Children's Medical Research Institute

About: Children's Medical Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Telomere. The organization has 929 authors who have published 2017 publications receiving 113145 citations.

Singing for children and adults with bronchiectasis.

Abstract: BACKGROUND : Bronchiectasis is a common respiratory disease, especially in developing countries Its cause varies from chronic infection to rare immune deficiencies Bronchiectasis can be present with other respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) People with bronchiectasis may suffer from chronic cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain and coughing up blood Their lung function may decline with time These can also have a negative impact on their quality of life Thus, a holistic management is needed to provide treatment and support Therapies which include breathing manoeuvres, such as singing, may have health benefits for respiratory function and psychological well being OBJECTIVES : To evaluate the effects of a singing intervention as a therapy on the quality of life, morbidity, respiratory muscle strength and pulmonary function of children and adults with bronchiectasis SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Airways Group (CAG) trials register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, major allied complementary databases, and clinical trials registers Professional organisations and individuals were also contacted CAG performed searches in February, and additional searches were carried out in June 2009 SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials in which singing (as an intervention) is compared with either a sham intervention or no singing in patients with bronchiectasis DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently reviewed the titles, abstracts and citations to assess potential relevance for full review No eligible trials were identified and thus no data were available for analysis MAIN RESULTS: No meta-analysis could be performed AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS : In the absence of data, we cannot draw any conclusion to support or refute the adoption of singing as an intervention for people with bronchiectasis Given the simplicity of the potentially beneficial intervention, future randomised controlled trials are required to evaluate singing therapy for people with bronchiectasis

Nutritional management of children with cerebral palsy.

Abstract: Children with severe cerebral palsy and particularly those with oropharyngeal dysfunction are at risk of poor nutritional status. Determining the need and the mode of nutritional intervention is multifactorial and requires multiple methodologies. First-line treatment typically involves oral nutritional support for those children who are safe to consume an oral diet. Enteral tube feeding may need to be considered in children with undernutrition where poor weight gain continues despite oral nutritional support, or in those with oropharyngeal dysphagia and an unsafe swallow. Estimates for energy and protein requirements provide a starting point only, and ongoing assessment and monitoring is essential to ensure nutritional needs are being met, that complications are adequately managed and to avoid over or under feeding.

Differential regulation of tropomyosin isoform organization and gene expression in response to altered actin gene expression.

Abstract: Phenotypically altered C2 myoblast cells, generated by the stable transfection of human nonmuscle actin genes (Schevzov, G., C. Lloyd, and P. Gunning. 1992. J. Cell Biol. 117:775-786), exhibit a differential pattern of tropomyosin cellular organization and isoform gene expression. The beta-actin transfectants displaying a threefold increase in the cell surface area, showed no significant changes in the pattern of organization of the high M(r) tropomyosin isoform, Tm 2, or the low M(r) tropomyosin isoform, Tm 5. In contrast, the gamma- and beta sm-actin gene transfectants, exhibiting a twofold decrease in the cell surface area, had an altered organization of Tm 2 but not Tm 5. In these actin transfectants, Tm 2 did not preferentially segregate into stress fiber-like structures and the intensity of staining was greatly diminished. Conversely, a well-defined stress fiber-like organization of Tm 5 was observed. The pattern of organization of these tropomyosin isoforms correlated with their expression such that a profound decrease in Tm 2 expression was observed both at the transcript and protein levels, whereas Tm 5 remained relatively unchanged. These results suggest that relative changes in nonmuscle actin gene expression can affect the organization and expression of tropomyosin in an isoform specific manner. Furthermore, this apparent direct link observed between actin and tropomyosin expression suggests that nonpharmacological signals originating in the cytoskeleton can regulate cytoarchitectural gene expression.

Structure of stem-loop IV of Tetrahymena telomerase RNA.

Abstract: Conserved domains within the RNA component of telomerase provide the template for reverse transcription, recruit protein components to the holoenzyme and are required for enzymatic activity. Among the functionally essential domains in ciliate telomerase RNA is stem-loop IV, which strongly stimulates telomerase activity and processivity even when provided in trans. The NMR structure of Tetrahymena thermophila stem-loop IV shows a highly structured distal stem-loop linked to a conformationally flexible template-proximal region by a bulge that severely kinks the entire RNA. Through extensive structure–function studies, we identify residues that contribute to both these structural features and to enzymatic activity, with no apparent effect on the binding of TERT protein. We propose that the bending induced by the GA bulge and the flexibility of the template-proximal region allow positioning of the prestructured apical loop during the catalytic cycle.