Ultrasound enhanced prehospital thrombolysis using microbubbles infusion in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction: Rationale and design of the Sonolysis study

Background

The CONSORT Statement provides recommendations for reporting randomized controlled trials. We assessed the extent to which leading medical journals that publish reports of randomized trials incorporate the CONSORT recommendations into their journal and editorial processes.

Methods

This article reports on two observational studies. Study 1: We examined the online version of 'Instructions to Authors' for 165 high impact factor medical journals and extracted all text mentioning the CONSORT Statement or CONSORT extension papers. Any mention of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) or clinical trial registration were also sought and extracted. Study 2: We surveyed the editor-in-chief, or editorial office, for each of the 165 journals about their journal's endorsement of CONSORT recommendations and its incorporation into their editorial and peer-review processes.

Results

Study 1: Thirty-eight percent (62/165) of journals mentioned the CONSORT Statement in their online 'Instructions to Authors'; of these 37% (23/62) stated this was a requirement, 63% (39/62) were less clear in their recommendations. Very few journals mentioned the CONSORT extension papers. Journals that referred to CONSORT were more likely to refer to ICMJE guidelines (RR 2.16; 95% CI 1.51 to 3.08) and clinical trial registration (RR 3.67; 95% CI 2.36 to 5.71) than those journals which did not. Study 2: Thirty-nine percent (64/165) of journals responded to the on-line survey, the majority were journal editors. Eighty-eight percent (50/57) of journals recommended authors comply with the CONSORT Statement; 62% (35/56) said they would require this. Forty-one percent (22/53) reported incorporating CONSORT into their peer-review process and 47% (25/53) into their editorial process. Eighty-one percent (47/58) reported including CONSORT in their 'Instructions to Authors' although there was some inconsistency when cross checking information on the journal's website. Sixty-nine percent (31/45) of journals recommended authors comply with the CONSORT extension for cluster trials, 60% (27/45) for harms and 42% (19/45) for non-inferiority and equivalence trials. Few journals mentioned these extensions in their 'Instructions to Authors'.

Conclusion

Journals should be more explicit in their recommendations and expectations of authors regarding the CONSORT Statement and related CONSORT extensions papers.     

Survival of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Listeria monocytogenes</Emphasis> in Wilted and Additive-Treated Grass Silage

Grass was field-dried to 3 different dry matter (DM) levels (200, 430 and 540 g/kg) and inoculated with 10⁶–10⁷ cfu/g of a Listeria monocytogenes strain sharing a phagovar occasionally involved in food-borne outbreaks of listeriosis. Formic acid (3 ml/kg) or lactic acid bacteria (8·10⁵/g) with cellulolytic enzymes were applied only to forages with low and intermediate DM levels. Forages were ensiled in laboratory silos (1700 ml) and were stored at 25°C for 30 or 90 days. After 90 days of storage, L. monocytogenes could not be detected in any silo, except one with the high dry matter grass without additive. After 30 days of storage, between 10² and 10⁶ cfu L. monocytogenes/g silage were isolated from the untreated silages. Increasing the DM content from 200 to 540 g/kg did not reduce listeria counts possibly because of the lower production of fermentation acids (higher pH). In silages treated with additives, counts of L. monocytogenes were always lower than in silages without additive. In wet silages (DM 200 g/kg) both additives were effective, but in the wilted silages (DM 430 g/kg) only the bacterial additive reduced listeria counts below detection level. Listeria counts were highly correlated to silage pH (r = 0.92), the concentration of lactic acid (r = -0.80) and the pooled amount of undissociated acids (r = -0.83).     

硫氧还蛋白抗体柱的制备

目的:探索硫氧还蛋白(Trx)抗体柱对Trx融合蛋白纯化的可行性。方法与结果:对含有Trx基因的质粒表达载体pTrxFus进行改造,在Trx读框之后加入6×His序列,并在大肠杆菌中表达C端带有6×His标签的Trx,经Ni2+柱亲和纯化后制备多克隆抗体;把经蛋白A纯化后的抗体偶联在溴化氰活化的琼脂糖凝胶上,制成Trx抗体柱;用此抗体柱纯化与Trx融合表达的豇豆胰蛋白酶抑制剂(CpTI),SDS-PAGE结果显示获得了纯度较高的Trx-CpTI。结论:用Trx抗体制成的免疫亲和层析柱可以有效纯化Trx融合蛋白。     

High performance liquid chromatography analysis of nifedipine and some of its metabolites in hypertensive patients

Techniques are described for the analysis of nifedipine and three of its metabolites; dehydronifedipine (I), dehydronifedipinic acid (II), and dehydronifedipinolactone (III) in human serum and urine. The analytes are extracted at pH 9 or 3 with ethyl acetate and chromatographed on a C8 reverse-phase column. Recoveries from spiked control serum and urine ranged from 70 to 95% depending on the polarity of the analyte. The coefficient of variation ranged from 10 to 15% (nifedipine, I, and III at 50-200 ng/mL) and 15-20% (II at 200-2000 ng/mL). Accuracy was always within the limits of precision. The metabolism of nifedipine in a group of hypertensive patients receiving long-term nifedipine therapy was compared with that reported for acute administration. Serum nifedipine levels were comparable in both cases, but contrary to previous reports, dehydronifedipine was consistently found in significant amounts. Serum levels of II were considerably elevated but III was not detected either in serum or in urine. Thus, prolonged nifedipine therapy in conjunction with other antihypertensive medications appears to be associated with significant alterations in the metabolism of nifedipine compared with acute administration.     

Calcium/Calmodulin Activation of Soybean Glutamate Decarboxylase

Recently, we provided preliminary evidence for calcium (Ca2+)/calmodulin (CaM) stimulation of plant glutamate decarboxylase (GAD; EC 4.1.1.15). In the present study, a detailed characterization of the phenomenon is described. GAD was partially purified from various soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) tissues (developing seed coat and cotyledons, leaf, and root) in the presence of EDTA by a combination of ammonium sulfate precipitation and anion-exchange fast protein liquid chromatography. GAD activity showed a sharp optimum at pH 5.8, with about 12% of maximal activity at pH 7. It was stimulated 2- to 8-fold (depending on the tissue source) in the presence of Ca2+/CaM at pH 7 but not at pH 5.8. Furthermore, when the protease inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride was omitted from the purification procedure, GAD activity was insensitive to Ca2+/CaM but was similar in magnitude to CaM-stimulated activity. The stimulation by Ca2+/CaM was fully inhibited by the CaM antagonists N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfon-amide and trifluoperazine. With saturating CaM or Ca2+, the concentrations of Ca2+ and CaM required for half-maximal stimulation were about 7 to 11 [mu]M and 25 nM, respectively. The effect of Ca2+ and CaM appeared to be through a 2.4-fold stimulation of Vmax and a 55% reduction in Km. The results suggested that GAD is activated via Ca2+ signal transduction.     

结核分枝杆菌可视化抗体检测蛋白芯片的制备

目的：利用克隆表达的7种结核分枝杆菌优势表位抗原,建立可视化抗体检测蛋白芯片,用于结核病辅助诊断。方法：将7种结核分枝杆菌优势表位抗原,即38kD、ESAT-6、CFP10、MPT64、Mtb8、Mtb8.4和Mtb16.3点于修饰的基片上,制备可检测7种结核抗体的多靶点蛋白微阵列,建立免疫金银染色检测系统;使用该芯片对48例临床结核病患者血液样品进行检测,并与“金标准”痰涂片（48例）和痰培养（其中的29例）检测结果进行比较,分析其敏感性;对30名献血员血液样品进行检测,分析其特异性。结果：可视化抗体检测蛋白芯片的敏感性分别为98.5％和96.6％,而痰涂片和痰培养检测方法的敏感性分别为35.4％和48.3％;可视化抗体检测蛋白芯片的特异性为93.3％。结论：建立的结核分枝杆菌可视化抗体检测蛋白芯片检测敏感性显著高于痰涂片和痰培养方法,可用于结核病的临床辅助诊断,提高痰涂片和痰培养假阴性的检出率。     

Precedence effects and the evolution of chorusing

The structured choruses produced by rhythmically signalling males in many species of acoustic animals have long-captured the imagination of evolutionary biologists. Though various hypotheses have been forwarded to explain the adaptive significance of such chorusing, none have withstood empirical scrutiny. We suggest instead that alternating and synchronous choruses represent collective epiphenomena resulting from individual males competing to jam each other''s signals. These competitions originate in psychoacoustic precedence effects wherein females only orient toward the first call of a sequence, thus selectively favouring males who produce leading calls. Given this perceptual bias, our modelling confirms that a resetting of signal rhythm by neighbours'' signals, which generates either alternation or synchrony, is evolutionarily stable provided that resetting includes a relativity adjustment for the velocity of signal transmission and selective attention toward only a subset of signalling neighbours. Signalling strategies in chorusing insects and anurans are consistent with these predicted features.