Backbone and Sidechain H, N and C Resonance Assignments of a Multidrug Efflux Membrane Protein using Solution and Solid-State NMR.

EmrE is a bacterial membrane-embedded multidrug transporter that functions as an asymmetric homodimer. EmrE is implicated in antibiotic resistance, but is now known to confer either resistance or susceptibility depending on the identity of the small molecule substrate. Here, we report both solution- and solid-state NMR assignments of S64V-EmrE at pH 5.

Enhancing Spectrometer Performance with Unsupervised Machine Learning.

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy (SSNMR) is a powerful technique to probe structural and dynamic properties of biomolecules at an atomic level. Modern SSNMR methods employ multidimensional pulse sequences requiring data collection over a period of days to weeks. Variations in signal intensity or frequency due to environmental fluctuation introduce artifacts into the spectra.

Cross polarization stability in multidimensional NMR spectroscopy of biological solids.

Magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectroscopy is a powerful and versatile technique for probing structure and dynamics in large, insoluble biological systems at atomic resolution. With many recent advances in instrumentation and polarization methods, technology development in SSNMR remains an active area of research and presents opportunities to further improve data collection, processing, and analysis of samples with low sensitivity and complex tertiary and quaternary structures. SSNMR spectra are often collected as multidimensional data, requiring stable experimental conditions to minimize signal fluctuations (t noise).

Ruptured aneurysm of the artery of Adamkiewicz as a rare cause of spinal cord injury.

This case report describes a patient who presented with low back pain, headache and urinary retention. He developed altered mental status with right lower extremity hemiparesis. He was subsequently found to have subarachnoid haemorrhage and was ultimately diagnosed with a ruptured aneurysm of the artery of Adamkiewicz.

Identification of fetal aneuploidy with dual-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis in circulating trophoblasts after enrichment using a high-sensitivity microfluidic platform.

Objective: To evaluate a microfluidics-based positive selection technology for isolating circulating trophoblasts (CTs) from peripheral blood of women whose pregnancies are affected by aneuploidy and to evaluate fetal karyotype using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Method: Ten 18-ml samples of peripheral blood were collected consecutively from pregnant women whose fetus was affected by aneuploidy. A preservation buffer was added, and the specimens were shipped overnight to the testing laboratory at ambient temperature.

Performance of IOTA Simple Rules, Simple Rules risk assessment, ADNEX model and O-RADS in differentiating between benign and malignant adnexal lesions in North American women.

Objectives: To apply the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) Simple Rules (SR), the IOTA Simple Rules risk assessment (SRR), the IOTA Assessment of Different NEoplasias in the adneXa (ADNEX) model and the Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System (O-RADS) in the same cohort of North American patients and to compare their performance in preoperative discrimination between benign and malignant adnexal lesions.

Methods: This was a single-center diagnostic accuracy study, performed between March 2018 and February 2021, which included 150 women with an adnexal lesion. Using the ADNEX model, lesions were classified prospectively, whereas the SR, SRR assessment and O-RADS were applied retrospectively.

The amount of surgical correction of the main thoracic curve is the best predictor of postoperative clinical shoulder balance in patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Purpose: This study sought to analyze factors that predict postoperative shoulder balance based on clinical photography.

Methods: Based on inclusion criteria, 132 AIS patients were selected. Age, sex, and BMI of each patient were recorded.

Prefrontal space ratio: comparison between trisomy 21 and euploid fetuses in the second trimester.

Objective: To evaluate a novel ultrasound measurement, the prefrontal space ratio (PFSR), in second-trimester trisomy 21 and euploid fetuses.

Methods: Stored three-dimensional volumes of fetal profiles from 26 trisomy 21 fetuses and 90 euploid fetuses at 15-25 weeks' gestation were examined. A line was drawn between the leading edge of the mandible and the maxilla (MM line) and extended in front of the forehead.

Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in pregnancy: diagnosis, complications, and management.

Venous thromboembolism is a leading cause for maternal mortality. Because of the increase risk for thromboembolism in pregnancy and the postpartum period, the clinician must be on high alert for the signs and symptoms and use appropriate diagnostics in a timely manner so that prompt anticoagulation therapy can be initiated. A diagnostic and management approach for both deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism and for prophylaxis against thromboembolism in the obstetric patient are crucial to decreasing morbidity, mortality, and long-term sequelae.

Significant phenotypic variability of Muenke syndrome in identical twins.

Muenke syndrome (MS), also known as Muenke nonsyndromic coronal craniosynostosis, is an autosomal dominant condition which can be distinguished from the more common forms of acrocephalosyndactyly but presents a significant variable phenotype. We report on a set of identical twins with a de novo C749G mutation in the FGFR3 gene codon 250 after a pregnancy complicated by prenatal exposure to Nortriptyline. These patients illustrate the variable expressivity of MS in association with an identical gene mutation.

Heat shock protein 27 in the placentas of women with and without severe preeclampsia.

Background: Although not fully understood, heat shock proteins (HSP) are well known stress response proteins. The purpose of this analysis was to determine whether staining for HSP27 was different between placentas from pregnancies complicated by severe pre-eclampsia with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) as compared to controls.

Methods: Sterile placental tissue was collected from ten women whose pregnancies were complicated by severe preeclampsia with IUGR and from ten women with uncomplicated by severe pre-eclampsia with IUGR and from ten women with uncomplicated term pregnancies.

Outcome of infants delivered between 24 and 28 weeks' gestation in women with severe pre-eclampsia.

Objective: To determine whether there are differences in neonatal outcome between infants born to mothers with severe pre-eclampsia and those born to normotensive mothers with preterm labor and intact membranes between 24 and 28 weeks' gestation.

Materials And Methods: Over a 4-year period between 1991 and 1995, neonates of women with severe pre-eclampsia delivering between 24 and 28 weeks were matched for maternal age, antenatally assigned gestational age and mode of delivery to normotensive women delivering during the same period.

Results: Fifty-eight women with severe pre-eclampsia were matched to 58 normotensive controls who delivered as a result of preterm labor.

Trisomy 21 fetus co-existent with a partial molar pregnancy: case report.

Background: Approximately 1 in 1,000 pregnancies in the United States are complicated by the presence of a hydatidiform mole. A Medline search revealed no reported cases of a trisomic fetus co-existent from 1966-1998. We present the case of a patient, initially found to have hypertension, edema, and proteinuria in the first trimester, and later found to have a partial molar gestation co-existent with a trisomy 21 infant.

A randomized comparison of home uterine activity monitoring in the outpatient management of women treated for preterm labor.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate home uterine activity monitoring as an intervention in reducing the rate of preterm birth among women treated for preterm labor.

Study Design: A total of 186 women were treated in the hospital with magnesium sulfate for preterm labor and were prospectively randomly assigned to study groups; among these, 162 were ultimately eligible for comparison. Eighty-two of these women were assigned to the monitored group and 80 were assigned to an unmonitored control group.

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus as a cause of chorioamnionitis.

Background: Chorioamnionitis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. Only rarely is Staphylococcus aureus implicated. A case of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus causing chorioamnionitis and endometritis is presented.

Papillary serous carcinoma of the cervix: ultrasonographic findings.

Background: Papillary serous carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a rare malignancy only recently described. Optimal treatment is unknown.

Case Report: A 65 year old white female, approximately 15 years postmenopausal, presented with a recent history of postmenopausal bleeding.

Non-gynecologic laparoscopy in second and third trimester pregnancy: obstetric implications.

Purpose: To review the effect of non-gynecologic laparoscopic procedures performed during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy on pregnancy outcome.

Materials And Methods: A review of the patient log for the antenatal obstetrical unit was used to identify the patients in this series from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 1997. Medical records were then analyzed to identify estimated gestational age at surgery and delivery, type of delivery, use of tocolysis, and complications from surgery.

Prenatal bladder outlet obstruction secondary to ureterocele.

We present 2 cases of prenatal hydroureteronephrosis and bladder outlet obstruction due to an obstructing ureterocele. Both neonates were stabilized and managed with early endoscopic decompression. Neither infant demonstrated significant function in the kidney ipsilateral to the ureterocele either before or after ureterocele puncture.

The association of aneuploidy and unexplained elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine fetal chromosomal abnormalities in pregnancies complicated by unexplained elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP).

Study Design: We reviewed, using a computerized database, 58,162 obstetrical ultrasounds that were performed for various indications. Fetuses with MSAFP multiples of the median (MOM) > or = 2.

Methadone maintenance in pregnancy: a reappraisal.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate women receiving methadone maintenance during pregnancy.

Study Design: Thirty-two pregnancies in women receiving methadone maintenance were matched by gestational age to women with a positive urine screen for cocaine at delivery and to drug-free controls. Pregnancy outcome variables were compared, including birth weight and neonatal morbidity.

Tocolytic treatment for preterm contractions with and without cervical changes.

Our purpose was to evaluate the impact of intravenous and oral tocolysis on prolongation of gestation for women with preterm uterine contractions and/or labor. Candidates for evaluation and treatment including women with contractions between 24 and 35 weeks. Two hundred women (group I) without cervical changes met the protocol criteria and 175 women (group II) who presented with or developed cervical changes were treated by protocol.

The effect of vibroacoustic stimulation on fetal heart rate parameters utilizing computer analysis.

We examined the effect of vibroacoustic stimulation on periodic and nonperiodic fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters in fetuses not meeting Dawes-Redman criteria utilizing computerized analysis. Antepartum FHR analysis was performed using the Oxford Sonicaid System 8000 package (Oxford Sonicaid Ltd., Chichester, UK).