Decreasing Postanesthesia Care Unit to Floor Transfer Times to Facilitate Short Stay Total Joint Replacements.

Purpose: We describe a process for studying and improving baseline postanesthesia care unit (PACU)-to-floor transfer times after total joint replacements.

Design: Quality improvement project using lean methodology.

Methods: Phase I of the investigational process involved collection of baseline data.

Optimization of a Low Magnesium, Cholesterol-Containing Diet for the Development of Atherosclerosis in Rabbits.

The cholesterol-fed rabbit is useful for atherosclerosis research. We describe development of a low-magnesium (Mg) cholesterol-containing diet to accelerate atherosclerosis in this model. Male New Zealand White rabbits were fed either chow or one of four atherogenic diets: 1% cholesterol 10% fat 0.

Validated sandwich ELISA for the quantification of von Willebrand factor in rabbit plasma.

von Willebrand Factor (vWF) is a multimeric plasma protein important for platelet plug formation. As part of its haemostatic role, it is released from endothelial cells during vascular stress or injury and is considered an excellent biomarker of endothelial function. Currently, there are no validated kits available to measure vWF in rabbits.

Skewed X inactivation and IVF-conceived infants.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether skewed X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is associated with IVF. A retrospective cohort study was performed comprising 30 female infants conceived by IVF and 44 naturally conceived control infants matched for gestational age and sex. Cord blood DNA samples were obtained and XCI patterns were analysed using a methylation-sensitive assay.

Inadequate dietary magnesium intake increases atherosclerotic plaque development in rabbits.

Epidemiological studies have shown dietary magnesium (Mg) intake and serum Mg levels to be inversely correlated with the development of atherosclerosis. We hypothesized that low levels of Mg would promote atherosclerotic plaque development in rabbits. New Zealand white rabbits (4 months old, n = 22) were fed an atherogenic diet containing 0.

Sudden bilateral sensorineural hearing loss following speedballing.

Background: Hearing loss is an infrequently-reported consequence of recreational drug abuse. Although there are sporadic reports of hearing loss from heroin and cocaine ingested separately, there are no reports of hearing loss resulting from the combination of both drugs ingested simultaneously in the form of speedballing.

Purpose: The purpose of this report is to document a case of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss associated with an episode of speedballing.

Lycopene biodistribution is altered in 15,15'-carotenoid monooxygenase knockout mice.

15,15'-carotenoid monooxygenase (CMO I) is generally recognized as the central carotenoid cleavage enzyme responsible for converting provitamin A carotenoids to vitamin A, while having little affinity for nonprovitamin A carotenoids, such as lycopene. To investigate the role of CMO I in carotenoid metabolism, approximately 90-d-old C57BL/6 x 129/SvJ [CMO I wild-type (WT)] and B6;129S6-Bcmo1tm1Dnp [CMO I knockout (KO)] mice were fed a high-fat, moderate vitamin A, cholesterol-containing diet supplemented with 150 mg/kg diet of beta-carotene, lycopene, or placebo beadlets for 60 d (n = 12-14). CMO I KO mice fed lycopene (Lyc-KO) exhibited significant decreases in hepatic, spleen, and thymus lycopene concentrations and significant increases in prostate, seminal vesicles, testes, and brain lycopene concentrations compared with WT mice fed lycopene (Lyc-WT).

Ti: sapphire-based picosecond visible-infrared sum-frequency spectroscopy from 900-3100 cm-1.

Visible-infrared sum-frequency spectroscopy is ideally suited to the study of surfaces and interfaces. This paper introduces new sum-frequency spectroscopy instrumentation that we have developed with two novel features: (1) stable and robust infrared generation in the 900-3100 cm(-1) (11-3.2 microm) region using an amplified Ti : sapphire oscillator with a home-built OPG/OPA, and (2) continuous tuning over either 900-2700 cm(-1) (11-3.