Vestibularna rehabilitacija jest planirani, individualno prilagođen sustav vježbi kojima se ubrzava proces središnje kompenzacije oštećenoga vestibularnog sustava. U medicinu ju uvode Cawthorne i ...Cooksey sredinom prošloga stoljeća. Godinama su postojali prijepori o značenju i učinkovitosti ovoga načina liječenja. Provedene su brojne randomizirane prospektivne kliničke studije, koje su dokazale važnost vestibularnih vježbi, kao i njihov povoljan učinak na brzinu i stupanj oporavka bolesnika, tako da one posljednjih desetljeća zauzimaju sve značajnije mjesto u liječenju vrtoglavica. Vestibularna hipofunkcija, bilo da je riječ o akutnome ili kroničnom poremećaju, ili pak o jednostranome ili obostranom oštećenju, predstavlja dosta čest problem za liječnika praktičara, osobito onoga koji se bavi problemima vrtoglavica. Premda je vestibularna rehabilitacija za većinu poremećaja ravnoteže metoda izbora u liječenju, ona je kod nas još uvijek podosta zapostavljena i neopravdano podcijenjena. Cilj ovih Smjernica za kliničku praksu jest pomoći liječnicima i fizioterapeutima pri ujednačavanju pristupa pacijentima s jednostranim i obostranim vestibularnim oštećenjima, izbjegavajući nepotrebne varijacije u primjeni vestibularnih vježbi. One nisu udžbenik niti jedini i neupitni izvor znanja, već pružaju okvir za strategiju kod donošenja odluka, ne zamjenjujući pritom značenje kliničke prosudbe. Vestibularnim vježbama značajno se ubrzava oporavak bolesnika s vestibularnom hipofunkcijom i njihov povratak uobičajenim životnim aktivnostima. Svrha ovih Smjernica jest utvrditi koga, kada, kako i koliko dugo liječiti, kao i kako otkloniti nepotrebne varijacije u pristupu rehabilitaciji pacijenata s vestibularnom hipofunkcijom. One se zasnivaju na dokazima dobivenim metaanalizom podataka iz dostupne medicinske literature, oslanjajući se pored toga i na naše dugogodišnje iskustvo u radu s vertiginoznim pacijentima.
In the quest for designing efficient and stable photocatalytic materials for CO2 reduction, hybridizing a selective noble-metal-free molecular catalyst and carbon-based light-absorbing materials has ...recently emerged as a fruitful approach. In this work, we report about Co quaterpyridine complexes covalently linked to graphene surfaces functionalized by carboxylic acid groups. The nanostructured materials were characterized by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, IR and Raman spectroscopies, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and proved to be highly active in the visible-light-driven CO2 catalytic conversion in acetonitrile solutions. Exceptional stabilities (over 200 h of irradiation) were obtained without compromising the selective conversion of CO2 to products (>97%). Most importantly, complete selectivity control could be obtained upon adjusting the experimental conditions: production of CO as the only product was achieved when using a weak acid (phenol or trifluoroethanol) as a co-substrate, while formate was exclusively obtained in solutions of mixed acetonitrile and triethanolamine.
The actin cytoskeleton is of profound importance to cell shape, division, and intracellular force generation. Profilins bind to globular (G-)actin and regulate actin filament formation. Although ...profilins are well-established actin regulators, the distinct roles of the dominant profilin, profilin 1 (PFN1), versus the less abundant profilin 2 (PFN2) remain enigmatic. In this study, we use interaction proteomics to discover that PFN2 is an interaction partner of the actin N-terminal acetyltransferase NAA80, and further confirm this by analytical ultracentrifugation. Enzyme assays with NAA80 and different profilins demonstrate that PFN2 binding specifically increases the intrinsic catalytic activity of NAA80. NAA80 binds PFN2 through a proline-rich loop, deletion of which abrogates PFN2 binding. Small-angle X-ray scattering shows that NAA80, actin, and PFN2 form a ternary complex and that NAA80 has partly disordered regions in the N-terminus and the proline-rich loop, the latter of which is partly ordered upon PFN2 binding. Furthermore, binding of PFN2 to NAA80 via the proline-rich loop promotes binding between the globular domains of actin and NAA80, and thus acetylation of actin. However, the majority of cellular NAA80 is stably bound to PFN2 and not to actin, and we propose that this complex acetylates G-actin before it is incorporated into filaments. In conclusion, we reveal a functionally specific role of PFN2 as a stable interactor and regulator of the actin N-terminal acetyltransferase NAA80, and establish the modus operandi for NAA80-mediated actin N-terminal acetylation, a modification with a major impact on cytoskeletal dynamics.
Psychological empowerment - the experience of
competence, meaning, self-determination and impact at work - has become
very popular in organizational research. Meta-analytic results show many
positive ...consequences of psychological empowerment and many different
antecedents such as positive leadership, high performance practices, and work
design characteristics. However, scarce research is available on how
organizational culture influences psychological empowerment. We believe a
missing instrument is one reason for the underdevelopment in this field. For
this reason, we developed IMPEC (Instrument Measuring Psychological Empowerment
Culture) for measuring specific cultural values for psychological empowerment.
IMPEC was tested in four studies. In the first study
(n = 208 German employees), the reliability,
factor structure, and its relationship with psychological empowerment and
affective variables were analyzed. The second study had two waves
(n = 182 German employees) in which the
predictive and incremental value of the IMPEC for performance-oriented variables
were evaluated. In the third study, the instrument was translated into English
and validated in a US sample (n = 346). Finally,
a multi-wave study was conducted in a German setting
(n = 210) to test if the IMPEC could predict
critical constructs better than the empowerment climate questionnaire.
The objective of this work was to develop and validate a set of clinical criteria for the classification of patients affected by periodic fevers. Patients with inherited periodic fevers (familial ...Mediterranean fever (FMF); mevalonate kinase deficiency (MKD); tumour necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic fever syndrome (TRAPS); cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS)) enrolled in the Eurofever Registry up until March 2013 were evaluated. Patients with periodic fever, aphthosis, pharyngitis and adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome were used as negative controls. For each genetic disease, patients were considered to be 'gold standard' on the basis of the presence of a confirmatory genetic analysis. Clinical criteria were formulated on the basis of univariate and multivariate analysis in an initial group of patients (training set) and validated in an independent set of patients (validation set). A total of 1215 consecutive patients with periodic fevers were identified, and 518 gold standard patients (291 FMF, 74 MKD, 86 TRAPS, 67 CAPS) and 199 patients with PFAPA as disease controls were evaluated. The univariate and multivariate analyses identified a number of clinical variables that correlated independently with each disease, and four provisional classification scores were created. Cut-off values of the classification scores were chosen using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis as those giving the highest sensitivity and specificity. The classification scores were then tested in an independent set of patients (validation set) with an area under the curve of 0.98 for FMF, 0.95 for TRAPS, 0.96 for MKD, and 0.99 for CAPS. In conclusion, evidence-based provisional clinical criteria with high sensitivity and specificity for the clinical classification of patients with inherited periodic fevers have been developed.
The actin cytoskeleton is of profound importance to cell shape, division, and intracellular force generation. Profilins bind to globular (G-)actin and regulate actin filament formation. Although ...profilins are well-established actin regulators, the distinct roles of the dominant profilin, profilin 1 (PFN1), versus the less abundant profilin 2 (PFN2) remain enigmatic. In this study, we use interaction proteomics to discover that PFN2 is an interaction partner of the actin N-terminal acetyltransferase NAA80, and further confirm this by analytical ultracentrifugation. Enzyme assays with NAA80 and different profilins demonstrate that PFN2 binding specifically increases the intrinsic catalytic activity of NAA80. NAA80 binds PFN2 through a proline-rich loop, deletion of which abrogates PFN2 binding. Small-angle X-ray scattering shows that NAA80, actin, and PFN2 form a ternary complex and that NAA80 has partly disordered regions in the N-terminus and the proline-rich loop, the latter of which is partly ordered upon PFN2 binding. Furthermore, binding of PFN2 to NAA80 via the proline-rich loop promotes binding between the globular domains of actin and NAA80, and thus acetylation of actin. However, the majority of cellular NAA80 is stably bound to PFN2 and not to actin, and we propose that this complex acetylates G-actin before it is incorporated into filaments. In conclusion, we reveal a functionally specific role of PFN2 as a stable interactor and regulator of the actin N-terminal acetyltransferase NAA80, and establish the modus operandi for NAA80-mediated actin N-terminal acetylation, a modification with a major impact on cytoskeletal dynamics.
PDF
