Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and nonunion of humeral shaft fractures.

Objective: To analyze the relationship between nonunion of humeral shaft fractures and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) exposure in older adults.

Methods: A cohort of 9,995 patients with humeral shaft fractures was identified using diagnosis and procedure codes from a Medicare database of >500,000 patients. Prescription NSAID as well as prescription opioid use was assessed from pharmacy claims data for 3 30-day periods immediately after the initial fracture.

The posterior shearing tibial plateau fracture: treatment and results via a posterior approach.

Objectives: This study was designed to describe the fracture patterns and early results of treatment of posterior shearing tibial plateau fractures.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Setting: Tertiary care hospital.

Evidence-based approaches to minimizing malpractice risk in orthopedic surgery.

The malpractice crisis continues unabated in the United States. However, there are many strategies with foundations in scientific study that physicians can use to reduce their malpractice risk. Studies have shown technical error has little relationship with malpractice claims.

Effect of a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonist on myocardial blood flow in type 2 diabetes.

Objective: The relationship between coronary endothelial function and insulin resistance remains speculative. We sought to determine whether pioglitazone, an insulin-sensitizing peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma agonist, improves cardiac endothelial function in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Sixteen subjects with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes and without overt cardiovascular disease were randomly assigned to receive either 45 mg of pioglitazone or matching placebo for 3 months.

Vestibular cytotoxicity in gentamicin-treated frogs: a preliminary report.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the immediate effects of intraperitoneal doses of gentamicin (GM) which would result in variable degrees of destruction of crista ampullary hair cells of frogs. This information will serve as a baseline guide to cell regeneration experiments on the damaged vestibular sense organ.

Study Design: The American bullfrog was administered daily intraperitoneal doses of 50, 100, 150, and 200 mg/kg of GM for 7 days.

Modulation of cutaneous aging with calorie restriction in Fischer 344 rats: a histological study.

Objective: To examine whether histological changes in skin owing to intrinsic aging in a laboratory rodent model are modulated by caloric restriction (CR).

Methods: The abdominal skin from colony-raised ad libitum-fed Fischer 344 rats and age-matched rats subjected to CR was studied in the light microscope using histological morphometric methods. Animals 4, 12, and 24 months or older were used in this study.

Acute Abdomen in Gynaecological Practice.

Acute abdomen in pregnancy is due to consequence of pregnancy itself or is totally unrelated to pregnancy. During pregnancy, a woman is at an increased risk of acute abdomen due to various physiological changes. The article discusses the various conditions which can present as acute abdomen in women during pregnancy and in non-pregnant state.

Use of adenoviruses encoding CD40L or IL-2 against B cell lymphoma.

Some B cell lymphomas lack important costimulatory properties that could prevent them from being used as cell based vaccines. Infection of A20 B lymphoma cells with a replication-defective adenovirus encoding murine (m) CD40L, but not mIL-2, produces an antigen presentation phenotype with upregulation of MHC Class I/II, induction of B7-1/2 molecules and production of MIL-12 and MIP-1alpha. Subcutaneous vaccination with irradiated Ad-mCD40L-infected- or Ad-mIL-2-infected-A20 cells generated A20-specific CD8+ T cell responses and cross reactive A20 Ig antibodies.

Fibrin tissue adhesive and autologous concha cartilage for reconstruction of the posterior-superior canal wall of the chinchilla middle ear.

Hypothesis: We conducted this study to prove that fibrin tissue adhesive (FTA) is safe, efficacious, biocompatible, and readily biodegradable with no deleterious side effects for fixation of a cartilage graft to bone along the chinchilla canal wall.

Methods: A posterior-superior canal defect was created in 12 chinchillas. The canal walls of six chinchillas were closed with autologous concha cartilage alone, whereas the canal wall of the remaining six animals were closed with cartilage in conjunction with fibrin tissue adhesive.

Adoptive transfer of anti-idiotypic T cells cure mice of disseminated B cell lymphoma.

There is extensive interest in idiotypic vaccination as a treatment of lymphoma. An alternative approach is the adoptive transfer of in vitro generated T cells. This strategy has been used to treat posttransplantation EBV-related diseases.

The medical-legal aspects of compartment syndrome.

Background: Management of compartment syndrome in the modern era involves not only avoiding the sequelae of a missed diagnosis but also minimizing the risk of a malpractice claim. Little information is available on the legal aspects of compartment syndrome.

Methods: Twenty-three years of records on closed malpractice claims involving compartment syndrome were reviewed.

Histomorphologic changes in aging skin: observations in the CBA mouse model.

Background: Aging of human skin is a phenomenon resulting from a combination of chronological aging and environmental stressors such as sunlight.

Objectives: To study the effects of intrinsic aging on the skin in laboratory-raised CBA mice in 3 age groups, and to assess histological alterations as a function of age in this model.

Methods: Skin samples from CBA mice in 3 age groups (young, young adult, and old) were obtained from the dorsal and ventral areas, pinna, and hind foot to study the following variables using light microscopic manual morphometric methods: the depth of the epidermis and number of epidermal cells, depth of the dermis, and percentage area of dermal collagen, elastic fibers, pilosebaceous units, blood vessels, and tissue space.

Synonymous codon usage in Lactococcus lactis: mutational bias versus translational selection.

In this study codon usage bias of all experimentally known genes of Lactococcus lactis has been analyzed. Since Lactococcus lactis is an AT rich organism, it is expected to occur A and/or T at the third position of codons and detailed analysis of overall codon usage data indicates that A and/or T ending codons are predominant in this organism. However, multivariate statistical analyses based both on codon count and on relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) detect a large number of genes, which are supposed to be highly expressed are clustered at one end of the first major axis, while majority of the putatively lowly expressed genes are clustered at the other end of the first major axis.

Histological evaluations following 1,064-nm Nd:YAG laser resurfacing.

Background And Objectives: The long pulse 1,064-nm Nd:YAG laser is used clinically to decrease rhytid formation. The dermal level at which this change occurs has not been established. This study attempts to answer these questions using a porcine skin model.

The validity of claims made in orthopaedic print advertisements.

Purpose: Orthopaedic surgeons are frequently presented with advertisements for orthopaedic and medical products in which companies make claims of clinical and scientific fact. This study was designed to evaluate the statements made in orthopaedic print advertisements and determine whether they are supported by scientific data.

Methods: Fifty statements from fifty advertisements were chosen at random from six peer-reviewed orthopaedic journals.

Trabecular and integral bone density in adults with sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary disorder of hemoglobin synthesis that can affect the skeletal system owing to accelerated hematopoiesis and/or bone infarction. Additionally, several studies have suggested that a low bone mass is associated with SCD, partly because of adverse effects on growth and development. The few previous studies of bone mineral density (BMD) in these patients have utilized dual-photon or dual-energy x-ray absorptiometric (DXA) techniques, which may have limited value in this population because it cannot correct for differences in bone size.

The clinical importance of meniscal tears demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging in osteoarthritis of the knee.

Background: Meniscal tears are frequently found during magnetic resonance imaging of osteoarthritic knees. However, the prevalence and clinical relevance of these tears have not been determined. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between meniscal tears and osteoarthritis and between such tears and pain in patients with osteoarthritis.

Rate of and risk factors for acute inpatient mortality after orthopaedic surgery.

Background: Orthopaedic surgeons operate on a diverse group of patients, and many of these patients have concomitant medical problems. The purpose of this study was to identify the rate of mortality and to evaluate the risk factors associated with mortality after orthopaedic surgery.

Methods: Data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey, a nationwide sample of hospital admissions, were obtained for the years 1995 through 1997.

Immunization with a recombinant adenovirus encoding a lymphoma idiotype: induction of tumor-protective immunity and identification of an idiotype-specific T cell epitope.

The Ig Id of a B cell lymphoma is a tumor-specific Ag, although as a self-Ag it is likely to be a weak immunogen. Provision of a foreign gene may enhance the immunogenicity of the idiotype. Viral vectors allow highly efficient transfer of genetic material and are themselves innately immunogenic.

Compositional correlation and codon usage studies in Buchnera aphidicola.

Compositional distributions in three different codon positions as well as codon usage biases of all available DNA sequences of Buchnera aphidicola genome have been analyzed. It was observed that GC levels among the three codon positions is I>II>III as observed in other extremely high AT rich organisms. B.

Possible approach for serodiagnosis of ascariasis by evaluation of immunoglobulin G4 response using Ascaris lumbricoides somatic antigen.

Somatic antigen of Ascaris lumbricoides was purified to homogeneity (molecular mass, 34 kDa) by ammonium sulfate fractionation and successive chromatographic procedures, namely, gel permeation, ion exchange, and high-performance gel permeation liquid chromatographies. The antigen showed strong binding with immunoglobulin G (IgG) in Ascaris-infested patients and was cross-reactive with IgE and IgG in patients infested with other nematodes. It reacted specifically with IgG4 (P < 0.

Relationship between weather and seasonal factors and trauma admission volume at a Level I trauma center.

Background: We sought to determine whether trauma patient admission volume to our Level I trauma center was correlated with observable weather or seasonal phenomena.

Methods: Trauma registry data and national weather service data for the period between September 1, 1992, and August 31, 1998, were combined into a common data set containing trauma admission data and weather data for each day. Sequential linear regression models were constructed to determine relationships between variables in the data set.