The "justice gap" for sexual assault cases: future directions for research and reform.

Media coverage often reports "good" news about the criminal justice system's ability to effectively respond to sexual assault, concluding that the past two decades have seen an increase in rape reporting, prosecution, and conviction. The objective of this article is to examine the validity of such conclusions by critically reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of various data sources and comparing the statistics they produce. These statistics include estimates for sexual assault reporting rates and case outcomes in the criminal justice system.

Divergent activities of osteogenic BMP2, and tenogenic BMP12 and BMP13 independent of receptor binding affinities.

Ectopic expression of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP2) induces osteogenesis, while ectopic expression of rhBMP12 and rhBMP13 induces the formation of tendon-like tissue. Despite their different in vivo activities, all three ligands bound to the type I bone morphogenic protein receptors (BMPRs), activin receptor-like kinase (ALK)-3 and ALK6, and to the type II BMPRs, activin receptor type-2A, activin receptor type-2B, and BMPR2, with similar affinities. Treatment of C3H10T1/2 cells with rhBMP2 activated SMAD signaling and induced expression of osteoblast markers including osteocalcin mRNA (Ocn).

Reply to article "Receiving a forensic medical exam without participating in the criminal justice process: what will it mean?".

The Implications of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) pertaining to medical forensic exams are thoroughly explored in this analysis. The authors were motivated to write this article as a follow-up to a paper by Price (2010) previously published in the Journal of Forensic Nursing. Given the critical importance of this topic to forensic nursing, further examination of this issue is warranted, as a means of clarifying key issues, as well as addressing implications for the criminal justice and community response systems alike.

Regulation of gene expression in human tendinopathy.

Background: Chronic tendon injuries, also known as tendinopathies, are common among professional and recreational athletes. These injuries result in a significant amount of morbidity and health care expenditure, yet little is known about the molecular mechanisms leading to tendinopathy.

Methods: We have used histological evaluation and molecular profiling to determine gene expression changes in 23 human patients undergoing surgical procedures for the treatment of chronic tendinopathy.

Treatment with rhBMP12 or rhBMP13 increase the rate and the quality of rat Achilles tendon repair.

Tendon injuries that result in partial or complete tears often come from chronic, repetitive use, or from sudden trauma. In some cases, torn tendons can be repaired, but such repairs often fail to completely restore tendon function. We used global gene expression profiling and histological examination to study tendon repair to elucidate key molecular processes that regulate the rate and quality of tissue restoration.

Tendon-selective genes identified from rat and human musculoskeletal tissues.

Mesenchymal stems cells have a demonstrated ability to differentiate into muscle, bone, and fat. Determining whether these same cells have the ability to differentiate into tendon-like fibroblasts has been hampered by the lack of specific tendon cell marker genes. In order to identify molecular markers of mature tendon, expression profiling was used to identify genes expressed in adult rat and human tendon tissue compared to other musculoskeletal tissues.

rhBMP-12 accelerates healing of rotator cuff repairs in a sheep model.

Background: The success rate of rotator cuff repairs is variable. This study was performed to evaluate the ability of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-12 (rhBMP-12), administered in several carriers, to accelerate healing in a sheep model of rotator cuff repair.

Methods: Local retention of tracer amounts of radiolabeled rhBMP-12, added to non-radiolabeled rhBMP-12 delivered in buffer, hyaluronan paste or sponges, or Type-I or Type-I/III collagen sponges was first evaluated with use of gamma scintigraphy in a pilot study of a rat intramuscular implant model.

Gene expression in rat supraspinatus tendon recovers from overuse with rest.

Rest is a common treatment for overuse injuries, but its effectiveness on gene expression has not been systematically evaluated under controlled experimental conditions. We asked whether genes regulated in the supraspinatus tendon as a result of overuse would return to normal levels after 2 or 4 weeks of rest. We used a rat model of tendon overuse that generates reproducible changes in the histology, geometry, gene expression, and mechanical properties consistent with an overuse injury.

Rabbit tendon cells produce MMP-3 in response to fluid flow without significant calcium transients.

Forces applied to tendon during movement cause cellular deformation, as well as fluid movement. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that rabbit tendon fibroblasts detect and respond to fluid-induced shear stress. Cells were isolated from the paratenon of the rabbit Achilles tendon and then subjected to fluid flow at 1 dyn/cm(2) for 6h in a specially designed multi-slide flow device.

Stretch and interleukin-1beta induce matrix metalloproteinases in rabbit tendon cells in vitro.

Little is known about the factors that initiate and propagate tendon overuse injuries, but chronic inflammation and matrix destruction have been implicated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the production of cyclooxygenase II (COX-2) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) by tendon cells exposed to cyclic strain and inflammatory cytokines in vitro. Rabbit Achilles tendon cells were subjected to a stretching protocol with 5% elongation at 0.