Background: As surgical recommendations in adults based on size criteria of ascending aortic aneurysms become more refined, criteria for childhood/adolescence remains less clear. Multiple pathologic factors may predispose younger patients to thoracic aortic aortopathy and increase the risk of rupture. An evolving field of research is how to identify thoracic aortic dilation earlier in patients, risk stratify, and to obtain objective measures beyond size for proceeding with surgical intervention in order to prevent catastrophic thoracic aortic dissection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Delays in the operating room (OR) can lead to increased hospital costs as well as patient and provider dissatisfaction. Starting the first case on time in the OR can potentially prevent subsequent delays. We designed a quality improvement project to improve the first case on-time starts in the pediatric OR at a tertiary care children's hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: RUNX2 expression in mesenchymal cells induces osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. BMP blocking agents were used to show that RUNX2-dependent osteoblast differentiation and transactivation activity both require BMP signaling and, further, that RUNX2 enhances the responsiveness of cells to BMPs.
Introduction: BMPs and the RUNX2 transcription factor are both able to stimulate osteoblast differentiation and bone formation.
The role of ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4) in osteoblast differentiation and bone formation was recently described using ATF4-deficient mice (Yang, X., Matsuda, K., Bialek, P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParathyroid hormone (PTH) is an important peptide hormone regulator of bone formation and osteoblast activity. However, its mechanism of action in bone cells is largely unknown. This study examined the effect of PTH on mouse osteocalcin gene expression in MC3T3-E1 preosteoblastic cells and primary cultures of bone marrow stromal cells.
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