Expression of Toll-like receptor 2 is up-regulated in monocytes from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by pulmonary and systemic inflammation which flare-up during episodes of acute exacerbation (AECOPD). Given the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the induction of inflammatory responses we investigated the involvement of TLRs in COPD pathogenesis.

“It’s like a problem that doesn’t exist”: The emotional well-being of mothers caring for a child with brain injury.

Background: Although research has shown that significant burden and adverse psychological impact are associated with caring for a child with brain injury, limited knowledge exists concerning the qualitative experience and impact of this burden.
Objective: To provide an account of the experiences of mothers who care for a childhood survivor of brain injury.
Research design: Postal survey.
Methods and procedures: A self-report questionnaire was sent to a consecutive sample of mothers (n=86) of children (aged 8-28) with acquired brain injury, registered with a UK children’s brain injury charity. Five essay style questions enabled mothers to reflect on and describe at length their caring experiences, with particular emphasis placed on the perceived impact on emotional well-being.
Main outcomes and results: Thematic analysis identified five key themes: Perpetually Anxious, The Guilty Carer, The Labour of Caring, A Self-Conscious Apologist and Perpetually Grieving. Collectively, these themes highlight two core processes shaping mothers’ caring experiences and concomitant mental well-being. Firstly, the collective and enduring nature of caregiver burden over time. Second, the crucial role played by socio-cultural values in perpetuating caregiver burden.
Conclusions: Societal norms, particularly those relating to the nature and outcome of brain injury and motherhood, serve to marginalise mothers and increase feelings of isolation. Findings suggest the value of peer support programs as an effective means of providing appropriate social support.

A comparison of self-report and health care provider data to assess surveillance definitions of influenza-like illness in outpatients

Objective: Several surveillance definitions of influenza-like illness (ILI) have been proposed, based on the presence of symptoms. Symptom data can be obtained from patients, medical records, or both. Past research has found that agreements between health record data and self-report are variable depending on the specific symptom. Therefore, we aimed to explore the implications of using data on influenza symptoms extracted from medical records, similar data collected prospectively from outpatients, and the combined data from both sources as predictors of laboratory-confirmed influenza. Methods: Using data from the Hutterite Influenza Prevention Study, we calculated: 1) the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of individual symptoms within surveillance definitions; 2) how frequently surveillance definitions correlated to laboratory-confirmed influenza; and 3) the predictive value of surveillance definitions. Results: Of the 176 participants with reports from participants and medical records, 142 (81%) were tested for influenza and 37 (26%) were PCR positive for influenza. Fever (alone) and fever combined with cough and/or sore throat were highly correlated with being PCR positive for influenza for all data sources. ILI surveillance definitions, based on symptom data from medical records only or from both medical records and self-report, were better predictors of laboratory-confirmed influenza with higher odds ratios and positive predictive values. Discussion: The choice of data source to determine ILI will depend on the patient population, outcome of interest, availability of data source, and use for clinical decision making, research, or surveillance. © Canadian Public Health Association, 2012.

Diabetic-like loss of corneal sensitivity in the 50% galactose fed rat is ameliorated with topical administration of an aldose reductase inhibitor

Purpose: To investigate the temporal course of corneal sensitivity loss & the role of aldose reductase inhibitors (ARI) in an animal model of diabetic ocular complications. Methods: Weanling male S-D rats were randomly grouped to received ad libitum water & diet consisting of Purina (#5001) w/ either: 50% starch (CON,n=15) or 50% D-galactose (GAL,n=30). Half the galactosemic rats (ARI,n=15) received topical 0.25% CT-112 (3x daily, 20µl, Senju Pharmaceutical Co., Japan). Control & remaining half of the galactosemic animals received equivalent doses of saline eyedrops. Rats were restrained w/o medication during sensitivity measurements conducted w/ a Cochet-Bonnet Aesthesiometer mounted on a micromanipulator. The end of the filament (0.012mm dia.), which applied a mean pressure of 0.96 g/mm perpendicular to the corneal surface at center, was in the plane of focus of a slit-lamp biomicroscope. Measurements were conducted by two investigators which were masked to the treatment group. The average blink-responses from 10 consecutive stimuli to each cornea were expressed as a percent. Results: Mean (±SD) baseline corneal sensitivity in all groups were similar (CON 73%±11, GAL 71%±15, ARI 74%±16). Corneal sensitivity in the galactosemic rat was decreased (p

Adsorption and aggregation properties of norovirus GI and GII virus-like particles demonstrate differing responses to solution chemistry

The transport properties (adsorption and aggregation behavior) of virus-like particles (VLPs) of two strains of norovirus ("Norwalk" GI.1 and "Houston" GII.4) were studied in a variety of solution chemistries. GI.1 and GII.4 VLPs were found to be stable against aggregation at pH 4.0-8.0. At pH 9.0, GI.1 VLPs rapidly disintegrated. The attachment efficiencies (a) of GI.1 and GII.4 VLPs to silica increased with increasing ionic strength in NaCl solutions at pH 8.0. The attachment efficiency of GI.1 VLPs decreased as pH was increased above the isoelectric point (pH 5.0), whereas at and below the isoelectric point, the attachment efficiency was erratic. Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) dramatically increased the attachment efficiencies of GI.1 and GII.4 VLPs, which may be due to specific interactions with the VLP capsids. Bicarbonate decreased attachment efficiencies for both GI.1 and GII.4 VLPs, whereas phosphate decreased the attachment efficiency of GI.1, while increasing GII.4 attachment efficiency. The observed differences in GI.1 and GII.4 VLP attachment efficiencies in response to solution chemistry may be attributed to differential responses of the unique arrangement of exposed amino acid residues on the capsid surface of each VLP strain.

Antiproton induced DNA damage: proton like in flight, carbon-ion like near rest

Biological validation of new radiotherapy modalities is essential to understand their therapeutic potential. Antiprotons have been proposed for cancer therapy due to enhanced dose deposition provided by antiproton-nucleon annihilation. We assessed cellular DNA damage and relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of a clinically relevant antiproton beam. Despite a modest LET (,19 keV/mm), antiproton spread out Bragg peak (SOBP) irradiation caused significant residual c-H2AX foci compared to X-ray, proton and antiproton plateau irradiation. RBE of ,1.48 in the SOBP and ,1 in the plateau were measured and used for a qualitative effective dose curve comparison with proton and carbon-ions. Foci in the antiproton SOBP were larger and more structured compared to X-rays, protons and carbon-ions. This is likely due to overlapping particle tracks near the annihilation vertex, creating spatially correlated DNA lesions. No biological effects were observed at 28–42 mm away from the primary beam suggesting minimal risk from long-range secondary particles.

An isomorphism between group C*-algebras of ax + b-like groups

We give a necessary and sufficient condition for two ax+b-like groups to have isomorphic C*-algebras. In particular, we show that there are many non-isomorphic ax+b -like Lie groups having isomorphic group C*-algebras.