A rare case of lumbar facet fracture-dislocation and review of the literature.

Key Clinical Message: Lumbar facet fracture-dislocation is rare, often due to hyperflexion with rotational force. Abnormal scoliosis on radiography is a key sign, prompting further imaging. Facetectomy and laminectomy ensure safe reduction, while instrumented fusion is an effective surgical treatment.

GSG2 promotes thyroid cancer via stabilizing AURKB and activating AKT pathway.

Thyroid cancer stands out as the most prevalent endocrine cancer, with its incidence on a global rise. While numerous studies have delved into the roles of GSG2 in the progression of various malignancies, its involvement in thyroid cancer remains relatively unexplored. Therefore, this study was initiated to assess the functional importance of GSG2 in human thyroid cancer development.

Surgery combined with adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy prolonged overall survival in stage IVC anaplastic thyroid cancer: a SEER-based analysis.

Background: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is a rare but aggressive malignancy, which accounts for only 1-2% of all thyroid cancers. The median overall survival (OS) time for all stages patients is at about 5 months. The benefit of surgery combined with adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy in stage IVC anaplastic thyroid cancer is still controversial.

Nursing students' perceptions of online learning and its impact on knowledge level.

Background: Online learning in nursing education has been demonstrated to exert positive effects on knowledge, skills, learning attitudes, and confidence in performance. However, a noteworthy caveat has been that such benefits could vary depending on the content of pedagogical materials.

Aim: To examine the impact of online-tutorials in place of face-to-face tutorials on knowledge level and understand the perspectives of learners who experience online-tutorials.

Clinical features and diagnosis of new malignancy in patients with acute pulmonary embolism and without a history of cancer.

Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is frequently associated with cancer. This study aimed to assess patients with acute PE and identify diagnostic predictors of new cancer after 1 year of follow-up.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-one patients with PE were enrolled consecutively from the emergency department of a single medical center in Taiwan.

Centrosome guides spatial activation of Rac to control cell polarization and directed cell migration.

Directed cell migration requires centrosome-mediated cell polarization and dynamical control of focal adhesions (FAs). To examine how FAs cooperate with centrosomes for directed cell migration, we used centrosome-deficient cells and found that loss of centrosomes enhanced the formation of acentrosomal microtubules, which failed to form polarized structures in wound-edge cells. In acentrosomal cells, we detected higher levels of Rac1-guanine nucleotide exchange factor TRIO (Triple Functional Domain Protein) on microtubules and FAs.

Fibronectin in cell adhesion and migration via N-glycosylation.

Directed cell migration is an important step in effective wound healing and requires the dynamic control of the formation of cell-extracellular matrix interactions. Plasma fibronectin is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein present in blood plasma that plays crucial roles in modulating cellular adhesion and migration and thereby helping to mediate all steps of wound healing. In order to seek safe sources of plasma fibronectin for its practical use in wound dressing, we isolated fibronectin from human (homo) and porcine plasma and demonstrated that both have a similar ability as a suitable substrate for the stimulation of cell adhesion and for directing cell migration.

Plasticity of cerebellar Purkinje cells in behavioral training of body balance control.

Neural responses to sensory inputs caused by self-generated movements (reafference) and external passive stimulation (exafference) differ in various brain regions. The ability to differentiate such sensory information can lead to movement execution with better accuracy. However, how sensory responses are adjusted in regard to this distinguishability during motor learning is still poorly understood.

β-PIX controls intracellular viscoelasticity to regulate lung cancer cell migration.

Cancer metastasis occurs via a progress involving abnormal cell migration. Cell migration, a dynamic physical process, is controlled by the cytoskeletal system, which includes the dynamics of actin organization and cellular adhesive organelles, focal adhesions (FAs). However, it is not known whether the organization of actin cytoskeletal system has a regulatory role in the physiologically relevant aspects of cancer metastasis.

Sitagliptin and the risk of hospitalization for heart failure: a population-based study.

Background: Saxagliptin was associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for heart failure (HHF) in diabetic patients with high cardiovascular risk. This study assessed the risk of HHF during an exposure to sitagliptin in general diabetic patients.

Methods: In Taiwan National Health Insurance research database, a study of the beneficiaries aged ≥ 45 years with diabetes treated with or without sitagliptin between March 2009 and July 2011 was conducted.

GEF-H1 controls focal adhesion signaling that regulates mesenchymal stem cell lineage commitment.

Focal adhesions (FAs) undergo maturation that culminates in size and composition changes that modulate adhesion, cytoskeleton remodeling and differentiation. Although it is well recognized that stimuli for osteogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) drive FA maturation, actin organization and stress fiber polarization, the extent to which FA-mediated signals regulated by the FA protein composition specifies MSC commitment remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that, upon dexamethasone (osteogenic induction) treatment, guanine nucleotide exchange factor H1 (GEF-H1, also known as Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 2, encoded by ARHGEF2) is significantly enriched in FAs.

Collateral projections from vestibular nuclear and inferior olivary neurons to lobules I/II and IX/X of the rat cerebellar vermis: a double retrograde labeling study.

Axon collateral projections to various lobules of the cerebellar cortex are thought to contribute to the coordination of neuronal activities among different parts of the cerebellum. Even though lobules I/II and IX/X of the cerebellar vermis are located at the opposite poles in the anterior-posterior axis, they have been shown to receive dense vestibular mossy fiber projections. For climbing fibers, there is also a mirror-image-like organisation in their axonal collaterals between the anterior and posterior cerebellar cortex.

Risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus versus reduction in cardiovascular events with statin therapy.

The Food and Drug Administration recently updated the safety warning concerning the association between statin therapy and new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM). For prediabetes, little information is available for statins on cardiovascular outcome reduction and diabetogenic consequences. This study aimed to examine the risk of NODM and the reduction of cardiovascular events and death (MACE) after statin therapy in the prediabetic subjects.

Neuronal oscillations in Golgi cells and Purkinje cells are accompanied by decreases in Shannon information entropy.

Neuronal oscillations have been shown to contribute to the function of the cerebral cortex by coordinating the neuronal activities of distant cortical regions via a temporal synchronization of neuronal discharge patterns. This can occur regardless whether these regions are linked by cortico-cortical pathways or not. Less is known concerning the role of neuronal oscillations in the cerebellum.

pH-dependent, thermosensitive polymeric nanocarriers for drug delivery to solid tumors.

Polymeric micelles are promising carriers for anti-cancer agents due to their small size, ease of assembly, and versatility for functionalization. A current challenge in the use of polymeric micelles is the sensitive balance that must be achieved between stability during prolonged blood circulation and release of active drug at the tumor site. Stimuli-responsive materials provide a mechanism for triggered drug release in the acidic tumor and intracellular microenvironments.

Statins, risk of diabetes, and implications on outcomes in the general population.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the association of statin exposure and incident diabetes, and subsequent outcomes in the general population.

Background: Cardiovascular events as consequences of atherosclerosis and diabetes are reduced by statins. However, statins are associated with excessive risk of diabetes occurrence according to clinical trial analyses.

Long-term use of angiotensin II receptor blockers and risk of cancer: a population-based cohort analysis.

Background: The risk of incident cancer after angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) exposure was controversially reported by analyses of clinical trials and database. We assessed the occurrence of overall and site-specific cancers among ARB users and nonusers in the cohort with indications for ARB treatment.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance research database.

Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Aconitum Alkaloids in Raw and Processed Chuanwu and Caowu by HPLC in Combination with Automated Analytical System and ESI/MS/MS.

HPLC in combination with automated analytical system and ESI/MS/MS was used to analyze aconitine (A), mesaconitine (MA), hypaconitine (HA), and their benzoyl analogs in the Chinese herbs Caowu and Chuanwu. First, an HPLC method was developed and validated to determine A, MA, and HA in raw and processed Caowu and Chuanwu. Then an automated analytical system and ESI/MS/MS were applied to analyze these alkaloids and their semihydrolyzed products.

Acute ethanol exposure increases firing and induces oscillations in cerebellar Golgi cells of freely moving rats.

Background: Alcohol is a widely abused substance and is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. The precise mechanisms underlying ethanol (EtOH)'s actions in the central nervous system (CNS) remain elusive. In vitro studies suggest that GABAergic interneurons are important targets of EtOH action in the CNS.

A mouse model for adolescent alcohol abuse: stunted growth and effects in brain.

Background: Adolescent alcohol abuse remains a serious public health concern, with nearly a third of high school seniors reporting heavy drinking in the previous month.

Methods: Using the high ethanol-consuming C57BL/6J mouse strain, we examined the effects of ethanol (3.75 g/kg, IP, daily for 45 days) on body weight and brain region mass (cerebral cortex, cerebellum, corpus callosum) during peri-adolescence (postnatal day [P]25 to 70) or adulthood (P180 to 225) of both males and females.

Risk stratification and clinical outcomes in patients with acute pulmonary embolism.

Objectives: Pulmonary embolism is a common disease associated with a high mortality rate. The risk assessment and appropriate treatment selection of patients with acute pulmonary embolism remains a challenge.

Design And Methods: This single center cohort study included a total of 150 patients (96 male, age = 71 ± 15 years) with acute pulmonary embolism confirmed by spiral-computed tomography or magnetic resonance image.

Pulsatile hemodynamics and clinical outcomes in acute heart failure.

Background: The role of pulsatile hemodynamics in the management of patients with acute heart failure syndrome (AHFS) remains to be elucidated. We investigated the changes of the pulsatile hemodynamics along the hospital course of AHFS in relation to short-term outcomes.

Methods: A total of 80 AHFS patients (73.

Central versus ambulatory blood pressure in the prediction of all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities.

Objectives: Central systolic (SBP-C) and/or pulse pressure (PP-C) better predicts cardiovascular events than does peripheral blood pressure. The present study compared the prognostic significance of office central blood pressure with multiple measurements of out-of-office ambulatory peripheral blood pressure, with reference to office peripheral systolic (SBP-B) or pulse pressure (PP-B).

Methods: In a community-based population of 1014 healthy participants, SBP-C and PP-C were estimated using carotid tonometry, and 24-h systolic (SBP-24 h) and pulse pressure (PP-24 h) were obtained from 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

Electromechanical activation time in the prediction of discharge outcomes in patients hospitalized with acute heart failure syndrome.

Objective: Left ventricular systolic time intervals, including pre-ejection period (PEP), ejection time (ET), and their ratio (PEP/ET), is determined by systolic and diastolic function and ventriculo-arterial coupling. We investigated the usefulness of the electromechanical activation time [(EMAT) PEP minus isovolumic contraction time] in the prediction of cardiac mortality or re-hospitalization for heart failure in patients with the acute heart failure syndrome (AHFS).

Patients And Methods: A total of 45 patients (71.

Acute left ventricular rupture following posterior wall myocardial infarction.

Free wall rupture, the most fearful complication of myocardial infarction, mostly attacks anterior walls. Acute rupture is characterized by rapid development of mechanical arrest accompanied with bradyarrhythmia or electromechanical dissociation. The majority of patients succumb to death as the result of cardiac tamponade.