Hydrogel-based 3D bioprints repair rat small intestine injuries and integrate into native intestinal tissue.

3D Printing has become a mainstay of industry, with several applications in the medical field. One area that could benefit from 3D printing is intestinal failure due to injury or genetic malformations. We bioprinted cylindrical tubes from rat vascular cells that were sized to form biopatches.

Overutilization of Cross-Sectional Imaging in the Lower Extremity Trauma Setting.

 In an era of managed care and cost savings, we are faced with the question of whether another test is necessary to confirm our clinical suspicion. We hypothesized that a few computed tomography angiographies (CTAs) are necessary to identify lower extremity vascular injuries (LEVIs). We reviewed our trauma center's experience in the management of LEVI.

Rothman Index variability predicts clinical deterioration and rapid response activation.

Background: The overall utility of the Rothman Index (RI), a global measure of inpatient acuity, for surgical patients is unclear. We evaluate whether RI variability can predict rapid response team (RRT) activation in surgical patients.

Methods: Surgical patients who underwent RRT activation from 2013 to 2015 were matched to four control cases.

Three-dimensional Printing in the Intestine.

Intestinal transplantation remains a life-saving option for patients with severe intestinal failure. With the advent of advanced tissue engineering techniques, great strides have been made toward manufacturing replacement tissues and organs, including the intestine, which aim to avoid transplant-related complications. The current paradigm is to seed a biocompatible support material (scaffold) with a desired cell population to generate viable replacement tissue.

Aptamer-targeted antigen delivery.

Effective therapeutic vaccines often require activation of T cell-mediated immunity. Robust T cell activation, including CD8 T cell responses, can be achieved using antibodies or antibody fragments to direct antigens of interest to professional antigen presenting cells. This approach represents an important advance in enhancing vaccine efficacy.

An RNA alternative to human transferrin: a new tool for targeting human cells.

The transferrin receptor, CD71, is an attractive target for drug development because of its high expression on a number of cancer cell lines and the blood brain barrier. To generate serum-stabilized aptamers that recognize the human transferrin receptor, we have modified the traditional aptamer selection protocol by employing a functional selection step that enriches for RNA molecules which bind the target receptor and are internalized by cells. Selected aptamers were specific for the human receptor, rapidly endocytosed by cells and shared a common core structure.