Three-dimensional imaging provides valuable clinical data to aid in unilateral tissue expander-implant breast reconstruction.

The current approach to breast reconstruction remains largely subjective and is based on physical examination and visual-estimates of breast size. Thus, the overall success of breast reconstruction is limited by the inability of plastic surgeons to objectively assess breast volume and shape, which may result in suboptimal outcomes. A potential solution to this obstacle may be three-dimensional (3D) imaging, which can provide unique clinical data that was previously unattainable to plastic surgeons.

An innovative three-dimensional approach to defining the anatomical changes occurring after short scar-medial pedicle reduction mammaplasty.

Background: Three-dimensional photography of the breast offers new opportunities to advance the fields of aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery. The following study investigates the use of three-dimensional imaging to assess changes in breast surface anatomy, volume, tissue distribution, and projection following medial pedicle reduction mammaplasty.

Methods: Preoperative and postoperative three-dimensional scans were obtained from patients undergoing short-scar medial pedicle breast reduction.

Outcomes after breast reduction: does size really matter?

There is no doubt that reduction mammoplasty (RM) results in significant improvement in a myriad of patient macromastia-related symptoms and other macromastia-related quality of life factors. Whether this improvement is correlated with the amount of tissue resected remains unknown because no previous study of RM has stratified patients by the amount of breast tissue resected. In this study, all patients were given a custom-designed questionnaire designed to evaluate their macromastia-related symptoms and other macromastia-related quality of life issues.

Mefolinate (5-methyltetrahydrofolate), but not folic acid, decreases mortality in an animal model of severe methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency.

Severe deficiency of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) results in homocystinuria, with a variety of neurological and vascular complications, and sometimes death in the first year of life. MTHFR (EC 1.5.

Comparison of DIGE and post-stained gel electrophoresis with both traditional and SameSpots analysis for quantitative proteomics.

2-DE is an important tool in quantitative proteomics. Here, we compare the deep purple (DP) system with DIGE using both a traditional and the SameSpots approach to gel analysis. Missing values in the traditional approach were found to be a significant issue for both systems.

Design and analysis issues in quantitative proteomics studies.

Quantitative proteomics is the comparison of distinct proteomes which enables the identification of protein species which exhibit changes in expression or post-translational state in response to a given stimulus. Many different quantitative techniques are being utilized and generate large datasets. Independent of the technique used, these large datasets need robust data analysis to ensure valid conclusions are drawn from such studies.

Reduction mammaplasty: a significant improvement at any size.

Background: Reduction mammaplasty has been shown to be efficacious in reducing the burden of symptoms and improving the quality of life for patients with macromastia. However, most insurance carriers will not reimburse for mammaplasties involving less than 1000 g of total tissue resected. To refute this arbitrary policy, the authors set out to examine the effect of reduction mammaplasty in which less than 1000 g of breast tissue was resected on patients' macromastia-related symptoms and macromastia-related quality-of-life factors.

Intraoperative Sensorcaine significantly improves postoperative pain management in outpatient reduction mammaplasty.

Background: Breast reduction is one of the most frequently performed plastic surgical procedures in the United States; more than 160,500 patients underwent the procedure in 2005. Many outpatient reduction mammaplasty patients report the greatest postoperative discomfort in the first 48 hours. The authors' investigated the effect of intraoperative topical application of the long-acting local anesthetic agent bupivacaine (Sensorcaine or Marcaine) on postoperative pain, time to postanesthesia care unit discharge, and postoperative use of narcotic medication.

The fate of lower extremities with failed free flaps: a single institution's experience over 25 years.

Background: Lower-extremity reconstruction with microvascular free flap coverage is often the only option for limb salvage. Flap failure rates, however, continue to have higher complication rates than those to other anatomic sites; a significant number of flaps that fail result in amputation. This study retrospectively analyzed patients treated at a single institution who underwent attempted lower-extremity limb salvage with microsurgical techniques over a 25-year period.

Localization and distribution of NOS1 in murine airways.

Nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOS1) is a major determinant of bronchial responsiveness in mice and has been proposed as an asthma gene in man. Nevertheless, how nitric oxide production by NOS1 contributes to airway responsiveness remains unclear. Although NOS1 is usually closely associated with nerves, it has also been found in a variety of other cell types, particularly epithelium.

Glucocorticoid signaling synchronizes the liver circadian transcriptome.

Unlabelled: Circadian control of physiology is mediated by local, tissue-based clocks, synchronized to each other and to solar time by signals from the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), the master oscillator in the hypothalamus. These local clocks coordinate the transcription of key pathways to establish tissue-specific daily metabolic programs. How local transcriptomes are synchronized across the organism and their relative contribution to circadian output remain unclear.

Experimental and statistical considerations to avoid false conclusions in proteomics studies using differential in-gel electrophoresis.

In quantitative proteomics, the false discovery rate (FDR) can be defined as the number of false positives within statistically significant changes in expression. False positives accumulate during the simultaneous testing of expression changes across hundreds or thousands of protein or peptide species when univariate tests such as the Student's t test are used. Currently most researchers rely solely on the estimation of p values and a significance threshold, but this approach may result in false positives because it does not account for the multiple testing effect.

Identification of clock genes using difference gel electrophoresis.

Proteomics is the study of the complete set of proteins encoded by the genome. The study of the proteome involves the investigation of changes in protein abundance, localization, involvement in multiprotein complexes, and detection of different protein isoforms and posttranslational modifications under defined conditions, such as the circadian cycle. This type of approach complements comparative gene expression studies providing additional information with respect to posttranscriptional processing.

Surgical solutions to the problem of massive weight loss.

In response to the global rise in obesity, bariatric surgery has become increasingly more popular and successful. As a result, the demand for body contouring following massive weight loss is rapidly growing. Although bariatric procedures may produce impressive weight loss, people who achieve massive weight loss are often unhappy with the hanging folds of skin and subcutaneous tissue that remain.

Virtual 3-dimensional modeling as a valuable adjunct to aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery.

Three-dimensional (3D) imaging technology currently is used by various commercial industries as a method for analyzing objects and shapes. Recent work from our group and others offer data to support the use of 3D imaging as a valuable tool in aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery. We have developed a system for creating 3D breast models that provides clinical data that can help guide surgical management.

Circadian orchestration of the hepatic proteome.

Circadian rhythms are essential to health. Their disruption is associated with metabolic diseases in experimental animals and man. Local metabolic rhythms represent an output of tissue-based circadian clocks.

The vertical reduction mammaplasty: a prospective analysis of patient outcomes.

Background: In the United States, breast reductions based upon a Wise pattern incision remain common. However, dissatisfaction with this procedure, on the part of the patient and the surgeon alike because of unsightly scars and long-term "bottoming out" of the breast, has promoted the search for alternative methods of breast reduction. The purpose of this study was to analyze patient outcomes after vertical reduction mammaplasty utilizing prospectively collected data.

Impact of replicate types on proteomic expression analysis.

In expression proteomics, the samples utilized within an experimental design may include technical, biological, or pooled replicates. This manuscript discusses various experimental designs and the conclusions that can be drawn from them. Specifically, it addresses the impact of mixing replicate types on the statistical analysis which can be performed.

Maximising sensitivity for detecting changes in protein expression: experimental design using minimal CyDyes.

DIGE is a powerful tool for measuring changes in protein expression between samples. Here we assess the assumptions of normality and heterogeneity of variance that underlie the univariate statistical tests routinely used to detect proteins with expression changes. Furthermore, the technical variance experienced in a multigel experiment is assessed here and found to be reproducible within- and across-sample types.

Analysis of calibration methodologies for solvent effects in drug discovery studies using evanescent wave biosensors.

Recent improvements in sensitivity have enabled direct binding studies of small molecules with evanescent wave biosensors, which monitor binding by measuring refractive index changes close to the sensing surface. The universal solvent for small molecules, dimethylsulfoxide has a high refractive index; consequently, on ligate addition a large non-specific solvent effect is seen which can mask the specific signal. It has been previously noted that different sensor surfaces can respond differently to the same buffer change.

Application of partial least squares discriminant analysis to two-dimensional difference gel studies in expression proteomics.

Two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE) is a tool for measuring changes in protein expression between samples involving pre-electrophoretic labeling ith cyanine dyes. In multi-gel experiments, univariate statistical tests have been used to identify differential expression between sample types by looking for significant changes in spot volume. Multivariate statistical tests, which look for correlated changes between sample types, provide an alternate approach for identifying spots with differential expression.

Determining a significant change in protein expression with DeCyder during a pair-wise comparison using two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis.

Two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE) is a tool for measuring changes in protein expression between samples involving pre-electrophoretic labeling with cyanine dyes. Here we assess a common method to analyze DIGE data using the DeCyder software system. Experimental error was studied by a series of same sample comparisons.

Mitochondrial dysfunction in schizophrenia: evidence for compromised brain metabolism and oxidative stress.

The etiology and pathophysiology of schizophrenia remain unknown. A parallel transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics approach was employed on human brain tissue to explore the molecular disease signatures. Almost half the altered proteins identified by proteomics were associated with mitochondrial function and oxidative stress responses.

Medial pedicle/vertical breast reduction made easy: the importance of complete inferior glandular resection.

Over the past several years, I noted an increased demand for shorter-scar breast reductions. I started to perform the vertical scar/medial pedicle breast reduction in January of 2001. Since that time, 120 procedures were performed, and these cases are the basis for this study.