Cardiotoxic Effects of Snake Venom in Anesthetized Wistar Rats.

Ophidism is a public health problem in tropical countries, occurring predominantly in rural areas. In Colombia, among the species responsible for snakebite envenomation, inflicting high mortality, is the Chocoan bushmaster, , better known locally by the names " (warty)" and " (rot-causing)". In this research, the cardiotoxic effect of the venom of in male Wistar rats weighing 230 ± 20 g was evaluated.

The role of the deep cervical extensor muscles in multi-directional isometric neck strength.

Clinical management of whiplash-associated disorders is challenging and often unsuccessful, with over a third of whiplash injuries progressing to chronic neck pain. Previous imaging studies have identified muscle fat infiltration, indicative of muscle weakness, in the deep cervical extensor muscles (multifidus and semispinalis cervicis). Yet, kinematic and muscle redundancy prevent the direct assessment of individual neck muscle strength, making it difficult to determine the role of these muscles in motor dysfunction.

Dysfunctional latent transforming growth factor β activation after corneal injury in a classical Ehlers-Danlos model.

Patients with classical Ehlers Danlos syndrome (cEDS) suffer impaired wound healing and from scars formed after injuries that are atrophic and difficult to close surgically. Haploinsufficiency in COL5A1 creates systemic morphological and functional alterations in the entire body. We investigated mechanisms that impair wound healing from corneal lacerations (full thickness injuries) in a mouse model of cEDS (Col5a1).

Cutaneous Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection masquerading as sarcoidosis.

Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAC) infection may have different skin manifestations, including cutaneous granulomas. Granulomatous skin reactions have distinct morphologic and histopathologic appearances. We present the case of an adolescent male with cutaneous MAC, misdiagnosed as sarcoidosis after initial biopsy results, demonstrated preservation of reticulin fibers and absence of organisms within granulomas.

The relationship between positive and negative stress and posttraumatic growth in university students: the mediating role of resilience.

Background: Information on understanding the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between posttraumatic growth (PTG) and positive and negative stress among students is limited. The objective of this research was to evaluate the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between positive and negative stress and PTG in university students.

Methods: The research was carried out using an associative strategy with an empirical approach and explanatory design, with a sample of 507 participants whose average age was 22.

Keratocyte-Derived Myofibroblasts: Functional Differences With Their Fibroblast Precursors.

Purpose: In this study, we aim to elucidate functional differences between fibroblasts and myofibroblasts derived from a keratocyte lineage to better understand corneal scarring.

Methods: Corneal fibroblasts, derived from a novel triple transgenic conditional KeraRT/tetO-Cre/mTmG mouse strain that allows isolation and tracking of keratocyte lineage, were expanded, and transformed by exposure to transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 to myofibroblasts. The composition and organization of a fibroblast-built matrix, deposited by fibroblasts in vitro, was analyzed and compared to the composition of an in vitro matrix built by myofibroblasts.

Stromal matrix directs corneal fibroblasts to re-express keratocan after injury and transplantation.

Every tissue has an extracellular matrix (ECM) with certain properties unique to it - the tissue 'niche' - that are necessary for normal function. A distinct specific population of quiescent keratocan-expressing keratocytes populate the corneal stroma during homeostasis to maintain corneal function. However, during wound healing, when there is alteration of the niche conditions, keratocytes undergo apoptosis, and activated corneal fibroblasts and myofibroblasts attempt to restore tissue integrity and function.

A Method for Quantification of Stretch Reflex Excitability During Ballistic Reaching.

Stretch reflexes are crucial for performing accurate movements and providing rapid corrections for unpredictable perturbations. Stretch reflexes are modulated by supraspinal structures via corticofugal pathways. Neural activity in these structures is difficult to observe directly, but the characterization of reflex excitability during volitional movement can be used to study how these structures modulate reflexes and how neurological injuries impact this control, such as in spasticity after stroke.

Efficacy and Safety of Ciprofloxacin Plus Fluocinolone Acetonide Among Patients With Acute Otitis Externa: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Ciprofloxacin, 0.3%, plus fluocinolone acetonide, 0.025%, otic solution seems to be efficacious and safe in treating acute otitis externa (AOE) compared with ciprofloxacin, 0.

A Growth-Based, High-Throughput Selection Platform Enables Remodeling of 4-Hydroxybenzoate Hydroxylase Active Site.

We report an aerobic, growth-based selection platform founded on NADP(H) redox balance restoration in , and we demonstrate its application in the high-throughput evolution of an oxygenase. A single round of selection followed by a facile growth assay enabled 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase (PobA) to efficiently hydroxylate both 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA) and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-DHBA), two consecutive steps in gallic acid biosynthesis. Structural modeling suggests precise reorganization of active site hydrogen bond network, which is difficult to obtain without deep navigation of combinatorial sequence space.

A Method for Quantifying Trunk Motor Control During Reaching in Individuals Post Hemiparetic Stroke.

After a hemiparetic stroke, the contralesional upper limb is left with significant motor impairments including: weakness, spasticity, and abnormal joint torque patterns resulting in the flexion synergy (i.e. abnormal coupling between shoulder abduction and elbow/wrist and finger flexion).

In Vivo, High-Throughput Selection of Thermostable Cyclohexanone Monooxygenase (CHMO).

Cyclohexanone monooxygenase (CHMO) from sp. NCIMB 9871 is characterized as having wide substrate versatility for the biooxidation of (cyclic) ketones into esters and lactones with high stereospecificity. Despite industrial potential, CHMO usage is restricted by poor thermostability.

Ergodicity Reveals Assistance and Learning from Physical Human-Robot Interaction.

This paper applies information theoretic principles to the investigation of physical human-robot interaction. Drawing from the study of human perception and neural encoding, information theoretic approaches offer a perspective that enables quantitatively interpreting the body as an information channel, and bodily motion as an information-carrying signal. We show that ergodicity, which can be interpreted as the degree to which a trajectory encodes information about a task, correctly predicts changes due to reduction of a person's existing deficit or the addition of algorithmic assistance.

Otomyiasis: Systematic Review.

 Myiasis is a disease caused by fly larvae that grow in the tissues of animals and humans. It can cause a variety of local symptoms, like erythema or pain, depending on its location, and generalized symptomatology, such as fever and malaise. Myiasis can generate severe complications, for instance sepsis, or directly impact vital tissues.

Performance of questionnaires aimed at detecting sleep disorders in patients attending a hypertension center.

: Hypertension (HT) and obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSA) are prevalent and frequently related pathologies. The predictive value of screening questionnaires in cardiovascular settings is not totally clear and could be useful to select candidates for the sleep test. : We performed a prospective study in adults with suspected HT referred to a day-care hospital.

Estimating Voluntary Activation Of The Elbow And Wrist Muscles In Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke Using Twitch Interpolation Methodology.

One of the cardinal motor deficits that occurs after stroke is paresis, a decrease in the voluntary activation of muscles. Paresis leads to a decrease in voluntary joint strength, impacting stroke survivors' ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). Quantifying this decrease in voluntary activation is important when designing rehabilitation interventions to address movement impairments and restore the ability to perform ADLs.

Primary cutaneous lymphoma in Argentina: a report of a nationwide study of 416 patients.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency of primary cutaneous lymphoma (PCL) in Argentina according to the new World Health Organization (WHO)-European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) classification system.

Methods: A total of 416 patients from 21 dermatology services were included during a 5-year period (2010-2015); these patients were classified using WHO-EORTC criteria.

Results: There were 231 (55.

Neural Constraints Affect the Ability to Generate Hip Abduction Torques When Combined With Hip Extension or Ankle Plantarflexion in Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke.

Stroke lesions interrupt descending corticofugal fibers that provide the volitional control of the upper and lower extremities. Despite the evident manifestation of movement impairments post-stroke during standing and gait, neural constraints in the ability to generate joint torque combinations in the lower extremities are not yet well determined. Twelve chronic hemiparetic participants and 8 age-matched control individuals participated in the present study.

Lower Extremity Motor Impairments in Ambulatory Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke: Evidence for Lower Extremity Weakness and Abnormal Muscle and Joint Torque Coupling Patterns.

Although global movement abnormalities in the lower extremity poststroke have been studied, the expression of specific motor impairments such as weakness and abnormal muscle and joint torque coupling patterns have received less attention. We characterized changes in strength, muscle coactivation and associated joint torque couples in the paretic and nonparetic extremity of 15 participants with chronic poststroke hemiparesis (age 59.6 ± 15.

Preventive letter: doubling the return rate after gestational diabetes mellitus.

To measure the impact of a "Preventive Letter" designed to encourage the return of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) mothers to follow up visit after delivery, in the context of a worldwide concern about low return rates after delivery of these patients. Mothers with GDM require medical evaluation and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) 6 weeks after delivery, in order to: [a] confirm remission of GDM and [b] provide advice on the prevention of type 2 diabetes. In the year 2003 we developed a "Preventive Letter", containing three aspects: [a] current treatment, [b] suggested management during labor, and [c] a stapled laboratory order for OGTT to be performed 6 weeks after delivery.

A Multiple Degree of Freedom Lower Extremity Isometric Device to Simultaneously Quantify Hip, Knee, and Ankle Torques.

Characterization of the joint torque coupling strategies used in the lower extremity to generate maximal and submaximal levels of torque at either the hip, knee, or ankle is lacking. Currently, there are no available isometric devices that quantify all concurrent joint torques in the hip, knee, and ankle of a single leg during maximum voluntary torque generation. Thus, joint-torque coupling strategies in the hip, knee, and concurrent torques at ankle and/or coupling patterns at the hip and knee driven by the ankle have yet to be quantified.

Maternal hypertriglyceridemia: A link between maternal overweight-obesity and macrosomia in gestational diabetes.

Objective: Infants born from overweight and obese mothers with glucose-controlled gestational diabetes (GDM) tend to be large-for-gestational age (LGA). It is hypothesized that this is due to an excessive rise in maternal triglyceride levels.

Methods: Two-hundred and seventy nine singleton GDM pregnancies were divided into three groups according to prepregnancy BMI: normal weight (BMI = 20-24.