The Interweaving of Poetry and Dance in Ben Jonson\u27s Masques

The masked noblemen prepare to preform one of their intricate dances for King James I and his court; they aim to make the complex floor patterns and body movements appear ordered, adroit, and effortless. Their dances are just one element of the highly elaborate Stuart court masque with integrates dance, poetry, scenic design, costume design and music into a three-hour dramatic spectacle. All that remains today of the lavish event is a text of twelve pages, some short descriptions of the choreography, a handful of sketches, and several short pieces of music. Although we can never fully reconstruct Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue or any other Stuart masque, we can piece together the evidence, and attempt to understand how jonson conceives and constructs his masques

P-624: Changes in plasma renin match the antihypertensive effects of aliskiren in patients with hypertension: Placebo/irbesartan-controlled trial with the orally active renin inhibitor aliskiren

For several decades, the lack of oral availability and poor antihypertensive effects of renin inhibitors (RI), despite seemingly powerful inhibition of conventionally measured plasma renin activity (PRA), have discredited RI as cardiovascular drugs. Aliskiren is a novel orally effective RI with antihypertensive potency comparable to losartan or irbesartan. The present study investigated the effects of aliskiren and irbesartan on PRA, measured by the reliable antibody trapping technique, as well as on plasma active renin concentration (ARC) and sitting systolic blood pressure (SBP). In 569 patients with mild to moderate hypertension (baseline sphygmomanometric sitting blood pressure 152±12/99±4 mmHg, mean±SD), PRA and ARC, as well as SBP were measured before and after 8 weeks of treatment with once daily oral doses of aliskiren (150, 300 or 600mg), irbesartan 150mg or placebo. The effects of study treatments on PRA, ARC and SBP are summarized in the Table. Treatment N PRA (ng/mL/h) ARC (pg/mL) SBP (mmHg) Baseline Week 8 Baseline Week 8 Baseline Week 8 Placebo 111 0.72 0.64 6.2 5.6 152 ± 12 147 ± 18 Aliskiren 150mg 112 0.66 0.20 6.0 15.3 151 ± 11 140 ± 14 Aliskiren 300mg 115 0.59 0.17 6.1 21.0 152 ± 10 137 ± 14 Aliskiren 600mg 113 0.64 0.16 5.8 34.9 153 ± 12 137 ± 16 Irbesartan 150mg 118 0.64 1.33 5.5 11.3 153 ± 11 140 ± 16 PRA and ARC values are geometric means; SBP values are mean ± SD Aliskiren reduced PRA by 69%, 71% and 75% at 150, 300 and 600mg respectively, while irbesartan doubled PRA. Most of the antihypertensive effect of aliskiren was obtained with the lowest dose, but higher doses slightly further decreased SBP. Aliskiren 150mg and irbesartan 150mg provided similar increases in ARC and hence comparably blocked the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), and the achieved SBP was also the same. Aliskiren 300mg and 600mg caused greater increases in ARC compared with irbesartan 150mg (p<0.05), and further decreases in SBP. The dose-dependent increases in ARC observed with aliskiren document increasing blockade of the RAS. In conclusion, aliskiren provides a parallel reduction in PRA and SBP, a dose-dependent blockade of the RAS and is at least as effective as irbesartan at comparable dosages (150mg

Impact of inhaled corticosteroids on growth in children with asthma: systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Long-term inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) may reduce growth velocity and final height of children with asthma. We aimed to evaluate the association between ICS use of >12 months and growth. Methods: We initially searched MEDLINE and EMBASE in July 2013, followed by a PubMed search updated to December 2014. We selected RCTs and controlled observational studies of ICS use in patients with asthma. We conducted random effects meta-analysis of mean differences in growth velocity (cm/year) or final height (cm) between groups. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. Results: We found 23 relevant studies (twenty RCTs and three observational studies) after screening 1882 hits. Meta-analysis of 16 RCTs showed that ICS use significantly reduced growth velocity at one year follow-up (mean difference -0.48 cm/year (95% CI -0.66 to -0.29)). There was evidence of a dose-response effect in three RCTs. Final adult height showed a mean reduction of -1.20 cm (95% CI -1.90 cm to -0.50 cm) with budesonide versus placebo in a high quality RCT. Meta-analysis of two lower quality observational studies revealed uncertainty in the association between ICS use and final adult height, pooled mean difference -0.85 cm (95% CI -3.35 to 1.65). Conclusion: Use of ICS for >12 months in children with asthma has a limited impact on annual growth velocity. In ICS users, there is a slight reduction of about a centimeter in final adult height, which when interpreted in the context of average adult height in England (175 cm for men and 161 cm for women), represents a 0.7% reduction compared to non-ICS users

Prospective study of 5-day challenge with penicillins in children

Objectives: To examine if a 5-day challenge with penicillin improves the diagnostic sensitivity compared with a single full dose in children with mild skin reactions.Design: Subjects referred with suspected allergy to penicillin were consecutively included. Irrespectively of the morphology of the index reaction and the result of specific IgE, all subjects underwent a two-step titrated drug provocation test (DPT) with the culprit drug followed by a 5-day challenge at home.Participants: Children and adolescents aged 0-18 years referred to allergic workup for penicillin hypersensitivity at two paediatric Danish centres. Only subjects with non-severe skin reactions were included.Results: A total of 305 subjects were included and 22 (7%) of the DPTs were positive. Three subjects reacted within 1 hour of the first full dose and nine reacted 1-8 hours after the first full dose. Additional 10 positive reactions were observed during the prolonged provocation. Seven subjects reacted after the second full dose and three reacted after 3-6 days. Only mild skin rashes were observed. Eighteen subjects had a specific IgE to a penicillin &gt;0.1 kU/L. Only one of these had a positive DPT.Conclusion: In children, a DPT with penicillins should include at least two full doses. In children with mild hypersensitivity reactions it may be safe to perform DPTs despite a low specific IgE.Trial registration number: NCT04331522.</p

Tn5 synaptic complex formation : role of transposase residue W450

Author Posting. © American Society for Microbiology, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Society for Microbiology for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Bacteriology 190 (2008): 1484-1487, doi:10.1128/JB.01488-07.A series of Tn5 transposases (Tnp's) with mutations at the conserved amino acid position W450, which was structurally predicted to be important for synapsis, have been generated and characterized. This study demonstrates that W450 is involved in hydrophobic (and possibly aromatic) contacts within the Tnp monomer that negatively regulate synaptic complex formation.This work was supported by the NIH (grant no. GM50693) and the University of Wisconsin—Madison (grant no. WIS04792) and through the Evelyn Mercer Professorship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Difficult-to-Treat or Resistant Hypertension: Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Innovative Therapies

Despite the many therapeutic options available today for the treatment of hypertension, a sizable number of patients still remain resistant to treatment. The prevalence of resistant hypertension in the general population under optimal conditions is about 3–5%. Although several factors and conditions can be identified and corrected a percentage of hypertensive patients remain with unacceptably high blood pressure levels. The high prevalence of hypertension in the general population renders this small percentage significant, in terms of actual patient numbers. This special issue of the journal expoars a whole spectrum of topics related to resistant hypertension: several articles address pathophysiolog and secondary causes of resistant hypertension and modern approaches to therapy. Of interest is the referance to the newer interventional approaches, that is, Baroreceptor stimulation therapy and catheter based sympathetic renal denervation

Phosphate coordination and movement of DNA in the Tn5 synaptic complex: role of the (R)YREK motif

Bacterial DNA transposition is an important model system for studying DNA recombination events such as HIV-1 DNA integration and RAG-1-mediated V(D)J recombination. This communication focuses on the role of protein–phosphate contacts in manipulating DNA structure as a requirement for transposition catalysis. In particular, the participation of the nontransferred strand (NTS) 5′ phosphate in Tn5 transposition strand transfer is analyzed. The 5′ phosphate plays no direct catalytic role, nonetheless its presence stimulates strand transfer ∼30-fold. X-ray crystallography indicates that transposase–DNA complexes formed with NTS 5′ phosphorylated DNA have two properties that contrast with structures formed with complexes lacking the 5′ phosphate or complexes generated from in-crystal hairpin cleavage. Transposase residues R210, Y319 and R322 of the (R)YREK motif coordinate the 5′ phosphate rather than the subterminal NTS phosphate, and the 5′ NTS end is moved away from the 3′ transferred strand end. Mutation R210A impairs the 5′ phosphate stimulation. It is posited that DNA phosphate coordination by R210, Y319 and R322 results in movement of the 5′ NTS DNA away from the 3′-end thus allowing efficient target DNA binding. It is likely that this role for the newly identified RYR triad is utilized by other transposase-related proteins

Prevalence of allergic sensitization with vernal keratoconjunctivitis:A systematic review with meta-analyses

To determine the prevalence of allergic sensitization in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) and to provide an overview of published studies on this topic. We systematically searched 11 literature databases on 24 May 2021, for studies with cross-sectional data on the prevalence of positive allergy tests in patients with VKC. Our main outcome of interest was the prevalence of allergic sensitization and the allergens involved. Prevalence meta-analyses were made to provide summary estimates. We identified 33 eligible studies for qualitative review with 2122 patients with VKC. Studies were predominantly based on patients seen in ophthalmology clinics. Overall, studies reported that the most prevalent positive allergen tests were the inhaled allergens house dust mites and pollen. Twenty-nine studies were eligible for the quantitative analysis. Here, we calculated the prevalence of allergen-positive patients to 57.7% (95% confidence interval: 52.5%–62.8%). Subgroup analyses of pooled estimates on sensitization based on specific testing methods found prevalence estimates of 51.4% for conjunctival provocation test, 68.7% for total tear IgE, 58.9% for specific tear IgE, and 58.2% for skin prick test. The prevalence of allergic sensitization in patients with VKC is 57.7%, and mostly towards inhaled allergens. The most frequent positive allergens are house dust mites and pollen. Identifying possible clinically relevant allergens provide information that may aid in managing VKC, such as environmental allergy-avoidance or allergy-specific treatment.</p