Effectiveness of motivational interviewing and physical activity on prescription on leisure exercise time in subjects suffering from mild to moderate hypertension

Background

Depression and anxiety disorders have a high disease burden and as many as 15% of young people report mental health problems. Binge drinking, which is a particularly harmful way of consuming alcohol, is common among secondary school students. The aim of this study was to examine the association between binge drinking and self-reported mental health in boys and girls aged 12 to 18 years.

Findings

This cross-sectional analysis was performed on data collected by the Community Health Service (GGD) Brabant Zuidoost, the Netherlands, in 2007. In this Youth Survey, 10 090 randomly selected adolescents aged 12 tot 18 years were each sent a letter, a questionnaire, and a user name and log-in code for if they preferred to complete the Internet version of the questionnaire. Mental health was assessed using the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5), a short 5-item questionnaire to detect feelings of depression and anxiety. Participants were asked about current alcohol consumption, their relationship with their parents, drug use, and sociodemographic data. Corrected for confounders, binge drinking and mental health problems were associated in the 12 to 15 year old girls (OR 2.43; 95% CI 1.86-3.17, p = 0.000) and boys (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.19-2.27, p = 0.003). The majority of the 16 to 18 year old adolescents had been binge drinking in the previous 4 weeks (69.6% boys and 56.8% girls). In this age group, boys with mental health problems were less likely to be classified as binge drinkers than were boys without mental health problems (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.45-0.87, p = 0.005). No such association between binge drinking and mental health was found in girls of this age.

Conclusion

Girls and boys aged 12-15 years were classified as binge drinkers significantly more often when they reported poor mental health. Because binge drinking damages the brain, especially at a young age, it is important that health professionals are alert to possible binge drinking when young adolescents report mental health problems and should ask their patients about their drinking behaviour. Likewise, if youngsters under 16 present with binge drinking, they should be asked whether they are anxious or depressed.     

Olfactory and gustatory sensitivity in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Recently, research on olfactory functions in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has become prominent, whereas gustation has never been investigated. Increased odor sensitivity was found in medication-na?ve children with ADHD, but not in adult ADHD, which might be due to a dopaminergic dysregulation presumed to underlie this disorder. Taste sensitivity, in particular bitter sensitivity as a hereditary trait, also might be altered in ADHD. To examine olfactory and gustatory functions in adult ADHD patients, we assessed odor sensitivity by Sniffin' Sticks, taste sensitivity by taste strips, and bitter sensitivity by the one-solution test in women with ADHD (n = 12), Bulimia Nervosa (n = 12), and healthy control women (n = 12). Bulimia Nervosa as second patient group was included to control for effects of impulsivity. Preliminary results indicate that ADHD patients were significantly more often classified as tasters, i.e. perceived the bitter taste as more intense, compared to both bulimic patients and healthy controls. No group differences were found with regard to general odor and taste sensitivity. It is proposed that the higher frequency of tasters in ADHD patients might underlie a genetic variation of the bitter receptor-dependent signaling pathway associated with ADHD.     

Clonal relatedness of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains expressing LT and CS17 isolated from children with diarrhoea in La Paz, Bolivia

Background

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major cause of traveller''s and infantile diarrhoea in the developing world. ETEC produces two toxins, a heat-stable toxin (known as ST) and a heat-labile toxin (LT) and colonization factors that help the bacteria to attach to epithelial cells.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In this study, we characterized a subset of ETEC clinical isolates recovered from Bolivian children under 5 years of age using a combination of multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis, virulence typing, serotyping and antimicrobial resistance test patterns in order to determine the genetic background of ETEC strains circulating in Bolivia. We found that strains expressing the heat-labile (LT) enterotoxin and colonization factor CS17 were common and belonged to several MLST sequence types but mainly to sequence type-423 and sequence type-443 (Achtman scheme). To further study the LT/CS17 strains we analysed the nucleotide sequence of the CS17 operon and compared the structure to LT/CS17 ETEC isolates from Bangladesh. Sequence analysis confirmed that all sequence type-423 strains from Bolivia had a single nucleotide polymorphism; SNP_bol in the CS17 operon that was also found in some other MLST sequence types from Bolivia but not in strains recovered from Bangladeshi children. The dominant ETEC clone in Bolivia (sequence type-423/SNP_bol) was found to persist over multiple years and was associated with severe diarrhoea but these strains were variable with respect to antimicrobial resistance patterns.

Conclusion/Significance

The results showed that although the LT/CS17 phenotype is common among ETEC strains in Bolivia, multiple clones, as determined by unique MLST sequence types, populate this phenotype. Our data also appear to suggest that acquisition and loss of antimicrobial resistance in LT-expressing CS17 ETEC clones is more dynamic than acquisition or loss of virulence factors.     

Icaritin shows potent anti-leukemia activity on chronic myeloid leukemia in vitro and in vivo by regulating MAPK/ERK/JNK and JAK2/STAT3 /AKT signalings

Purpose

To explore the effects of Icaritin on chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells and underlying mechanisms.

Method

CML cells were incubated with various concentration of Icaritin for 48 hours, the cell proliferation was analyzed by MTT and the apoptosis was assessed with Annexin V and Hoechst 33258 staining. Cell hemoglobinization was determined. Western blotting was used to evaluate the expressions of MAPK/ERK/JNK signal pathway and Jak-2/Phorpho-Stat3/Phorsph-Akt network-related protein. NOD-SCID nude mice were applied to demonstrate the anti-leukemia effect of Icaritin in vivo.

Results

Icaritin potently inhibited proliferation of K562 cells (IC50 was 8 µM) and primary CML cells (IC50 was 13.4 µM for CML-CP and 18 µM for CML-BC), induced CML cells apoptosis and promoted the erythroid differentiation of K562 cells with time-dependent manner. Furthermore, Icaritin was able to suppress the growth of primary CD34+ leukemia cells (CML) and Imatinib-resistant cells, and to induce apoptosis. In mouse leukemia model, Icaritin could prolong lifespan of NOD-SCID nude mice inoculated with K562 cells as effective as Imatinib without suppression of bone marrow. Icaritin could up-regulate phospho-JNK or phospho-C-Jun and down-regulate phospho-ERK, phospho-P-38, Jak-2, phospho-Stat3 and phospho-Akt expression with dose- or time-dependent manner. Icaritin had no influence both on c-Abl and phospho-c-Abl protein expression and mRNA levels of Bcr/Abl.

Conclusion

Icaritin from Chinese herb medicine may be a potential anti-CML agent with low adverse effect. The mechanism of anti-leukemia for Icaritin is involved in the regulation of Bcr/Abl downstream signaling. Icaritin may be useful for an alternative therapeutic choice of Imatinib-resistant forms of CML.     

In planta analysis of protein–protein interactions related to light signaling by bimolecular fluorescence complementation

The determination of protein-protein interactions is becoming more and more important in the molecular analysis of signal transduction chains. To this purpose the application of a manageable and simple assay in an appropriate biological system is of major concern. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) is a novel method to analyze protein-protein interactions in vivo. The assay is based on the observation that N- and C-terminal subfragments of the yellow-fluorescent protein (YFP) can only reconstitute a functional fluorophore when they are brought into tight contact. Thus, proteins can be fused to the YFP subfragments and the interaction of the fusion proteins can be monitored by epifluorescence microscopy. Pairs of interacting proteins were tested after transient cotransfection in etiolated mustard seedlings, which is a well characterized plant model system for light signal transduction. BiFC could be demonstrated with the F-box protein EID1 (empfindlicher im dunkelroten Licht 1) and the Arabidopsis S-phase kinase-related protein 1 (ASK1). The interaction of both proteins was specific and strictly dependent on the presence of an intact F-box domain. Our studies also demonstrate that etiolated mustard seedlings provide a versatile transient assay system to study light-induced subcellular localization events.     

Identifying clades in Asian Annonaceae: monophyletic genera in the polyphyletic Miliuseae

The tribe Miliuseae (Annonaceae) comprises six genera distributed in Asia: Alphonsea, Mezzettia, Miliusa, Orophea, Platymitra, and Phoenicanthus. A phylogenetic study to investigate the putative monophyly of the tribe and the intergeneric relationships is presented here. Nucleotide sequences of the plastid gene rbcL, trnL intron, and trnL-trnF intergenic spacer were analyzed from 114 Annonaceae taxa, including 24 Miliuseae species and two outgroups using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference. The two data sets (rbcL and the trnL-trnF regions) were analyzed separately and in combination. Miliuseae were found to be polyphyletic due to the position of Mezzettia and are part of a large, predominantly Asian and Central-American clade (miliusoid clade). Although intergeneric relationships were poorly resolved, all genera, except Polyalthia, were monophyletic, supporting previous generic delimitation based on morphology. A group of three Polyalthia species seems the most likely sister group of Miliusa. Several infrageneric groups of Miliusa, Orophea, and Polyalthia are supported by both molecular and morphological data. No morphological synapomorphies have yet been found for the miliusoid clade. Molecular clades within the miliusoid clade, however, can be characterized by size and the shape of the outer petals, number of ovules per carpel, and the size of the fruits.     

A nonenzymatic modification of the amino-terminal domain of histone H3 by bile acid acyl adenylate

Although it has been proposed that the secondary bile acids, deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid, increase the number of aberrant crypt foci in the colon and may act as colon tumor promoters, there is little evidence detailing their mechanism of action. Histones play an important role in controlling gene expression, and the posttranslational modification of histones plays a role in regulation of intracellular signal transduction. In particular, the amino-terminal tail domain of histone H3 is sensitive to several posttranslational modifications, and acetylation of this domain changes its electrostatic environment and results in the loss of native folding. Therefore, we studied the modification of epsilon-amino groups on human histone H3 by deoxycholyl adenylate, which is an active intermediate in deoxycholyl thioester biosynthesis. After incubation of recombinant human histone H3 with a smaller amount of acyl adenylate, followed by enzymatic digestion, the peptide fragment mixtures were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry. These data showed the formation of only one adduct fragment, which corresponded to amino acids 3-8 with a deoxycholate adduct, suggesting that the epsilon-amino group of Lys(4) had the highest reactivity. This novel modification, formation of a bile acid adduct on the histone H3 amino-terminal tail domain through an active acyl adenylate, may relate to the carcinogenesis-promoting effects of secondary bile acids.     

黄酮化合物色谱保留时间与其三维结构的关系研究

利用比较分子相似性指数分析（CoMSIA）方法,结合黄酮类化合物含有较多羟基、易形成较强分子内氢键的特点,建立了黄酮类化合物色谱保留时间与其三维结构的关系模型,以探讨黄酮类化合物色谱保留时间预测的新方法。模型交叉验证相关系数q2值为0．705,非交叉验证相关系数r2为0．981,表明模型具有较好的预测能力。该研究结果对进一步开展黄酮类化合物液相色谱保留参数与三维结构关系的研究提供了思路和方法。     

成人不典型肺结核的CT 表现及鉴别诊断分析( 附30 例报告)

目的：回顾性分析成人不典型肺结核的CT表现,探讨与其他同影性疾病的鉴别方法,做到早诊断早治疗,减低病人的治疗成本和思想负担。方法：选择性收集病变不典型。CT影像检壹曾误诊或诊断困难的病例30例做回顾性分析。所有病例均有最后治疗结果或术后病理结果证实。结果：节段性阴影12例,局灶性斑片及斑点状影8例,散在少数小结节样影4例,多发结节并空洞影3例,肺内弥漫分布的粟粒结节影3例,肺内阴影伴有肺门淋巴结及纵隔淋巴结肿大者9例以青壮年病人吸收较快,病程较短,以粟粒影和大片影表现者吸收最快。讨论：对于不典型的成人肺结核,不能片面的强调或突出某一方面征象,年龄因素、临床症状、实验室检查如结核茵素试验（PPD）、痰结核茵培养、抗结核抗体阳性在鉴别诊断中有着重要意义。进一步正确认识及探究病变的影像特点,对于正确的诊断提供了强有力的理论根据。