Disaster preparedness: emergency planning in the NICU.

Hospital emergency management has evolved beyond satisfying regulatory requirements. Although tools and resources have been developed to support hospitals in emergency planning, there appears to be a scarcity of resources to guide hospital departments. To ensure that standards of care are maintained and to minimize the impact on the hospital and/ or a nursing unit, Good Samaritan Hospital has developed a mobile emergency system and an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) template to assist other nursing units in their planning efforts.

Age-related neuronal degeneration: complementary roles of nucleotide excision repair and transcription-coupled repair in preventing neuropathology.

Neuronal degeneration is a hallmark of many DNA repair syndromes. Yet, how DNA damage causes neuronal degeneration and whether defects in different repair systems affect the brain differently is largely unknown. Here, we performed a systematic detailed analysis of neurodegenerative changes in mouse models deficient in nucleotide excision repair (NER) and transcription-coupled repair (TCR), two partially overlapping DNA repair systems that remove helix-distorting and transcription-blocking lesions, respectively, and that are associated with the UV-sensitive syndromes xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) and Cockayne syndrome (CS).

Bone fragility and decline in stem cells in prematurely aging DNA repair deficient trichothiodystrophy mice.

Trichothiodystrophy (TTD) is a rare, autosomal recessive nucleotide excision repair (NER) disorder caused by mutations in components of the dual functional NER/basal transcription factor TFIIH. TTD mice, carrying a patient-based point mutation in the Xpd gene, strikingly resemble many features of the human syndrome and exhibit signs of premature aging. To examine to which extent TTD mice resemble the normal process of aging, we thoroughly investigated the bone phenotype.

EGCG downregulates IL-1RI expression and suppresses IL-1-induced tumorigenic factors in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells.

Human pancreatic cancer is currently one of the fifth-leading causes of cancer-related mortality with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. Since pancreatic carcinoma is largely refractory to conventional therapies, there is a strong medical need for the development of novel and innovative therapeutic strategies. Increasing evidence suggests an association of carcinogenesis and chronic inflammation.

Life-history evolution on tropidurinae lizards: influence of lineage, body size and climate.

The study of life history variation is central to the evolutionary theory. In many ectothermic lineages, including lizards, life history traits are plastic and relate to several sources of variation including body size, which is both a factor and a life history trait likely to modulate reproductive parameters. Larger species within a lineage, for example tend to be more fecund and have larger clutch size, but clutch size may also be influenced by climate, independently of body size.

The pulpal anesthetic efficacy of articaine versus lidocaine in dentistry: a meta-analysis.

Background: The authors evaluated published evidence from controlled clinical trials regarding the efficacy of two local anesthetic solutions in providing successful pulpal anesthesia.

Methods: The authors searched MEDLINE and Embase databases to identify peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials in which researchers directly compared articaine and lidocaine local anesthetic solutions in adult participants. They extracted study characteristics and outcomes data as a basis for meta-analysis.

Field olfactometry assessment of dairy manure land application methods.

Surface application of manure in reduced tillage systems generates nuisance odors, but their management is hindered by a lack of standardized field quantification methods. An investigation was undertaken to evaluate odor emissions associated with various technologies that incorporate manure with minimal soil disturbance. Dairy manure slurry was applied by five methods in a 3.

The frontotemporal dementia mutation R406W blocks tau's interaction with the membrane in an annexin A2-dependent manner.

Changes of the microtubule-associated protein tau are central in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia with Parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17). However, the functional consequence of the FTDP-17 tau mutation R406W, which causes a tauopathy clinically resembling AD, is not well understood. We find that the R406W mutation does not affect microtubule interaction but abolishes tau's membrane binding.

PG545, a dual heparanase and angiogenesis inhibitor, induces potent anti-tumour and anti-metastatic efficacy in preclinical models.

Background: PG545 is a heparan sulfate (HS) mimetic that inhibits tumour angiogenesis by sequestering angiogenic growth factors in the extracellular matrix (ECM), thus limiting subsequent binding to receptors. Importantly, PG545 also inhibits heparanase, the only endoglycosidase which cleaves HS chains in the ECM. The aim of the study was to assess PG545 in various solid tumour and metastasis models.

The Rab GTPase Ypt7 is linked to retromer-mediated receptor recycling and fusion at the yeast late endosome.

Organelles of the endomembrane system need to counterbalance fission and fusion events to maintain their surface-to-volume ratio. At the late mammalian endosome, the Rab GTPase Rab7 is a major regulator of fusion, whereas the homologous yeast protein Ypt7 seems to be restricted to the vacuole surface. Here, we present evidence that Ypt7 is recruited to and acts on late endosomes, where it affects multiple trafficking reactions.

Evaluation of the mTOR inhibitor, everolimus, in combination with cytotoxic antitumor agents using human tumor models in vitro and in vivo.

The aim was to determine the potential of the allosteric mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor, everolimus, to act in combination with cytotoxic anticancer compounds in vitro and in vivo. A concomitant combination in vitro showed no evidence of antagonism, but enhanced the antiproliferative effects (additive to synergistic) with cisplatin, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine, paclitaxel, and patupilone. Everolimus (1-5 mg/kg/d orally) was evaluated for antitumor activity in vivo alone or in combination with suboptimal cytotoxic doses using athymic nude mice bearing subcutaneous human H-596 lung, KB-31 cervical, or HCT-116 colon tumor xenografts.

Developing a fixture level cast for implants with interfering axial convergence.

This article presents a novel technique for developing a master cast for two implants which are clinically placed convergent and very close to each other. The technique consists of making an implant level impression using a transfer coping for the posterior implant. Then fabricate a positional index intraorally, which contains a registration of the second transfer coping, the healing abutment reattached from the transfer in the impression and the adjacent teeth.

Live cell imaging of cytoskeletal dynamics in neurons using fluorescence photoactivation.

Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders share some common features at the cellular level, which are often associated with a change in cytoskeletal dynamics. Live cell imaging has been applied to study various aspects of cell physiology including cytoskeletal dynamics. Recently, fluorescence photoactivation (FPA) has been developed as a novel approach to analyze protein dynamics in living cells with high sensitivity.

Changes in microtubule turnover accompany synaptic plasticity and memory formation in response to contextual fear conditioning in mice.

Synaptic plasticity plays a crucial role in learning, memory, and cognitive disorders. Cytoskeletal reorganization underlies neuronal synaptic plasticity, but little is known about the regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics in living animals. We used stable isotope labeling to measure the turnover of tubulin in defined microtubule (MT) populations in murine brain.

R428, a selective small molecule inhibitor of Axl kinase, blocks tumor spread and prolongs survival in models of metastatic breast cancer.

Accumulating evidence suggests important roles for the receptor tyrosine kinase Axl in cancer progression, invasion, metastasis, drug resistance, and patient mortality, highlighting Axl as an attractive target for therapeutic development. We have generated and characterized a potent and selective small-molecule inhibitor, R428, that blocks the catalytic and procancerous activities of Axl. R428 inhibits Axl with low nanomolar activity and blocked Axl-dependent events, including Akt phosphorylation, breast cancer cell invasion, and proinflammatory cytokine production.

Divergent pathways mediate spine alterations and cell death induced by amyloid-beta, wild-type tau, and R406W tau.

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by synaptic alterations and neurodegeneration. Histopathological hallmarks represent amyloid plaques composed of amyloid-beta (Abeta) and neurofibrillary tangles containing hyperphosphorylated tau. To determine whether synaptic changes and neurodegeneration share common pathways, we established an ex vivo model using organotypic hippocampal slice cultures from amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice combined with virus-mediated expression of EGFP-tagged tau constructs.

Microtubule binding and trapping at the tip of neurites regulate tau motion in living neurons.

During the development of neurons, the microtubule-associated tau proteins show a graded proximo-distal distribution in axons. In tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease, tau accumulates in the somatodendritic compartment. To scrutinize the determinants of tau's distribution and motion, we constructed photoactivatable green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged tau fusion proteins and recorded their distribution after focal activation in living cells.

Altered phosphorylation but no neurodegeneration in a mouse model of tau hyperphosphorylation.

The role of hyperphosphorylation of tau in Alzheimer's disease is still unsolved. Here we describe a novel transgenic mouse model, expressing a pseudohyperphosphorylated (PHP) variant of the longest human CNS tau isoform in forebrain neurons. We report that pseudohyperphosphorylation decreases phosphorylation at T205 while other sites (T212, S262) are less or not affected compared to mice expressing wildtype tau.

Live-cell imaging in the study of neurodegeneration.

The development of vital fluorescent synthetic dyes and the generation of a myriad of genetically encoded fluorescent proteins permit sensitive visualization of a broad range of dynamic features in living cells with fluorescence microscopy. Many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (CJD), Huntington's disease (HD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and Parkinson's disease (PD) share common aspects on a cellular level that are associated with a change in the dynamic behavior of the whole cell, cell compartments, or single proteins. These include disturbances of transport mechanisms or protein turnover, missorting and aggregation of proteins, and changes in the structural plasticity of neurons.

Putting mental health on the agenda for HIV+ women: a review of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa.

This article reviews the scientific literature regarding mental health services for poor HIV-infected women in sub-Saharan Africa and argues that they should constitute part of the healthcare agenda for these women. Key evidence points to the growing feminization of the HIV epidemic, as well as the differential social and economic impact of HIV on women. Further, HIV and poverty, both disproportionately affecting women, contribute independently and cumulatively to the risk for poor mental health.

Thin, stubby or mushroom: spine pathology in Alzheimer's disease.

Since their first description by Ramon y Cajal at the end of the 19th century, dendritic spines have been proposed as important sites of neuronal contacts and it has been suggested that changes in the activity of neurons directly affect spine morphology. In fact, since then it has been shown that about 90% of excitatory synapses end on spines. Recent data indicate that spines are highly dynamic structures and that spine shape correlates with the strength of synaptic transmission.

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase and prostaglandin H2 synthase 2 are up-regulated in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells after stimulation with interleukin-1.

Human pancreatic cancer is today an almost incurable disease with a 5-year survival rate of <5%. Chronic inflammation in the tumor region is often associated with cancer progression. In pancreatic tumors, the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1 has been found to affect the development of chemoresistance in this cancer type.