Neurological soft signs in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Context: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with wide repercussions. Since it is etiologically related to delayed maturation, neurological soft signs (NSS) could be a tool to assess this. Further the correlation of NSS with severity and type of ADHD and presence of Specific Learning Disability (SLD) would give further insight into it.

NeuroRecovery Network provides standardization of locomotor training for persons with incomplete spinal cord injury.

Objective: To illustrate the continuity of care afforded by a standardized locomotor training program across a multisite network setting within the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network (NRN).

Design: Single patient case study.

Setting: Two geographically different hospital-based outpatient facilities.

Activation of diverse eicosanoid pathways in osteoarthritic cartilage: a lipidomic and genomic analysis.

Objective: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are prescribed for treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms including pain and inflammation target the production eicosanoids which exhibit numerous functions in various cell types. In these studies, we have (a) identified the diverse eicosanoid pathways that are activated in human chondrocytes of normal and OA cartilage, (b) delineated the modulation of eicosanoids in the presence of NSAIDS and selective COX-2 inhibitors, and (c) characterized eicosanoid products and various transcripts modulated by various inhibitors of eicosanoids in human OA cartilage by gene expression arrays.

Methods: Immunoassay analysis of culture supernatants were utilized to determine the spectrum of eicosanoids derived from both the cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX) pathways of normal and human OA cartilage in ex-vivo conditions.

Effect of Lanz pressure regulating valve on self-sealing mechanism and air leakage across the tracheal tube cuffs in a benchtop model.

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the Lanz system on air sealing by self-inflation in high volume-low pressure (HVLP) tube cuffs.

Methods: In vitro tracheal air sealing was studied in HVLP tracheal tube cuffs (internal diameter [ID] 8.0 mm) made from polyurethane ([PU] Seal Guard tracheal tube, Covidien, Athlone, Ireland) and from polyvinylchloride ([PVC] HiLo tracheal tube, Covidien) with and without Lanz pressure regulating valve.

The human gut microbiome: current knowledge, challenges, and future directions.

The Human Genome Project was completed a decade ago, leaving a legacy of process, tools, and infrastructure now being turned to the study of the microbes that reside in and on the human body as determinants of health and disease, and has been branded "The Human Microbiome Project." Of the various niches under investigation, the human gut houses the most complex and abundant microbial community and is an arena for important host-microbial interactions that have both local and systemic impact. Initial studies of the human microbiome have been largely descriptive, a testing ground for innovative molecular techniques and new hypotheses.

Unilateral high origin of radial artery from axillary artery.

Variations in the vascular system of upper limbs are relatively common, with considerable significance towards the clinical and surgical point of view. The major arterial variations reported are of high origins of radial and ulnar arteries. During routine dissection of an upper extremity in the Department of Anatomy, Medical University of the Americas, Nevis, West Indies, a variation in the origin of the radial artery from the axillary artery was observed in the right upper limb of a 55-year-old female cadaver.

A comparison of cone beam computed tomography and conventional periapical radiography at detecting peri-implant bone defects.

Objective: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of conventional periapical radiography and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) at detecting peri-implant bone defects.

Materials And Methods: Implants were placed in fresh bovine ribs in osteotomy sites of varying diameter (five with no peri-implant space, five with a 0.35 mm space, five with a 0.

Mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease-a true paradigm of success?

Mucosal healing is gaining more acceptance as a measure of disease activity in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and it is also gaining acceptance as an endpoint in clinical trials. Recent publications have correlated achievement of mucosal healing with good outcomes. Currently, there is no validated definition of what constitutes mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease.

Comparison of air-sealing characteristics of tapered- vs. cylindrical-shaped high-volume, low-pressure tube cuffs.

Background: This study aimed at comparing air-sealing characteristics of the new tapered-shaped tracheal tube cuffs with cylindrical tube cuffs.

Methods: Tracheal tubes with tapered-shaped polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cuffs as well as standard cylindrical-shaped cuffs made of PU and PVC (Covidien, Athlone, Ireland) were investigated. A tracheal model attached to a test lung was intubated, and cuffs were inflated to 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 cm H(2)O.

Moving from the laboratory bench to patients' bedside: considerations for effective therapy with stem cells.

Although stem cell therapy is not a new field, the field was limited to transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells. Such transplantation has provided invaluable information for the emerging field with new stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an attractive source for therapy; reduced ethical concern, ease in expansion, as off-the-shelf stem cells.

Metastatic breast cancer cells in the bone marrow microenvironment: novel insights into oncoprotection.

Among all cancers, malignancies of the breast are the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States after carcinoma of the lung. One of the major factors considered when assessing the prognosis of breast cancer patients is whether the tumor has metastasized to distant organs. Although the exact phenotype of the malignant cells responsible for metastasis and dormancy is still unknown, growing evidence has revealed that they may have stem cell-like properties that may account for resistance to chemotherapy and radiation.

Influence of bupivacaine injection dose rate on cardiovascular depression, subsequent hemodynamic course, and related bupivacaine plasma levels in piglets.

Purpose: Systemic local anesthetic (LA) toxicity resulting from inadvertent intravascular injection of LA is a rare but potentially fatal event. Early recognition of intravascular injection and approaches to improve therapeutic safety are required. This study investigated the influence of intravascular injection dose rate of bupivacaine on bupivacaine plasma levels and timing of LA-induced cardiovascular compromise.

Glatiramer acetate (GA), the immunomodulatory drug, inhibits inflammatory mediators and collagen degradation in osteoarthritis (OA) cartilage.

Objective: Glatiramer acetate (GA), the generic name for Copaxone, an immunomodulatory agent, has been shown to induce interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) production in macrophages. We therefore tested the effects of GA on the catabolic activities of osteoarthritis (OA) chondrocytes.

Design: Primary human chondrocytes and OA cartilage explants were utilized in this study.

Computed tomography enterography findings correlate with tissue inflammation, not fibrosis in resected small bowel Crohn's disease.

Background: It has become commonplace to categorize small intestinal Crohn's disease (CD) as "active" vs. "inactive" or "inflammatory" vs. "fibrotic" based on computed tomography enterography (CTE) findings.

Evaluation of a chimeric (uPA+/+)/SCID mouse model with a humanized liver for prediction of human metabolism.

A model that predicts human metabolism and disposition of drug candidates would be of value in early drug development. In this study, a chimeric (uPA+/+)/SCID mouse model was evaluated with three structurally distinct compounds (GW695634, a benzophenone, SB-406725, a tetrahydroisoquinoline and GW823093, a fluoropyrrolidine) for which human metabolism and disposition was characterized. Human metabolite profiles in plasma and/or urine were compared to those of chimeric (uPA+/+)/SCID and control CD-1 or (uPA+/+)/SCID) mice.

Gap junction-mediated import of microRNA from bone marrow stromal cells can elicit cell cycle quiescence in breast cancer cells.

Bone marrow (BM) metastasis of breast cancer (BC) can recur even decades after initial diagnosis and treatment, implying the long-term survival of disseminated cancer cells in a dormant state. Here we investigated the role of microRNAs (miRNA) transmitted from BM stroma to BC cells via gap junctions and exosomes in tumor cell quiescence. MDA-MB-231 and T47D BC cells arrest in G(0) phase of the cell cycle when cocultured with BM stroma.

A randomised trial of sheathed versus standard forceps for obtaining uncontaminated biopsy specimens of microbiota from the terminal ileum.

Background: The study of intestinal microbiota has been revolutionised by the use of molecular methods, including terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis. Microbiota studies of Crohn's disease patients have examined samples from stool or from the neoterminal ileum with a standard biopsy forceps, which could be contaminated by colonic bacteria when the forceps passes through the colonoscope channel.

Objective: To determine whether sheathed biopsy forceps are able to obtain terminal ileal microbiota samples with less colonic bacterial contamination compared with unsheathed (standard) biopsy forceps.

Massive aspiration past the tracheal tube cuff caused by closed tracheal suction system.

Background: Aspiration past the tracheal tube cuff has been recognized to be a risk factor for the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). This study investigated the effect of closed tracheal suctioning on aspiration of fluid past the tracheal tube cuff in an in vitro benchtop model.

Methods: High-volume low pressure tube cuffs of 7.

Closed tracheal suction and fluid aspiration past the tracheal tube. Impact of tube cuff and airway pressure.

Background: This study investigated the effect of different tube cuff types and airway pressures on fluid leakage past the tracheal tube cuff during suction with a closed tracheal suction system (CTSS).

Methods: Unlubricated high-volume, low-pressure tracheal tube cuffs made from polyvinylchloride (PVC) and polyurethane (PU) with a size 7.5 mm internal diameter (ID) were placed in a 22 mm ID artificial trachea connected to a test lung and inflated to 25 or 50 cmH2O of cuff pressure.

[Intraosseous infusion in the pediatric emergency medical service. Analysis of emergency medical missions 1990-2009].

Background: Timely establishment of venous access in infants and toddlers during emergency medical care can be a particularly challenging task. Alternative routes for drug and fluid administration, such as endobronchial, intramuscular, central venous or venous cut-down do not offer reliable solutions. Intraosseous infusion (IOI) has become established as an effective alternative intravascular access for rapid and efficient drug delivery.

Effect of tracheal tube cuff shape on fluid leakage across the cuff: an in vitro study.

Background: This study compared the fluid leakage in the new 'tapered' shaped against the classic 'cylindrical' shaped tracheal tube cuffs when placed in different sized tracheas.

Methods: The 7.5 mm internal diameter (ID) tracheal tube cuffs-Tapered Seal Guard (TSG), Standard Seal Guard (SSG), Hi-Lo, Microcuff, Ruesch, and Portex Profile-were compared in an in vitro apparatus.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis: meta-analysis of diagnostic performance of MR cholangiopancreatography.

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) for detection of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in patients with biochemical cholestasis.

Materials And Methods: Two reviewers searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and other electronic databases to identify prospective studies in which MRCP was evaluated and compared with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), clinical examination, and/or histologic analysis for diagnosis of PSC in cholestasis and control cases. Main study inclusion criteria were (a) use of ERCP or percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) as part of the reference standard for the diagnosis of PSC, (b) inclusion of patients with hepatobiliary disease other than PSC (ie, nonhealthy control subjects), (c) blinding of MRCP image readers to reference-standard results, (d) prospective study with ERCP or MRCP performed after subject recruitment into the study, and (e) inclusion of raw data (for true-positive, false-positive, true-negative, and false-negative results) that could be found or calculated from the original study data.

Synthesis and docking studies on styryl chromones exhibiting cytotoxicity in human breast cancer cell line.

The search for small molecules that preferentially target the functionally important surfaces of estrogen receptor and disrupt the transcriptional activity in the cell has emerged as a promising area towards rationale based drug design. Herein, we report substituted styryl chromones as a new class of compounds that exhibit selectivity for ERbeta binding at the second binding site of HT and antiproliferative activity in human breast cancer cell line.

Personalizing Stem Cell Research and Therapy: The Arduous Road Ahead or Missed Opportunity?

The euphoria of stem cell therapy has diminished, allowing scientists, clinicians and the general public to seriously re-examine how and what types of stem cells would effectively repair damaged tissue, prevent further tissue damage and/or replace lost cells. Importantly, there is a growing recognition that there are substantial person-to-person differences in the outcome of stem cell therapy. Even though the small molecule pharmaceuticals have long remained a primary focus of the personalized medicine research, individualized or targeted use of stem cells to suit a particular individual could help forecast potential failures of the therapy or identify, early on, the individuals who might benefit from stem cell interventions.