Type, duration, and incidence of pathologic findings after retroorbital bleeding of mice by experienced and novice personnel.

Retroorbital blood collection is a common technique in laboratory rodents due to the ease with which it can be performed and the sample volumes obtained for subsequent blood analyses. However, its use has been discouraged recently due to aesthetic discomfort and anecdotal reports of potential for ocular injury during blood collection. We hypothesized that a single standardized session of in-person training would be sufficient to learn the appropriate technique and minimize the likelihood for adverse outcomes.

Regulatory role of collagen V in establishing mechanical properties of tendons and ligaments is tissue dependent.

Patients with classic (type I) Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), characterized by heterozygous mutations in the Col5a1 and Col5a2 genes, exhibit connective tissue hyperelasticity and recurrent joint dislocations, indicating a potential regulatory role for collagen V in joint stabilizing soft tissues. This study asked whether the contribution of collagen V to the establishment of mechanical properties is tissue dependent. We mechanically tested four different tissues from wild type and targeted collagen V-null mice: the flexor digitorum longus (FDL) tendon, Achilles tendon (ACH), the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and the supraspinatus tendon (SST).

Psychiatry residents' experiences with systems-based practice: a qualitative survey.

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze qualitative data collected during field-testing of an instrument to assess psychiatric residents' experiences with systems-based practice (SBP).

Methods: A total of 237 psychiatry residents from 6 levels of training in 12 different psychiatry residency training programs responded to a 60-item instrument measuring their experiences with SBP during residency. Qualitative techniques adapted from content analysis were used to review narrative responses to open-ended questions on the instrument.

The Ras activator RasGRP3 mediates diabetes-induced embryonic defects and affects endothelial cell migration.

Rationale: Fetuses that develop in diabetic mothers have a higher incidence of birth defects that include cardiovascular defects, but the signaling pathways that mediate these developmental effects are poorly understood. It is reasonable to hypothesize that diabetic maternal effects are mediated by 1 or more pathways activated downstream of aberrant glucose metabolism, because poorly controlled maternal glucose levels correlate with the frequency and severity of the defects.

Objective: We investigated whether RasGRP3 (Ras guanyl-releasing protein 3), a Ras activator expressed in developing blood vessels, mediates diabetes-induced vascular developmental defects.

Psychiatric assessment of aggressive patients: a violent attack on a resident.

Aggressive patients often target psychiatrists and psychiatric residents, yet most clinicians are insufficiently trained in violence risk assessment and management. Consequently, many clinicians are reluctant to diagnose and treat aggressive and assaultive features in psychiatric patients and instead focus attention on other axis I mental disorders with proven pharmacological treatment in the hope that this approach will reduce the aggressive behavior. Unclear or nonexistent reporting policies or feelings of self-blame may impede clinicians from reporting assaults, thus limiting our knowledge of the impact of, and best response to, aggression in psychiatric patients.

Autophagy in the heart and liver during normal aging and calorie restriction.

Autophagy is a highly regulated intracellular process for the degradation of cellular constituents and essential for the maintenance of a healthy cell. We evaluated the effects of age and life-long calorie restriction on autophagy in heart and liver of young (6 months) and old (26 months) Fisher 344 rats. We observed that the occurrence of autophagic vacuoles was higher in heart than liver.

Habitat corridors function as both drift fences and movement conduits for dispersing flies.

Corridors connect otherwise isolated habitat patches and can direct movement of animals among such patches. In eight experimental landscapes, we tested two hypotheses of how corridors might affect dispersal behavior. The Traditional Corridor hypothesis posits that animals preferentially leave patches via corridors, following them into adjacent patches.