Acetabular orientation variability and symmetry based on CT scans of adults.

Purpose: Understanding acetabular orientation is important in many orthopaedic procedures. Acetabular orientation, usually described by anteversion and abduction angles, has uncertain measurement variability in adult patients. The goals of this study are threefold: (1) to describe a new method for computing patient-specific abduction/anteversion angles from a single CT study based on the identification of anatomical landmarks and acetabular rim points; (2) to quantify the inaccuracies associated with landmark selection in computing the acetabular angles; and (3) to quantify the variability and symmetry of acetabular orientation.

Outcome of antibiotic prophylaxis discontinuation in patients with persistent vesicoureteral reflux initially presenting with febrile urinary tract infection: time to event analysis.

Purpose: The use of antibiotic prophylaxis for preventing urinary tract infections has recently been called into question. Some studies support discontinuation of antibiotic prophylaxis in selected groups of children with vesicoureteral reflux. We report on the outcome of this practice in a cohort of patients assembled based on initial presentation with a febrile urinary tract infection.

Summary of the AUA Guideline on Management of Primary Vesicoureteral Reflux in Children.

Purpose: The American Urological Association established the Vesicoureteral Reflux Guideline Update Committee in July 2005 to update the management of primary vesicoureteral reflux in children guideline. The Panel defined the task into 5 topics pertaining to specific vesicoureteral reflux management issues, which correspond to the management of 3 distinct index patients and the screening of 2 distinct index patients. This report summarizes the existing evidence pertaining to children with diagnosed reflux including those young or older than 1 year without evidence of bladder and bowel dysfunction and those older than 1 year with evidence of bladder and bowel dysfunction.

Pediatric Vesicoureteral Reflux Guidelines Panel Summary Report: Clinical Practice Guidelines for Screening Siblings of Children With Vesicoureteral Reflux and Neonates/Infants With Prenatal Hydronephrosis.

Purpose: The American Urological Association established the Vesicoureteral Reflux Guideline Update Committee in July 2005 to update the management of primary vesicoureteral reflux in children guideline. The Panel defined the task into 5 topics pertaining to specific vesicoureteral reflux management issues, which correspond to the management of 3 distinct index patients and the screening of 2 distinct index patients. This report summarizes the existing evidence pertaining to screening of siblings and offspring of index patients with vesicoureteral reflux and infants with prenatal hydronephrosis.

Optimizing catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia therapy in calsequestrin-mutant mice.

Background: Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a lethal arrhythmia provoked by physical or emotional stress and mediated by spontaneous Ca(2+) release and delayed after-depolarizations. Beta-adrenergic blockers are the therapy of choice but fail to control arrhythmia in up to 50% of patients.

Objective: To optimize antiarrhythmic therapy in recessively inherited CPVT caused by calsequestrin (CASQ2) mutations.

A Michelson controlled-not gate with a single-lens astigmatic mode converter.

We propose and demonstrate experimentally a single lens design for an astigmatic mode converter that transforms the transverse mode of paraxial optical beams. As an application, we implement a controlled-not gate based on a Michelson interferometer in which the photon polarization is the control bit and the first order transverse mode is the target. As a further application, we also build a transverse mode parity sorter which can be useful for quantum information processing as a measurement device for the transverse mode qubit.

A novel field-of-view augmentation wand for C-arm computed tomography-like fluoroscopy-based intraoperative navigation new technology.

Intraoperative fluoroscopically based computed tomography, integrated with a navigation system, holds great potential for improving visualization and navigation in orthopedic procedures. However, a limited field of view generated by the fluoroscopically based computed tomography has imposed a serious limitation, especially for navigation-based procedures. The device presented in this article enables one to overcome the limitation of the small field of view.

Improving on-time surgical starts in an operating room.

Background: Operating rooms are expensive to run, and hospitals strive to be efficient. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an initiative to improve starting on time in the operating room in an academic pediatric hospital.

Methods: We used an 8-step approach to transforming an organization.

Continuous-variable hyperentanglement in a parametric oscillator with orbital angular momentum.

We describe continuous-variable hyperentanglement in polarization and orbital angular momentum modes of an optical parametric oscillator. The quantum stochastic equations for the multimode parametric interaction are derived and solved allowing for calculation of the quadrature noise spectra that characterize continuous-variable entanglement. As a main result, we predict simultaneous entanglement between different combinations of amplitude and phase quadratures of the interacting modes.

Ochratoxin a: general overview and actual molecular status.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by several species of Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi that structurally consists of a para-chlorophenolic group containing a dihydroisocoumarin moiety that is amide-linked to L-phenylalanine. OTA is detected worldwide in various food and feed sources. Studies show that this molecule can have several toxicological effects such as nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, neurotoxic, teratogenic and immunotoxic.

Predictors for survival of penetrating trauma using emergency department thoracotomy in an urban trauma center: the Cardiac Instability Score.

Background: Emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) is a procedure used in an attempt to save lives of patients in extremis. This study aims to determine predictors of survival and futility by proposing a scoring scale that measures cardiac instability and its use in predicting survival of victims of penetrating trauma undergoing EDT.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzes patients who underwent EDT during a 45-month period at Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC.

Iron-based 1D nanostructures by electrospinning process.

Iron-based 1D nanostructures have been successfully prepared using an electrospinning technique and varying the pyrolysis atmospheres. Hematite (Fe(2)O(3)) nanotubes and polycrystalline Fe(3)C nanofibers were obtained by simple air or mixed gas (H(2), Ar) annealing treatments. Using the air annealing treatment, a high control of the morphology as well as of the wall thickness of the nanotubes was demonstrated with a direct influence of the starting polymer concentration.

Morphologic, mechanical, conductive, and hemodynamic changes following transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect.

Objective: The secundum type of atrial septal defect (ASD) is a common congenital cardiac anomaly. Transcatheter closure of the defect is the preferable therapeutic approach to avoid potential future complications. This work extends the data collected so far regarding the electrocardiographic, morphologic, hemodynamic, and mechanical changes following the procedure.

Early-life stress and antidepressant treatment involve synaptic signaling and Erk kinases in a gene-environment model of depression.

Stress has been shown to interact with genetic vulnerability in pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. Here we investigated the outcome of interaction between genetic vulnerability and early-life stress, by employing a rodent model that combines an inherited trait of vulnerability in Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rats, with early-life stress (maternal separation). Basal differences in synaptic signaling between FSL rats and their controls were studied, as well as the consequences of early-life stress in adulthood, and their response to chronic antidepressant treatment (escitalopram).

Comparison of flank, dorsal lumbotomy and laparoscopic approaches for dismembered pyeloplasty in children older than 3 years with ureteropelvic junction obstruction.

Purpose: Selecting a surgical approach for correction of ureteropelvic junction obstruction in children is mostly driven by surgeon preference, and includes laparoscopy, flank incision and dorsal lumbotomy. Comparative analyses focusing on operative time, hospital stay and complications are lacking.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 41 consecutive patients older than 3 years who underwent laparoscopic pyeloplasty by a single surgeon between 2005 and 2008.

The outcome of closed, intramedullary exchange nailing with reamed insertion in the treatment of femoral shaft nonunions.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of closed, intramedullary exchange nailing with reamed insertion for the treatment of femoral shaft nonunions previously treated with an intramedullary nail.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Academic level I trauma center.

CSF neurochemicals during tryptophan depletion in individuals with remitted depression and healthy controls.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differential effects of acute tryptophan (TRP) depletion vs. sham condition on plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biochemical parameters, and mood in the following three subject groups: (1) nine antidepressant-free individuals with remitted depression, (2) eight paroxetine-treated individuals with recently remitted depression, and (3) seven healthy controls. Plasma TRP decreased during TRP depletion and increased during sham condition (p<.

Screening mammography: a cross-sectional study to compare characteristics of women aged 40 and older from the deep South who are current, overdue, and never screeners.

Purpose: We sought to identify unique barriers and facilitators to breast cancer screening participation among women aged 40 and older from Mississippi who were categorized as current, overdue, and never screeners.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from a 2003 population-based survey with 987 women aged 40 and older were analyzed. Chi-square analysis and multinomial logistic regression examined how factors organized under the guidance of the Model of Health Services Utilization were associated with mammography screening status.

Rotavirus gastroenteritis in children in 4 regions in Brazil: a hospital-based surveillance study.

Background: Rotavirus is a major cause of gastroenteritis in children. Knowledge of rotavirus genotypes is important for vaccination strategies.

Methods: During 2005-2006, rotavirus surveillance studies were conducted in São Paulo, Salvador, Goiânia, and Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The burden of rotavirus hospitalizations among Medicaid and non-Medicaid children younger than 5 years old.

Objectives: We sought to compare the burden of hospitalizations associated with rotavirus gastroenteritis (RGE) in children younger than 5 years in US Medicaid and non-Medicaid populations in 2000 and 2003.

Methods: We used the Kids' Inpatient Database (KID) to examine the burden of RGE-associated hospitalizations in terms of numbers and rates of hospitalizations, lengths of stay, and hospital charges. Two indirect methods were also used to estimate RGE-associated hospitalizations, because rotavirus testing is not routinely performed.

Progressive wound necrosis associated with postoperative thrombocytosis in mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction surgery: report of a case.

A 37-year-old who underwent splenectomy for motor vehicle accident-related injuries was diagnosed with stage IIA carcinoma of left breast 12 years later. She underwent bilateral mastectomy and bilateral immediate unipedicle TRAM flap reconstruction. Her preoperative platelet counts ranged from 332 to 424 K/cmm.

Open versus laparoscopic staged Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy: impact of long loop vas.

Purpose: There is a paucity of literature on factors associated with testicular atrophy following second stage laparoscopic Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy. We hypothesized that dissection of a long looping vas during this procedure could compromise testicular blood supply, leading to testicular atrophy.

Materials And Methods: Following an initial laparoscopic testicular vessel ligation, a second stage Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy was performed in 73 testes (laparoscopic in 61, open in 12).