Background The sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) is found in nearshore waters from Nova Scotia, Canada, to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In the southeastern United States two subspecies are recognized based on a number of meristic characters, primarily counts of melanistic pigment bars. The only previous study based on mtDNA control-region sequence found limited divergence...
Background Many studies on the impact of systemic lupus erythematosus or lupus have identified patient travel costs as being problematic. We administered a survey that examined the impact of self-rated travel burden on lupus patients. The systemic lupus erythematosus travel burden survey included 41 patients enrolled in the systemic lupus erythematosus database project at the...
Background Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) searches are frequently used to look for homologous sequences and to annotate a query protein, but the increasing size of protein databases makes it difficult to review all results from a similarity search. Findings We developed a web tool called Cluster and Annotate Blast Results Algorithm (CABRA), which enables a rapid BLAST...
Background Hyperpigmentation is a skin disorder characterized by elevated production of melanin. Current treatment approaches mainly rely on the application of skin lightening chemicals, most of which have safety issues. Efficacy of delivery of the active ingredients to the target organ has also been a challenge. Transdermal based drug delivery platform has been shown to improve...
Background Primary out-of-hours care is developing throughout Europe. High-quality databases with linked data from primary health services can help to improve research and future health services. Methods In 2014, a central clinical research database infrastructure was established (iCAREdata: Improving Care And Research Electronic Data Trust Antwerp, www.icaredata.eu) for...
Background Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is a highly lethal and prevalent cardiovascular emergency. AAD can develop into atrioventricular conductivity disorders caused by coronary artery dissection, with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) being the most frequent clinical sign. In many deceased patients, the diagnosis is not confirmed until autopsy, and 85 % receive the wrong...
Background The objective of this study was to validate the relative light unit (RLU) cut-off of adequate cleaning of flexible colonoscopes for an ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) test kit that used a sponge channel collection method. Methods This was a simulated-use study. The instrument channel segment of a flexible colonoscope was soiled with ATS (artificial test soil) containing...
Background Wheel running is one of the most widely studied behaviours in laboratory rodents. As a result, improved approaches for the objective monitoring and gathering of more detailed information is increasingly becoming important for evaluating rodent wheel-running behaviour. Here our aim was to develop a new quantitative wheel-running system that can be used for most typical...
Background Healthy default food choices have been suggested as a way to encourage better nutrition without restricting choice. Will they work with children and their favorite foods? Methods A group of children, 6–8 years old, were treated to lunch at fast food restaurant on 2 days 2 weeks apart. On both days the children were served chicken nuggets and a drink. On the first day...
Background As a public health initiative, provided-initiated HIV screening test in dental settings has long been available in the U.S.; it was only in 2011 that such setting was used in Canada. The objective of this paper was to assess patients’ response to, and attitudes towards, an opt-out rapid HIV screening test in a dental setting in Vancouver, Canada. Methods A cross...
Background Neurological manifestations in dengue fever occur in <1 % of the patients and known to be due to multisystem dysfunction secondary to vascular leakage. Occurrence of wide spread cerebral haemorrhages with subdural hematoma during the leakage phase without profound thrombocytopenia and occurrence of cranial diabetes insipidus are extremely rare and had not been reported...
Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a metabolic disease commonly associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and inflammation-all features of insulin resistant syndrome. However, very limited data are available regarding the association of subclinical inflammation and insulin resistance with NAFLD in a prediabetic state. We, therefore, conducted the study to...
Background The Rosaceae family encompasses numerous genera exhibiting morphological diversification in fruit types and plant habit as well as a wide variety of chromosome numbers. Comparative genomics between various Rosaceous genera has led to the hypothesis that the ancestral genome of the family contained nine chromosomes, however, the synteny studies performed in the Rosaceae...
Background There are many different methodologies used in the literature for determining the number of drugs used by a patient, and many are incompletely described. This may be attributable to the lack of a framework to help investigators choose and describe their methods and the lack of evidence on the implications of the choice. The purpose of the study was to propose a...
Background Treatment with appropriate medication is a key factor to control hypertension and reduce the associated risk of complications. However, compliance with treatment is often sub-optimal, especially in developing countries. Our aim in this cross-sectional study is to investigate whether there is an association between sleep duration and treatment compliance among skilled...
Background Streptococcus suis is a swine pathogen that causes pneumonia, septicemia and meningitis. It is also an important zoonotic agent responsible of several outbreaks in China. S. suis strains are classified into 35 serotypes based on the composition of their polysaccharide capsule. S. suis serotype 2 causes the majority of severe infections in pigs and in human, and can be...
Background Epidemiological data suggest an association between respiratory diseases and periodontal health. However, the link between the overall dental status and single lung function measures, within a practical clinical context, is not well studied. Methods Following a prospective cross-sectional design, consecutive adult patients were evaluated. Next to spirometry...
Background Human brucellosis cases are still reported each year in Sweden despite eradication of the disease in animals. Epidemiological investigation has never been conducted to trace back the source of human infection in the country. The purpose of the study was to identify the source of infection for 16 human brucellosis cases that occurred in Sweden, during the period 2008...
Background Various instruments have been developed to assess cognitive flexibility, which is an important construct in psychology. Among these, the self-report cognitive flexibility scale (CFS) is particularly popular for use with English speakers; however, there is not yet a Japanese version of this scale. This study reports on the development of a Japanese version of the...
Background To investigate effects of knockdown of epiplakin gene expression on the homeostasis of cultured corneal epithelial cell line. We previously reported acceleration of corneal epithelial wound healing in an epiplakin-null mouse. Methods Gene expression of epiplakin was knockdowned by employing siRNA transfection in SV40-immortalized human corneal epithelial cell line...
Background Influenza A virus (IAV) is a segmented negative-sense RNA virus that causes seasonal epidemics and periodic pandemics in humans. Two regions (nucleotide positions 82–148 and 497–564) in the positive-sense RNA of the NS segment fold into a multi-branch loop or hairpin structures. Results We studied 25,384 NS segment positive-sense RNA unique sequences of human and non...
Background In this study we explored the possibility of automating the PGP9.5 immunofluorescence staining assay for the diagnosis of small fiber neuropathy using skin punch biopsies. The laboratory developed test (LDT) was subjected to a validation strategy as required by good laboratory practice guidelines and compared to the well-established gold standard method approved by the...
Background The egg is a vital part of the chicken developmental process and an important protein source for humans. Despite the chicken egg being a subject of intense research little attention has been given to the role of microRNAs within the egg. Findings We report a method for the reproducible and reliable isolation of miRNA from the albumen and yolk of chicken eggs. We also...
Background The carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) has been used as a predictor of cardiovascular events, but it remains unclear whether CIMT can change over the short term. We evaluated changes of CIMT in patients with diabetes during admission to hospital for 2 weeks. Methods A total of 279 inpatients with diabetes aged 61 ± 14 years were recruited. They were on...
Background Hip fracture precedes death in 12–37 % of elderly people. Identification of high risk patients may contribute to target those in whom optimal management, resource allocation and trials efficiency are needed. The aim of this study is to evaluate a predictive score of mortality after hip fracture in older persons on the basis of the objective prognostic factors easily...