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INTRODUCTION: Hospice at home (HAH) services aim to enable patients to be cared for and die in their place of choice, if that is at home, and to achieve a 'good death'. There is a considerable range of HAH services operating in England. The published evidence focuses on evaluations of individual services which vary considerably, and there is a lack of consistency in terms of the outcome measures reported. The evidence, therefore, does not provide generalisable information, so the question 'What are the features of hospice at home service models that work, for whom, and under what circumstances?' remains unanswered...

INTRODUCTION: Specific factors associated with the risk of developing pediatric urinary stone disease remain unclear, especially those that may be associated with recurrent stone disease. OBJECTIVE: We compared the results of 24-h urine collections in children with a solitary stone episode to those with multiple stone episodes to determine if there is a difference that may be associated with multiple stone formation in children. STUDY DESIGN: A multi-institutional retrospective analysis was completed to assess 24-h urinary metabolic profiles in children with urolithiasis aged 2-18 years old...

Phosphorylation of serine, threonine and tyrosine is a central mechanism for regulating the structure and function of proteins in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. However, the action of phosphorylated proteins present in Porphyromonas gingivalis, a major periodontopathogen, is not fully understood. Here, six novel phosphoproteins that possess metabolic activities were identified, namely PGN_0004, PGN_0375, PGN_0500, PGN_0724, PGN_0733 and PGN_0880, having been separated by phosphate-affinity chromatography...

PURPOSE: To determine whether concomitant chronic syndesmotic injury or chronic medial ankle instability is associated with unsatisfactory outcomes in patients with chronic lateral ankle instability (CAI). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of prospectively collected data from 276 male military patients with CAI who had undergone a modified Broström procedure between May 2007 and March 2010 and had been followed up for a mean of 26.7 months (range, 22 to 41 months)...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnostic value of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging technology for the assessment of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. METHODS: One-hundred-and-eight CHC patients were examined by real-time ultrasound elastography using the Acuson S2000 ARFI instrument (Siemens Healthcare) and underwent liver biopsy for pathohistological analysis. The correlation between liver fibrosis grades determined by the two approaches was analyzed...

BACKGROUND: The optimal treatment strategy for patients with Crohn's disease who have loss of response to the anti-tumor necrosis factor α medication infliximab is uncertain. Natalizumab has an alternative mechanism of action, but its use has been limited by the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. In this study, we performed a decision analysis assessing the impact of JC virus (JCV) antibody testing and natalizumab utilization for loss of response to infliximab. METHODS: We constructed a Markov model to assess the difference between unscreened natalizumab use (option 1), JCV antibody testing with natalizumab when appropriate (option 2), and second anti-tumor necrosis factor α use (option 3)...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether selective blockade of tumor necrosis factor receptor I (TNFRI) affects spontaneous proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine production in ex vivo-cultured human rheumatoid arthritis synovial membrane mononuclear cells (MNCs) and to compare this response to that of TNF ligand blockade using etanercept. METHODS: A bispecific, single variable-domain antibody (anti-TNFRI moiety plus an albumin binding moiety [TNFRI-AlbudAb]) was used to selectively block TNFRI...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Casearia sylvestris Sw. is widely used in popular medicine to treat inflammatory conditions. AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of hydroalcoholic crude extract (HCE) taken from Casearia sylvestris Sw. (Salicaceae). METHODS AND RESULTS: The effect of the HCE from this plant (3-300 mg/kg) on the reduction of inflammatory response to carrageenan was investigated in pleurisy in rats (intrapleural, 2% in 0...

The title complex, [La(2)(C(15)H(9)O(2))(6)(C(10)H(8)N(2))(2)], has a centrosymmetric binuclear cage structure in which two La(III )atoms are both nine-coordinated and bridged by four anthracene-9-carboxyl-ate ligands, with an La⋯La separation of 4.0880 (4) Å. The remaining coordination sites are occupied by two N atoms of a 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) and two O atoms of an anthracene-9-carboxyl-ate ligand. The six anthracene-9-carboxyl-ate groups coordinate each La(III )atom in three different ways. Adjacent discrete dinuclear units are arranged into a one-dimensional chain along the [111] direction by inter-molecular π-π stacking inter-actions, with a centroid-centroid separation of 3...

Losartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), has been reported to increase serum level of high-molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin, which has beneficial effects on insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. On the other hand, treatment with diuretics was reported to decrease the adiponectin level. In the present study, we investigated the effects of changing the treatment to losartan/hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) on blood pressure (BP) and various metabolic parameters in Japanese male hypertensive subjects...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of potassium iodide on the expression of nuclear factor-kappaB and fibronectin. METHODS: The experiment was performed with 72 SD rats weighing about 180-220 g. The animals were randomly assigned into nine groups. Group A, B, C (n=8) served as control and were fed with distilled water for 1 month, 2 month, 3 month respectively. Group D, E, F (n=8) served as lead exposed and were fed with water with 0.5% lead acetate for 1 month, 2 month, 3 month respectively...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of radiotherapy (RT) parameters on outcome in the SIOP/UKCCSG study of pre-RT chemotherapy for Supratentorial Primitive Neuro-ectodermal Tumours. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Sixty-two patients aged 2.9-16.6 (median 6.4 years) were eligible. Forty-eight (77%) had non-pineal sites and 14 (23%) had pineal sites. Eleven were randomized to RT alone (6) and five to pre-RT Vincristine, Etoposide, Carboplatin and Cyclophosphamide...

Research on polymer-gel dosimetry has been driven by the need for three-dimensional dosimetry, and because alternative dosimeters are unsatisfactory or too slow for that task. Magnetic resonance tomography is currently the most well-developed technique for determining radiation-induced changes in polymer structure, but quick low-cost alternatives remain of significant interest. In previous work, ultrasound attenuation and speed of sound were found to change as a function of absorbed radiation dose in polymer-gel dosimeters, although the investigations were restricted to one ultrasound frequency...

The effect of hyperoxia on ciliary abundance in cultured explants of adult human bronchus was investigated. Bronchus samples were removed during surgery from patients receiving pneumonectomy or lobectomy for malignancy. Part or all of each of these samples was used for measurement of cilial abundance by scanning electron microscopy (SEM); in many cases the remainder was subdivided and cultured at 37 degrees C in DMEM medium, maintaining an air interface at the ciliated surface of each segment. Cultured segments were exposed to normoxia or hyperoxia (95% O(2)), and a segment was removed every other day for quantification of cilial abundance by SEM...

A proficiency review of antituberculous drug susceptibility testing (DST) was undertaken by the regional tuberculosis reference laboratories of the Western Pacific Region of WHO to evaluate the performance of national reference laboratories (NRLs) and to ensure that the results from the participating laboratories are reliable and similar. A panel of 30 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains with various patterns of resistance to isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, and streptomycin was sent to the NRLs, and their DST results were analyzed by comparing them with the judicial results...

In our effort to explore the use of the sulfite ion to design hybrid and open-framework materials, we have been able to prepare, under hydrothermal conditions, zero-dimensional [Zn(C12H8N2)(SO3)].2H2O, I (a = 7.5737(5) A, b = 10.3969(6) A, c = 10.3986(6) A, alpha = 64.172(1) degrees , beta = 69.395(1) degrees , gamma = 79.333(1) degrees , Z = 2, and space group P), one-dimensional [Zn2(C12H8N2)(SO3)2(H2O)], II (a = 8.0247(3) A, b = 9.4962(3) A, c = 10.2740(2) A, alpha = 81.070(1) degrees , beta = 80.438(1) degrees , gamma = 75...

OBJECTIVE: To establish a RP-HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of gallic acid, paeoniflorin and paeonol in Cortex Moutan. METHOD: The analysis was carried out on a column of YMC-C18 (4. 6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm), and gradient elution was used for the baseline separation of these three constituents with the different detection wavelength. RESULT: The linear ranges for gallic acid, paeoniflorin and paeonol were 0.0130-0.267, 0.0880-1...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the safety, efficacy and impact on survival of low anterior resection and primary anastomosis at the time of en bloc resection for primary and recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of 46 primary and 14 recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma patients who underwent procedures between April 2001 and May 2005 in our center. Data were obtained from patient medical records and the cancer registry...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of lead in the expression of the renal fibrosis related nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), transforming growth factor (TGF-beta) and fibronectin (FN) in rat kidney and the possible molecule mechanism of lead induced renal fibrosis. METHODS: Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into 4 groups. Group A was fed with distilled water as control group. Group B, C and D were fed with the water including 0.5% lead acetate continuously for 1, 2 or 3 months respectively...

BACKGROUND: Altered retinoblastoma gene expression has been found in various types of cancers including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and some reports have shown it also to be associated with a poor clinical prognosis in NSCLC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated the expression of Rb protein by immunohistochemistry in 90 patients with lung adenocarcinoma who underwent surgical resection and determined its prognostic significance. Also, the expression of p27 by immunohistochemistry and the mutations of the p53 gene by PCR-SSCP were evaluated...