Inverting the patient involvement paradigm: defining patient led research.

Plain English Summary: Patients usually understand their disease and lifestyle needs better than many medical professionals. They also have important ideas about what research would be most beneficial to their lives, especially on how to manage symptoms in a way that improves daily quality of life. In the UK, the National Institute for Health Research has recognised the value of patient insight, and now requires researchers with public funding to involve patients and the public throughout the research process.

A randomised controlled trial of forward-planned radiotherapy (IMRT) for early breast cancer: baseline characteristics and dosimetry results.

Background And Purpose: This large trial was designed to investigate whether correction of dose inhomogeneities using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) reduces late toxicity and improves quality of life in patients with early breast cancer. This paper reports baseline characteristics of trial participants and dosimetry results.

Materials And Methods: Standard tangential plans of 1145 trials were analysed.

Evidence against Wolbachia symbiosis in Loa loa.

BACKGROUND: The majority of filarial nematode species are host to Wolbachia bacterial endosymbionts, although a few including Acanthocheilonema viteae, Onchocerca flexuosa and Setaria equina have been shown to be free of infection. Comparisons of species with and without symbionts can provide important information on the role of Wolbachia symbiosis in the biology of the nematode hosts and the contribution of the bacteria to the development of disease. Previous studies by electron microscopy and PCR have failed to detect intracellular bacterial infection in Loa loa.

The FAR proteins of filarial nematodes: secretion, glycosylation and lipid binding characteristics.

The FAR proteins of nematodes are small ( approximately 20 kDa), helix-rich, fatty acid and retinol-binding (FAR) proteins that appear to be confined to nematodes. We have carried out a comparative sequence and biochemical analysis of selected FAR proteins often species of filarial parasites (from the genera Onchocerca, Brugia, Wuchereria, Loa, Acanthocheilonema and Litomosoides). The sequences fall into two main groups corresponding broadly to the onchocercal and lymphatic filariasis parasites, and only those with unsheathed microfilariae were found to produce glycosylated FAR proteins.