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Basic Description (basic + description)
Selected AbstractsTraumatic brain injury in the United States: an epidemiologic overviewMOUNT SINAI JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: A JOURNAL OF PERSONALIZED AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2009Carl R. Summers PhD Abstract A basic description of severity and frequency is needed for planning healthcare delivery for any disease process. In the case of traumatic brain injury, severity is typically categorized into mild, moderate, and severe with information from a combination of clinical observation and self-report methodologies. Recent US civilian epidemiological findings measuring the frequency of mortality and morbidity of traumatic brain injury are presented, including demographic and etiological breakdowns of the data. Falls, motor vehicle accidents, and being struck by objects are the major etiologies of traumatic brain injury. US civilian and Army hospitalization trends are discussed and compared. Features of traumatic brain injuries from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom are discussed. Mt Sinai J Med 76:105,110, 2009. © 2009 Mount Sinai School of Medicine [source] Structural studies of a baboon (Papio sp.) plasma protein inhibitor of cholesteryl ester transferasePROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 8 2000Garry W. Buchko Abstract A 38-residue protein associated with cholesteryl ester transfer inhibition has been identified in baboons (Papio sp.). The cholesteryl ester transfer inhibitor protein (CETIP) corresponds to the N-terminus of baboon apoC-I. Relative to CETIP, baboon apoC-I is a weak inhibitor of baboon cholesteryl ester transferase (CET). To study the structural features responsible for CET inhibition, CETIP was synthesized by solid-phase methods. Using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to model the lipoprotein environment, the solution structure of CETIP was probed by optical and 1HNMR spectroscopy. Circular dichroism data show that the protein lacks a well-defined structure in water but, upon the addition of SDS, becomes helical (56%). A small blue shift of 8 nm was observed in the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of CETIP in the presence of saturating amounts of SDS, suggesting that tryptophan-23 is not buried deeply in the lipid environment. The helical nature of CETIP in the presence of SDS was confirmed by upfield 1H, secondary shifts and an average solution structure determined by distance geometry/simulated annealing calculations using 476 NOE-based distance restraints. The backbone (N , C, , C, = O ) root-mean-square deviation of an ensemble of 17 out of 25 calculated structures superimposed on the average structure was 1.06 ± 0.30 Å using residues V4-P35 and 0.51 ± 0.17 Å using residues A7-S32. Although the side-chain orientations fit the basic description of a class A amphipathic helix, both intramolecular salt bridge formation and "snorkeling" of basic side chains toward the polar face play minor, if any, roles in stabilizing the lipid-bound amphipathic structure. Conformational features of the calculated structures for CETIP are discussed relative to models of CETIP inhibition of cholesteryl ester transferase. [source] Receptive fields and functional architecture in the retinaTHE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 12 2009Vijay Balasubramanian Functional architecture of the striate cortex is known mostly at the tissue level , how neurons of different function distribute across its depth and surface on a scale of millimetres. But explanations for its design , why it is just so , need to be addressed at the synaptic level, a much finer scale where the basic description is still lacking. Functional architecture of the retina is known from the scale of millimetres down to nanometres, so we have sought explanations for various aspects of its design. Here we review several aspects of the retina's functional architecture and find that all seem governed by a single principle: represent the most information for the least cost in space and energy. Specifically: (i) why are OFF ganglion cells more numerous than ON cells? Because natural scenes contain more negative than positive contrasts, and the retina matches its neural resources to represent them equally well; (ii) why do ganglion cells of a given type overlap their dendrites to achieve 3-fold coverage? Because this maximizes total information represented by the array , balancing signal-to-noise improvement against increased redundancy; (iii) why do ganglion cells form multiple arrays? Because this allows most information to be sent at lower rates, decreasing the space and energy costs for sending a given amount of information. This broad principle, operating at higher levels, probably contributes to the brain's immense computational efficiency. [source] Active patient involvement in the education of health professionalsMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2010Angela Towle Context, Patients as educators (teaching intimate physical examination) first appeared in the 1960s. Since then, rationales for the active involvement of patients as educators have been well articulated. There is great potential to promote the learning of patient-centred practice, interprofessional collaboration, community involvement, shared decision making and how to support self-care. Methods, We reviewed and summarised the literature on active patient involvement in health professional education. Results, A synthesis of the literature reveals increasing diversity in the ways in which patients are involved in education, but also the movement's weaknesses. Most initiatives are ,one-off' events and are reported as basic descriptions. There is little rigorous research or theory of practice or investigation of behavioural outcomes. The literature is scattered and uses terms (such as ,patient'!) that are contentious and confusing. Conclusions, We propose future directions for research and development, including a taxonomy to facilitate dialogue, an outline of a research strategy and reference to a comprehensive bibliography covering all health and human services. Medical Education 2010: 44: 64,74 [source] Thermal decomposition, combustion and flame-retardancy of epoxy resins,a review of the recent literaturePOLYMER INTERNATIONAL, Issue 12 2004Sergei V Levchik Abstract An overview of the recent literature on combustion and flame-retardancy of epoxy resins is presented. A brief overview of the structures of cured epoxy resins is also presented as a background for better understanding of the thermal decomposition and combustion phenomena. The literature sources were mostly taken from the publications of 1995 and later; however, for basic descriptions of the structural and thermal decomposition principles, older publications are also cited. New developments in flame-retardant additives, epoxy monomers and curing agents are described. It is shown that the main attention in recent years has been focused on phosphorus-containing epoxy monomers and epoxy resins. Silicon-containing or nitrogen-containing products and inorganic additives remain of great interest as supplementary materials to phosphorus flame-retardants. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry [source] | ||||||||||