Modelling the effect of a booster vaccination on disease epidemiology.

Despite the effectiveness of vaccines in dramatically decreasing the number of new infectious cases and severity of illnesses, imperfect vaccines may not completely prevent infection. This is because the immunity afforded by these vaccines is not complete and may wane with time, leading to resurgence and epidemic outbreaks notwithstanding high levels of primary vaccination. To prevent an endemic spread of disease, and achieve eradication, several countries have introduced booster vaccination programs.

Recognising and treating Colles' type fractures in emergency care settings.

In this article, the author explains how to identify a Colles' type fracture, explains how to insert a haematoma block, and gives a step by step guide to reducing this type of fracture.

Novel spanish translators for acute care nurses and physicians: usefulness and effect on practitioners' stress.

Background: Language barriers are significant impediments to providing quality health care, and increased stress levels among nurses and physicians are associated with these barriers. However, little evidence supports the usefulness of a translation tool specific to health care.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a novel English-Spanish translator designed specifically for nurses and physicians.

IEC 61511 and the capital project process--a protective management system approach.

This year, the process industry has reached an important milestone in process safety-the acceptance of an internationally recognized standard for safety instrumented systems (SIS). This standard, IEC 61511, documents good engineering practice for the assessment, design, operation, maintenance, and management of SISs. The foundation of the standard is established by several requirements in Part 1, Clauses 5-7, which cover the development of a management system aimed at ensuring that functional safety is achieved.

Single-center experience of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis in patients on peritoneal dialysis for end-stage renal failure.

Background: Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare but serious complication in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or automated peritoneal dialysis (APD). It is characterized by a progressive, intra-abdominal, inflammatory process resulting in sheets of fibrous tissue that cover, bind, and constrict the viscera, thereby compromising the motility and function of the bowel. Although recent therapeutic approaches have been reported with variable success, the ability to detect reliably at an early stage patients at risk for EPS would be beneficial and allow treatment standardization.

FISH-mapping of telomeric 14q32 deletions: search for the cause of seizures.

Ring chromosome 14 is a rare cytogenetic disorder. Individuals with r(14) generally have developmental delay and seizures. Other features include hypotonia, microcephaly, mild facial dysmorphism, and retinal pigmentation.

Mobile genetic elements: the agents of open source evolution.

Horizontal genomics is a new field in prokaryotic biology that is focused on the analysis of DNA sequences in prokaryotic chromosomes that seem to have originated from other prokaryotes or eukaryotes. However, it is equally important to understand the agents that effect DNA movement: plasmids, bacteriophages and transposons. Although these agents occur in all prokaryotes, comprehensive genomics of the prokaryotic mobile gene pool or 'mobilome' lags behind other genomics initiatives owing to challenges that are distinct from cellular chromosomal analysis.

NmerA, the metal binding domain of mercuric ion reductase, removes Hg2+ from proteins, delivers it to the catalytic core, and protects cells under glutathione-depleted conditions.

The ligand binding and catalytic properties of heavy metal ions have led to the evolution of metal ion-specific pathways for control of their intracellular trafficking and/or elimination. Small MW proteins/domains containing a GMTCXXC metal binding motif in a betaalphabetabetaalphabeta fold are common among proteins controlling the mobility of soft metal ions such as Cu(1+), Zn(2+), and Hg(2+), and the functions of several have been established. In bacterial mercuric ion reductases (MerA), which catalyze reduction of Hg(2+) to Hg(0) as a means of detoxification, one or two repeats of sequences with this fold are highly conserved as N-terminal domains (NmerA) of uncertain function.

The sexually dimorphic cephalofoil of bonnethead sharks, Sphyrna tiburo.

Sexually dimorphic head shape is common in vertebrates from teleosts to mammals. Herein we document that cephalic sexual dimorphism is also found in the cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes). Male bonnethead sharks develop a prominent bulge along the anterior margin of the cephalofoil at the onset of sexual maturity.

The identification of risk of spontaneous fetal loss through second-trimester maternal serum screening.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between risk of spontaneous fetal loss and risk estimates for Down syndrome, trisomy 18, and neural tube defects assigned by second-trimester maternal serum screening.

Study Design: The study involved 264,653 women with available pregnancy outcomes who were screened between 15 and 20 weeks of gestation in the Ontario Maternal Serum Screening Program between October 1995 and September 2000. Pregnancies complicated by fetal chromosomal or structural abnormalities, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and multiple pregnancies were excluded.

VEGF -460 genotype plays an important role in progression to chronic kidney disease stage 5.

Background: Changes in renal vasculature, with vascular and interstitial fibrosis, are hallmarks of progression to chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 5. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic and vascular permeability factor. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) plays a critical role in promoting extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and fibrosis.

Impact of cryopreservation on tetramer, cytokine flow cytometry, and ELISPOT.

Background: Cryopreservation of PBMC and/or overnight shipping of samples are required for many clinical trials, despite their potentially adverse effects upon immune monitoring assays such as MHC-peptide tetramer staining, cytokine flow cytometry (CFC), and ELISPOT. In this study, we compared the performance of these assays on leukapheresed PBMC shipped overnight in medium versus cryopreserved PBMC from matched donors.

Results: Using CMV pp65 peptide pool stimulation or pp65 HLA-A2 tetramer staining, there was significant correlation between shipped and cryopreserved samples for each assay (p View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Can nurses interpret X-rays safely without formal tuition?

This work looks at the skill of X-ray interpretation that nurses working in Accident and Emergency have achieved without being provided any formal tuition on the topic. It shows that nurses do indeed learn whilst at work and that with a little forethought develop skills that can benefit patients and lead to service improvements.

Characterization of a novel cation transporter ATPase gene (ATP13A4) interrupted by 3q25-q29 inversion in an individual with language delay.

Specific language impairment (SLI) is defined as failure to acquire normal language skills despite adequate intelligence and environmental stimulation. Although SLI disorders are often heritable, the genetic basis is likely to involve a number of risk factors. This study describes a 7-year-old girl carrying an inherited paracentric inversion of the long arm of chromosome 3 [46XX, inv(3)(q25.

Identification of a VPS13A founder mutation in French Canadian families with chorea-acanthocytosis.

Mutations in VPS13A cause chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc), an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder. VPS13A is located in a tail-to-tail arrangement with GNA14 on chromosome 9q21. ChAc shows substantial allelic heterogeneity, with no single VPS13A mutation causing the majority of cases.

Batoid wing skeletal structure: novel morphologies, mechanical implications, and phylogenetic patterns.

The skeleton of the "wings" of skates and rays consists of a series of radially oriented cartilaginous fin rays emanating from a modified pectoral girdle. Each fin ray consists of small, laterally oriented skeletal elements, radials, traditionally represented as simple cylindrical building blocks. High-resolution radiography reveals the pattern of calcification in batoid wing elements, and their organization within the fin ray, to be considerably more complex and phylogenetically variable than previously thought.

Triploidy identified through second-trimester serum screening.

Objectives: To describe the maternal serum marker patterns of triploid pregnancies and estimate the second-trimester prevalence of triploidy.

Methods: Forty-two cases of triploidy were identified in six serum screening programmes, five in the United Kingdom, one in Canada. This study describes the serum marker patterns, serum screening results for Down syndrome, trisomy 18 and open neural tube defects, and maternal age of these triploidy cases.

Web sites for postpartum depression: convenient, frustrating, incomplete, and misleading.

Purpose: To evaluate the content and the technology of Web sites providing information on postpartum depression.

Study Design And Methods: Eleven search engines were queried using the words "Postpartum Depression." The top 10 sites in each search engine were evaluated for correct content and technology using the Web Depression Tool, based on the Technology Assessment Model.

Sore throats.

This work looks at how a nurse practitioner can assess, diagnose and treat a patient that presents to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department with a sore throat. A brief look is taken at the common causes of sore throat. The reader is then introduced to a simple scoring system (McIsaac scoring) to determine whether a patient requires antibiotics to treat their sore throat.

Olfactory morphology of carcharhinid and sphyrnid sharks: does the cephalofoil confer a sensory advantage?

Many hypotheses have been advanced to explain the adaptive significance of the sphyrnid cephalofoil, including potential advantages of spacing the olfactory organs at the distal tips of the broad surface. We employed comparative morphology to test whether the sphyrnid cephalofoil provides better stereo-olfaction, increases olfactory acuity, and samples a greater volume of the medium compared to the situation in carcharhiniform sharks. The broadly spaced nares provide sphyrnid species with a significantly greater separation between the olfactory rosettes, which could lead to an enhanced ability to resolve odor gradients.

Comparison of bond strength between a conventional resin adhesive and a resin-modified glass ionomer adhesive: an in vitro and in vivo study.

The objectives of this study were (1) to compare the in vivo survival rates of orthodontic brackets bonded with a resin-modified glass ionomer adhesive (Fuji Ortho LC; GC America, Alsip, Ill) after conditioning with 10% polyacrylic acid and a conventional resin adhesive (Light Bond; Reliance Orthodontic Products, Itasca, Ill) bonded with 37% phosphoric acid, (2) to compare the in vitro bond shear/peel bond strength between the 2 adhesives, (3) to determine the mode of bracket failure in the in vivo and in vitro tests according to the adhesive remnant index (ARI), and (4) to compare the changes in surface morphology of enamel surface after etching or conditioning with 10% polyacrylic acid, with scanning electron microscopy. In the in vitro study, 50 extracted premolars were randomly divided into 4 groups: brackets bonded with Fuji Ortho LC or Light Bond adhesive that were debonded after either 30 minutes or 24 hours. Bond strengths were determined with a testing machine at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min.

NMR structural studies reveal a novel protein fold for MerB, the organomercurial lyase involved in the bacterial mercury resistance system.

Mercury resistant bacteria have developed a system of two enzymes (MerA and MerB), which allows them to efficiently detoxify both ionic and organomercurial compounds. The organomercurial lyase (MerB) catalyzes the protonolysis of the carbon-mercury bond resulting in the formation of ionic mercury and a reduced hydrocarbon. The ionic mercury [Hg(II)] is subsequently reduced to the less reactive elemental mercury [Hg(0)] by a specific mercuric reductase (MerA).