University of California, San Francisco

About: University of California, San Francisco is a education organization based out in San Francisco, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 83381 authors who have published 186236 publications receiving 12068420 citations. The organization is also known as: UCSF & UC San Francisco.

The ICH Score A Simple, Reliable Grading Scale for Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Abstract: Background and Purpose—Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) constitutes 10% to 15% of all strokes and remains without a treatment of proven benefit. Despite several existing outcome prediction models for...

Association of health literacy with diabetes outcomes.

Abstract: ContextHealth literacy is a measure of patients' ability to read, comprehend, and act on medical instructions. Poor health literacy is common among racial and ethnic minorities, elderly persons, and patients with chronic conditions, particularly in public-sector settings. Little is known about the extent to which health literacy affects clinical health outcomes.ObjectivesTo examine the association between health literacy and diabetes outcomes among patients with type 2 diabetes.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsCross-sectional observational study of 408 English- and Spanish-speaking patients who were older than 30 years and had type 2 diabetes identified from the clinical database of 2 primary care clinics of a university-affiliated public hospital in San Francisco, Calif. Participants were enrolled and completed questionnaires between June and December 2000. We assessed patients' health literacy by using the short-form Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (s-TOFHLA) in English or Spanish.Main Outcome MeasuresMost recent hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level. Patients were classified as having tight glycemic control if their HbA1c was in the lowest quartile and poor control if it was in the highest quartile. We also measured the presence of self-reported diabetes complications.ResultsAfter adjusting for patients' sociodemographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, social support, treatment regimen, and years with diabetes, for each 1-point decrement in s-TOFHLA score, the HbA1c value increased by 0.02 (P = .02). Patients with inadequate health literacy were less likely than patients with adequate health literacy to achieve tight glycemic control (HbA1c ≤7.2%; adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32-1.00; P = .05) and were more likely to have poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥9.5%; adjusted OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.11-3.73; P = .02) and to report having retinopathy (adjusted OR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.19-4.57; P = .01).ConclusionsAmong primary care patients with type 2 diabetes, inadequate health literacy is independently associated with worse glycemic control and higher rates of retinopathy. Inadequate health literacy may contribute to the disproportionate burden of diabetes-related problems among disadvantaged populations. Efforts should focus on developing and evaluating interventions to improve diabetes outcomes among patients with inadequate health literacy.

Electron counting and beam-induced motion correction enable near-atomic-resolution single-particle cryo-EM

Abstract: In recent work with large high-symmetry viruses, single-particle electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) has achieved the determination of near-atomic-resolution structures by allowing direct fitting of atomic models into experimental density maps. However, achieving this goal with smaller particles of lower symmetry remains challenging. Using a newly developed single electron-counting detector, we confirmed that electron beam-induced motion substantially degrades resolution, and we showed that the combination of rapid readout and nearly noiseless electron counting allow image blurring to be corrected to subpixel accuracy, restoring intrinsic image information to high resolution (Thon rings visible to ∼3 A). Using this approach, we determined a 3.3-A-resolution structure of an ∼700-kDa protein with D7 symmetry, the Thermoplasma acidophilum 20S proteasome, showing clear side-chain density. Our method greatly enhances image quality and data acquisition efficiency-key bottlenecks in applying near-atomic-resolution cryo-EM to a broad range of protein samples.

SPECIFICITY AND VERSATILITY IN TGF-β SIGNALING THROUGH SMADS

Abstract: The TGF-β family comprises many structurally related differentiation factors that act through a heteromeric receptor complex at the cell surface and an intracellular signal transducing Smad complex. The receptor complex consists of two type II and two type I transmembrane serine/threonine kinases. Upon phosphorylation by the receptors, Smad complexes translocate into the nucleus, where they cooperate with sequence-specific transcription factors to regulate gene expression. The vertebrate genome encodes many ligands, fewer type II and type I receptors, and only a few Smads. In contrast to the perceived simplicity of the signal transduction mechanism with few Smads, the cellular responses to TGF-β ligands are complex and context dependent. This raises the question of how the specificity of the ligand-induced signaling is achieved. We review the molecular basis for the specificity and versatility of signaling by the many ligands through this conceptually simple signal transduction mechanism.

The NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Mapping Consortium

Abstract: The NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Mapping Consortium aims to produce a public resource of epigenomic maps for stem cells and primary ex vivo tissues selected to represent the normal counterparts of tissues and organ systems frequently involved in human disease.