Tufts University

About: Tufts University is a education organization based out in Medford, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 32800 authors who have published 66881 publications receiving 3451152 citations. The organization is also known as: Tufts College & Universitatis Tuftensis.

Linezolid in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nosocomial pneumonia: a randomized, controlled study.

Abstract: Background. Post hoc analyses of clinical trial data suggested that linezolid may be more effective than vancomycin for treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nosocomial pneumonia. This study prospectively assessed efficacy and safety of linezolid, compared with a dose-optimized vancomycin regimen, for treatment of MRSA nosocomial pneumonia. Methods. This was a prospective, double-blind, controlled, multicenter trial involving hospitalized adult patients with hospital-acquired or healthcare‐associated MRSA pneumonia. Patients were randomized to receive intravenous linezolid (600 mg every 12 hours) or vancomycin (15 mg/kg every 12 hours) for 7‐14 days. Vancomycin dose was adjusted on the basis of trough levels. The primary end point was clinical outcome at end of study (EOS) in evaluable per-protocol (PP) patients. Prespecified secondary end points included response in the modified intentto-treat (mITT) population at end of treatment (EOT) and EOS and microbiologic response in the PP and mITT populations at EOT and EOS. Survival and safety were also evaluated. Results. Of 1184 patients treated, 448 (linezolid, n 5 224; vancomycin, n 5 224) were included in the mITT and 348 (linezolid, n 5 172;vancomycin,n 5 176)inthePPpopulation.Inthe PP population, 95(57.6%)of165linezolidtreated patients and 81 (46.6%) of 174 vancomycin-treated patients achieved clinical success at EOS (95% confidence interval for difference, 0.5%‐21.6%; P 5 .042). All-cause 60-day mortality was similar (linezolid, 15.7%; vancomycin, 17.0%), as was incidence of adverse events. Nephrotoxicity occurred more frequently with vancomycin (18.2%; linezolid, 8.4%). Conclusions. For the treatment of MRSA nosocomial pneumonia, clinical response at EOS in the PP population was significantly higher with linezolid than with vancomycin, although 60-day mortality was similar.

A Venue-Based Method for Sampling Hard-to-Reach Populations

Abstract: Constructing scientifically sound samples of hard-to-reach populations, also known as hidden populations, is a challenge for many research projects. Traditional sample survey methods, such as random sampling from telephone or mailing lists, can yield low numbers of eligible respondents while non-probability sampling introduces unknown biases. The authors describe a venue-based application of time-space sampling (TSS) that addresses the challenges of accessing hard-to-reach populations. The method entails identifying days and times when the target population gathers at specific venues, constructing a sampling frame of venue, day-time units (VDTs), randomly selecting and visiting VDTs (the primary sampling units), and systematically intercepting and collecting information from consenting members of the target population. This allows researchers to construct a sample with known properties, make statistical inference to the larger population of venue visitors, and theorize about the introduction of biases that may limit generalization of results to the target population. The authors describe their use of TSS in the ongoing Community Intervention Trial for Youth (CITY) project to generate a systematic sample of young men who have sex with men. The project is an ongoing community level HIV prevention intervention trial funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The TSS method is reproducible and can be adapted to hard-to-reach populations in other situations, environments, and cultures.

Curcumin Inhibits Adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes and Angiogenesis and Obesity in C57/BL Mice

Abstract: Angiogenesis is necessary for the growth of adipose tissue. Dietary polyphenols may suppress growth of adipose tissue through their antiangiogenic activity and by modulating adipocyte metabolism. We investigated the effect of curcumin, the major polyphenol in turmeric spice, on angiogenesis, adipogenesis, differentiation, apoptosis, and gene expression involved in lipid and energy metabolism in 3T3-L1 adipocyte in cell culture systems and on body weight gain and adiposity in mice fed a high-fat diet (22%) supplemented with 500 mg curcumin/kg diet for 12 wk. Curcumin (5-20 micromol/L) suppressed 3T3-L1 differentiation, caused apoptosis, and inhibited adipokine-induced angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Supplementing the high-fat diet of mice with curcumin did not affect food intake but reduced body weight gain, adiposity, and microvessel density in adipose tissue, which coincided with reduced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor VEGFR-2. Curcumin increased 5'AMP-activated protein kinase phosphorylation, reduced glycerol-3-phosphate acyl transferase-1, and increased carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 expression, which led to increased oxidation and decreased fatty acid esterification. The in vivo effect of curcumin on the expression of these enzymes was also confirmed by real-time RT-PCR in subcutaneous adipose tissue. In addition, curcumin significantly lowered serum cholesterol and expression of PPARgamma and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha, 2 key transcription factors in adipogenesis and lipogenesis. The curcumin suppression of angiogenesis in adipose tissue together with its effect on lipid metabolism in adipocytes may contribute to lower body fat and body weight gain. Our findings suggest that dietary curcumin may have a potential benefit in preventing obesity.

Masticatory Performance and Efficiency

Abstract: IMPLE, reliable methods for measuring masticatory function would be useful aids in evaluating the success of dental restorative procedures. One goal of dental restoration is to improve the masticatory function of patients who have lost teeth. It is surprising how little is known by the dentist concerning his achievement of this goal. Current practices are based on the satisfaction of the patient or the fulfillment of certain theoretical and arbitrary standards that have become accepted because of the clinical experience of their proponents. Tooth structure is replaced wherever it has been destroyed; occlusal surfaces are carved to provide considerable contact with opposing teeth and to approximiate ideal tooth form. The completed restorations are never checked objectively for their masticatory function and there are not even data to prove that the ideal tooth form will provide best function under all conditions. For example, flatter cusps might be advantageous in masticating processed foods, and the ocelusal shape might be modified to compensate for missing teeth. Perhaps contact area should be diminished on teeth which cannot tolerate forces readily, and the normal occlusal pattern might be discarded entirely for denture teeth among cases where forces are severely limited. Several investigations of this topic have appeared in the foreign literature but only a few in English, and there is no agreement concerning the test to be used. The procedures are complicated and vary in the foods and technics that are recommended. Investigators have been unable to agree as to which of several criteria should be used and have been puzzled by the wide variation in performance among persons having the same numbers and types of missing teeth. Most authors agree concerning the principles to be employed in designing a function test for mastication. The test should be selected from foods that are normally consumed. These foods should offer the proper degree of difficulty, permitting a normal dentition to receive a high rating and a deficient dentition, a poor rating. Any selective action that is performed by the normal and is missing from the deficient mouth should be taken into account. A certain degree of precision should be obtained, and the method should be simple, rapid, and inexpensive. Masticatory function tests have been described by Lehman,1 Gaudenz,2 Christiansen,3 Schutz,4 Paulsen,5 Claussen,6 Balters,7 Ascher,8 Gelman,9 Juul,10 Ono,'1 Sognnaes,12 and Dahlberg.13 A variety of test foods were proposed, including Spanish hazel nuts, Brazil nuts, sweet almonds, boiled egg white, potato, apple, carrot, bread, zwiebach, turnip, coconut, meat, cracked corn, and

Accessing lexical ambiguities during sentence comprehension: Effects of frequency of meaning and contextual bias

Abstract: Two hypotheses concerning the nature of lexical access, the exhaustive access and the terminating ordered search hypotheses, were examined in two separate studies using a crossmodal lexical priming task. In this task, subjects listened to sentences that were biased toward either the primary interpretation (a meaning occurring 75% or more of the time) or a secondary interpretation (a meaning occurring less than 25% of the time) of a lexical ambiguity that occurred in each sentence. Simultaneously, subjects made lexical decisions about visually presented words. Decisions to words related to both the primary and secondary meanings of the ambiguity were facilitated when presented immediately following occurrence of the ambiguity in the sentence. This effect held under each of the two biasing context conditions. However, when they were presented 1.5 sec following occurrence of the ambiguity, only visual words related to the contextually relevant meaning of the ambiguity were facilitated. These results support the exhaustive access hypothesis. It is argued that lexical access is an autonomous subsystem of the sentence comprehension routine in which all meanings of a word are momentarily accessed, regardless of the factors of contextual bias or bias associated with frequency of use.