The Deyo-Charlson and Elixhauser-van Walraven Comorbidity Indices as predictors of mortality in critically ill patients.

Objectives: Our primary objective was to compare the utility of the Deyo-Charlson Comorbidity Index (DCCI) and Elixhauser-van Walraven Comorbidity Index (EVCI) to predict mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Setting: Observational study of 2 tertiary academic centres located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Participants: The study cohort consisted of 59,816 patients from admitted to 12 ICUs between January 2007 and December 2012.

Essential role of endocytosis for interleukin-4-receptor-mediated JAK/STAT signalling.

Many important signalling cascades operate through specialized signalling endosomes, but a corresponding mechanism has as yet not been described for hematopoietic cytokine receptors. Based on live-cell affinity measurements, we recently proposed that ligand-induced interleukin-4 receptor (IL-4R) complex formation and thus JAK/STAT pathway activation requires a local subcellular increase in receptor density. Here, we show that this concentration step is provided by the internalization of IL-4R subunits through a constitutive, Rac1-, Pak- and actin-mediated endocytosis route that causes IL-4R subunits to become enriched by about two orders of magnitude within a population of cortical endosomes.

Intraoperative protective mechanical ventilation and risk of postoperative respiratory complications: hospital based registry study.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of intraoperative protective ventilation on major postoperative respiratory complications and to define safe intraoperative mechanical ventilator settings that do not translate into an increased risk of postoperative respiratory complications.

Design: Hospital based registry study.

Setting: Academic tertiary care hospital and two affiliated community hospitals in Massachusetts, United States.

Restless Legs Syndrome and Hypertension in Mexican Women.

Background: RLS is a common chronic disorder characterized by an irresistible need to move the lower limbs that affects sleep. Poor sleep has been associated with increased blood pressure (BP). Thus, we evaluated the cross-sectional relationship between RLS and hypertension (HTN) in a large cohort study in Mexico.

Usefulness of data from magnetic resonance imaging to improve prediction of dementia: population based cohort study.

Objective: To determine whether the addition of data derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain to a model incorporating conventional risk variables improves prediction of dementia over 10 years of follow-up.

Design: Population based cohort study of individuals aged ≥ 65.

Setting: The Dijon magnetic resonance imaging study cohort from the Three-City Study, France.

Mesodermal origin of median fin mesenchyme and tail muscle in amphibian larvae.

Mesenchyme is an embryonic precursor tissue that generates a range of structures in vertebrates including cartilage, bone, muscle, kidney, and the erythropoietic system. Mesenchyme originates from both mesoderm and the neural crest, an ectodermal cell population, via an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Because ectodermal and mesodermal mesenchyme can form in close proximity and give rise to similar derivatives, the embryonic origin of many mesenchyme-derived tissues is still unclear.

Effects of p67phox on the mitochondrial oxidative state in the kidney of Dahl salt-sensitive rats: optical fluorescence 3-D cryoimaging.

The goal of the present study was to quantify and correlate the contribution of the cytosolic p67(phox) subunit of NADPH oxidase 2 to mitochondrial oxidative stress in the kidneys of the Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) hypertensive rat. Whole kidney redox states were uniquely assessed using a custom-designed optical fluorescence three-dimensional cryoimager to acquire multichannel signals of the intrinsic fluorophores NADH and FAD. SS rats were compared with SS rats in which the cytosolic subunit p67(phox) was rendered functionally inactive by zinc finger nuclease mutation of the gene (SS(p67phox)-null rats).

Primary prevention with lipid lowering drugs and long term risk of vascular events in older people: population based cohort study.

Objective: To determine the association between use of lipid lowering drugs (statin or fibrate) in older people with no known history of vascular events and long term risk of coronary heart disease and stroke

Design: Ongoing prospective population based cohort study recruited in 1999-2000, with five face-to-face examinations.

Setting: Random sample of community dwelling population aged 65 years and over, living in three French cities (Bordeaux, Dijon, Montpellier).

Participants: 7484 men and women (63%) with mean age 73.

Shared genetic basis for migraine and ischemic stroke: A genome-wide analysis of common variants.

Objective: To quantify genetic overlap between migraine and ischemic stroke (IS) with respect to common genetic variation.

Methods: We applied 4 different approaches to large-scale meta-analyses of genome-wide data on migraine (23,285 cases and 95,425 controls) and IS (12,389 cases and 62,004 controls). First, we queried known genome-wide significant loci for both disorders, looking for potential overlap of signals.

Dose-dependent Association between Intermediate-acting Neuromuscular-blocking Agents and Postoperative Respiratory Complications.

Background: Duration of action increases with repeated administration of neuromuscular-blocking agents, and intraoperative use of high doses of neuromuscular-blocking agent may affect respiratory safety.

Methods: In a hospital-based registry study on 48,499 patients who received intermediate-acting neuromuscular-blocking agents, the authors tested the primary hypothesis that neuromuscular-blocking agents are dose dependently associated with the risk of postoperative respiratory complications. In the secondary analysis, the authors evaluated the association between neostigmine dose given for reversal of neuromuscular-blocking agents and respiratory complications.

Headache, migraine and risk of brain tumors in women: prospective cohort study.

Background: While headache is a common symptom among brain tumors patients, often patients with common headache have concerns of being at risk for developing brain tumors. We aimed to disprove that migraine or headache in general is associated with increased risk of developing brain tumors.

Methods: Prospective study among 39,534 middle-aged women, free of any cancer, and who provided information on headache history at baseline.

Restless Legs Syndrome and Cognitive Function: A Population-based Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Restless legs syndrome has been speculated to be linked to cognitive impairment through vascular risk factors or through its effect on sleep deprivation. Previous studies on the association between restless legs syndrome and cognitive function have been inconclusive. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the association between restless legs syndrome and cognitive function using data from a large population-based study of elderly individuals residing in France.

Loss of milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) in mice leads to low bone mass and accelerates ovariectomy-associated bone loss by increasing osteoclastogenesis.

Milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) is a glycoprotein that controls the engulfment of apoptotic cells and exerts inflammation-modulatory effects. Recently, it has been implicated in osteoclastogenesis and the pathogenesis of inflammatory periodontal bone loss, but its role in physiological bone homeostasis is still not well defined. Here, we evaluated the influence of MFG-E8 on osteoblasts and osteoclasts and its impact on bone remodeling in healthy and ovariectomized mice as a model for post-menopausal osteoporosis.

The phenotype of cancer cell invasion controlled by fibril diameter and pore size of 3D collagen networks.

The behavior of cancer cells is strongly influenced by the properties of extracellular microenvironments, including topology, mechanics and composition. As topological and mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix are hard to access and control for in-depth studies of underlying mechanisms in vivo, defined biomimetic in vitro models are needed. Herein we show, how pore size and fibril diameter of collagen I networks distinctively regulate cancer cell morphology and invasion.

Is migraine a risk factor for pediatric stroke?

Importance: Our understanding of risk factors for childhood stroke is incomplete. In adults, migraine with aura is associated with a two-fold increase in ischemic stroke risk.

Objective: In this cohort study we examine the association between migraine and stroke among children in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC).

[Prevalence of restless legs syndrome in 69,830 Mexican women].

Objective: To determine the prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in a group of Mexican women.

Material And Methods: In 2011 a sample 69,830 Mexican women participating in a longitudinal study answered a questionnaire addressing the minimal diagnostic criteria for RLS.

Results: RLS prevalence was 15.

Migraine and breast cancer risk: a prospective cohort study and meta-analysis.

Background: The evidence for an association between migraine and breast cancer risk is inconclusive. While female sex hormones have been proposed as one underlying mechanism, data on sex hormone levels in migraineurs are sparse.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated the association between migraine and breast cancer risk among 115378 Nurses' Health Study II participants using Cox proportional hazards models.

Null mutation of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase subunit p67phox protects the Dahl-S rat from salt-induced reductions in medullary blood flow and glomerular filtration rate.

Null mutations in the p67(phox) subunit of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase confer protection from salt sensitivity on Dahl salt-sensitive rats. Here, we track the sequential changes in medullary blood flow (MBF), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), urinary protein, and mean arterial pressure in SSp67(phox) null rats and wild-type littermates during 21 days of 4.0% NaCl high-salt (HS) diet.