Clostridium difficile infections in outpatient dialysis cohort.

We examined the Clostridium difficile infection rate and risk factors in an outpatient dialysis cohort. The Cox proportional hazard for developing C. difficile infection was significantly higher with high comorbidity index and low serum albumin level.

Should oral nutritional supplementation be given to undernourished older people upon hospital discharge? A controlled trial.

Objectives: To determine whether the oral nutritional supplementation of undernourished older people upon discharge from hospital improves muscle function and reduces disability.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Community-based study in two centers in Scotland.

Pepsin measured in induced sputum--a test for pulmonary aspiration in children?

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate if pepsin measured in sputum is a useful marker of pulmonary aspiration secondary to gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in children. It is possible that the induced sputum procedure could cause GER and invalidate the results. The hypothesis stated that healthy children (those without history of respiratory or gastroesophageal symptoms) would not have pepsin detected in induced sputum.

Glaucoma and systemic diseases.

Glaucoma management may be extremely challenging, especially in elderly patients who have a variety of systemic diseases and take multiple medications. We obtained a comprehensive medical history in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma to determine which systemic diseases are most prevalent and which systemic medications are most commonly used. We have also reviewed the literature that addresses how these concomitant diseases and medical treatments influence the management of glaucoma.

Toward understanding the function of the universally conserved GTPase HflX from Escherichia coli: a kinetic approach.

Protein synthesis is a highly conserved process in all living cells involving several members of the translation factor (TRAFAC) class of P-loop GTPases, which play essential roles during translation. The universally conserved GTPase HflX has previously been shown to associate with the 50S ribosomal subunit, as well as to bind and hydrolyze both GTP and ATP. In an effort to elucidate the cellular function of HflX, we have determined the kinetic parameters governing the interaction between HflX and these two purine nucleotides using fluorescence-based steady-state and pre-steady-state techniques.

Smoking cessation: intentions, attempts and techniques.

Background: A better understanding of charateristics associated with intentions to quit smoking and quit attempts and of the use of various aids is required to develop effective cessation strategies.

Data And Methods: Data from the 2006 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey were used to examine intentions to quit smoking, quit attempts, use of cessation aids, and receipt of cessation advice from health professionals.

Results: One-third of Canadian smokers aged 15 or older reported intentions to quit within the next 30 days, and almost half had tried to quit in the past year.

Colorectal cancer testing in Canada--2008.

Objectives: This article provides estimates of the report level of colorectal cancer (CRC) testing in the Canadian population aged 50 or older in 2008.

Data Sources And Methods: The data are from the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey. With weighted data, the percentage of people who had undergone CRC testing (fecal occult blood test in the past two years or endoscopy within the past five years) was estimated.

An update on mammography use in Canada.

Background: This article updates mammography use by Canadian women aged 50 to 69, and reports trends from 1990 to 2008 among the provinces. Characteristics of non-users are examined.

Data Sources And Methods: Data from the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) were used to update mammography use and to examine factors associated with non-use.

A 3-D well-differentiated model of pediatric bronchial epithelium demonstrates unstimulated morphological differences between asthmatic and nonasthmatic cells.

There is a need for reproducible and effective models of pediatric bronchial epithelium to study disease states such as asthma. We aimed to develop, characterize, and differentiate an effective, an efficient, and a reliable three-dimensional model of pediatric bronchial epithelium to test the hypothesis that children with asthma differ in their epithelial morphologic phenotype when compared with nonasthmatic children. Primary cell cultures from both asthmatic and nonasthmatic children were grown and differentiated at the air-liquid interface for 28 d.

Influence of ABCB1 polymorphisms and haplotypes on tacrolimus nephrotoxicity and dosage requirements in children with liver transplant.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of genetic polymorphisms in ABCB1 on the incidence of nephrotoxicity and tacrolimus dosage-requirements in paediatric patients following liver transplantation.

Methods: Fifty-one paediatric liver transplant recipients receiving tacrolimus were genotyped for ABCB1 C1236>T, G2677>T and C3435>T polymorphisms. Dose-adjusted tacrolimus trough concentrations and estimated glomerular filtration rates (EGFR) indicative of renal toxicity were determined and correlated with the corresponding genotypes.

Factors related to on-the-job abuse of nurses by patients.

Background: Numerous studies indicate that health care providers, particularly nurses, face a high risk of on-the-job abuse from patients. This article examines physical and emotional abuse from patients in nurses working in hospitals or long-term care facilities.

Data And Methods: Data are from the 2005 National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses.

Slug is a downstream mediator of transforming growth factor-beta1-induced matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression and invasion of oral cancer cells.

Members of Snail family of transcription factors play an important role in oral cancer progression by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition, by promoting invasion and by increasing matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression. Although Snail (Snai1) is the best characterized and the most extensively studied member of this family, the role and regulation of Slug (Snai2) in oral cancer progression is less well understood. In this report, we show that transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) increases Slug levels in tert-immortalized oral keratinocytes and in malignant oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells.

Does titration of mitomycin C as an adjunct to trabeculectomy significantly influence the intraocular pressure outcome?

Purpose: To evaluate the benefit of titrating the concentration and exposure time of mitomycin C (MMC) as an adjunct to trabeculectomy.

Methods: This report consists of a retrospective study and a review of the literature. In the study, consecutive glaucoma patients were evaluated who underwent trabeculectomy with adjunctive MMC that was titrated for concentration and exposure time, based on patient's risk factors for surgical failure.

Employer-provided support services and job dissatisfaction in Canadian registered nurses.

Background: Previous research indicates that nurses' job dissatisfaction relates to their work organization and environment; rarely has the contribution of employer-provided support services been examined while controlling for the influence of other factors.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine job dissatisfaction among Canadian registered nurses in relation to employer-provided programs for child care and fitness or recreation.

Methods: Data are from 2,993 respondents to the 2005 National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses, weighted to represent Canada's 91,600 registered nurses in full-time, permanent positions who deliver direct care in hospitals or long-term care facilities.

Assessment of optic nerve cup-to-disk ratio changes in patients receiving multiple intravitreal injections of antivascular endothelial growth factor agents.

Purpose: To assess whether the transient intraocular pressure rise, frequent intraocular pressure fluctuations, or antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) effects of repeated intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF agents can lead to changes in the optic nerve vertical cup-to-disk ratio (C/D).

Methods: Patients with a known history of glaucoma and those receiving triamcinolone acetonide were excluded from the study. Fundus photographs were cropped to optic disk images only, which were then randomized and independently graded by two glaucoma specialists.

Horizontal deviation of retinal nerve fiber layer peak thickness with stratus optical coherence tomography in glaucoma patients and glaucoma suspects.

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of nasal or temporal shifts in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) peak contours with Stratus optical coherence tomography (OCT) and possible associations with demographic or glaucoma-related variables in glaucoma patients and glaucoma suspects, and to emphasize the importance of this finding in clinical practice.

Methods: This was a retrospective case series of glaucoma patients and glaucoma suspects (1 eye per patient) who underwent a Fast RNFL thickness study with the Stratus OCT. A study was considered to have a clinically significant horizontal deviation if there was greater than 20 degrees shift from the normative database in both superior and inferior peaks.

Comparing subjective and objective measures of health: Evidence from hypertension for the income/health gradient.

Economists rely heavily on self-reported measures of health to examine the relationship between income and health. We directly compare survey responses of a self-reported measure of health that is commonly used in nationally representative surveys with objective measures of the same health condition. We focus on hypertension.

Nature's experiment? Handedness and early childhood development.

In recent years, a large body of research has investigated the various factors affecting child development and the consequent impact of child development on future educational and labor market outcomes. In this article, we contribute to this literature by investigating the effect of handedness on child development. This is an important issue given that around 10% of the world's population is left-handed and given recent research demonstrating that child development strongly affects adult outcomes.

Surfactant Metabolism Dysfunction and Childhood Interstitial Lung Disease (chILD).

Surfactant deficiency and the resultant respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) seen in preterm infants is a major cause of respiratory morbidity in this population. Until recently, the contribution of surfactant to respiratory morbidity in infancy was limited to the neonatal period. It is now recognised that inborn errors of surfactant metabolism leading to surfactant dysfunction account for around 10% of childhood interstitial lung disease (chILD).

Characterization of inhibitory anti-insulin-like growth factor receptor antibodies with different epitope specificity and ligand-blocking properties: implications for mechanism of action in vivo.

Therapeutic antibodies directed against the type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) have recently gained significant momentum in the clinic because of preliminary data generated in human patients with cancer. These antibodies inhibit ligand-mediated activation of IGF-1R and the resulting down-stream signaling cascade. Here we generated a panel of antibodies against IGF-1R and screened them for their ability to block the binding of both IGF-1 and IGF-2 at escalating ligand concentrations (>1 microm) to investigate allosteric versus competitive blocking mechanisms.

(±)-3-Carb-oxy-2-(imidazol-3-ium-1-yl)-propanoate.

The title compound, C(7)H(8)N(2)O(4), crystallizes as a zwitterion, with mol-ecules organized into mol-ecular sheets via carbox-yl-carboxyl-ate and N(+)-H⋯carboxyl-ate contacts. These sheets are constructed from translationally related mol-ecules that further link to neighboring motifs via π-stacking [centroid-centroid distance 3.504 (3) Å] and weak C-H⋯O contacts.