Integrating consumer perspectives into a large-scale health literacy audit of health information materials: learnings and next steps.

Background: Health information is less effective when it does not meet the health literacy needs of its consumers. For health organisations, assessing the appropriateness of their existing health information resources is a key step to addressing this issue. This study describes novel methods for a consumer-centred large-scale health literacy audit of existing resources and reflects on opportunities to further refine the method.

Alterations in the MicroRNA of the Blood of Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: Effects on Epigenetic Regulation and Potential Biomarkers.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of heterogeneous brain-based neurodevelopmental disorders with different levels of symptom severity. Given the challenges, the clinical diagnosis of ASD is based on information gained from interviews with patients' parents. The heterogeneous pathogenesis of this disorder appears to be driven by genetic and environmental interactions, which also plays a vital role in predisposing individuals to ASD with different commitment levels.

Sex Differences and Estrous Cycle Changes in Synaptic Plasticity-related microRNA in the Rat Medial Amygdala.

The posterodorsal medial amygdala (MePD) is a sex steroid-sensitive and sexually dimorphic subcortical area that dynamically modulates social behaviors in rats. As different microRNA (miRNA) can act as post-transcriptional regulators of synaptic processing, we addressed changes that occur in miRNA expression in the MePD of males and females along the estrous cycle. The expression of miR25-3p, miR132-3p, miR138-5p, miR181a-5p, miR195-5p, and miR199a-5p, involved in neuronal cytoskeleton remodeling and synaptic plasticity, were evaluated by RT-qPCR.

[An unusual pneumomediastinum case in a child caused by spontaneous bronchial rupture].

We report a case of spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) in a 3 year-old child, admitted to the emergency department because he presented dyspnea for a few hours, after a paroxysm of cough. The SPM is rare in children; the term "spontaneous" is reserved for cases of pneumomediastinum that haven't a traumatic cause. SPM is seen most commonly in asthmatics and in any patient who induces a Valsalva maneuver.

The relationship of childhood abuse and early separation from the military among Army advanced individual trainees.

Objective: To identify the prevalence rates and gender differences of childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse among advanced individual trainees and to determine if soldiers with a history of abuse increasingly separated from the Army before completing the training.

Methods: Archival medical records of trainees presented to a military outpatient mental health clinic were analyzed for a history of abuse and separation from the Army.

Results: A significant number of soldiers with a history of abuse were discharged from the Army without completing training.

[A sign of the changing times: neonatal scabies].

Scabies is an itchy-parasitic cutaneous infection; it can spread from person to person directly or through clothing, sheets or mattresses. The incidence had fallen a lot during the last ten years, but recently it is growing up again; this is due to immigration of people coming from countries where local hygienic and social conditions are very poor. In this contest it is more frequent to observe the infection in pediatric age, sometimes also newborn.

Programmable CSF shunt valves: radiographic identification and interpretation.

The programmable CSF shunt valve has become an important tool in hydrocephalus treatment, particularly in the NPH population and in pediatric patients with complex hydrocephalus. The purpose of this study is to provide a single reference for the identification of programmable shunt valves and the interpretation of programmable shunt valve settings. Four major manufacturers of programmable shunts agreed to participate in this study.

Empiric antibiotics are justified for infants with respiratory syncytial virus lower respiratory tract infection presenting with respiratory failure: a prospective study and evidence review.

Objective: Although some studies indicate a low risk of serious bacterial infection in infants with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), these studies focused on patients who did not progress to respiratory failure. We hypothesized the composite diagnosis of concomitant bacterial pneumonia (CBP) is common in lower risk infants with RSV who present in respiratory failure. The aim of the study was to investigate the incidence of CBP in low-risk infants mechanically ventilated for RSV respiratory failure and to compare the results with other studies searched for in MEDLINE.

Congenital adenohypophysis aplasia: clinical features and analysis of the transcriptional factors for embryonic pituitary development.

Unlabelled: Anterior pituitary agenesis (APA) has very rarely been reported. Therefore, its phenotypical and genotypical features are not well known. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the clinical picture in 4 subjects with APA and multiple pituitary hormone deficiencies (MPHD) was different compared to the one observed in a selected control group consisting of 7 MPHD individuals with hypoplastic (and not aplastic) adenohypophysis and pituitary stalk interruption syndrome.

The influence of the extracellular matrix on the morphology and intracellular pH of cultured astrocytes exposed to media lacking bicarbonate.

In previous work we showed that the polygonal shape of hippocampal astrocytes cultured on poly-L-lysine changes to a stellate morphology with loss of actinomyosin stress fibers on exchanging the culture medium for saline buffered with HEPES [Brain Res 946 (2002)12]. By contrast, in bicarbonate-buffered saline containing Ca(2+) astrocytes remained polygonal and continued to express stress fibers. Evidence suggests that stellation induced by saline buffered with HEPES is related to intracellular acidification due to the absence of bicarbonate.

Loss of kinase activity in a patient with Wolcott-Rallison syndrome caused by a novel mutation in the EIF2AK3 gene.

Wolcott-Rallison syndrome (WRS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by neonatal or early infancy type 1 diabetes, epiphyseal dysplasia, and growth retardation. Mutations in the EIF2AK3 gene, encoding the eukaryotic initiation factor 2alpha-kinase 3 (EIF2AK3), have been found in WRS patients. Here we describe a girl who came to our attention at 2 months of age with severe hypertonic dehydration and diabetic ketoacidosis.

Hydrostatic balloon dilation of congenital esophageal stenoses associated with esophageal atresia.

It has been stated that congenital cartilage rings in the esophagus do not respond to dilation and should be resected. The authors report on 3 infants with congenital esophageal stenoses who were treated successfully with hydrostatic balloon dilation. Based on the appearance during dilation the authors believe that these stenoses were cartilage rings.

Does the reticular thalamic nucleus project to the midbrain?

In this study, we investigated whether the reticular thalamic nucleus has a projection to major centres of the midbrain in rats, rabbits and cats. Various tracers (biotinylated dextran, cholera toxin B subunit, fluorescent latex beads) were injected either into the midbrain tectum (deep layers of the superior colliculus) or tegmentum (midbrain reticular and pedunculopontine nuclei). In other experiments, different coloured latex beads (red and green) were injected into the deep layers of the superior colliculus and into the midbrain reticular nucleus of the same animal (rabbits).

Prenatal ultrasound characterization of the suprarenal mass: distinction between neuroblastoma and subdiaphragmatic extralobar pulmonary sequestration.

With the increased routine use of prenatal ultrasonography, subdiaphragmatic masses in the fetus are identified more frequently. Suprarenal masses often are presumed to be neuroblastoma and are removed surgically postnatally. We sought to better understand the natural history of subdiaphragmatic extralobar pulmonary sequestration, and to determine if subdiaphragmatic extralobar pulmonary sequestration can be distinguished preoperatively from neuroblastoma.

Warping CT scans from nontreatment to treatment position.

This paper describes a cost-effective technique that optimally utilizes all available diagnostic studies for three-dimensional treatment planning. A simulator unit modified to produce cross-sectional images (simulator-CT unit) is used to create a reference data set with the patient in the treatment position. Registration software (qsh) brings other diagnostic studies into agreement with this reference data set.

Reticular thalamic region in the rabbit: organisation of efferents to the superior colliculus.

Although it is well-established that the reticular thalamic nucleus provides a strong GABAergic input to the dorsal thalamus, the existence of reticular efferents to other subcortical centres is less certain. In this study, we investigate whether the reticular nucleus projects to a major brainstem centre, the superior colliculus. The neuronal tracer, biotinylated dextran, was injected into superficial and deep layers of the superior colliculus of rabbits and the resultant labelling in the reticular region was examined.

NADPH-diaphorase reactivity in adult and developing cat retinae.

We have examined the distribution and size of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) diaphorase reactivity in adult and developing cat retinae. From late gestation E (embryonic day) 58 to adulthood, NADPH-diaphorase reactivity was detected in amacrine cells with somata located in the inner nuclear layer (INL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL) and in processes spreading in the middle strata of the inner plexiform layer (IPL). Reactivity was also present in small rounded profiles located in the outer plexiform layer (OPL) and thought to be cone pedicles.

Distinct patterns of distribution among NADPH-diaphorase neurones of the guinea pig retina.

We have examined the morphology and distribution of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-diaphorase) cells in the retina of the guinea pig. Two morphologically distinct classes of labelled cells were detected, one with larger, darkly labelled somata commonly located in the inner nuclear layer (INL: NDa cells) and the other with smaller, lightly labelled somata in the ganglion cell layer (GCL: NDb cells). The somata of NDb cells did not vary in diameter with eccentricity, whereas those of the NDa cells were smallest in the visual streak.