Hand injuries at leisure

In a survey of 383 moderate and severe hand injuries in adults, 246 (64.4%) occurred outwith work. Falling (sixty-four patients) and punching (forty-eight patients) were the commonest mechanisms of blunt injury. Glass (eight), knives (seven) and "do-it-yourself" materials (eight) were most frequently implicated in sharp trauma. No outstandingly dangerous hobbies or social activities were identified.     

Barriers and Facilitators to Participation in Health Screening: an Umbrella Review Across Conditions

Prevention Science - Screening is an essential prevention practice for a number of health conditions. However, screening coverage remains generally low. Studies that investigate determinants of...     

Autonomie in der Offenen Kinder- und Jugendarbeit fördern – Ergebnisse eines partizipativen Evaluationsprojekts

Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz - Partizipation zu ermöglichen ist Teil des Auftrags der Offenen Kinder- und Jugendarbeit. Dazu gehört die Einbindung der...     

Tumour angiogenesis: vascular growth and survival

Angiogenesis starts at the edge of a malignant epithelial tumour concurrently with tumour cell invasion and stromatogenesis, i.e. the formation of specific connective tissue stroma amenable to easy penetration by endothelial and tumour cells. However, as the tumour continues its growth, the edge becomes the inner tumour area, and a new invading tumour front is formed by the multiplying malignant cells which outflank the initial edge. This process, which repeats itself again and again, forms the "relay race" model of tumour vascular growth and regression. At the heart of the tumour unfavourable environmental conditions prevail -- hypoxia, acidity, lack of nutrients, failure of waste removal, and apoptosis rather than proliferation. Blood vessels and tumour cells are greatly decreased, but do not vanish, as tumour cells are shifting to anaerobic glycolysis, and blood vessels are turning into anti-apoptotic pathways -- vascular survival ability (VSA). Thus, assessing vascular density (VD) by simply counting "hot spots" at the edge of a tumour, where conditions are most favourable, is futile; it may reflect tumour angiogenic activity (TAA), but is not representative of genuine tumour vasculature. By combining vessel counts at the invading tumour front with those of the inner tumour areas a complete picture of tumour VD can be achieved. The thus formed four patterns of vascularization, designated as "edvin" (edge vsinner tumour area), are: edvin 1: low TAA/low VSA; edvin 4: high TAA/high VSA; edvin 2: low TAA/high VSA; and edvin 3: high TAA/low VSA. It is expected that this scheme will prove useful in the field of chemoradiotherapy and anti-angiogenic treatment.     

Surface-Attached Polymer Networks Made from Cationic Poly(diitaconates): Synthesis,Surface Characterization,and Bioactivity

Facially amphiphilic polymers carrying cationic and hydrophobic groups on the same repeat unit have shown promising antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility, yet they are prone to suffer from protein adhesion which may induce biofilm formation. To overcome this problem, poly(diitaconate)-based copolymers with cationic/hydrophobic and protein-repellent/charge-neutral repeat units are synthesized. The bioactivity profile of surface-attached polymer networks made from these copolymers depends on the ratio of the cationic and charge-neutral repeat units. In all cases, the protein adhesion is substantially reduced compared to purely cationic polymers. At a 50:50 ratio, the polymer coatings are partially protein-repellent and antimicrobial, yet slightly cell toxic. At an intermediate composition of 30:70, they are still antimicrobial and the cell compatibility is substantially improved. The long-term stability of these materials still has to be determined to judge their suitability for medical applications.     

Misoprostol Partially Inhibits the Renal Scarring of Chronic Cyclosporine Nephrotoxicity

Chronic cyclosporine (CY) nephrotoxicity is a well-known complication of this immunosuppressive agent, which may, in part, be attributed to abnormalities in renal prostaglandin content. We utilized misoprostol (M), a prostaglandin E(1) analog, in a rat model of chronic CY toxicity at 7 and 28 days to determine effectiveness in prevention of the renal damage. After 7 days, there were no differences in weight change, creatinine clearance, or renal scarring in rats treated with vehicle (V), CY, or CY + M; however, renal procollagen alpha 1(I) mRNA levels were increased in CY versus V rats (p < 0.05). In contrast, after 28 days CY rats had significant reductions in weight gain, glomerular filtration rate, and renal blood flow with increases in renal scarring and procollagen alpha 1 (IV) mRNA levels (all p < 0.05 versus V). Addition of M resulted in partial but significant improvement in GFR, RBF, and procollagen alpha 1(IV) mRNA levels, with lessening of the renal scarring. Skin fibroblasts also were incubated with CY and M to assess impact on procollagen MRNA levels. CY augmented fibroblast procollagen mRNA levels which enhanced by a large dose of M, but inhibited with a moderate dose. These data suggest that M improves renal scarring induced by CY by hemodynamic and/or direct effects.     

Chain length heterogeneity of nucleosomal DNA in mouse liver after dimethylnitrosamine administration

The effect of dimethylnitrosamine on the nucleosomal structure of mouse liver chromatin was studied. After a single oral dose of dimethylnitrosamine (2–75 mg/kg body weight 45 min before sacrifice) liver nuclei were isolated and incubated with micrococcus nuclease. Nucleosomes were separated on sucrose density gradients. There were no differences in nucleosomal sedimentation velocities between preparations from control and dimethylnitrosamine treated animals. The supernatant obtained after centrifugation of the lysed nuclei (2 min at 4,000 g _av) and nucleosomal peak fractions were used for isolation of DNA. DNA was heat denatured in 7 M urea or formamide. After electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels areas under mononucleosomal DNA and smaller fragments were measured and compared with the total DNA area. The increase in DNA fragmentation was dimethylnitrosamine dose response dependent. When expressed as per cent of controls it amounted to 106% for 2 mg; 115% for 10 mg; 127% for 25 mg; 164% for 75 mg dimethylnitrosamine/kg body weight. A good correlation between mobility and log of chain length of 174 RF DNA-Hae III digest was obtained in nondenaturing 5% polyacrylamide gels and denaturing non-aqueous formamide polyacrylamide gels but not in 12% polyacrylamide gels containing 7 M urea. DNA of mononucleosomal peak fractions contained 200 and that of dinucleosomal peak fractions 400 nucleotides. Fragmentation of DNA was closely related to in vivo dimethylnitrosamine treatment but was not detected in measurements of protein-DNA complexes in the chromatin. It was disclosed on denaturation of DNA followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.Abbreviations DMN dimethylnitrosamine - SDS sodium dodecyl sulfate The work was supported by Grant Number 1 R0 1 CA26642-01, awarded to A.v.d.D. by the National Cancer Institute, DHEW     

Induction of partial protection in mice after oral administration of Lactococcus lactis producing Brucella abortus L7/L12 antigen.

The Brucella abortus ribosomal protein L7/L12 is an immunodominant antigen and an interesting candidate for the development of oral live vaccines against brucellosis. Here, a recombinant Lactococcus lactis strain producing L7/L12 under the control of nisin inducible promoter was orally administered to BALB/c mice. Significant levels of anti-L7/L12 specific IgA detected in feces revealed an induced local humoral immune response. However, serum analysis did not reveal any anti-L7/L12 antibodies suggesting the absence of a systemic response. Nevertheless, the vaccinated mice showed a partial protective immunity against B. abortus virulent strain (S2308) challenged by intraperitoneal inoculation.