Decreased caveolin-1 in atheroma: loss of antiproliferative control of vascular smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis.

Objective: Proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) is involved in the pathogenesis of primary atherosclerosis and restenosis after angioplasty. On the background of the antiproliferative activities of caveolin-1, the present study focused on the expression of caveolin-1 in proliferating VSMC of human atheroma.

Methods: VSMC were isolated from wild-type (Wt) and caveolin-1 knockout mice (Cav-/-).

Oxidative chemistry in the GFP active site leads to covalent cross-linking of a modified leucine side chain with a histidine imidazole: implications for the mechanism of chromophore formation.

The mechanism of chromophore biosynthesis in green fluorescent protein (GFP) is triggered by a spontaneous main chain cyclization reaction of residues 65-67. Here, we demonstrate that the initially colorless Y66L variant, designed to trap chromophore precursor states, is oxidatively modified to generate yellow chromophores that absorb at 412 and 374 nm. High- and low-pH crystal structures determined to 2.

Maturation efficiency, trypsin sensitivity, and optical properties of Arg96, Glu222, and Gly67 variants of green fluorescent protein.

Spontaneous chromophore biosynthesis in green fluorescent protein (GFP) is initiated by a main-chain cyclization reaction catalyzed by the protein fold. To investigate the structural prerequisites for chromophore formation, we have substituted the conserved residues Arg96, Glu222, and Gly67. Upon purification, the variants can be ordered based on their decreasing extent of chromophore maturation according to the series EGFP, E222Q, R96K, G67A, and R96M.

Base catalysis of chromophore formation in Arg96 and Glu222 variants of green fluorescent protein.

In green fluorescent protein (GFP), chromophore biosynthesis is initiated by a spontaneous main-chain condensation reaction. Nucleophilic addition of the Gly67 amide nitrogen to the Ser65 carbonyl carbon is catalyzed by the protein fold and leads to a heterocyclic intermediate. To investigate this mechanism, we substituted the highly conserved residues Arg96 and Glu222 in enhanced GFP (EGFP).

The faces of errors: a case-based approach to educating providers, policymakers, and the public about patient safety.

Background: When patient safety became a subject of policy and research, the question was how to engage clinicians-perhaps they would respond more to case studies of dramatic adverse events than to statistics. THE CHRONOLOGY: In 2001, we launched a case-based series in the Annals of Medicine which focused on diagnosing what ailed the system rather than the patient. For example, in "The Wrong Patient," 17 discrete errors resulted in a woman's receiving a cardiac electrophysiology procedure intended for another patient with a similar last name.

zFP538, a yellow-fluorescent protein from Zoanthus, contains a novel three-ring chromophore.

Crystal structures of the tetrameric yellow-fluorescent protein zFP538 from the button polyp Zoanthus sp. and a green-emitting mutant (K66M) are presented. The atomic models have been refined at 2.

The end of the beginning: patient safety five years after 'to err is human'.

The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on medical errors galvanized the public and health professionals. Before then, providers, health care organizations, and policymakers lacked the understanding and incentives to generate the changes in culture, systems, training, and technology to improve safety. Since 1999 there has been progress, but it has been insufficient.

'Candidatus Burkholderia calva' and 'Candidatus Burkholderia nigropunctata' as leaf gall endosymbionts of African Psychotria.

Phylogenetic 16S rRNA gene analysis was used to assign the bacterial leaf-nodulating endosymbionts of two tropical African Psychotria species to the genus Burkholderia. The microsymbionts of the different Psychotria hosts were recognized as distinct and novel species of Burkholderia on the basis of relatively low intersequence similarities and sufficiently large evolutionary distances when compared with each other and their closest validly named neighbours. The obligate endosymbiotic nature of the bacteria prevented their in vitro cultivation and the deposition of type strains to culture collections.

Effects of hospitalist attending physicians on trainee satisfaction with teaching and with internal medicine rotations.

Background: Hospitalists are increasingly serving as inpatient attendings at teaching hospitals. The educational impact of this new model is unclear. We evaluated the relationship between type of attending (hospitalist vs traditional) and trainees' ratings of attending teaching and the overall ward rotation.

Medical and surgical comanagement after elective hip and knee arthroplasty: a randomized, controlled trial.

Background: Hospitalists are assuming an increasing role in the care of surgical patients, but the impact of this model of care on postoperative outcomes is unknown.

Objective: To determine the impact of providing a collaborative, hospitalist-led model of care on postoperative outcomes and costs among patients having hip or knee arthroplasty.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial.

[Are there olfactory evoked alterations of breathing patterns?].

Background: It is controversially discussed whether strictly olfactory stimuli are able to evoke changes of breathing patterns. A number work groups argue that the more or less noticeable irritative component of odors are responsible for a respiratory response. Other work groups regard changes of breathing pattern as an indicator for an intact smell ability during "pure" olfactory stimulation.

The crystal structure of the Y66L variant of green fluorescent protein supports a cyclization-oxidation-dehydration mechanism for chromophore maturation.

The crystal structure of a colorless variant of green fluorescent protein (GFP) containing the Y66L substitution has been determined to 1.5 A. Crystallographic evidence is presented for the formation of a trapped intermediate on the pathway of chromophore maturation, where the peptide backbone of residues 65-67 has condensed to form a five-membered heterocyclic ring.

Vascularization, high-volume solution flow, and localized roles for enzymes of sucrose metabolism during tumorigenesis by Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

Vascular differentiation and epidermal disruption are associated with establishment of tumors induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Here, we address the relationship of these processes to the redirection of nutrient-bearing water flow and carbohydrate delivery for tumor growth within the castor bean (Ricinus communis) host. Treatment with aminoethoxyvinyl-glycine showed that vascular differentiation and epidermal disruption were central to ethylene-dependent tumor establishment.

Light-driven decarboxylation of wild-type green fluorescent protein.

The response of wild-type GFP to UV and visible light was investigated using steady state absorption, fluorescence, and Raman spectroscopies. As reported previously [van Thor, Nat. Struct.

Response to David Meltzer's paper "Hospitalists and the doctor-patient relationship".

The hospitalist movement, in which a generalist physician assumes the physician-of-record role for hospitalized patients in place of the patients' own primary physician is transforming American hospital care. Studies, including those by David Meltzer, support the premise that hospitalist care is less expensive and possibly of higher quality than inpatient care provided by primary physicians. Meltzer's survey of randomly selected individuals indicates that, although many would prefer that their own physician orchestrate their inpatient care, relatively few would pay more than $100 for this privilege.

RnaViz 2: an improved representation of RNA secondary structure.

Summary: RnaViz has been developed to easily create nice, publication quality drawings of RNA secondary structure. RnaViz 2 supports CT, DCSE, and RNAML input formats and improves on many aspects of the first version, notably portability and structure annotation. RnaViz is written using a hybrid programming approach combining pieces written in C and in the scripting language Tcl/Tk, making the program very portable and extensible.

Identification of the bacterial endosymbionts in leaf galls of Psychotria (Rubiaceae, angiosperms) and proposal of 'Candidatus Burkholderia kirkii' sp. nov.

This paper reports the identification of bacterial endosymbionts inhabiting the leaf galls of Psychotria kirkii. A phylogenetic approach was used to reveal the identity of these as yet uncultivable bacterial endophytes. Based on the analysis of 16S rDNA sequences, evolutionary trees were constructed that place the endosymbiont in the genus Burkholderia.

Improved survival with highly active antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected patients with severe Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

Background: Although the incidence of pneumonia (PCP) has declined, mortality of patients who require intensive care for this disease remains high. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) might alter the course of PCP either via effects on the immune system or through anti- actions; however, HAART has not been studied in patients acutely ill with PCP.

Objective: To assess the effects of HAART on outcome of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with PCP.

Implementation of a voluntary hospitalist service at a community teaching hospital: improved clinical efficiency and patient outcomes.

Background: Previous investigations of the effect of the hospitalist model on resource use and patient outcomes have focused on academic medical centers or have used short follow-up periods.

Objective: To determine the effects of hospitalist care on resource use and patient outcomes and whether these effects change over time.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.