsonism by visual rating of parametric distribution volume ratio images.

Aim: Imaging of presynaptic dopamine transporters (DAT) by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and [(123)I]FP-CIT is an established method for differentiating between neurodegenerative and non-neurodegenerative parkinsonism. Whereas a region-of-interest (ROI) analysis is the method of choice for analyzing [(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT studies, visual image interpretations can also provide highly accurate results. The present study was undertaken to validate a visual reading system for parametric volume of distribution (DVR) [(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT images that combines the quantitative nature of ROI analyses and the simplicity of visual readings.

Lateral facilitation between primary mechanosensory neurons controls nose touch perception in C. elegans.

The nematode C. elegans senses head and nose touch using multiple classes of mechanoreceptor neurons that are electrically coupled through a network of gap junctions. Using in vivo neuroimaging, we have found that multidendritic nociceptors in the head respond to harsh touch throughout their receptive field but respond to gentle touch only at the tip of the nose.

Preventing Fusarium head blight of wheat and cob rot of maize by inhibition of fungal deoxyhypusine synthase.

Upon posttranslational activation, the eukaryotic initiation factor-5A (eIF-5A) transports a subset of mRNAs out of the nucleus to the ribosomes for translation. Activation of the protein is an evolutionary highly conserved process that is unique to eIF-5A, the conversion of a lysine to a hypusine. Instrumental for the synthesis of hypusine is the first of two enzymatic reactions mediated by deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS).

Adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction: neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy and radical surgery : early results and toxicity.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate treatment results and toxicity following a combined approach consisting of neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy and radical surgery in advanced adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction.

Patients And Methods: Between 2005 and 2009, a total of 41 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed nonmetastatic adeno-carcinoma of the esophagus and the esophagogastric junction were evaluated, of whom 23 received neoadjuvant radiochemo-therapy (RCT). A total dose of 50.

Food sensitizes C. elegans avoidance behaviours through acute dopamine signalling.

Many behavioural states are modulated by food availability and nutritional status. Here, we report that in Caenorhabditis elegans, the presence of an external food source enhances avoidance responses to soluble repellents sensed by the polymodal ASH neurons. This enhancement requires dopamine signalling and is mimicked by exogenous dopamine.

Development of tetravalent, bispecific CCR5 antibodies with antiviral activity against CCR5 monoclonal antibody-resistant HIV-1 strains.

In this study, we describe novel tetravalent, bispecific antibody derivatives that bind two different epitopes on the HIV coreceptor CCR5. The basic protein formats that we applied were derived from Morrison-type bispecific antibodies: whole IgGs to which we connected single-chain antibodies (scFvs) via (Gly4Ser)n sequences at either the C or N terminus of the light chain or heavy chain. By design optimization, including disulfide stabilization of scFvs or introduction of 30-amino-acid linkers, stable molecules could be obtained in amounts that were within the same range as or no less than 4-fold lower than those observed with monoclonal antibodies in transient expression assays.

A novel double-stranded RNA mycovirus from Fusarium graminearum: nucleic acid sequence and genomic structure.

Ten Fusarium graminearum isolates from China were screened for dsRNA mycoviruses. Five dsRNAs (2.4 to 3.

The Netherlands: health system review.

The Health Systems in Transition (HiT) profiles are country-based reports that provide a detailed description of health systems and of policy initiatives in progress or under development. HiTs examine different approaches to the organization, financing and delivery of health services and the role of the main actors in health systems. They also describe the institutional framework, process, content, and implementation of health and health care policies, highlighting challenges and areas that require more in-depth analysis.

Critical evaluation of human endometrial explants as an ex vivo model system: a molecular approach.

The human endometrium is unique among adult tissues. Its functions are modulated by numerous hormones and mediators. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of human endometrial explants for studying functional effects of chemicals and drugs on gene expression biomarkers.

Autophagy-related lipase FgATG15 of Fusarium graminearum is important for lipid turnover and plant infection.

Autophagy is a non-selective degradation pathway in eukaryotic cells that is conserved from yeasts to humans. Autophagy is involved in the virulence of several pathogenic fungi such as Magnaporthe grisea or Colletotrichum orbiculare. In the current study, we identified and disrupted an autophagy-like lipase FgATG15 in Fusarium graminearum.

C. elegans multi-dendritic sensory neurons: morphology and function.

PVD and FLP sensory neurons envelope the body of the C. elegans adult with a highly branched network of thin sensory processes. Both PVD and FLP neurons are mechanosensors.

Automatic, three-segment, MR-based attenuation correction for whole-body PET/MR data.

Purpose: The combination of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance (MR) tomography in a single device is anticipated to be the next step following PET/CT for future molecular imaging application. Compared to CT, the main advantages of MR are versatile soft tissue contrast and its capability to acquire functional information without ionizing radiation. However, MR is not capable of measuring a physical quantity that would allow a direct derivation of the attenuation values for high-energy photons.

Spatial asymmetry in the mechanosensory phenotypes of the C. elegans DEG/ENaC gene mec-10.

DEG/ENaC channels have been broadly implicated in mechanosensory transduction, yet many questions remain about how these proteins contribute to complexes that sense mechanical stimuli. In C. elegans, two DEG/ENaC channel subunits are thought to contribute to a gentle touch transduction complex: MEC-4, which is essential for gentle touch sensation, and MEC-10, whose importance is less well defined.

Estimating chromatographic enantioselectivity (α) from gradient enantioselective chromatography data.

Calculation of chromatographic enantioselectivity (α) is critically important in enantioselective chromatographic method development studies. The fact that α can only be calculated from isocratic elution conditions, whereas gradient elution conditions are predominantly used in method development screening, presents some problems for the use of α as a scoring indicator for automated, intelligent enantioselective chromatography method development systems. In this study, an empirical algorithm was developed to estimate α at isocratic conditions based upon information collected from a gradient elution.

C. elegans TRP family protein TRP-4 is a pore-forming subunit of a native mechanotransduction channel.

Mechanotransduction channels mediate several common sensory modalities such as hearing, touch, and proprioception; however, very little is known about the molecular identities of these channels. Many TRP family channels have been implicated in mechanosensation, but none have been demonstrated to form a mechanotransduction channel, raising the question of whether TRP proteins simply play indirect roles in mechanosensation. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model, here we have recorded a mechanosensitive conductance in a ciliated mechanosensory neuron in vivo.

A circuit model of the temporal pattern generator of Caenorhabditis egg-laying behavior.

Background: Egg-laying behavior in the nematode C. elegans displays a distinct clustered temporal pattern: egg-laying events occur primarily in bursts or active phases, separated by inactive phases during which eggs are retained. The onset of the active phase can be modeled as a Poisson process with a time constant of approximately 20 minutes, while egg-laying events within an active phase occur with a faster time constant of approximately 20 seconds.

Specific roles for DEG/ENaC and TRP channels in touch and thermosensation in C. elegans nociceptors.

Polymodal nociceptors detect noxious stimuli, including harsh touch, toxic chemicals and extremes of heat and cold. The molecular mechanisms by which nociceptors are able to sense multiple qualitatively distinct stimuli are not well understood. We found that the C.

Results of interventional treatment of stress positive coronary artery disease.

The aim of this study was to define the impact of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) including stenting in patients with stress-positive stable coronary artery disease on long-term prognosis and symptoms. A group of 1,018 patients were identified from the angiographic and single-photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) databases (technetium-99m sestamibi or tetrofosmin at rest and during stress) January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2003, to have significant coronary artery disease (>50% diameter stenosis on quantitative coronary angiography) and positive SPECT findings. Two hundred sixty-six patients were medically treated.

The ReProTect Feasibility Study, a novel comprehensive in vitro approach to detect reproductive toxicants.

ReProTect is a project within the 6th European Framework Program which has developed alternative methods aimed to reduce or replace animal experimentation in the field of reproductive toxicology. In its final year, a ring trial, named the "Feasibility Study", was conducted, in which 10 blinded chemicals with toxicologically well-documented profiles were analyzed by employing a test battery of 14 in vitro assays. EC(50) (half maximal effective concentration) or equivalent endpoints were determined and the test compounds were ranked relative to chemicals previously assayed in the tests of the battery.

Enzymatic properties and expression patterns of five extracellular lipases of Fusarium graminearum in vitro.

Fusarium graminearum is a filamentous fungus that causes devastating diseases on plants of economic importance including maize, wheat, and barley. F. graminearum is able to utilize triglycerides as a carbon source during growth.