Application of echogenic technology for catheters used in ultrasound-guided continuous peripheral nerve blocks.

Limited data exist regarding the echogenicity of perineural catheters, but visualization is crucial to ensure accurate placement and efficacy of the subsequent local anesthetic infusion. The objective of this study was to determine the comparative echogenicity of various regional anesthesia catheters. In an in vitro porcine-bovine model, we compared the echogenic qualities of 3 commercially available regional anesthesia catheters and 1 catheter under development to optimize echogenicity.

Fatigue is associated with poor sleep in people with multiple sclerosis and cognitive impairment.

Background. Fatigue is the most common symptom in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Poor sleep also occurs in this population.

Treatment selection and experience in multiple sclerosis: survey of neurologists.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex disease with many therapeutic options. Little is known about how neurologists select particular disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for their patients.

Objective: To understand how neurologists make decisions regarding the prescription of DMTs for patients with MS, and to explore neurologists' experiences with individual DMTs.

Impact of low testosterone on response to treatment with tadalafil 5 mg once daily for erectile dysfunction.

Objective: To evaluate, posthoc, the relationship between serum total testosterone and response to therapy in a study of tadalafil once daily for erectile dysfunction (ED).

Methods: Men were aged ≥18 years, with ≥3-month history of ED and partial prior response to on-demand (PRN) phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5I) therapy. A 4-week maximum-dose PRN PDE5I run-in was followed by a 4-week nondrug washout period, then randomization to tadalafil 2.

Epidemiology of fragile X syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Prevalence estimates for fragile X syndrome vary considerably. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to provide an accurate prevalence estimate for this disorder using primary publications in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane library. Data were pooled using Bayesian fixed-effects and random-effects models.

Unresectable solitary hepatocellular carcinoma not amenable to radiofrequency ablation: multicenter radiology-pathology correlation and survival of radiation segmentectomy.

Unlabelled: Resection and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are treatment options for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) <3 cm; there is interest in expanding the role of ablation to 3-5 cm. RFA is considered high-risk when the lesion is in close proximity to critical structures. Combining microcatheter technology and the localized emission properties of Y90, highly selective radioembolization is a possible alternative to RFA in such cases.

The multidisciplinary management of giant cell tumor of bone.

Giant cell tumor of bone is a locally aggressive lesion with a predilection for local recurrence, and in a small proportion of patients, metastatic disease can develop. Surgery is the mainstay of management for extremity-based lesions. For tumors located in challenging anatomical locations such as the sacrum and spine however, surgery may be associated with unacceptable functional morbidity.

Portal vein embolization before right hepatectomy or extended right hepatectomy using sodium tetradecyl sulfate foam: technique and initial results.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of portal vein embolization (PVE) with sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS) foam.

Materials And Methods: A single-center retrospective review of 35 patients (27 men and 8 women; mean age, 61 y) who underwent PVE with STS foam was performed. The technical success rate, rate of PVE at producing adequate future liver remnant (FLR) hypertrophy, and rate of disease progression precluding resection after PVE were analyzed.

The Notch pathway is important in maintaining the cancer stem cell population in pancreatic cancer.

Background: Pancreatic cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a small subpopulation of pancreatic cancer cells that have the capacity to initiate and propagate tumor formation. However, the mechanisms by which pancreatic CSCs are maintained are not well understood or characterized.

Methods: Expression of Notch receptors, ligands, and Notch signaling target genes was quantitated in the CSC and non-CSC populations from 8 primary human pancreatic xenografts.

MicroRNA-484 is more highly expressed in serum of early breast cancer patients compared to healthy volunteers.

Background: Previous studies have profiled breast cancer compared to normal breast tissue and identified differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs). These miRNAs are then assessed in serum of breast cancer patients compared to healthy volunteers. MiRNAs in serum however do not always reflect what is in tissue and important serum miRNAs may be missed.

Anabolic steroid-induced hypogonadism: diagnosis and treatment.

Objective: To develop an understanding of hypogonadal men with a history of anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use and to outline recommendations for management.

Design: Review of published literature and expert opinions. Intended as a meta-analysis, but no quality studies met the inclusion criteria.

A randomized controlled trial assessing the effect of prescribed patient position changes during colonoscope withdrawal on adenoma detection.

Background: High-quality colonoscope withdrawal technique is associated with a higher adenoma detection rate. Position change is routinely used in barium enema and CT colonography to facilitate adequate distension of the colon and promote movement of fluid from the segment of the colon being assessed.

Objective: To determine whether prescribed position changes during colonoscope withdrawal affect the adenoma detection rate compared with the usual care per endoscopist.

Percutaneous microwave ablation of renal tumors using a gas-cooled 2.4-GHz probe: technique and initial results.

The feasibility, safety, and preliminary effectiveness of microwave ablation (MWA) in the treatment of renal tumors using a high-powered, carbon dioxide-cooled probe were evaluated. There were 15 tumors treated in 14 patients. Computed tomography was performed immediately after MWA, and follow-up imaging was performed to evaluate for recurrence.

Uterine artery embolization using a transradial approach: initial experience and technique.

This study investigates the feasibility of performing uterine artery embolization (UAE) via transradial access (TRA). Growing evidence demonstrates significant benefits of TRA versus standard transfemoral access during percutaneous coronary intervention, now making it the preferred approach at many centers worldwide. At a single institution from March 2013 to October 2013, 29 consecutive patients were treated by transradial UAE.

The laboratory diagnosis of testosterone deficiency.

The evaluation and treatment of hypogonadal men has become an important part of urologic practice. Fatigue, loss of libido, and erectile dysfunction are commonly reported, but nonspecific symptoms and laboratory verification of low testosterone (T) are an important part of evaluation in addition to a detailed history and physical examination. Significant intraindividual fluctuations in serum T levels, biologic variation of T action on end organs, the wide range of T levels in human serum samples, and technical limitations of currently available assays have led to poor reliability of T measurements in the clinical laboratory setting.

Morphometric age and mortality after liver transplant.

Importance: Morphometric assessment has emerged as a strong predictor of postoperative morbidity and mortality. However, a gap exists in translating this knowledge to bedside decision making. We introduced a novel measure of patient-centered surgical risk assessment: morphometric age.

Prognostic implications of tumoral expression of insulin like growth factors 1 and 2 in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: The currently available systemic therapies for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have limited efficacy. Previous studies indicated an association of elevated insulinlike growth factor (IGF)-1 receptor (IGF-1R) and insulin receptor expression levels with poor survival in patients with NSCLC. To better understand the molecular biomarkers involved in the IGF signaling pathway in NSCLC, the expression levels of IGF-1 and IGF-2 are characterized and evaluated for their association with IGF-1R and phosphorylated IGF-1R (pIGF-1R) expression in NSCLC.

Prediction of survival in resected non-small cell lung cancer using a protein expression-based risk model: implications for personalized chemoprevention and therapy.

Purpose: Patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are at risk for recurrence of disease, but we do not have tools to predict which patients are at highest risk. We set out to create a risk model incorporating both clinical data and biomarkers.

Experimental Design: We assembled a comprehensive database with archival tissues and clinical follow-up from patients with NSCLC resected between 2002 and 2005.

Angled vas cutter for vasovasostomy: technique and results.

Objective: To describe the technique and results of bilateral vasovasostomy using a 3-mm vas cutting forceps angled at 15° (catalog no. NHF-3.15; ASSI) for vasal transection.

A rapid flow cytometry assay for the relative quantification of protein encapsulation into bacterial microcompartments.

Bacterial microcompartments (MCPs) are protein-based organelles that have been suggested as scaffolds for creating in vivo nanobioreactors. One of the key steps towards engineering MCPs is to understand and maximize the encapsulation of enzymes into the lumen of the MCP. However, there are currently no high-throughput methods for investigating protein encapsulation.

Efficient ethanol production from brown macroalgae sugars by a synthetic yeast platform.

The increasing demands placed on natural resources for fuel and food production require that we explore the use of efficient, sustainable feedstocks such as brown macroalgae. The full potential of brown macroalgae as feedstocks for commercial-scale fuel ethanol production, however, requires extensive re-engineering of the alginate and mannitol catabolic pathways in the standard industrial microbe Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we present the discovery of an alginate monomer (4-deoxy-L-erythro-5-hexoseulose uronate, or DEHU) transporter from the alginolytic eukaryote Asteromyces cruciatus.