Primary outcome reporting in clinical trials for older adults with depression.

Background: Findings from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are synthesised through meta-analyses, which inform evidence-based decision-making. When key details regarding trial outcomes are not fully reported, knowledge synthesis and uptake of findings into clinical practice are impeded.

Aims: Our study assessed reporting of primary outcomes in RCTs for older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Chlamydia pneumoniae CopD translocator protein plays a critical role in type III secretion (T3S) and infection.

Pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria use type III secretion (T3S) to inject effector proteins into the host cell to create appropriate conditions for infection and intracellular replication. Chlamydia spp. are believed to use T3S to infect their host cell, and the translocator proteins are an essential component of this system.

Chlamydophila pneumoniae PknD exhibits dual amino acid specificity and phosphorylates Cpn0712, a putative type III secretion YscD homolog.

Chlamydophila pneumoniae is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes bronchitis, pharyngitis, and pneumonia and may be involved in atherogenesis and Alzheimer's disease. Genome sequencing has identified three eukaryote-type serine/threonine protein kinases, Pkn1, Pkn5, and PknD, that may be important signaling molecules in Chlamydia. Full-length PknD was cloned and expressed as a histidine-tagged protein in Escherichia coli.

Co-existence of high levels of the PTEN protein with enhanced Akt activation in renal cell carcinoma.

Recruiting Akt to the membrane-bound phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5) trisphosphate (PIP3) is required for Akt activation. While PI3 kinase (PI3K) produces PIP3, PTEN dephosphorylates the 3-position phosphate from PIP3, thereby directly inhibiting Akt activation. PTEN is the dominant PIP3 phosphatase, as knockdown of PTEN results in increases in Akt activation in mice.

Use of flocked swabs and a universal transport medium to enhance molecular detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

The use of new flocked swabs, compared to kit swabs, enhanced the ability of three commercial nucleic acid amplification tests to detect low levels of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae nucleic acids when the organisms were diluted in a universal transport medium as mocked specimens.

A biopsychosocial approach to premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Though epidemiological data is difficult to collect, existing evidence indicates that there is a small but significant population of women in whom premenstrual symptoms, and particularly affective symptoms, severely impair functioning. Although PMDD is predominantly regarded as a biologically based illness, there is strong evidence that variables such as life stress, history of sexual abuse, and cultural socialization are important determinants of premenstrual symptoms. In diagnosing and treating PMDD patients, attention to biological and sociocultural variables is recommended.

Hormones and mood: from menarche to menopause and beyond.

The lifetime prevalence of mood disorders in women is approximately twice that of men. The underlying causality of this gender difference is not yet understood. There is increasing scientific attention to the modulation of the neuroendocrine system by fluctuating gonadal hormones.

Specimen processing and concentration of Chlamydia trachomatis added can influence false-negative rates in the LCx assay but not in the APTIMA Combo 2 assay when testing for inhibitors.

Inhibitors in clinical specimens can be detected by adding the target of nucleic acid amplification to the sample. Introduction of a Chlamydia trachomatis L2 434 preparation containing 12 elementary bodies (EBs) into first-void urine (FVU) from 225 nonpregnant women and 190 pregnant women before specimen processing by the assays produced false-negative rates of 0.48% (2 of 415 specimens) and 13% (44 of 338 specimens) by the APTIMA Combo 2 and the Chlamydia LCx tests, respectively.

Diagnosis and treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder: an update.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) appears in the appendix of the DSM-IV under the heading 'depressive disorder not otherwise specified'. Yet, recently, a group of experts reached a consensus that PMDD is a distinct clinical entity with characteristic symptoms of irritability, anger, internal tension, dysphoria, and mood lability. PMDD is the more severe form of premenstrual symptomatology, whereas premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is milder and more prevalent and both must be differentiated from premenstrual magnification/exacerbation of an underlying major psychiatric disorder or a medical condition.

cDNA array analysis of altered gene expression in human endothelial cells in response to Chlamydia pneumoniae infection.

Strong epidemiological and pathological evidence supports a role for Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in atherosclerosis and human coronary heart disease. Animal models have shown that C. pneumoniae disseminates hematogenously in infected monocytes and macrophages, while in vitro data suggest that infected macrophages can transmit C.