Risk of Early-Onset Sepsis following Preterm, Prolonged Rupture of Membranes with or without Chorioamnionitis.

Objective: This study aims to determine whether preterm prolonged rupture of membranes (PPROM) increases the risk for early-onset sepsis (EOS) in preterm infants.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study of infants 30 to 34 weeks' gestation from 2005 to 2014. Exposure to PPROM (rupture of membranes ≥ 18 hours) or chorioamnionitis (maternal temperature ≥ 38°C during delivery plus notation of chorioamnionitis in the medical record) was collected.

The effect of endogenous overexpression of hyaluronan synthases on material, morphological, and biochemical properties of uncrosslinked collagen biomaterials.

Hyaluronan is an essential component of the native extracellular matrix that has often been added exogenously to biomaterials. The role of endogenously produced hyaluronan on soft tensile tissue mechanics, however, has been largely overlooked. To investigate this aspect of hyaluronan using a cell-mediated approach, cells overexpressing the hyaluronan synthases (has), namely has-1, has-2, has-3 or the empty vector control LXSN, were seeded within collagen gel scaffolds.