The TRH test provides valuable information in the diagnosis of central hypothyroidism in patients with known pituitary disease and low T4 levels.

Objective: To evaluate the value of the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) test in the diagnosis of central hypothyroidism (CH) in patients with pituitary disease.

Methods: Systematic evaluation of 359 TRH tests in patients with pituitary disease including measurements of thyroxine (T4), TBG-corrected T4 (T4), baseline TSH (TSH) and relative or absolute TSH increase (TSH, TSH).

Results: Patients diagnosed with CH (n=39) show comparable TSH (p-value 0.

[Not Available].

This is a case report of an observation of bradycardia and inverted T-waves anteroseptally on the electrocardiogram along with cardiac symptoms, in a previously healthy 35-year-old woman with post-partum pre-eclampsia. Initially, she had no hypertension or proteinuria, which delayed the time of diagnosis. A possible explanation of bradycardia is a baroreceptor-mediated response to hypertension and hypervolaemia.

The geropathology of organ-specific aging.

Aging is a complex multidimensional process of progressive decline affecting multiple organ systems by a number of processes that are still not well understood. While many studies have focused on the approach of studying aging across multiple organs, assessment of the contribution of individual organs to overall aging processes is under appreciated. The ability to study and compare organs in the context of organismal aging has been documented recently using a geropathology grading platform in laboratory mice.

Relationship between ivermectin concentrations at the injection site, muscle and fat of steers treated with traditional and long-acting preparations.

Ivermectin (IVM) is broad-spectrum compound active against endo and ecto-parasites of clinical relevance in veterinary and human medicine. It is commercially available to use in livestock animals as injectable formulations containing 1% IVM and also as a concentrated (3.15%) long-acting (LA) preparation.

[A rare type of severe obesity in children and adolescents].

A four-year-old girl was referred to a paediatric department with low height, obesity and hypothyroidism. Her paraclinical tests were characteristic with elevated P-parathyroid hormone concentration, hypothyroidism, growth hormone deficiency, abnormal phenotype with brachydactyly, tooth problems and mental retardation, which led to a suspicion of Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO). The diagnosis was verified by molecular genetic testing.

The role of matrix metalloproteinases in muscle and adipose tissue development and meat quality: A review.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a group of enzymes that degrade extracellular matrix components but are also important signaling molecules that regulate many biological processes including muscle, adipose and connective tissue development. Most recently it has been discovered that MMPs act as intracellular signaling molecules inducing gene expression and altering related proteins in the nucleus. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms of MMPs and their inhibitors are known to exist and most of the research on MMPs to date has focused on their activity in relation to human health and disease.

Cytosolic Receptor Melanoma Differentiation-Associated Protein 5 Mediates Preconditioning-Induced Neuroprotection Against Cerebral Ischemic Injury.

Background And Purpose: Preconditioning with poly-l-lysine and carboxymethylcellulose (ICLC) provides robust neuroprotection from cerebral ischemia in a mouse stroke model. However, the receptor that mediates neuroprotection is unknown. As a synthetic double-stranded RNA, poly-ICLC may bind endosomal Toll-like receptor 3 or one of the cytosolic retinoic acid-inducible gene-I-like receptor family members, retinoic acid-inducible gene-I, or melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5.

Changes in illness perceptions mediated the effect of cognitive behavioural therapy in severe functional somatic syndromes.

Objective: Although there is substantial evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy alleviates symptoms in functional somatic syndromes, the mechanisms of change are less investigated. This study examined whether changes in illness perceptions mediated the effect of cognitive behavioural therapy.

Methods: We analysed additional data from a randomised controlled trial comparing completers of cognitive behavioural group therapy (46 patients) to an enhanced usual care group (66 patients).

Percutaneous cholecystostomy is an effective treatment option for acute calculous cholecystitis: a 10-year experience.

Background: Percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) can be used to treat patients with acute calculous cholecystitis (ACC) who are considered to be unfit for surgery. However, this procedure has been insufficiently investigated. This paper presents the results of a 10-year experience with this treatment modality.

Relative validity of micronutrient and fiber intake assessed with two new interactive meal- and Web-based food frequency questionnaires.

Background: The meal- and Web-based food frequency questionnaires, Meal-Q and MiniMeal-Q, were developed for cost-efficient assessment of dietary intake in epidemiological studies.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relative validity of micronutrient and fiber intake assessed with Meal-Q and MiniMeal-Q. The reproducibility of Meal-Q was also evaluated.

Caenorhabditis elegans oocyte meiotic spindle pole assembly requires microtubule severing and the calponin homology domain protein ASPM-1.

In many animals, including vertebrates, oocyte meiotic spindles are bipolar but assemble in the absence of centrosomes. Although meiotic spindle positioning in oocytes has been investigated extensively, much less is known about their assembly. In Caenorhabditis elegans, three genes previously shown to contribute to oocyte meiotic spindle assembly are the calponin homology domain protein encoded by aspm-1, the katanin family member mei-1, and the kinesin-12 family member klp-18.

Simulated patients in audiology education: student reports.

Background: Despite increased attention in recent years to audiology counseling education, students remain concerned about their abilities to interact with patients in challenging situations, such as when breaking difficult news. Simulated patients, or actors trained to portray patients in clinical scenarios, have been used for many years in medical schools to teach and assess students' interpersonal skills, and are just beginning to be used in audiology programs. Although research suggests that medical students value simulated patient experiences, little is known about whether the same is true for audiology students.

Two new meal- and web-based interactive food frequency questionnaires: validation of energy and macronutrient intake.

Background: Meal-Q and its shorter version, MiniMeal-Q, are 2 new Web-based food frequency questionnaires. Their meal-based and interactive format was designed to promote ease of use and to minimize answering time, desirable improvements in large epidemiological studies.

Objective: We evaluated the validity of energy and macronutrient intake assessed with Meal-Q and MiniMeal-Q as well as the reproducibility of Meal-Q.

Active-Q: validation of the web-based physical activity questionnaire using doubly labeled water.

Background: Increased use of the Internet provides new opportunities for collecting data in large studies. The aim of our new Web-based questionnaire, Active-Q, is to assess total physical activity and inactivity in adults. Active-Q assesses habitual activity during the past year via questions in four different domains: (1) daily occupation, (2) transportation to and from daily occupation, (3) leisure time activities, and (4) sporting activities.

A survey of new temperature-sensitive, embryonic-lethal mutations in C. elegans: 24 alleles of thirteen genes.

To study essential maternal gene requirements in the early C. elegans embryo, we have screened for temperature-sensitive, embryonic lethal mutations in an effort to bypass essential zygotic requirements for such genes during larval and adult germline development. With conditional alleles, multiple essential requirements can be examined by shifting at different times from the permissive temperature of 15°C to the restrictive temperature of 26°C.

Caenorhabditis elegans EFA-6 limits microtubule growth at the cell cortex.

Microtubules are polymers of tubulin heterodimers that exhibit dynamic instability: periods of growth followed by periods of shrinkage. However, the molecular regulation of dynamic instability remains elusive. Here, we show that EFA-6, a cortically-localized protein, limits the growth of microtubules near the cell cortex of early embryonic cells from Caenorhabditis elegans, possibly by inducing microtubule catastrophes.

Adherence to the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations as a measure of a healthy diet and upper respiratory tract infection.

Objective: The Nordic countries have published joint dietary recommendations, the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR), since 1980. We evaluated adherence to the NNR as a measure of a healthy diet and its potential association with self-reported upper respiratory tract infection (URTI).

Design: A prospective, population-based study with a follow-up period of 4 months.

Speckle tracking ultrasound is independent of insonation angle and gain: an in vitro investigation of agreement with sonomicrometry.

Objective: It has been shown that speckle tracking ultrasound (STU) is capable of measuring peak strain accurately in vitro over a range of compression rates and amplitudes. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different angles of insonation with a range of scanner settings.

Methods: A tissue-mimicking phantom was cyclically deformed to imitate the beating heart.

An unusual cause of S1 radicular pain presenting as early phantom pain in a transfemoral amputee: a case report.

Recent epidemiologic studies have shown back pain to be a significant cause of pain in lower-limb amputees, but only a handful of cases have reported sciatica in amputees. The symptoms are usually described as a phantom pain or neuropathic pain in the residual limb that is often refractory to conventional treatments. These symptoms typically occur with back pain and are distinct from the patient's usual symptoms.