Enrollment and reporting practices in pediatric general surgical randomized clinical trials: A systematic review and observational analysis.

Background: Pediatric surgical randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are labor-intensive and costly. This systematic review investigated patient accrual and estimates of study duration in RCTs by interrogating enrollment and registration practices.

Methods: We performed a peer-review search of multiple databases from 2000 to 2016 evaluating RCTs salient to the field with inclusion mandated that a self-identified pediatric surgeon be listed as an author.

Claudins are essential for cell shape changes and convergent extension movements during neural tube closure.

During neural tube closure, regulated changes at the level of individual cells are translated into large-scale morphogenetic movements to facilitate conversion of the flat neural plate into a closed tube. Throughout this process, the integrity of the neural epithelium is maintained via cell interactions through intercellular junctions, including apical tight junctions. Members of the claudin family of tight junction proteins regulate paracellular permeability, apical-basal cell polarity and link the tight junction to the actin cytoskeleton.