Adolescent varicocele: influence of Tanner stage at presentation on the presence, development, worsening and/or improvement of testicular hypotrophy without surgical intervention.

Purpose: Testicular asymmetry in adolescents with varicocele can worsen, remain unchanged or decrease on followup. We determined the incidence of testicular asymmetry at presentation by Tanner stage and the correlation between Tanner stage at presentation and subsequent changes in percent asymmetry (ability for catch-up growth or progressive asymmetry) without surgical intervention.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively studied the records of 115 boys with a mean age of 14.

Defective CFTR induces aggresome formation and lung inflammation in cystic fibrosis through ROS-mediated autophagy inhibition.

Accumulation of unwanted/misfolded proteins in aggregates has been observed in airways of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), a life-threatening genetic disorder caused by mutations in the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Here we show how the defective CFTR results in defective autophagy and decreases the clearance of aggresomes. Defective CFTR-induced upregulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and tissue transglutaminase (TG2) drive the crosslinking of beclin 1, leading to sequestration of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI(3)K) complex III and accumulation of p62, which regulates aggresome formation.

Still sad after successful renal transplantation: are we failing to recognise depression? An audit of depression screening in renal graft recipients.

Background: Depression is common in chronic physical illness, including renal graft recipients. There is evidence that depression is an independent marker of poorer prognosis in dialysis patients. In the UK, screening is advocated by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines, and validated screening tools exist, such as the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

The private cost of long-term care in Canada: where you live matters.

Canadians expect the same access to health care whether they are rich or poor, and wherever they live, often without direct charge at the point of service. However, we find that the private cost of long-term care differs greatly across the country, and within provinces, we find substantial variation, depending on income level, marital status, and, in Quebec alone, on assets owned. A non-married person with average income would pay more than twice as much in the Atlantic provinces as in Quebec, while a couple with one in care would pay almost four times as much in Newfoundland as in Alberta.

The Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen (ARCS) in patients with multiple sclerosis: a practical tool for multiple sclerosis clinics.

Background: Cognitive impairment is a common complication of multiple sclerosis, even in early stage disease, with significant impacts on life quality and social interaction. However, its detection is highly test-dependent.

Objective: To validate a recently described screening tool, the ARCS, for detecting cognitive impairment in a multiple sclerosis population.

Demographic correlates of low hemoglobin deferral among prospective whole blood donors.

Background: Approximately 10% of attempted blood donations are not allowed because of low hemoglobin (Hb) deferral.

Study Design And Methods: Low Hb deferrals were tracked in more 715,000 whole blood donors at six blood centers across the United States. A multivariable logistic regression model was developed to comprehensively assess demographic correlates for low Hb deferral.

Chronic health conditions: changing prevalence in an aging population and some implications for the delivery of health care services.

Since the prevalence of many chronic health conditions increases with age, we might anticipate that as the population ages the proportion with one or more such conditions, and the cost of treatment, would rise. How much would the overall prevalence of chronic conditions increase in a quarter century if age-specific rates of prevalence did not change? How much would the requirements for health care resources increase? How much difference would it make to those requirements if people had fewer chronic conditions? The overall prevalence rates for almost all conditions associated mostly with old age would rise by more than 25 per cent, and health care requirements would grow more rapidly than the population - more than twice as rapidly in the case of hospital stays - if the rates for each age group remained constant. Even modest reductions in the average number of conditions at each age could result in substantial savings.

Microtensile dentin adhesive bond strength under different positive pulpal pressures.

Purpose: To measure the in vitro dentin microtensile bond strength of established adhesives under different hydrostatic pulpal pressures.

Methods: After IRB approval, 24 human extracted third molars were randomly distributed into four adhesive treatment groups: Clearfil-SE (self-etch, water-based), One-Step Plus (total-etch, acetone-based), Peak-SE (self-etch, ethanol-based) and PQ1 (total-etch, ethanol-based, Ultradent). Additionally each group was assigned to be restored under 0.

Selective molecular alterations in the autophagy pathway in patients with Lewy body disease and in models of alpha-synucleinopathy.

Background: Lewy body disease is a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by alpha-synuclein accumulation that includes dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's Disease (PD). Recent evidence suggests that impairment of lysosomal pathways (i.e.

The potential impact of selective donor deferrals based on estimated blood volume on vasovagal reactions and donor deferral rates.

Background: Whole blood donation in the United States is restricted in volume to 10.5 mL/kg or less in an effort to prevent hypovolemic reactions, but still may exceed more than 15% of a donor's estimated blood volume (EBV). We analyzed the association of EBV with prefaint and systemic vasovagal reactions (SVRs) among whole blood donors and the potential impact of an EBV-based deferral policy.

African American Adolescent Females: Mother-Involved HIV Risk-Reduction Intervention.

African American adolescent females continue to be at disproportionate high risk for HIV infection. A repeated measures quasi-experimental comparison group design compared an HIV risk-reduction intervention delivered by mothers with an HIV risk-reduction intervention delivered by health professionals and with a health promotion intervention delivered by mothers. The three interventions were randomly assigned to one of three geographical distinct sites.

NEP-like endopeptidases and Alzheimer's disease [corrected].

The accumulation of the amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) continues to emerge as a central factor in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In recent years attention has been drawn to clearance mechanisms of Abeta as evidence suggests reduced clearance may be linked to late-onset AD. Direct degradation of Abeta by endopeptidases has emerged as one critical pathway of clearance.

HIV and STI behavioural surveillance among men who have sex with men in Europe.

This paper describes behavioural surveillance for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Europe, focusing on the methods and indicators used. In August 2008, questionnaires were sent to European Union Member States and European Free Trade Association countries seeking information on behavioural surveillance activities among eight population groups including MSM. Thirty-one countries were invited to take part in the survey and 27 returned a questionnaire on MSM.

Risk for malaria in United States donors deferred for travel to malaria-endemic areas.

Background: Deferral for travel to malaria-endemic areas excludes many blood donors in the United States. Most transfusion-transmitted malaria is associated with lengthy residence in malaria-endemic areas rather than routine travel. This study compares the impact of existing deferral requirements to the risk that a presenting donor with malaria travel history harbors malaria parasites under current and hypothetical alternate regulations.

Beclin 1 gene transfer activates autophagy and ameliorates the neurodegenerative pathology in alpha-synuclein models of Parkinson's and Lewy body diseases.

Accumulation of the synaptic protein alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy body disease (LBD), a heterogeneous group of disorders with dementia and parkinsonism, where Alzheimer's disease and PD interact. Accumulation of alpha-syn in these patients might be associated with alterations in the autophagy pathway. Therefore, we postulate that delivery of beclin 1, a regulator of the autophagy pathway, might constitute a strategy toward developing a therapy for LBD/PD.

What is retirement? A review and assessment of alternative concepts and measures.

Because the concept of retirement is prominent in both popular thinking and academic studies, it would be helpful if the notion were analytically sound, could be measured with precision, and would make possible comparisons of patterns of retirement over time and among different populations. This paper reviews and assesses the many concepts and measures that have been proposed, summarizing them in groupings that reflect non-participation or reduced participation in the labour force, receipt of pension income, end-of-career employment, self-assessed retirement, or combinations of those characteristics. It concludes that there is no agreed measure and that no one measure dominates.

Seroprevalence of Babesia microti in blood donors from Babesia-endemic areas of the northeastern United States: 2000 through 2007.

Background: Current estimates of 70 cases of transfusion-transmitted Babesia microti, with 12 associated deaths, suggest that Babesia is a growing blood safety concern. The extent of Babesia infections among blood donors has not been well defined. To determine how common exposure to B.

Inclusion formation and neuronal cell death through neuron-to-neuron transmission of alpha-synuclein.

Neuronal accumulation of alpha-synuclein and Lewy body formation are characteristic to many neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD). This Lewy pathology appears to spread throughout the brain as the disease progresses. Furthermore, recent studies showed the occurrence of Lewy pathology in neurons grafted into the brains of PD patients, suggesting the spread of pathology from the host tissues to the grafts.

Outcomes of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke in patients aged 90 years or older.

Although age is a major risk factor for stroke, physicians are often reluctant to use thrombolytic agents in those who are very old. No published study provides detailed information on the use of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in patients aged 90 years or older. We retrospectively reviewed the use of intravenous tPA for patients 90 years or older who were admitted with acute ischemic stroke to the hospital at 4 academic centers from March 1, 1999, to March 1, 2008.

Users and suppliers of physician services: a tale of two populations.

Physician shortages and their implications for required increases in the physician population are matters of considerable interest in many health care systems, especially in the light of the widespread phenomenon of population aging. To determine the extent to which shortages exist, one needs to study the population of users of physician services as well as that of the physicians themselves. The authors study both, using the province of Ontario, Canada, as an example.

[Children's oral hygiene: healthy mouth, families supervise?].

Unlabelled: Dental caries results from a complex interaction between the host and environmental factors and it is an important public health issue.

Aims: To determine the prevalence of dental caries in a school population of six and 12 years old children from Leiria; to establish a relationship between dental caries and related known risk factors; parental dental health care, parental control of their children oral hygiene and to compare our results with the National Dental Care Study of 1999.

Methods: Descriptive and statistical analysis based on a questionnaire and dental examination.

Neuropeptide Y fragments derived from neprilysin processing are neuroprotective in a transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease.

The endopeptidase neprilysin (NEP) is a major amyloid-beta (Abeta) degrading enzyme and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Because NEP cleaves substrates other than Abeta, we investigated the potential role of NEP-mediated processing of neuropeptides in the mechanisms of neuroprotection in vivo. Overexpression of NEP at low levels in transgenic (tg) mice affected primarily the levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) compared with other neuropeptides.

Mutant Pink1 induces mitochondrial dysfunction in a neuronal cell model of Parkinson's disease by disturbing calcium flux.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by accumulation of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) and degeneration of neuronal populations in cortical and subcortical regions. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been considered a potential unifying factor in the pathogenesis of the disease. Mutations in genes linked to familial forms of PD, including SNCA encoding alpha-syn and Pten-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1), have been shown to disrupt mitochondrial activity.