The Morbidity and Mortality Assessment Tool (MMAT): Design and Proof of Concept.

Background: Morbidity and Mortality Conference (MMC) is a traditional quality assessment tool among surgical residencies to evaluate complications within their care and to integrate and educate best practices. Unfortunately, it is difficult to validate and measure loop closure as a result of MMC. This may result in repeating past mistakes or worse, becoming a meeting of anecdotal experiences.

Energetic response of Atlantic surfclam Spisula solidissima to ocean acidification.

In this study, we assessed the Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) energy budget under different ocean acidification conditions (OA). During 12 weeks, 126 individuals were maintained at three different ρCO concentrations. Every two weeks, individuals were sampled for physiological measurements and scope for growth (SFG).

Overexpression of NGF or GDNF alters transcriptional plasticity evoked by inflammation.

Transcriptional changes evoked in nociceptive sensory neurons by inflammatory injury play a substantial role in the generation of and recovery from painful hypersensitivity. Transgenic mice overexpressing nerve growth factor (NGF) or glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in the skin possess a greatly increased number of nociceptors. Surprisingly, NGF-overexpressers display reduced hypersensitivity and recovered more rapidly in response to inflammation, suggesting a compensatory suppression of nociceptive transmission in these mice.

Transgenic mice possessing increased numbers of nociceptors do not exhibit increased behavioral sensitivity in models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

At least two classes of neciceptors can be distinguished based on their growth factor requirements: glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)- and nerve growth factor (NGF)-dependent primary afferent neurons. Based on numerous anatomical and biochemical differences, GDNF- and NGF-dependent neurons have been proposed to be involved in the development of different types of persistent pain. To examine this hypothesis we used two lines of transgenic mice that contained a supernormal number of either NGF- or GDNF-dependent neurons (referred to as NGF-OE and GDNF-OE mice, respectively).