Magnetic Sphincter Augmentation for Gastroesophageal Reflux After Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Systematic Review.

This systematic review aims to evaluate the current evidence regarding safety and efficacy of magnetic sphincter augmentation (MSA) for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) carries the risk of surgical and metabolic complications and may be contraindicated in patients with normalized or near-normalized body mass index. The LINX™ procedure aims to restore LES competency and to repair the crura.

Caloric restriction in mice improves short-term recognition memory and modifies the neuroinflammatory response in the hippocampus of male adult offspring.

Restrictive diets (RD) can influence the inflammatory phenotype of dams and their offspring. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of caloric restriction on the neuroinflammatory profile in the hippocampus and the short-term recognition memory of male offspring from RD-fed dams. Mice dams received standard diet ad libitum (CONT) or restrictive diet (RD; 30% reduction of CONT consumption) during pregnancy and lactation.

Learning the language of science: A pilot study exploring citizen scientists' identity and communication with researchers.

Introduction: Although the involvement of citizen scientists in research can contribute to scientific benefits, much remains unknown about participants' lived experiences in research. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore how citizen scientists describe their role in, motivation for, and communication with researchers.

Methods: In-depth interviews ( = 9) were conducted with citizen scientists at a translational health research center.

Synthesis of Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (hBMP-2) in Periplasmic Space: Its Characterization and Preclinical Testing.

Human BMP-2, a homodimeric protein that belongs to the TGF- β family, is a recognized osteoinductor due to its capacity of inducing bone regeneration and ectopic bone formation. The administration of its recombinant form is an alternative to autologous bone grafting. A variety of derived hBMP-2 has been synthesized through refolding of cytoplasmic inclusion bodies.

Communication strategies for designing Facebook advertising campaigns to recruit rural participants to develop healthcare delivery interventions.

Background: Little is known about designing research recruitment campaigns that connect with underserved, geographically isolated rural populations. A theoretically informed process is needed to assist research teams and practitioners in their evaluation of Facebook's feasibility as a recruitment tool and development of online materials for recruiting rural adults into healthcare delivery intervention development studies.

Methods: We drew from research and theory in communication and incorporated process analysis techniques to develop replicable procedures for designing and evaluating Facebook campaigns for rural recruitment.

Human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (hBMP-2) characterization by physical-chemical, immunological and biological assays.

Commercially available preparations of methionyl-human BMP-2 and CHO-derived hBMP-2, which belongs to the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily, were used for a complete characterization. This protein is an extremely efficient osteoinductor that plays an important role during bone regeneration and embryonic development. Characterization was carried out via SDS-PAGE and Western blotting, followed by reversed-phase HPLC, size-exclusion HPLC and MALDI-TOF-MS.

The Perceived Availability of Online Social Support: Exploring the Contributions of Illness and Rural Identities in Adults with Chronic Respiratory Illness.

Joining an online social support group may increase perceived membership to a community, but it does not guarantee that the community will be available when it is needed. This is especially relevant for adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), many of whom reside in rural regions and continually negotiate their illness identity. Drawing from social support literature and communication theory of identity, this cross-sectional study explored how COPD illness and geographic identities interact to influence patients' perceived availability of online social support.

A Pilot Study Determining Comprehension and the Acceptability of a Cancer Research Study Website for Cancer Patients and Caregivers.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if a cancer research study website increased comprehension among patients and caregivers and if website evaluations differed across patient and caregiver groups. Participants (N = 200) were cancer patients and caregivers living in the USA. Comprehension was determined by the number of correct responses to a series of questions about key characteristics of cancer research studies that are frequently unknown or misinterpreted by patients and/or caregivers.

Practice Makes Empowered: Cultivating Elderly Patients' Voices to Protect Their Health through an Interactive Training.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) result in approximately 75,000 deaths each year. Elderly patients are particularly susceptible to contracting HAIs. Physicians can reduce the spread of HAIs by washing their hands; however, handwashing compliance remains suboptimal.

Influence of PARP-1 inhibition in the cardiotoxicity of the topoisomerase 2 inhibitors doxorubicin and mitoxantrone.

Doxorubicin (DOX) and Mitoxantrone (MTX) are very effective drugs for a range of tumors despite being highly cardiotoxic. DNA topoisomerase 2 beta (Top2ß) was revealed as key mediator of DOX-induced cardiotoxicity, although ROS generation is also an important mechanism. Oxidative stress is also an important issue in MTX-induced cardiotoxicity that is manifested by mitochondrial dysfunction.

Assistive technology for promoting adaptive skills of children with cerebral palsy: ten cases evaluation.

To extend the use of assistive technology for promoting adaptive skills of children with cerebral palsy. To assess its effects on positive participation of ten participants involved. To carry out a social validation recruiting parents, physiotherapists and support teachers as external raters.

Influence of neighboring plants on the dynamics of an ant-acacia protection mutualism.

Ant-plant protection symbioses, in which plants provide food and/or shelter for ants in exchange for protection from herbivory, are model systems for understanding the ecology of mutualism. While interactions between ants, host plants, and herbivores have been intensively studied, we know little about how plant-plant interactions influence the dynamics of these mutualisms, despite strong evidence that plants compete for resources, that hosting ants can be costly, and that host-plant provisioning to ants can therefore be constrained by resource availability. We used field experiments in a semiarid Kenyan savanna to examine interactions between the ant-plant Acacia drepanolobium, neighboring grasses, and two species of symbiotic acacia-ants with divergent behaviors: Crematogaster mimosae, an aggressive symbiont that imposes high costs to host trees via consumption of extrafloral nectar, and Tetraponera penzigi, a less-protective symbiont that imposes lower costs because it does not consume nectar.

N-Glycoprofiling Analysis for Carbohydrate Composition and Site-Occupancy Determination in a Poly-Glycosylated Protein: Human Thyrotropin of Different Origins.

Human thyrotropin (hTSH) is a glycoprotein with three potential glycosylation sites: two in the α-subunit and one in the β-subunit. These sites are not always occupied and occupancy is frequently neglected in glycoprotein characterization, even though it is related to folding, trafficking, initiation of inflammation and host defense, as well as congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG). For the first time -glycoprofiling analysis was applied to the site-occupancy determination of two native pituitary hTSH, in comparison with three recombinant preparations of hTSH, a widely used biopharmaceutical.

A microswitch-based program for promoting initial ambulation responses: An evaluation with two girls with multiple disabilities.

We assessed the use of a microswitch-based program for promoting ambulation responses by two children with multiple disabilities. The goals of the study were to: (a) evaluate the importance of the contingency between the target behavior (forward step) and the programmed consequence (preferred stimuli), (b) measure effects of the intervention on indices of happiness, and (c) assess the social validation of the procedure using 20 physiotherapists as external raters. The intervention involved the automatic delivery of preferred stimuli contingent on forward steps.

Message Design and Audience Engagement with Tobacco Prevention Posts on Social Media.

Understanding the appropriate medium to communicate health promotion messages is vital for improving personal and societal health. As increasingly more people utilize social media for health information, public health practitioners use these platforms to engage an existing audience in health promotion messages. In this study, the relational framing theory was used as a lens for studying how message framing may influence social media audience engagement.

Pathways of cardiac toxicity: comparison between chemotherapeutic drugs doxorubicin and mitoxantrone.

Anthracyclines, e.g., doxorubicin (DOX), and anthracenediones, e.

Assistive technology to promote occupation and reduce mouthing by three boys with fragile X syndrome.

Objectives: To extend the use of assistive technology (AT) for promoting a new adaptive response and to reduce hand mouthing, by three boys with fragile X syndrome. To monitor the effects of the intervention program on the positive mood. To carry out a three month follow-up phases.

Computer and microswitch-based programs to improve academic activities by six children with cerebral palsy.

This study was aimed at extending the use of assistive technology (i.e. microswitch such as a pressure sensor, interface and laptop) with a new setup, allowing six children with cerebral palsy and extensive motor disabilities to improve their academic activities during classroom.

Nuclear DNA Content Varies with Cell Size across Human Cell Types.

Variation in the size of cells, and the DNA they contain, is a basic feature of multicellular organisms that affects countless aspects of their structure and function. Within humans, cell size is known to vary by several orders of magnitude, and differences in nuclear DNA content among cells have been frequently observed. Using published data, here we describe how the quantity of nuclear DNA across 19 different human cell types increases with cell volume.

N-glycoprofiling analysis in a simple glycoprotein model: a comparison between recombinant and pituitary glycosylated human prolactin.

Human prolactin (hPRL) is a polypeptide hormone occurring in the non-glycosylated (NG-hPRL) and glycosylated (G-hPRL) forms, with MM of approximately 23 and 25kDa, respectively. It has a single, partially occupied N-glycosylation site located at Asn-31, which makes it a particularly simple and interesting model for glycosylation studies. The bioactivity of G-hPRL is lower than that of NG-hPRL (by ca.

Technological aids to support choice strategies by three girls with Rett syndrome.

This study was aimed at extending the use of assistive technology (i.e., photocells, interface and personal computer) to support choice strategies by three girls with Rett syndrome and severe to profound developmental disabilities.

Technological supports to promote choice opportunities by two children with fragile X syndrome and severe to profound developmental disabilities.

This study was aimed at assessing whether technological supports (i.e. optic sensors such as photocells) were successful enabling two boys with fragile X syndrome and severe to profound developmental disabilities to perform occupation and choice opportunities.

Assistive technology-based programs to promote communication and leisure activities by three children emerged from a minimal conscious state.

This study proposed the use of assistive technology (AT) to promote communication and leisure opportunities by three children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Furthermore, it assessed the effects of such technology on the indices of positive participation and provided a social validation procedure. Three children emerged from a minimal conscious state and presenting extensive motor disabilities were involved.

Enhancement of human thyrotropin synthesis by sodium butyrate addition to serum-free CHO cell culture.

The influence of sodium butyrate (NaBu) on the synthesis of recombinant human thyrotropin (r-hTSH) by CHO cells was investigated for the first time. A volumetric productivity of ~10 μg hTSH/mL was repeatedly obtained, with a 3.3-fold increase over a control culture carried out in the absence of NaBu.