Results: Four hundred sixty-nine RCTs proved eligible: 219 in higher and 250 in lower impact journals. RCTs in higher vs. lower impact journals had larger sample sizes (median, 285 vs. 39), were more likely to receive industry funding

(53% vs. 28%), declare concealment of allocation (66% vs. 36%), declare blinding of health care providers (53% vs. 41%) and outcome adjudicators (72% vs. 54%), report a patient-important primary outcome (69% vs. 50%), report subgroup analyses (64% vs. 26%), prespecify subgroup hypotheses (42% vs. 20%), and report a test for interaction AZD8931 manufacturer (54% vs. 27%); P < 0.05 for all differences.

Conclusion: RCTs published in higher impact journals were more likely to report methodological Ricolinostat safeguards against bias and patient-important outcomes than those published in lower impact journals. However, sufficient limitations remain such that publication in a higher impact journal does not ensure low risk of bias. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“A chest roentgenogram of a 75-year-old immunocompetent woman showed disseminated micronodular densities in bilateral lung fields. Subsequent high-resolution computed tomography (CT) confirmed centrilobular micronodular densities associated with bronchial wall thickening and bronchiectatic changes. CT imaging also revealed volume loss with bronchiectatic changes in both the right middle lobe and the left lingular segment. Cytology specimens

were then obtained through bronchial brushing and washes. Smears from right B2 and B4 revealed filamentous gram-positive, branched bacteria embedded among many neutrophils. Nocardia transvalensis was cultured from the bronchial wash, and no mycobacteria

were identified. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a Nocardia transvalensis selleck compound pulmonary infection in an immunocompetent patient, and also the first detailed description of a Nocardia transvalensis pulmonary infection in Japan. Moreover, the radiographic and CT findings in this patient were quite similar to those seen in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infections, a pattern not previously reported in patients with Nocardia pulmonary infections.”
“The lignocellulosic biomass of plant cell wall is a source of sugar that can be used for second generation of bioethanol. The technology used for converting the fermentable sugar in the cell wall into bioethanol involves a pretreatment step that helps to decrease the recalcitrance of biomass to deconstruction. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), due to its ability to generate high resolution images with negligible sample preparation, is a powerful tool for studying biological samples on a nanometer scale. In this work, we elucidated the microfibrillar arrangement of the sugarcane cell wall and analyzed the effect of a thermochemical pretreatment at the nanoscale level using AFM images. Initially, we isolated the sugarcane cell wall to improve the AFM analysis.