Plasma Proteomics Identifies B2M as a Regulator of Pulmonary Hypertension in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) represents an important phenotype in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). However, management of PH-HFpEF is challenging because mechanisms involved in the regulation of PH-HFpEF remain unclear.

Methods: We used a mass spectrometry-based comparative plasma proteomics approach as a sensitive and comprehensive hypothesis-generating discovery technique to profile proteins in patients with PH-HFpEF and control subjects.

Investigating the "sex paradox" in pulmonary arterial hypertension: Results from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry (PHAR).

Background: Female sex is a significant risk factor for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), yet males with PAH have worse survival - a phenomenon referred to as the "sex paradox" in PAH.

Methods: All adult PAH patients in the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry (PHAR) with congruent sex and gender were included. Baseline differences in demographics, hemodynamics, functional parameters, and quality of life were assessed by sex.

Gender Disparities in Critical Care Procedure Training of Internal Medicine Residents.

Background: Procedural training is a required competency in internal medicine (IM) residency, yet limited data exist on residents' experience of procedural training.

Objectives: We sought to understand how gender impacts access to procedural training among IM residents.

Methods: A mixed-methods, explanatory sequential study was performed.

Echocardiographic estimation of pulmonary vascular resistance in advanced lung disease.

Noninvasive assessment of pulmonary hemodynamics is often performed by echocardiographic estimation of the pulmonary artery systolic pressure (ePASP), despite limitations in the advanced lung disease population. Other noninvasive hemodynamic variables, such as echocardiographic pulmonary vascular resistance (ePVR), have not been studied in this population. We performed a retrospective analysis of 147 advanced lung disease patients who received both echocardiography and right heart catheterization for lung transplant evaluation.

Home Literacy Experiences and Shared Reading Practices: Preschoolers With Hearing Loss.

Home literacy experiences and observed parent and child behaviors during shared book reading were investigated in preschool-age children with hearing loss and with typical hearing to examine the relationships between those factors and children's language skills. The methods involved parent-reported home literacy experiences and videotaped parent-child dyads during shared book reading. Children's language skills were tested using the Preschool Language Scale-4.

Sex Differences and Similarities in Valvular Heart Disease.

As populations age worldwide, the burden of valvular heart disease has grown exponentially, and so has the proportion of affected women. Although rheumatic valve disease is declining in high-income countries, degenerative age-related causes are rising. Calcific aortic stenosis and degenerative mitral regurgitation affect a significant proportion of elderly women, particularly those with comorbidities.

Inotropic therapies in heart failure and cardiogenic shock: an educational review.

Reduced systolic function is central to the pathophysiology and clinical sequelae of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) with reduced ejection fraction and cardiogenic shock. These clinical entities are the final common pathway for marked deterioration of right or left ventricular function and can occur in multiple clinical presentations including severe ADHF, myocardial infarction, post-cardiac surgery, severe pulmonary hypertension, and advanced or end-stage chronic heart failure. Inotropic therapies improve ventricular systolic function and may be divided into three classes on the basis of their mechanism of action (calcitropes, mitotropes, and myotropes).

Developmental Outcomes in Early-Identified Children Who Are Hard of Hearing at 2 to 3 Years of Age.

Objectives: This study examined the psychosocial, adaptive behavior, and language outcomes of young children who are hard of hearing (HH) without additional disabilities or neurocognitive impairments. Relations between early developmental outcomes and child and parent demographic variables, and parenting stress and self-efficacy were also explored.

Design: Participants were 39 children with early identified, permanent mild to severe hearing loss, between the ages of 2 and 3 years, and a comparison group of 47 children with normal hearing (NH).

Beliefs and Self-Efficacy of Parents of Young Children with Hearing Loss.

The purpose of this study was to learn more about the beliefs and self-efficacy of parents of young children with hearing loss. Seventy-two parents completed the Scale of Parental Involvement and Self-Efficacy-Revised (SPISE-R), which queries parents about their child's hearing device use and their perceptions of their own beliefs, knowledge, confidence, and actions pertaining to supporting their child's auditory access and spoken language development. Two beliefs were identified that related to parents' action scores and one belief was identified that related to children's hearing device use.

Placental Abruption as a Risk Factor for Heart Failure.

Complications of pregnancy present an opportunity to identify women at high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Placental abruption is a severe and understudied pregnancy complication, and its relationship with CVD is poorly understood. The California Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project database was used to identify women with hospitalized pregnancies in California between 2005 and 2009, with follow-up through 2011.

Age-related differences in hemodynamics and functional status in pulmonary arterial hypertension: Baseline results from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry.

Background: The age of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has increased, with registries now reporting mean ages of 50 to 65 years old. Limited data exist on age-related differences in hemodynamic and functional assessments in PAH.

Methods: Adults with PAH in the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry were divided into 3 groups (18-50, 51-65, and >65 years old).

Successful Use of Pulmonary Vasodilators in Acute Chest Syndrome Complicated by Persistent Right Ventricular Failure.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a known consequence of sickle cell disease (SCD) and is associated with increased mortality and more frequent episodes of acute chest syndrome (ACS). Pulmonary pressures are known to increase during ACS, and right ventricular (RV) failure has been described as a significant cause of mortality in this condition. Management of ACS includes exchange transfusion, pain control, and prevention of hypovolemia and hypoxemia.

Noninvasive estimation of pulmonary vascular resistance improves portopulmonary hypertension screening in liver transplant candidates.

Despite limitations in sensitivity and specificity, estimation of the pulmonary artery systolic pressure (ePASP) on echocardiography is used for portopulmonary hypertension (PoPH) screening in liver transplant (LT) candidates. We proposed that alternative echocardiographic models, such as estimated pulmonary vascular resistance (ePVR), may provide improved testing characteristics in PoPH screening. In a retrospective analysis of 100 LT candidates, we found that the formula ePVR = ePASP/VTI  + 3 if MSN (VTI  = right ventricular outflow tract time velocity integral; MSN = mid-systolic notching of the VTI Doppler signal) significantly improves accuracy of PoPH screening compared to ePASP.

Maternal Perception of Self-Efficacy and Involvement in Young Children with Prelingual Hearing Loss.

Appropriate intervention needs to support families and consider them as a part of rehabilitation program. Parents who have high self-efficacy are more likely to put their knowledge and skills into action and have positive interactions with their children. In addition, there has been a positive relation between parental involvement and child educational success.

A Longitudinal Investigation of the Home Literacy Environment and Shared Book Reading in Young Children With Hearing Loss.

Objectives: The principle goal of this longitudinal study was to examine parent perceptions of home literacy environment (e.g., frequency of book reading, ease of book reading with child) and observed behaviors during shared book reading (SBR) interactions between parents and their children with hearing loss (HL) as compared with parents and their children with normal hearing (NH) across 3 time points (12, 24, and 36 months old).

Amygdala selectively modulates defensive responses evoked from the superior colliculus in non-human primates.

Brain circuitry underlying defensive behaviors includes forebrain modulatory sites, e.g. the amygdala and hypothalamus, and midbrain effector regions, such as the deep/intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (DLSC).

Developmental outcomes of early-identified children who are hard of hearing at 12 to 18 months of age.

Aims: To examine the developmental outcomes of early-identified children who are hard of hearing, at 12 to 18 months of age, compared to those for children of similar age with normal hearing; and to investigate parent and child factors that are associated with these developmental outcomes.

Methods: As part of a prospective study, 28 children with mild to severe hearing loss between the ages of 12 and 18 months and 42 children with normal hearing of similar age completed a comprehensive assessment battery. All children with hearing loss were identified by newborn hearing screening and amplified, on average, by 5 months of age.

Parental Support for Language Development During Joint Book Reading for Young Children With Hearing Loss.

Parent and child joint book reading (JBR) characteristics and parent facilitative language techniques (FLTs) were investigated in two groups of parents and their young children; children with normal hearing (NH; = 60) and children with hearing loss (HL; = 45). Parent-child dyads were videotaped during JBR interactions, and parent and child behaviors were coded for specific JBR behaviors using a scale developed for this study. Children's oral language skills were assessed using the (PLS-4).

Memory loss in a nonnavigational spatial task after hippocampal inactivation in monkeys.

The hippocampus has a well-documented role for spatial navigation across species, but its role for spatial memory in nonnavigational tasks is uncertain. In particular, when monkeys are tested in tasks that do not require navigation, spatial memory seems unaffected by lesions of the hippocampus. However, the interpretation of these results is compromised by long-term compensatory adaptation occurring in the days and weeks after lesions.

Searching for Alternatively Spliced Variants of Phospholipase Domain-Containing 2 (), a Novel Gene in the Retina.

Purpose: Ensembl and other expressed sequence tag (EST) databases reveal putative alternative splice variants in mouse and rat for , the gene encoding pigment epithelium-derived factor-receptor (PEDF-R). The purpose of this study was to obtain experimental evidence for splice variants in mouse.

Materials And Methods: Cultures of a mouse cell line derived from photoreceptors (661W cells) and mouse eye, heart, adipose, kidney, and liver tissues were used.