Increased risk of retinopathy of prematurity since increased O saturation targets: A multi-centre study.

Background/aims: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of visual impairment in premature neonates. The BOOST II, SUPPORT and COT trials recommended increasing O saturation targets for pre-term neonates to reduce mortality; however, this is a risk factor for ROP. We aimed to determine whether these targets increased prevalence of ROP among pre-term neonates and higher risk groups.

Retinopathy of prematurity screening: A narrative review of current programs, teleophthalmology, and diagnostic support systems.

Purpose: Neonatal care in middle-income countries has improved over the last decade, leading to a "third epidemic" of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Without concomitant improvements in ROP screening infrastructure, reduction of ROP-associated visual loss remains a challenge worldwide. The emergence of teleophthalmology screening programs and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies represents promising methods to address this growing unmet demand in ROP screening.

Climbing parrots achieve pitch stability using forces and free moments produced by axial-appendicular couples.

During vertical climbing, the gravitational moment tends to pitch the animal's head away from the climbing surface and this may be countered by (1) applying a correcting torque at a discrete contact point, or (2) applying opposing horizontal forces at separate contact points to produce a free moment. We tested these potential strategies in small parrots with an experimental climbing apparatus imitating the fine branches and vines of their natural habitat. The birds climbed on a vertical ladder with four instrumented rungs that measured three-dimensional force and torque, representing the first measurements of multiple contacts from a climbing bird.

A novel histological index for evaluation of environmental enteric dysfunction identifies geographic-specific features of enteropathy among children with suboptimal growth.

Background: A major limitation to understanding the etiopathogenesis of environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is the lack of a comprehensive, reproducible histologic framework for characterizing the small bowel lesions. We hypothesized that the development of such a system will identify unique histology features for EED, and that some features might correlate with clinical severity.

Methods: Duodenal endoscopic biopsies from two cohorts where EED is prevalent (Pakistan, Zambia) and North American children with and without gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE) were processed for routine hematoxylin & eosin (H&E) staining, and scanned to produce whole slide images (WSIs) which we shared among study pathologists via a secure web browser-based platform.

DRESS syndrome: clinical myths and pearls.

Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS syndrome), also known as drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome, is an uncommon severe systemic hypersensitivity drug reaction. It typically develops 2 to 6 weeks after exposure to a culprit medication and presents with widespread rash, facial edema, systemic symptoms (eg, fever, rigors, hypotension), lymphadenopathy, evidence of visceral organ involvement, and often eosinophilia. The clinical myths and pearls presented here highlight some of the commonly held assumptions regarding DRESS syndrome in an effort to illuminate subtleties of managing patients with this condition.

Reductions in Retrobulbar and Retinal Capillary Blood Flow Strongly Correlate With Changes in Optic Nerve Head and Retinal Morphology Over 4 Years in Open-angle Glaucoma Patients of African Descent Compared With Patients of European Descent.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship of changes in ocular blood flow with optic nerve head (ONH) and retinal morphology in open-angle glaucoma (OAG) patients of African versus European descent (ED) over 4 years.

Materials And Methods: In this study, 112 patients with OAG were examined at baseline, 79 [59 ED, 20 African descent (AD)] of which were followed for 4 years. Retinal capillary blood flow was assessed with Heidelberg retinal flowmetry.

Pediatric Positional Sitting Dermatitis: A New Form of Pediatric Contact Dermatitis.

We report on four pediatric patients who presented with localized dermatitis in areas subject to repetitive friction due to their sitting positions. We propose that the cause of the eruption was irritant contact dermatitis due to frequently sitting in a crossed-leg sitting position, an entity for which we have coined the term pediatric positional sitting dermatitis (PPSD). The goal of this report is to raise clinicians' awareness of PPSD, which to our knowledge has not been previously described, and to discuss management of these patients.

Medical fruits of labor.

My grandfather's death made a profound impact on my life personally and professionally. Our family was able to share in his last joyous days thanks to a caring physician who first suggested palliative care. During these final days in which friends and family said their goodbyes, I realized as a medical student the immense impact we as healthcare workers truly make in our patients' lives.

Scaling of the spring in the leg during bouncing gaits of mammals.

Trotting, bipedal running, and especially hopping have long been considered the principal bouncing gaits of legged animals. We use the radial-leg spring constant [Formula: see text] to quantify the stiffness of the physical leg during bouncing gaits. The radial-leg is modeled as an extensible strut between the hip and the ground and [Formula: see text] is determined from the force and deflection of this strut in each instance of stance.

Designer TGFβ superfamily ligands with diversified functionality.

Transforming Growth Factor--beta (TGFβ) superfamily ligands, including Activins, Growth and Differentiation Factors (GDFs), and Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs), are excellent targets for protein-based therapeutics because of their pervasiveness in numerous developmental and cellular processes. We developed a strategy termed RASCH (Random Assembly of Segmental Chimera and Heteromer), to engineer chemically-refoldable TGFβ superfamily ligands with unique signaling properties. One of these engineered ligands, AB208, created from Activin-βA and BMP-2 sequences, exhibits the refolding characteristics of BMP-2 while possessing Activin-like signaling attributes.

BMP-2/6 heterodimer is more effective than BMP-2 or BMP-6 homodimers as inductor of differentiation of human embryonic stem cells.

Background: Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling pathways are involved in differentiation of stem cells into diverse cell types, and thus BMPs can be used as main guidance molecules for in vitro differentiation of human stem cells.

Methodology/principal Findings: We have analyzed the ability for inducing differentiation of the heterodimer BMP-2/BMP-6 (BMP-2/6) compared to the homodimers BMP-2 or BMP-6, using human embryonic stem (hES) cells H9 as model system. When incubated in a medium with high concentration of basic fibroblastic growth factor (FGF2), 100 ng/ml of human recombinant BMPs induced morphological changes and differentiation of hES cells in 24 to 48 hours.

Bone morphogenetic protein-2 and -6 heterodimer illustrates the nature of ligand-receptor assembly.

TGF-beta superfamily ligands are homo- or heterodimeric and recruit two type I and two type II Ser/Thr kinase receptors to initiate a transmembrane signaling cascade. Even with the known structure of the homodimer ligands in complex with extracellular domains of both receptor types, the sequential assembly of the signaling complex with its cognate receptors in the cell membrane remains elusive. We generated a bone morphogenetic protein-2/-6 heterodimer carrying two asymmetric interfaces for each receptor type.

BMP-3 and BMP-6 structures illuminate the nature of binding specificity with receptors.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are extracellular messenger ligands involved in controlling a wide array of developmental and intercellular signaling processes. To initiate their specific intracellular signaling pathways, the ligands recognize and bind two structurally related serine/threonine kinase receptors, termed type I and type II, on the cell surface. Here, we present the crystal structures of BMP-3 and BMP-6, of which BMP-3 has remained poorly understood with respect to its receptor identity, affinity, and specificity.

Late (>or=6 years) results of combined coronary artery bypass grafting and mitral valve replacement for severe mitral regurgitation secondary to acute myocardial infarction.

Analysis of outcomes in 31 patients who had combined mitral valve replacement (MVR) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for ischemic mitral regurgitation (MR) disclosed that 12 patients had MR because of papillary muscle rupture and that 19 patients had MR because of papillary muscle necrosis or fibrosis without rupture. Of the 12 patients with rupture, 6 died within 2 months of operation and the other 6 lived >or=6 years postoperatively; of the 19 patients without rupture, none died within 2 months of operation and 11 (58%) lived at least 6 years.