Amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunction.

Amiodarone is an effective medication for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Originally developed for the treatment of angina, it is now the most frequently prescribed antiarrhythmia drug despite the fact that its use is limited because of potential serious side effects including adverse effects on the thyroid gland and thyroid hormones. Although the mechanisms of action of amiodarone on the thyroid gland and thyroid hormone metabolism are poorly understood, the structural similarity of amiodarone to thyroid hormones, including the presence of iodine moieties on the inner benzene ring, may play a role in causing thyroid dysfunction.

Changes in prescriptive practices in skin and soft tissue infections associated with the increased occurrence of community acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Over 30% of the US population is colonized with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). People within the community, without factors associated with Hospital Acquired (HA) MRSA, present with skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Community Acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) is resistant to antibiotics typically prescribed for SSTI.

Care of pregnant women in the criminal justice system.

Current practices in the treatment and transfer of pregnant inmates in this country may negatively affect maternal and fetal health or well-being. Some violate federal or state laws; others conflict with standards of obstetric care and are widely considered unethical or inhumane. This article discusses these practices; their legal status; and implications for nursing practice, policy, and research.

Exploratory bioinformatics study of lncRNAs in Alzheimer's disease mRNA sequences with application to drug development.

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) within mRNA sequences of Alzheimer's disease genes, namely, APP, APOE, PSEN1, and PSEN2, has been analyzed using fractal dimension (FD) computation and correlation analysis. We examined lncRNA by comparing mRNA FD to corresponding coding DNA sequences (CDSs) FD. APP, APOE, and PSEN1 CDSs select slightly higher FDs compared to the mRNA, while PSEN2 CDSs FDs are lower.

Gene entropy-fractal dimension informatics with application to mouse-human translational medicine.

DNA informatics represented by Shannon entropy and fractal dimension have been used to form 2D maps of related genes in various mammals. The distance between points on these maps for corresponding mRNA sequences in different species is used to study evolution. By quantifying the similarity of genes between species, this distance might be indicated when studies on one species (mouse) would tend to be valid in the other (human).

Toxic misfolding of Arabidopsis cellulases in the secretory pathway of Pichia pastoris.

Plants produce a large number of cellulases that are either secreted or anchored in the plasma membrane where they likely function in various aspects of cellulose synthesis, modification and degradation during plant growth and development. Very few of these enzymes have been characterized in any detail, however. Here we attempted to produce two Arabidopsis modular cellulases, which contain a catalytic domain belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 9 (GH9) and a carbohydrate binding module (CBM), in the yeast Pichia pastoris.

Thyroid hormone and the cardiovascular system.

Thyroid hormone has profound effects on the heart and cardiovascular system. This article describes the cellular mechanisms by which thyroid hormone acts at the level of the cardiac myocyte and the vascular smooth muscle cell to alter phenotype and physiology. Because it is well established that thyroid hormone, specifically T(3), acts on almost every cell and organ in the body, studies on the regulation of thyroid hormone transport into cardiac and vascular tissue have added clinical significance.

Membrane lipid peroxidation in copper alloy-mediated contact killing of Escherichia coli.

Copper alloy surfaces are passive antimicrobial sanitizing agents that kill bacteria, fungi, and some viruses. Studies of the mechanism of contact killing in Escherichia coli implicate the membrane as the target, yet the specific component and underlying biochemistry remain unknown. This study explores the hypothesis that nonenzymatic peroxidation of membrane phospholipids is responsible for copper alloy-mediated surface killing.

Measuring fast calcium fluxes in cardiomyocytes.

Cardiomyocytes have multiple Ca(2+) fluxes of varying duration that work together to optimize function (1,2). Changes in Ca(2+) activity in response to extracellular agents is predominantly regulated by the phospholipase Cβ- Gα(q;) pathway localized on the plasma membrane which is stimulated by agents such as acetylcholine (3,4). We have recently found that plasma membrane protein domains called caveolae(5,6) can entrap activated Gα(q;)(7).

A case study of teen parenting.

Purpose: The purpose of this case study is to demonstrate how the use of the standard nursing languages of NANDA International (NANDA-I), the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC), and the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) help a teen mother provide safe care for her newborn. In addition, this study aims to demonstrate how important standardized nursing languages are in documenting the care provided.

Data Sources: The data sources for this article are clinical nursing practice, research evidence in the form of care directives from the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding newborn safety and feeding, and the books that provide directions for the use of NANDA-I, NIC, and NOC.

Nonadaptive processes in primate and human evolution.

Evolutionary biology has tended to focus on adaptive evolution by positive selection as the primum mobile of evolutionary trajectories in species while underestimating the importance of nonadaptive evolutionary processes. In this review, I describe evidence that suggests that primate and human evolution has been strongly influenced by nonadaptive processes, particularly random genetic drift and mutation. This is evidenced by three fundamental effects: a relative relaxation of selective constraints (i.

Using student nurses as hand-washing ambassadors: a model to promote advocacy and enhance infection control practice.

Although the concepts of infection control are taught in depth in the classroom environment, they are often disregarded in the clinical setting. Recognizing this problem, we as nursing educators proposed the use of nursing students in compliance initiatives. The suggestion received an unexpected enthusiastic response from the infection control department and led to an ongoing collaborative practice that enhanced learning and benefited students and clinical agency.

School Health Initiatives and Childhood Obesity: BMI screening and reporting.

The prevalence of childhood obesity has reached an epidemic status especially in the United States. Agencies such as the Institute of Medicine, Surgeon General's Office, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have called for action. Schools have been provided with guidelines to address obesity prevention.

The effect of membrane domains on the G protein-phospholipase Cbeta signaling pathway.

The plasma membrane serves as a barrier to limit the exit and entry of components into and out of the cell, offering protection from the external environment. Communication between the cell and the external environment is mediated by multiple signaling pathways. While the plasma membrane was historically viewed as a lipid bilayer with freely diffusing proteins, the last decade has shown that the lipids and proteins in the plasma membrane are organized in a non-random manner, and that this organization can direct and modify various signaling pathways in the cell.

Influence of amorphous silica matrices on the formation, structure, and chemistry of iron and iron oxide nanoparticles.

Fe(CO)(5) physisorbs onto Corning's code 7930 porous Vycor glass (PVG) and dried ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Morphological variation in the forelegs of the Hawaiian Drosophilidae. I. The AMC clade.

The Hawaiian Drosophilidae possess spectacular diversity in male foreleg modifications, many of which are unknown in other Diptera. The greatest diversity in foreleg morphology is in the antopocerus, modified tarsus, and ciliated tarsus clade (AMC Clade), a group of 95 species. The modified tarsus flies are divided into the bristle, ciliated, split, and spoon tarsus subgroups.

The renaissance of Peiresc: Aubin-Louis Millin and the postrevolutionary republic of letters.

This essay argues for the emergence of a cultural and epistemological divide between amateur savants and members of the Royal Academy of the Sciences in late Old Regime and revolutionary France and suggests that the amateur ideal rose in significance even as intellectual activity came to be increasingly centralized in the postrevolutionary era. At the crux of the tensions between the amateur ideal and the professionalizing reality in the immediate postrevolutionary period stood Aubin-Louis Millin and his journal, the Magasin Encyclopédique. The essay examines, in particular, the revival in the pages of the Magasin Encyclopédique of interest in Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, the seventeenth-century icon of an amateur ideal in which investigations in the natural sciences and scholarship were private, decentralized, often provincial activities.

The contribution of marching band participation to overall physical activity for a sample of university students.

The aim of this study was to provide insight into the contribution of marching band to overall physical activity. A convenience sample was recruited from the Arizona State University Marching Band. Participants logged their physical activity and step counts for seven days.

The molecular signature of selection underlying human adaptations.

In the last decade, advances in human population genetics and comparative genomics have resulted in important contributions to our understanding of human genetic diversity and genetic adaptation. For the first time, we are able to reliably detect the signature of natural selection from patterns of DNA polymorphism. Identifying the effects of natural selection in this way provides a crucial piece of evidence needed to support hypotheses of human adaptation.

Health responses of New York City firefighter spouses and their families post-September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Much attention has been focused on New York City firefighters and their responses to the traumatic events of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, given their extensive involvement in rescue efforts, and the overwhelming loss of life among the fire department employees. It quickly became evident that the impact of this horrendous event had resonated deeply not only on the families and children of the firefighters who gave their lives, but also on those who had survived. The goal of this study was to conduct semi-structured focus groups of women whose firefighter husbands were directly involved in rescue efforts at Ground Zero.

pKa of acetate in water: a computational study.

Several computational methods including the conductor-like polarizable continuum model, CPCM with both UAKS and UAHF cavities, Cramer and Truhlar's generalized Born solvation model, SM5.4(AM1), SM5.4(PM3), and SM5.

Evolutionary explanations in medical and health profession courses: are you answering your students' "why" questions?

Background: Medical and pre-professional health students ask questions about human health that can be answered in two ways, by giving proximate and evolutionary explanations. Proximate explanations, most common in textbooks and classes, describe the immediate scientifically known biological mechanisms of anatomical characteristics or physiological processes. These explanations are necessary but insufficient.

An efficient formal synthesis of the sesquiterpenoid longifolene.

Through a convenient ring expansion reaction of key intermediate 1, enone 5, containing the longifolene skeleton, was produced. Elaboration of 5 via hydrogenation, Wittig reaction, Simmons-Smith reaction, and subsequent hydrogenolysis led to ketone 9. Reductive debromination of 9 afforded 10, the penultimate precursor to longifolene.

Using nursing students to enhance one college's immunization program.

In New York State, all college students who were born on or after January 1, 1957, are required to show proof of immunity against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) before the 1st day of classes. Colleges have established immunization programs so that those students who do not have the required proof can be given the necessary injections. Often, our health service office does not have enough staff to administer the MMR shots during the registration period, resulting in long lines of students waiting to be immunized.

A formal total synthesis of racemic sesquiterpenoid sativene.

Several key reactions involving intramolecular cyclization, Grignard reaction, and ionic hydrogenation have been employed in a formal synthesis of sativene. The synthesis affords 3-isopropyl-6-methyltricyclo[4.4.