Performance and Advancement of the Kidney Solid Organ Response Test.

Background: The kidney solid organ response test (kSORT) has been investigated for the prediction of acute rejection in kidney transplant recipients with conflicting results. We aimed to investigate if the kSORT assay score is associated with rejection or immune quiescence.

Methods: The blinded association between rejection and kSORT > 9 were investigated.

The Mediastinal Visceral Space: The Central Pathway for the Spread of Mediastinal Disease.

The connective tissue of the mediastinal visceral space extends from the neck through the chest and into the abdomen. This connective tissue encases the esophagus and tracheobronchial tree and is bounded by the perivisceral fascia. The continuous longitudinal and axial interconnection of the mediastinal visceral space accounts for commonly observed bidirectional pathways of disease through the chest.

Analysis of driving simulator performance for post-call orthopaedic surgery residents.

Purpose: Despite the associations between workhours, fatigue and motor vehicle accidents, driving abilities for residents post-call have been infrequently analysed. Our purpose was to compare orthopaedic surgery resident performance on a driving simulator after a night of call compared with their baseline.

Study Design: All residents from a single orthopaedic programme were asked to complete baseline and post-call driving simulator assessments and surveys.

The proof is in the appendage: A case report of a fenestrated membrane overlying the left atrial appendage.

A 35-year-old man with history of recurrent arrhythmias presented for pulmonary vein isolation. He underwent pre-procedural screening for thromboembolism risk with transesophageal echocardiogram. He had an incidental finding of a rare fenestrated membrane overlying his left atrial appendage.

Dueling Myxomas: A Rare Finding.

• Multiple cardiac myxomas are rare, most commonly seen in the left atrium. • Myxomas are most commonly attached on the left atrial side of the interatrial septum. • Echocardiography is key in acute CVA to identify cardioembolic sources.

Percutaneous Radiofrequency Ablation for Painful Spinal Metastases Resulting in Resolution of Epidural Disease: A Case Report.

Percutaneous image-guided ablation is used for treatment of both benign and malignant osseous lesions often leading to substantial pain relief and local tumor control. Paired with vertebral augmentation of the affected vertebra, patients can often become functional and experience significant pain reduction. However, bone ablation must be paired with various modalities of treatment as it only provides pain relief and local tumor control and does not address systemic metastatic disease.

Injuries in the competitive paediatric motocross athlete.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to report the spectrum of injuries sustained by competitive paediatric motocross athletes at a level I trauma centre.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective study of paediatric competitive motocross injuries treated at a level I trauma centre between 2004 and 2014 was performed. Athletes were included if aged less than 18 years and injured while practising or competing on a competitive motocross track.

miR-181b-5p Modulates Cell Migratory Proteins, Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase 3, and Annexin A2 During In Vitro Decidualization in a Human Endometrial Stromal Cell Line.

Decidualization is essential for successful embryo implantation and is regulated by concerted actions of growth factors and hormones. More recently, microRNAs, small RNA molecules that regulate posttranscriptional gene expression, have been implicated to play a role in the decidualization process. Of these microRNAs, miR-181b-5p has been associated with decidualization but its precise role and targets are not well established.

miR-451 deficiency is associated with altered endometrial fibrinogen alpha chain expression and reduced endometriotic implant establishment in an experimental mouse model.

Endometriosis is defined as the growth of endometrial glandular and stromal components in ectopic locations and affects as many as 10% of all women of reproductive age. Despite its high prevalence, the pathogenesis of endometriosis remains poorly understood. MicroRNAs, small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression, are mis-expressed in endometriosis but a functional role in the disease pathogenesis remains uncertain.

The efficacy and cardiac evaluation of aminomethyl tetrahydronaphthalene ketopiperazines: a novel class of potent MCH-R1 antagonists.

The design, synthesis, and biological studies of a novel class of MCH-R1 antagonists based on an aminotetrahydronaphthalene ketopiperazine scaffold is described. Compounds within this class promoted significant body weight reduction in mouse diet induced obesity studies. The potential for hERG blockage activity and QT interval studies in anesthetized dogs are discussed.

Aminomethyl tetrahydronaphthalene ketopiperazine MCH-R1 antagonists--Increasing selectivity over hERG.

A direct correlation between hERG binding and QTc prolongation was established for a series of aminomethyl tetrahydronaphthalene ketopiperazine MCH-R1 antagonists. Compounds within this class with greater selectivity over hERG were developed. Compound 4h proved to have the best profile, with MCH-R1 Ki = 16 nm and hERG IC50 = 25 microM.

Aminomethyl tetrahydronaphthalene biphenyl carboxamide MCH-R1 antagonists--Increasing selectivity over hERG.

Aminomethyl tetrahydronaphthalene biphenyl carboxamide MCH-R1 antagonists with greater selectivity over hERG were identified. SAR studies addressing two distinct alternatives for structural modifications leading to improve hERG selectivity are described.

Revised curriculum on cardiothoracic radiology for diagnostic radiology residency with goals and objectives related to general competencies.

This document is a revision of a previously published cardiothoracic curriculum for diagnostic radiology residency, and reflects interval changes in the clinical practice of cardiothoracic radiology and changes in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements for diagnostic radiology training programs. The revised ACGME Program Requirements for Residency Education in Diagnostic Radiology went into effect December 2003.

Evaluation of Speakers at a National Radiology Continuing Medical Education Course.

Purpose: Evaluations of a national radiology continuing medical education (CME) course in thoracic imaging were analyzed to determine what constitutes effective and ineffective lecturing.

Methods And Materials: Evaluations of sessions and individual speakers participating in a fiveday course jointly sponsored by the Society of Thoracic Radiology (STR) and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) were tallied by the RSNA Department of Data Management and three members of the STR Training Committee. Comments were collated and analyzed to determine the number of positive and negative comments and common themes related to ineffective lecturing.

Observer performance studies: detection of single versus multiple abnormalities of the chest.

Objective: We used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to compare two methods of evaluating observer performance in detecting an abnormality on chest radiographs. In the first method, the abnormality in question, rib fracture, was one of five investigated, and it was the only one of interest in the second.

Materials And Methods: Eight experienced observers viewed 117 posteroanterior chest radiographs in two interpretation modes.

CT features of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.

Objective: This investigation describes the CT features of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in a large group of patients.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of 139 chest CT scans (79 thick-section scans and 60 thin-section scans) from 27 patients with pathologically proven pulmonary alveolar proteinosis was performed. Two independent observers assessed the intraslice patterns and zonal distribution of disease on three CT images of each lung.

Empiric assessment of parameters that affect the design of multireader receiver operating characteristic studies.

Rationale And Objectives: The authors attempted to assess experimentally the magnitude of reader variability and the correlations and interactions among cases, readers, and modalities during observer performance studies and their possible effects on study design and sample size.

Materials And Methods: Published data from 32 selected receiver operating characteristic (ROC) studies were reviewed to compare the magnitude of the variance component from readers with the variance component from modality. Estimates of correlation and interactions among cases, readers, and modalities were also computed directly from ROC data ascertained during two large studies performed in our laboratory.

Multipoint rank-order study methodology: observer issues.

Rationale And Objectives: We performed a multipoint rank-order experiment to evaluate variability in observers' sensitivity to small differences in image presentation and to assess observers' performance as a function of the type and number of tasks included.

Methods: Five experienced observers were presented with four sets of chest images that had been compressed at five different levels. Each set contained six images ranging from noncompressed to approximately 60:1-compressed images.

Effect of calcitriol and pamidronate in multiple myeloma.

Addition of bisphosphonates to standard treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) decreases bone pain and skeletal events without influencing bone healing. Calcitriol, besides its established effects on bone remodeling and calcium metabolism, has both immunoregulatory and cell differentiating effects in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, low serum calcitriol has been reported in MM.

Role of spiral computed tomography in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in the emergency department.

Recently a debate has developed in the medical community as radiologists in some centers suggest the selective substitution of spiral computed tomography (CT) for ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) nuclear medicine imaging as a screening test for the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism. Proponents of spiral CT argue that it is more accurate than the usual practice of combining the (V/Q) scan and the physician's best clinical judgment. V/Q scans classify patients into groups according to the probability of pulmonary emboli, whereas the thrombus is visible with spiral CT.

Changes in lung volume and volume of emphysema after unilateral lung reduction surgery: analysis with CT lung densitometry.

Purpose: To evaluate changes in volume of the lungs and volume of emphysema after unilateral lung reduction surgery (ULRS) by using computed tomographic (CT) lung densitometry.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-eight patients underwent CT before and 3 months after ULRS. With use of a density mask software program and a three-dimensional graphics workstation, CT scans were analyzed to define the volume of the lungs and the volume of emphysema.

Pulmonary infiltrates following administration of paclitaxel.

The clinical spectrum of hypersensitivity reactions reported with paclitaxel has not included the occurrence of pulmonary infiltrates. This report describes three patients who developed transient pulmonary infiltrates after receiving paclitaxel. These infiltrates were noted 2 days to 2 weeks after administration of paclitaxel.

Improvement in pulmonary function and elastic recoil after lung-reduction surgery for diffuse emphysema.

Background: Pulmonary function may improve after surgical resection of the most severely affected lung tissue (lung-reduction surgery) in patients with diffuse emphysema. The basic mechanisms responsible for the improvement, however, are not known.

Methods: We studied 20 patients with diffuse emphysema before and at least three months after either a unilateral or a bilateral lung-reduction procedure.