The LTAR Cropland Common Experiment in the Lower Mississippi River Basin.

The Lower Mississippi River Basin Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Site (LMRB-LTAR) encompasses six states from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico and is coordinated by the USDA-ARS National Sedimentation Laboratory, Oxford, MS. The overarching goal of LTAR is to assess regionally diverse and geographically scalable farming practices for enhanced sustainability of agroecosystem goods and services under changing environment and resource-use conditions. The LMRB-LTAR overall goal is to assess sustainable row crop agricultural production systems that integrate regional environmental and socioeconomic needs.

Comparative analysis of three next-generation sequencing techniques to measure nosZ gene abundance in Missouri claypan soils.

Quantitative next-generation sequencing techniques have been critical in gaining a better understanding of microbial ecosystems. In soils, denitrifying microorganisms are responsible for dinitrogen (N) production. The nosZ gene codes for nitrous oxide reductase, the enzyme facilitating the reduction of nitrous oxide (NO) to N.

Development of the LYVE-1 gene with an acidic-amino-acid-rich (AAAR) domain in evolution is associated with acquisition of lymph nodes and efficient adaptive immunity.

CRSBP-1 (mammalian LYVE-1) is a membrane glycoprotein highly expressed in lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs). It has multiple ligands, including hyaluronic acid (HA) and growth factors/cytokines (e.g.

7-Dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC), But Not Cholesterol, Causes Suppression of Canonical TGF-β Signaling and Is Likely Involved in the Development of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD).

For several decades, cholesterol has been thought to cause ASCVD. Limiting dietary cholesterol intake has been recommended to reduce the risk of the disease. However, several recent epidemiological studies do not support a relationship between dietary cholesterol and/or blood cholesterol and ASCVD.

Optimal Colostomy Placement in Spinal Cord Injury Patients.

Barring unusual circumstances, sigmoid colostomy is the optimal technique for management of defecation in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. We sought to provide evidence that a sigmoid colostomy is not difficult to perform in SCI patients and has better long-term results. The St.

A sign on CT that predicts a hazardous ureteral anomaly.

Introduction: An aberrant course of the distal ureter can pose a risk of ureteral injury during surgery for inguinal hernia repair and other groin operations. In a recent case series of inguinoscrotal hernation of the ureter, we found that each affected ureter was markedly anterior to the psoas muscle at its mid-point on abdominal CT. We hypothesized that this abnormality in the abdominal course of the ureter would predict the potentially hazardous aberrant course of the distal ureter.

Ethanol Enhances TGF-β Activity by Recruiting TGF-β Receptors From Intracellular Vesicles/Lipid Rafts/Caveolae to Non-Lipid Raft Microdomains.

Regular consumption of moderate amounts of ethanol has important health benefits on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Overindulgence can cause many diseases, particularly alcoholic liver disease (ALD). The mechanisms by which ethanol causes both beneficial and harmful effects on human health are poorly understood.

Inguinoscrotal herniation of the ureter: Description of five cases.

Introduction: Descent of the ureter into the inguinal canal or scrotum is rare but undoubtedly underreported. Most known cases were recognized at the time of surgery for hernia repair. We encountered five cases recently.

Effects of P6 stimulation on postoperative nausea and vomiting in laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients.

Purpose: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) remains one of the most common postsurgical complications after anesthesia and surgery. Pericardium 6 (P6) stimulation is believed to prevent PONV and is a potential adjunctive treatment with pharmacologic agents. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of P6 stimulation on PONV occurrence to a control group not receiving the P6 stimulation in sequential female patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystecomy at a community hospital in central Florida between November 2010 and March 2013.

Adjuvant radiation therapy for breast cancer in patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Schizophrenia affects approximately 1% of subjects in all populations studied thus far. We sought to evaluate how patients with schizophrenia who are later diagnosed with breast cancer fare when adjuvant radiation therapy (ART) is clinically indicated.

Methods: We searched patient treatment file, the national inpatient computer database of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to identify patients with schizophrenia who subsequently developed breast cancer.

Metastatic breast cancer in patients with schizophrenia.

Breast cancer is a major health problem worldwide. The median survival duration for patients with metastatic breast cancer is two to three years. Approximately 1% of populations worldwide have schizophrenia.

Intensity of follow-up after breast cancer surgery: low versus high?

The incidence of breast cancer has been on the rise in the United States over the past several decades. The advanced longevity of the population during this same time period, specifically of elderly women, translates to increases in the absolute number of women diagnosed with breast cancer yearly. This, in combination with decreasing mortality rates, has now led to an increase in the number of breast cancer survivors who need long-term follow-up.

Patient surveillance after initial breast cancer therapy: variation by physician specialty.

Background: American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines recommend only office visits and mammograms as the primary modalities for patient surveillance after treatment for breast carcinoma. This study aimed to quantify differences in posttreatment surveillance among medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and surgeons.

Methods: We e-mailed a survey to the 3,245 ASCO members who identified themselves as having breast cancer as a major focus of their practices.

Breast cancer in patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Schizophrenia has a powerful impact on the outcomes of treatment for physical disorders. This study sought to estimate how the presence of schizophrenia disrupts the course of diagnosis and initial treatment of breast cancer.

Methods: We searched the Patient Treatment File, a comprehensive computer-based system for inpatient data in the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) medical system, to identify patients with codes for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who later developed breast cancer.

Surgery for constipation in patients with prior spinal cord injury: the Department of Veterans Affairs experience.

Objective: Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) typically have difficulty with constipation. Some undergo surgery for bowel management. We predicted that SCI patients would have higher mortality and/or morbidity rates following such surgery than neurally intact patients receiving the same procedures.

Clonally related methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), human volunteers, and a bayfront cetacean rehabilitation facility.

In May of 2011, a live mass stranding of 26 short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) occurred in the lower Florida Keys. Five surviving whales were transferred from the original stranding site to a nearby marine mammal rehabilitation facility where they were constantly attended to by a team of volunteers. Bacteria cultured during the routine clinical care of the whales and necropsy of a deceased whale included methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA and MRSA).

Gastrointestinal cancer surgery in patients with a prior ventriculoperitoneal shunt: the department of veterans affairs experience.

Background: The estimated prevalence of hydrocephalus in all age groups is between 1% and 1.5%. Placement of a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt in such patients offers them relatively normal lives.

Surveillance of patients with breast cancer after curative-intent primary treatment: current practice patterns.

Purpose: To determine how physicians monitor their patients after initial curative-intent treatment for breast carcinoma.

Methods: A custom-designed survey instrument with four idealized patient vignettes (TNM stages 0 to III) was e-mailed to the 3,245 members of ASCO who had identified themselves as having breast cancer as a major focus of their practice. Respondents were asked how they use 12 specific follow-up modalities during post-treatment years 1 to 5 for each vignette.

Adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer in patients with schizophrenia.

The outcomes of treatment of physical illnesses are strongly affected by the presence of schizophrenia. We aimed to quantify the clinical course of schizophrenic breast cancer patients who were eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy to determine whether patients with this mental illness receive appropriate treatment for this physical illness. We searched the national Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) computer database using computer codes for schizophrenia to identify patients who later developed breast cancer and were treated in DVA medical centers.

Intestinal adenocarcinoma arising in urinary conduits.

It is estimated that >10,000 patients who undergo cystectomy for bladder cancer in the US each year receive a conventional ileal conduit and that >2,000 receive a continent urinary diversion. Case reports of primary intestinal adenocarcinomas in urinary conduits have been published recently, mainly in the urology literature. An epidemic of such cancers in this small, high-risk population seems to be emerging, particularly in conduits that utilize the colon.

CRSBP-1/LYVE-1 ligands disrupt lymphatic intercellular adhesion by inducing tyrosine phosphorylation and internalization of VE-cadherin.

Cell-surface retention sequence (CRS) binding protein (CRSBP-1) is a membrane glycoprotein identified by its ability to bind PDGF-BB and VEGF-A via their CRS motifs (clusters of basic amino acid residues). CRSBP-1 is identical to LYVE-1 and exhibits dual ligand (CRS-containing proteins and hyaluronic acid) binding activity, suggesting the importance of CRSBP-1 ligands in lymphatic function. Here, we show that CRSBP-1 ligands induce disruption of VE-cadherin-mediated intercellular adhesion and opening of intercellular junctions in lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC) monolayers as determined by immunofluorescence microscopy and Transwell permeability assay.

Cholecystectomy in patients with prior ventriculoperitoneal shunts.

Background: There is little published evidence regarding intraoperative and postoperative complications in patients with ventriculoperitoneal shunts who undergo cholecystectomy.

Methods: Nationwide Department of Veterans Affairs databases were searched to identify patients with International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification codes for a VP shunt who later had a cholecystectomy during fiscal years 1994 to 2003. Charts on these patients were obtained and reviewed.

Abdominal wall necrosis after harvest of both internal thoracic and inferior epigastric arteries.

Background: The internal thoracic artery (ITA) and inferior epigastric artery (IEA) may be used as conduits for myocardial revascularization. Harvesting the ITAs and IEAs can lead to clinically significant ischemia of the anterior abdominal wall.

Methods: We created a registry with data from 108 patients receiving myocardial revascularization with 1 or greater ITA and (or) 1 or greater IEA.

Patient surveillance after treatment for soft-tissue sarcoma.

About 1% of all cancers are soft tissue sarcomas (STS); about 60% of these occur in the extremities. Post-treatment surveillance programs are designed to identify recurrence, new primary cancers, and complications of therapy early enough to increase survival duration and quality of life. The intensity of surveillance varies among surgeons.