Body

Since the first report in 1976, collagenous colitis has been associated with a variety of conditions, including use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and proton pump inhibitors. This condition is characterized by chronic watery diarrhea and abnormal deposition of collagen beneath the colonic epithelium. Severe hypoproteinemia due to enteric protein loss is rare unless accompanied by small bowel malabsorption syndrome.

Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)-guided biliary drainage for treatment of patients who have obstructive jaundice in cases of failed endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).

An article to be published on October 21, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses the case. The research team led by Takao Itoi, from Tokyo Medical University Shinjuku-ku of Japan introduced the feasibility and outcome of EUS-guided choledochoduodenostomy in four patients who failed ERCP.

Beta-catenin, a central molecule of the Wnt-signaling pathway was previously known to involve in the tumorigenesis of various gastrointestinal cancers such as gastric cancer and colon cancer. In colon cancer, previous studies suggested association between the feature of nuclear beta-catenin, which remarks an activation of the Wnt-signaling pathway, and poorer survival. However, a correlation between the overall expression of this protein and treatment outcome in colorectal cancer has not been clearly defined.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a disorder characterized by hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis with a risk of developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The progression from simple steatosis to cirrhosis has been attributed to inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-), oxidative stress and endotoxin, in combination with fatty degeneration due to insulin resistance. At present, histopathological examination of liver biopsy tissue is the only way to definitively diagnose NASH.

IEM is associated with an increased acid clearance times in the distal esophagus. Gastropharyngeal reflux causes supraesophageal manifestations such as globus, chronic cough, hoarseness, asthma, chronic sinusitis, or other otorhinolaryngologic diseases. It might be hypothesized that patients with IEM would be unable to clear refluxed acid; this would lead to a prolonged esophageal dwell time of the refluxed acid and then the refluxed acid would reach to a higher level.

CSIRO has developed maths-based imaging technology to measure hair on different parts of the human body.CSIRO's Biotech Imaging team, who specialise in developing software to analyse images automatically, worked with a UK personal care products company to find a way to objectively test how well their hair removal products work.

Hair counting is often done manually by human assessors.

"It's a boring job and results are prone to errors and variations between different people," Dr Pascal Valloton, Leader of Biotech Imaging at CSIRO said.

The prostone lubiprostone has been shown to stimulate chloride secretion via one of the minor intestinal epithelial channels, ClC-2. This results in sustained low-level secretion of water into the lumen. Previous studies by the same research group have identified ClC-2 as a key protein involved in re-assembly of interepithelial tight junctions. Activation of ClC-2 by lubiprostone hastens recovery of barrier function, apparently by recruiting tight junction proteins to the apical-lateral membrane.

The overlooked and undervalued protein, sarcospan, just got its moment in the spotlight. Peter et al. now show that adding it to muscle cells might ameliorate the most severe form of muscular dystrophy.

Adolescents who have high levels of exposure to television programs that contain sexual content are twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy over the following three years as their peers who watch few such shows, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The study, published in the November edition of the journal Pediatrics, is the first to establish a link between teenagers' exposure to sexual content on TV and either pregnancies among girls or responsibility for pregnancies among boys.

WASHINGTON, DC, November 3, 2008 – Parents are surprisingly receptive to being screened for alcohol problems during a visit to their child's pediatrician, including those who have alcohol problems. And if they need help, many parents would look to their pediatrician for a referral, according to a new study in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The rapid spread of West Nile virus in North America over the past decade is likely to have long-lasting ecological consequences throughout the continent, according to an article in the November issue of BioScience. The mosquito-borne virus, which was little known before its emergence in New York in 1999, has since been found in all 48 contiguous states.

BOSTON, Mass. (Nov. 3, 2008) —Influenza vaccination rates for adolescents who suffer from asthma and other illnesses are still far too low, according to a recent study.

The research, published in the November 2008 issue of Pediatrics, was based at the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

A study of 113 children and teens physically victimized by peers concludes that one-on-one mentoring about how to safely avoid conflict and diffuse threats makes them far less likely to become victims again if guidance is initiated in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The research, by investigators at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., was conducted on 10- to 15-year-olds treated for assault injuries, including gunshot, knife and fist-fight wounds, in their emergency rooms between 2001 and 2004.

Children who receive all recommended flu vaccine appear to be less likely to catch the respiratory virus that the CDC estimates hospitalizes 20,000 children every year.

Bacteria can directly cause human blood and plasma to clot—a process that was previously thought to have been lost during the course of vertebrate evolution, according to new research at the University of Chicago, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Institut Pasteur in Paris. Their findings will be published online Nov. 2 in Nature Chemical Biology.

The discovery will improve scientists' understanding of coagulation during bacterial infections and may lead to new clinical methods for treating serious medical conditions such as sepsis and anthrax.