Community-acquired necrotizing pneumonia due to methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus secreting Panton-Valentine leukocidin: a review of case reports.

Background: Community-acquired necrotizing pneumonia caused by Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-secreting Staphylococcus aureus is a highly lethal infection that mainly affects healthy children and young adults. Both methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant S.

[Drugs dosing in intensive care unit during continuous renal replacement therapy].

Drug dosing in the intensive care unit can be challenging. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of sepsis and a part of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is increasingly used as dialysis therapy in this critically ill population.

Inter-individual vs line/strain differences in psychogenetically selected Roman High-(RHA) and Low-(RLA) Avoidance rats: neuroendocrine and behavioural aspects.

Inter-individual differences in neuroendocrine and behavioural responses to environmental challenges will be considered within the context of psychogenetic selection, using the Roman High-(RHA) and Low-(RLA) Avoidance rat lines as an example. We assume that the selected genotypes, by interacting with environmental factors, determine specific 'biobehavioural profiles'. Practical and theoretical problems regarding the measurement of inter-individual vs line/strain differences, the definition of 'traits' vs experimental variables, and possible correlations between physiological and behavioural parameters will be discussed.

Evaluation of drug prescription at the Geneva prison's outpatient service in comparison to an urban outpatient medical service.

Purpose: To analyse non-psychotropic drug prescription in a prison outpatient clinic in comparison with an urban medical outpatient service.

Methods: Comparative study during 3 weeks at Geneva: prison outpatient service and medical policlinic (MP) of the University Hospital.

Results: The most often prescribed non-psychotropic drugs at the Geneva prison were systemic analgesics (mostly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and paracetamol), dermatologicals, systemic anti-infectives and drugs for the gastrointestinal system.

Concepts of depression: sporadic revolutions of continuous evolution.

The classification of depressive disorders has been changing ever since the first descriptions of mood disorders were produced some 2500 years ago. The interest in their classification has recently been revived as a result of the introduction of new types of medicaments for the treatment of the disorders belonging to the spectrum of mood disorders and of the emphasis that has been given to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, and in particular depression in primary health care services. The currently used systems of classification contain a relatively large number of categories reserved for depressive disorders and it is to be hoped that the experience and information obtained by the use of these classifications, as well as the results of research into the psychopathology and the effects of treatment of mood disorders, will make it possible to arrive at a simplified and better classification of these conditions.

The dose-sparing effect of clonidine added to ropivacaine for labor epidural analgesia.

Unlabelled: To determine the effects of clonidine with ropivacaine during epidural labor analgesia, we studied 66 nulliparous women in early active labor. Women were randomized to receive ropivacaine 0.1% 8 mL plus 75 microg of clonidine (Group 1), ropivacaine 0.

[Nursing notes: what do they contribute to the quality of medical records?].

Treatment records are preferential tools in nursing care. Depending on the setting, its development has gained greater importance during the last thirty years. In the environment of an organization in charge of the computerization of patient files, an evaluation was conducted on the contents of the anamneses and daily observations of nurses.

Is pain a somatic symptom?

The grouping of symptoms into "somatic" or "physical" on the one hand and "mental", "somatoform", or "psychological" on the other are vestiges of an era in medicine when it seemed useful to divide all the phenomena of disease into two groups - one related to the soma and other to the psyche. Today, this division is becoming obsolete and is harmful. Obsolete, because we are discovering changes in the tissues or in biochemical and immunological functions of the body in people with mental disorders, and because psychological complaints are frequent in all physical illnesses.

Localization of mRNA for CHRNA7 in human fetal brain.

The aim of this study was to determine the regional distribution in situ of the mRNA for the alpha 7 subunit of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in human fetal brain. We found high levels of alpha 7 gene expression in nuclei that receive sensory information, such as those of the neocortex and hippocampus, the thalamic nuclei, the reticular thalamic nucleus, the pontine nuclei and the superior olive complex. These data support a possible regulatory function for alpha 7-containing receptors in sensory processing, which may be involved in the pathological physiology of schizophrenia and autism.

Distribution of mRNA for the alpha4 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in the human fetal brain.

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) present in the central nervous system (CNS), are multimeric proteins constituted of two different subunits, alpha and beta, with different subtype arrangements and different pharmacological and functional properties. By in situ hybridization, we studied the distribution of the mRNA for the alpha4 subunit of nAChRs in brains of human 25-week old normal and fragile X fetuses. A strong hybridization signal was detected throughout the thalamus, cortex, pyramidal layer of the Ammon's horn, and the granular layer of the dentate gyrus.

Use of a short-form screening procedure to detect unrecognized functional disability in the hospitalized elderly.

We performed an observational cohort study to test the ability of a short-form screening procedure to detect unrecognized functional disability, as well as its capacity to predict clinical outcome. This screening procedure was administered to 198 consecutive patients within 48 hours of admission. Clinical outcomes upon discharge from the acute care hospital and at 3 months were analyzed according to the number of functional disabilities present on admission.