A proposed set of metrics for standardized outcome reporting in the management of low back pain.

Background And Purpose: Outcome measurement has been shown to improve performance in several fields of healthcare. This understanding has driven a growing interest in value-based healthcare, where value is defined as outcomes achieved per money spent. While low back pain (LBP) constitutes an enormous burden of disease, no universal set of metrics has yet been accepted to measure and compare outcomes.

[Feedback control of depth of anesthesia during propofol administration. Bispectral index as the controlled variable].

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a new system for closed-loop control of propofol administration using the bispectral index (BIS) under total intravenous anesthesia in the index values of middle-to-deep depth of anaesthesia.

Methods: In this study 20 adult patients anesthetized with propofol and remifentanil were investigated. The propofol infusion was carried out using a fuzzy-PD+I controller with a target BIS value of 40.

Runx2 and bone morphogenic protein 2 regulate the expression of an alternative Lef1 transcript during osteoblast maturation.

Lymphoid Enhancer Binding Factor (Lef) 1 is a transcriptional effector of the Wnt/Lrp5/beta-catenin signaling cascade, which regulates osteoblast differentiation, bone density, and skeletal strength. In this study, we describe the expression and function of an alternative Lef1 isoform in osseous cells. Lef1DeltaN is a naturally occurring isoform driven by a promoter (p2) within the intron between exons 3 and 4 of Lef1.