Syndecan-1 Attenuates Lung Injury during Influenza Infection by Potentiating c-Met Signaling to Suppress Epithelial Apoptosis.

Rationale: Syndecan-1 is a cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan primarily expressed in the lung epithelium. Because the influenza virus is tropic to the airway epithelium, we investigated the role of syndecan-1 in influenza infection.

Objectives: To determine the mechanism by which syndecan-1 regulates the lung mucosal response to influenza infection.

Timing of expression of the core clock gene Bmal1 influences its effects on aging and survival.

The absence of Bmal1, a core clock gene, results in a loss of circadian rhythms, an acceleration of aging, and a shortened life span in mice. To address the importance of circadian rhythms in the aging process, we generated conditional Bmal1 knockout mice that lacked the BMAL1 protein during adult life and found that wild-type circadian variations in wheel-running activity, heart rate, and blood pressure were abolished. Ocular abnormalities and brain astrogliosis were conserved irrespective of the timing of Bmal1 deletion.

The effect of 7 days of letrozole pretreatment combined with misoprostol on the expression of progesterone receptor and apoptotic factors of placental and decidual tissues from first-trimester abortion: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate if letrozole-induced suppression of estradiol reduces progesterone receptor expression and apoptosis in the first-trimester placenta.

Study Design: We performed a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. We randomized 20 women requesting first-trimester abortion with gestation up to 63 days to receive either letrozole 10 mg daily or placebo pretreatment for 7 days before administrating 400 mcg of vaginal misoprostol followed by suction abortion.

Pharmacist intervention in the prevention of heart failure for high-risk elderly patients in the community.

Background: Heart failure has become one of the major causes of hospitalization worldwide. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia are the major causes of heart failure. In order to effectively prevent heart failure, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels shall be closely monitored and controlled as well as medication adherence.

A Matrix Mentoring Model That Effectively Supports Clinical and Translational Scientists and Increases Inclusion in Biomedical Research: Lessons From the University of Utah.

Physician-scientists and scientists in all the health professions are vital members of the U.S. biomedical workforce, but their numbers at academic health centers are declining.

Creating the Exceptional Patient Experience in One Academic Health System.

Whether patient satisfaction scores can act as a catalyst for improving health care is highly debated. Some argue that pursuing patient satisfaction is overemphasized and potentially at odds with providing good care because it leads providers to overtest and overtreat patients and to bend to unreasonable patient demands, all to improve their ratings. Others cite studies showing that high patient satisfaction scores correlate with improved health outcomes.

Venous Endothelial Marker COUP-TFII Regulates the Distinct Pathologic Potentials of Adult Arteries and Veins.

Arteries and veins have very different susceptibility to certain vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and vascular calcification. The molecular mechanisms of these differences are not fully understood. In this study, we discovered that COUP-TFII, a transcription factor critical for establishing the venous identity during embryonic vascular development, also regulates the pathophysiological functions of adult blood vessels, especially those directly related to vascular diseases.

Maxillary Ameloblastoma with Orbital Involvement: An Institutional Experience and Literature Review.

Purpose: To describe 8 patients with orbital involvement by ameloblastoma and to review the literature on this topic.

Methods: The electronic medical records and pathology databases of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania were searched to identify all patients with histopathologically confirmed ameloblastoma diagnosed between 1990 and 2015. PubMed database was searched for all well-documented cases of maxillary ameloblastoma and ameloblastic carcinoma ex-ameloblastoma with orbital involvement published in the English literature.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of infant universal routine pneumococcal vaccination in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Pneumococcal disease causes large morbidity, mortality and health care utilization and medical and non-medical costs, which can all be reduced by effective infant universal routine immunization programs with pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV). We evaluated the clinical and economic benefits of such programs with either 10- or 13-valent PCVs in Malaysia and Hong Kong by using an age-stratified Markov cohort model with many country-specific inputs. The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) was calculated to compare PCV10 or PCV13 against no vaccination and PCV13 against PCV10 over a 10-year birth cohort's vaccination.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced quantitative susceptibility mapping with ultrashort echo time MRI for evaluating renal function.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI can provide key insight into renal function. DCE MRI is typically achieved through an injection of a gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agent, which has desirable T1 quenching and tracer kinetics. However, significant T2* blooming effects and signal voids can arise when Gd becomes very concentrated, especially in the renal medulla and pelvis.

How low should we target the LDL goal to improve survival for acute coronary syndrome patients in Hong Kong?

Background: Utilization of lipid-lowering agents has been associated with improved long-term outcomes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. However, updated data regarding local use and outcomes was lacking.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 696 hospitalized patients in the local ACS registry of Prince of Wales Hospital during 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2009 with data retrieved using computerized clinical records of all patients.

Patient acceptability, efficacy, and skin biophysiology of a cream and cleanser containing lipid complex with shea butter extract versus a ceramide product for eczema.

Objectives: To investigate patient acceptability, efficacy, and skin biophysiological effects of a cream/cleanser combination for childhood atopic dermatitis.

Setting: Paediatric dermatology clinic at a university teaching hospital in Hong Kong.

Patients: Consecutive paediatric patients with atopic dermatitis who were interested in trying a new moisturiser were recruited between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014.

Neurologic and Cardiovascular Complications in Pediatric Life Threatening Imipramine Poisoning.

We present an 18-month boy with imipramine poisoning to illustrate the neuro-cardiac toxic effects of this potentially deadly poison in children. The toddler ingested an unknown amount of imipramine from a non-childproof bottle which clearly labelled that the drug must be kept out of reach from children. He developed neurologic and cardiac symptoms.

Bacteraemic urinary tract infection: management and outcomes in young infants.

Objectives: To determine predictors of parenteral antibiotic duration and the association between parenteral treatment duration and relapses in infants <3 months with bacteraemic urinary tract infection (UTI).

Design: Multicentre retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Eleven healthcare institutions across the USA.

Performance of an efficient image-registration algorithm in processing MR renography data.

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of an edge-based registration technique in correcting for respiratory motion artifacts in magnetic resonance renographic (MRR) data and to examine the efficiency of a semiautomatic software package in processing renographic data from a cohort of clinical patients.

Materials And Methods: The developed software incorporates an image-registration algorithm based on the generalized Hough transform of edge maps. It was used to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR), renal plasma flow (RPF), and mean transit time (MTT) from 36 patients who underwent free-breathing MRR at 3T using saturation-recovery turbo-FLASH.

Outpatient Medication Use in Chinese Geriatric Patients Admitted for Falls: A Case-Control Study at an Acute Hospital in Hong Kong.

The study objective was to investigate the association of polypharmacy and medications with patient falls resulting in hip fractures among community-living geriatric patients. A case-control study was conducted at an acute public hospital in Hong Kong. The study population was community-living Chinese patients aged 65 years and above who were admitted for falls resulting in hip fractures during an 18-month study period.

Computational Analysis of Missense Variants of G Protein-Coupled Receptors Involved in the Neuroendocrine Regulation of Reproduction.

Introduction: Many missense variants in G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) involved in the neuroendocrine regulation of reproduction have been identified by phenotype-driven or large-scale exome sequencing. Computational functional prediction analysis is commonly performed to evaluate their impact on receptor function.

Methods: To assess the performance and outcome of functional prediction analyses for these GPCRs, we performed a statistical analysis of the prediction performance of SIFT and PolyPhen-2 for variants with documented biological function as well as variants retrieved from Ensembl.

Categorical perception along the happy-angry and happy-sad continua in the first year of life.

The current study investigated 6-, 9- and 12-month old infants' ability to categorically perceive facial emotional expressions depicting faces from two continua: happy-sad and happy-angry. In a between-subject design, infants were tested on their ability to discriminate faces that were between-category (across the category boundary) or within-category (within emotion category). Results suggest that 9- and 12 month-olds can discriminate between but not within categories, for the happy-angry continuum.

Histologic Evidence of Orbital Inflammation from Retrobulbar Alcohol and Chlorpromazine Injection: A Clinicopathologic Study in Human & Rat Orbits.

Purpose: Retrobulbar injections of alcohol and chlorpromazine are used for the treatment of blind, painful eyes. There have been reports of inflammation after retrobulbar injections of these agents, but the histologic effects are not well characterized. A clinical case with histopathologic confirmation of inflammation after retrobulbar alcohol injection led the authors to develop a rat model to examine these effects.

Experience of more than 100 preimplantation genetic diagnosis cycles for monogenetic diseases using whole genome amplification and linkage analysis in a single centre.

Objective: To report the outcomes of more than 100 cycles of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for monogenetic diseases.

Design: Case series.

Setting: Tertiary assisted reproductive centre in Hong Kong, where patients needed to pay for the cost of preimplantation genetic diagnosis on top of standard in-vitro fertilisation charges.

Research in academic medical centers: two threats to sustainable support.

Reductions in federal support and clinical revenue jeopardize biomedical research and, in turn, clinical medicine.