Financial impact of breast reconstruction on an academic surgical practice.

Background: The financial reimbursement for breast reconstruction is perceived to be low. The authors evaluated the financial impact of providing breast reconstruction for an academic medical practice and health care system.

Methods: The authors examined the billing records for 97 patients undergoing postmastectomy breast reconstruction in 2006 at the University of Michigan.

Financial impact of emergency hand trauma on the health care system.

Background: The US has a crisis of insufficient emergency coverage for hand trauma. One of the problems is the perceived financial loss associated with caring for this population. We evaluated the financial impact of treating emergency hand trauma patients on an academic medical practice and health care system.

Conjugated linoleic acids modulate UVR-induced IL-8 and PGE2 in human skin cells: potential of CLA isomers in nutritional photoprotection.

Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), derivatives of linoleic acid found in food products, inhibit chemically induced skin cancers in mice. However, their potential photoprotective properties remain unexplored. We examined whether CLA may modulate ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced secretion of interleukin (IL)-8 and prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)), mediators implicated in UVR-induced inflammation and carcinogenesis, in human skin cells.

Financial impact of hand surgery programs on academic medical centers.

Background: This study analyzes the financial performance of hand surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan. This analysis can serve as a reference for other medical centers in the financial evaluation of a hand surgery program.

Methods: Fiscal year 2004 billing records for all patients (n = 671) who underwent hand surgery procedures were examined.

Eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid reduce UVB- and TNF-alpha-induced IL-8 secretion in keratinocytes and UVB-induced IL-8 in fibroblasts.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) inhibit ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced inflammation and other inflammatory states, in vivo. We examined whether this may be mediated by modulation of interleukin (IL)-8, a chemokine pivotal to skin inflammation induced by UVB, in epidermal and dermal cells. We also explored the ability of n-3 PUFA to protect against tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha induction of IL-8, and assessed relative potencies of the principal dietary n-3 PUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Requirements for distinct steps of phospholipase Cgamma2 regulation, membrane-raft-dependent targeting and subsequent enzyme activation in B-cell signalling.

Studies of PLCgamma (phospholipase Cgamma) have identified a number of regulatory components required for signalling; however, molecular mechanisms and the relationship between events leading to translocation and an increase of substrate hydrolysis have not been well defined. The addition of a membrane-targeting tag to many signal transducers results in constitutive activation, suggesting that these processes could be closely linked and difficult to dissect. The present study of PLCgamma2 regulation by cross-linking of the BCR (B-cell antigen receptor) or H2O2 stress in DT40 B-cells, demonstrated that the membrane targeting is a separate step from further changes that result in enzyme activation and substrate hydrolysis.