Impact of Body Mass Index on Operative Time in Women Undergoing Benign Hysterectomy.

Background: Optimization of surgical scheduling represents an opportunity to improve resource utilization and increase patient access. Increasing body mass index (BMI) has been associated with increased operating time and may provide an opportunity to more accurately predict operating time.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between BMI and operative time for benign hysterectomy and develop a predictive model for hysterectomy operating time based on patient BMI.

Perfect adaptation achieved by transport limitations governs the inorganic phosphate response in .

Cells cope with and adapt to ever-changing environmental conditions. Sophisticated regulatory networks allow cells to adjust to these fluctuating environments. One such archetypal system is the Pho regulon.

Systematic analysis of low-affinity transcription factor binding site clusters in vitro and in vivo establishes their functional relevance.

Binding to binding site clusters has yet to be characterized in depth, and the functional relevance of low-affinity clusters remains uncertain. We characterized transcription factor binding to low-affinity clusters in vitro and found that transcription factors can bind concurrently to overlapping sites, challenging the notion of binding exclusivity. Furthermore, small clusters with binding sites an order of magnitude lower in affinity give rise to high mean occupancies at physiologically-relevant transcription factor concentrations.

Effects of Regular/Dilute Proparacaine Anesthetic Eye Drops in Combination with Ophthalmic Antibiotics on Corneal Wound Healing.

Topical, local anesthetic eye drops in conjunction with antibiotics are commonly used to reduce ocular pain and treat patients in emergency clinics; however, their effects on corneal healing are poorly understood. This study examined whether regular or diluted proparacaine eye drops given in combination with common ophthalmic antibiotics affect corneal wound healing parameters using and models. Primary human corneal fibroblasts generated from donor corneas and New Zealand white rabbits were used.

Independent control of mean and noise by convolution of gene expression distributions.

Gene expression noise can reduce cellular fitness or facilitate processes such as alternative metabolism, antibiotic resistance, and differentiation. Unfortunately, efforts to study the impacts of noise have been hampered by a scaling relationship between noise and expression level from individual promoters. Here, we use theory to demonstrate that mean and noise can be controlled independently by expressing two copies of a gene from separate inducible promoters in the same cell.

Epidemiology of Thyroid Cancer: A Review of the National Cancer Database, 2000-2013.

Objective  To show the recent trends in thyroid cancer in the United States, elucidate the characteristics of stage IV thyroid cancer, and consider the effects of diagnostic testing on the rising incidence of thyroid cancer. Design  A retrospective population-based study conducted using the National Cancer Database from 2000-2013 (NCDB). Demographics of patients presenting with stage IV thyroid cancer were compared to patients presenting with all other stages using the chi-square testing.

Postpartum Invasive Group A Streptococcus Infection: Case Report and Mini-review.

The overall incidence of postpartum invasive group A streptococcal (GAS) disease is low in the United States. However, postpartum women are much more likely to develop GAS disease than nonpregnant women. Additionally, postpartum GAS has the potential to develop into a severe disease and a delay in diagnosis can have deadly consequences.

Engineering an E. coli Near-Infrared Light Sensor.

Optogenetics is a technology wherein researchers combine light and genetically engineered photoreceptors to control biological processes with unrivaled precision. Near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths (>700 nm) are desirable optogenetic inputs due to their low phototoxicity and spectral isolation from most photoproteins. The bacteriophytochrome photoreceptor 1 (BphP1), found in several purple photosynthetic bacteria, senses NIR light and activates transcription of photosystem promoters by binding to and inhibiting the transcriptional repressor PpsR2.

A photoconversion model for full spectral programming and multiplexing of optogenetic systems.

Optogenetics combines externally applied light signals and genetically engineered photoreceptors to control cellular processes with unmatched precision. Here, we develop a mathematical model of wavelength- and intensity-dependent photoconversion, signaling, and output gene expression for our two previously engineered light-sensing two-component systems. To parameterize the model, we develop a simple set of spectral and dynamical calibration experiments using our recent open-source "Light Plate Apparatus" device.

An open-hardware platform for optogenetics and photobiology.

In optogenetics, researchers use light and genetically encoded photoreceptors to control biological processes with unmatched precision. However, outside of neuroscience, the impact of optogenetics has been limited by a lack of user-friendly, flexible, accessible hardware. Here, we engineer the Light Plate Apparatus (LPA), a device that can deliver two independent 310 to 1550 nm light signals to each well of a 24-well plate with intensity control over three orders of magnitude and millisecond resolution.

FlowCal: A User-Friendly, Open Source Software Tool for Automatically Converting Flow Cytometry Data from Arbitrary to Calibrated Units.

Flow cytometry is widely used to measure gene expression and other molecular biological processes with single cell resolution via fluorescent probes. Flow cytometers output data in arbitrary units (a.u.

Central Retinal Artery Occlusion: A Literature Review and the Rationale for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Central retinal artery occlusion is visually devastating and has no proven treatments. The therapeutic interval between symptom onset and potentially sight-saving intervention is narrow. Traditional conservative approaches include digital massage, administration of systemic vasodilators and diuretics, and lowering of intraocular pressure.

Optogenetic characterization methods overcome key challenges in synthetic and systems biology.

Systems biologists aim to understand how organism-level processes, such as differentiation and multicellular development, are encoded in DNA. Conversely, synthetic biologists aim to program systems-level biological processes, such as engineered tissue growth, by writing artificial DNA sequences. To achieve their goals, these groups have adapted a hierarchical electrical engineering framework that can be applied in the forward direction to design complex biological systems or in the reverse direction to analyze evolved networks.

Characterizing bacterial gene circuit dynamics with optically programmed gene expression signals.

Gene circuits are dynamical systems that regulate cellular behaviors, often using protein signals as inputs and outputs. Here we have developed an optogenetic 'function generator' method for programming tailor-made gene expression signals in live bacterial cells. We designed precomputed light sequences based on experimentally calibrated mathematical models of light-switchable two-component systems and used them to drive intracellular protein levels to match user-defined reference time courses.

Eye on statins: A comprehensive review.

Over the last 25 years, statins have demonstrated their safety from an ophthalmologic standpoint. Studies relating statin to cataract formation are insufficient to alter the usual and customary prescription of statins. If there is an association between statins and cataracts, it is weak and clinically insignificant.

Post-translational tools expand the scope of synthetic biology.

Synthetic biology is improving our understanding of and ability to control living organisms. To date, most progress has been made by engineering gene expression. However, computational and genetically encoded tools that allow protein activity and protein-protein interactions to be controlled on their natural time and length scales are emerging.

Stromal rejection following deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty: implications for postoperative care.

Purpose: To better characterize stromal rejection in the context of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) to improve early diagnosis and proper management.

Methods: The clinical records of 22 patients undergoing DALK by 2 surgeons between October 2006 and January 2008 were reviewed to identify patients who experienced stromal rejection. The diagnosis was made after the demonstration of acute stromal edema and/or stromal neovascularization in the absence of confounding preoperative conditions, such as herpetic keratitis.