Neurofilament Light (NF-L) Chain Protein from a Highly Polymerized Structural Component of the Neuronal Cytoskeleton to a Neurodegenerative Disease Biomarker in the Periphery.

Neurofilaments (NFs) are critical scaffolding components of the axoskeleton of healthy neurons interacting directly with multiple synaptic-phosphoproteins to support and coordinate neuronal cell shape, cytoarchitecture, synaptogenesis and neurotransmission. While neuronal presynaptic proteins such as synapsin-2 (SYN II) degrade rapidly via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, a considerably more stable neurofilament light (NF-L) chain protein turns over much more slowly, and in several neurological diseases is accompanied by a pathological shift from an intracellular neuronal cytoplasmic location into various biofluid compartments. NF-L has been found to be significantly elevated in peripheral biofluids in multiple neurodegenerative disorders, however it is not as widely appreciated that NF-L expression within neurons undergoing inflammatory neurodegeneration exhibit a significant down-regulation in these neuron-specific intermediate-filament components.

Gastrointestinal (GI)-Tract Microbiome Derived Neurotoxins and their Potential Contribution to Inflammatory Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

The human gastrointestinal (GI)-tract microbiome is a rich, complex and dynamic source of microorganisms that possess a staggering diversity and complexity. Importantly there is a significant variability in microbial complexity even amongst healthy individuals-this has made it difficult to link specific microbial abundance patterns with age-related neurological disease. GI-tract commensal microorganisms are generally beneficial to human metabolism and immunity, however enterotoxigenic forms of microbes possess significant potential to secrete what are amongst the most neurotoxic and pro-inflammatory biopolymers known.

Children with burn injuries--assessment of trauma, neglect, violence and abuse.

Burns are an important cause of injury to young children, being the third most frequent cause of injury resulting in death behind motor vehicle accidents and drowning. Burn injuries account for the greatest length of stay of all hospital admissions for injuries and costs associated with care are substantial. The majority of burn injuries in children are scald injuries resulting from hot liquids, occurring most commonly in children aged 0-4 years.

Virtual reality as an adjunctive non-pharmacologic analgesic for acute burn pain during medical procedures.

Introduction: Excessive pain during medical procedures is a widespread problem but is especially problematic during daily wound care of patients with severe burn injuries.

Methods: Burn patients report 35-50% reductions in procedural pain while in a distracting immersive virtual reality, and fMRI brain scans show associated reductions in pain-related brain activity during VR. VR distraction appears to be most effective for patients with the highest pain intensity levels.

Treatments for common psychiatric conditions among children and adolescents during acute rehabilitation and reintegration phases of burn injury.

Advances in critical care and surgical management during the last 20 years have decreased mortality rates among children with severe burn injuries. This improved survival rate has prompted researchers to study the psychological aspects of recovering from a burn injury. Initially research focused primarily on epidemiology, prevention and descriptions of the psychological phenomenon experienced by the children and adolescents.

Prospective relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and asthma morbidity among inner-city African American children.

Objective: To examine prospective relationships between caregiver's depressive symptoms and child asthma morbidity among inner-city African American families.

Methods: Phone surveys were conducted 6 months apart with 262 African American mothers of children with asthma. Cross-lagged structural path analysis was used for data analyses.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire with burn patients.

The Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) is an abbreviated version of McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) developed for pragmatic reasons to improve the clinical utility of the MPQ. Although the SF-MPQ has been used in more than 250 published studies, few studies have examined the core constructs it measures. The objective of this study was to evaluate in a sample with burn injuries whether the factor structure of the SF-MPQ is consistent with the theoretic pain constructs it purports to measure.