Surgical Approach to Orbital Floor Fractures: Comparing Complication Rates Between Subciliary and Subconjunctival Approaches.

Background: There are multiple approaches to repairing orbital floor fractures. This study compares the postoperative complications of the subciliary and transconjunctival approaches.

Methods: The electronic medical records from 2 hospitals were screened for CPT codes associated with orbital floor reconstruction.

C/EBPα is an essential collaborator in Hoxa9/Meis1-mediated leukemogenesis.

Homeobox A9 (HOXA9) is a homeodomain-containing transcription factor that plays a key role in hematopoietic stem cell expansion and is commonly deregulated in human acute leukemias. A variety of upstream genetic alterations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) lead to overexpression of HOXA9, almost always in association with overexpression of its cofactor meis homeobox 1 (MEIS1) . A wide range of data suggests that HOXA9 and MEIS1 play a synergistic causative role in AML, although the molecular mechanisms leading to transformation by HOXA9 and MEIS1 remain elusive.

Decellularized tendon-bone composite grafts for extremity reconstruction: an experimental study.

Background: Restoration of biomechanical strength following surgical reconstruction of tendon or ligament insertion tears is challenging because these injuries typically heal as fibrous scars. The authors hypothesize that injuries at the tendon-bone interface would benefit from reconstruction with decellularized composite tendon-bone grafts.

Methods: Tendon-bone grafts were harvested from Sprague-Dawley rats.

Human flexor tendon tissue engineering: in vivo effects of stem cell reseeding.

Background: Tissue-engineered human flexor tendons may be an option to aid in reconstruction of complex upper extremity injuries with significant tendon loss. The authors hypothesize that human adipose-derived stem cells remain viable following reseeding on human tendon scaffolds in vivo and aid in graft integration.

Methods: Decellularized human flexor tendons harvested from fresh-frozen cadavers and reseeded with green fluorescent protein-labeled pooled human adipose-derived stem cells were examined with bioluminescent imaging and immunohistochemistry.

Physicochemical decellularization of composite flexor tendon-bone interface grafts.

Background: Extremity injuries involving tendon attachment to bone are difficult to address. Clinically, tendon-bone interface allografts must be decellularized to reduce immunogenicity. Composite grafts are difficult to decellularize because chemical agents cannot reach cells between tissues.

Tissue-engineered collateral ligament composite allografts for scapholunate ligament reconstruction: an experimental study.

Purpose: In patients with chronic scapholunate (SL) dissociation or dynamic instability, ligament repair is often not possible, and surgical reconstruction is indicated. The ideal graft ligament would recreate both anatomical and biomechanical properties of the dorsal scapholunate ligament (dorsal SLIL). The finger proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP joint) collateral ligament could possibly be a substitute ligament.

Structure based design of an in vivo active hydroxamic acid inhibitor of P. aeruginosa LpxC.

Lipid A is an essential component of the Gram negative outer membrane, which protects the bacterium from attack of many antibiotics. The Lipid A biosynthesis pathway is essential for Gram negative bacterial growth and is unique to these bacteria. The first committed step in Lipid A biosynthesis is catalysis by LpxC, a zinc dependent deacetylase.

Identification and characterization of Hoxa9 binding sites in hematopoietic cells.

The clustered homeobox proteins play crucial roles in development, hematopoiesis, and leukemia, yet the targets they regulate and their mechanisms of action are poorly understood. Here, we identified the binding sites for Hoxa9 and the Hox cofactor Meis1 on a genome-wide level and profiled their associated epigenetic modifications and transcriptional targets. Hoxa9 and the Hox cofactor Meis1 cobind at hundreds of highly evolutionarily conserved sites, most of which are distant from transcription start sites.

Seasonal effects on human striatal presynaptic dopamine synthesis.

Past studies in rodents have demonstrated circannual variation in central dopaminergic activity as well as a host of compelling interactions between melatonin--a scotoperiod-responsive neurohormone closely tied to seasonal adaptation--and dopamine in the striatum and in midbrain neuronal populations with striatal projections. In humans, seasonal effects have been described for dopaminergic markers in CSF and postmortem brain, and there exists a range of affective, psychotic, and substance abuse disorders that have been associated with both seasonal symptomatic fluctuations and dopamine neurotransmission abnormalities. Together, these data indirectly suggest a potentially crucial link between circannual biorhythms and central dopamine systems.

The PAF complex synergizes with MLL fusion proteins at HOX loci to promote leukemogenesis.

MLL is involved in chromosomal rearrangements that generate fusion proteins with deregulated transcriptional activity. The mechanisms of MLL fusion protein-mediated transcriptional activation are poorly understood. Here we show MLL interacts directly with the polymerase associated factor complex (PAFc) through sequences flanking the CxxC domain.

Oral glucosamine for 6 weeks at standard doses does not cause or worsen insulin resistance or endothelial dysfunction in lean or obese subjects.

Glucosamine is a popular nutritional supplement used to treat osteoarthritis. Intravenous administration of glucosamine causes insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction. However, rigorous clinical studies evaluating the safety of oral glucosamine with respect to metabolic and cardiovascular pathophysiology are lacking.

3-aminoquinazolinediones as a new class of antibacterial agents demonstrating excellent antibacterial activity against wild-type and multidrug resistant organisms.

The 3-aminoquinzolinediones represent a new series of antibacterial agents structurally related to the fluoroquinolones. They are inhibitors of bacterial gyrase and topoisomerase IV and demonstrate clinically useful antibacterial activity against fastidious Gram-negative and Gram-positive organisms, including multidrug- and fluoroquinolone-resistant organisms. These agents also demonstrate in vivo efficacy in murine systemic infection models.

Purification and characterization of recombinant Staphylococcus haemolyticus DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV expressed in Escherichia coli.

The subunits of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV from Staphylococcus haemolyticus were expressed in Escherichia coli, purified to homogeneity, and used to reconstitute active enzymes that were sensitive to known topoisomerase inhibitors. This represents the first description of a method for isolating type II topoisomerases of a coagulase-negative staphylococcal species.