Left atrial appendage exclusion in atrial fibrillation.

Although oral anticoagulants (OACs) are first-line therapy for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), some patients cannot be treated with OACs due to absolute or relative contraindications. Left atrial appendage (LAA) exclusion techniques have been developed over the years as a therapeutic alternative for stroke prevention. In this paper, we review the evolution of surgical techniques, employed as an adjunct to cardiac surgery or as a stand-alone procedure, as well as the recently introduced and widely utilized percutaneous LAA occlusion techniques.

The Ratio of Hemoglobin to Red Cell Distribution Width: A Strong Predictor of Clinical Outcome in Patients with Heart Failure.

Background: Hemoglobin (Hb) is a standard and widely available clinical parameter that predicts clinical outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients. Red cell distribution width (RDW) is also a routinely measured clinical parameter that is predictive of clinical outcomes in HF. The ratio between Hb and RDW has yet to be evaluated in HF.

In Search of Clinical Impact: Advanced Monitoring Technologies in Daily Heart Failure Care.

Despite significant advances in the management of heart failure (HF), further improvement in the outcome of this chronic and progressive disease is still considered a major unmet need. Recurrent hospitalizations due to decompensated HF frequently occur, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality rates. Past attempts at early detection of clinical deterioration were mainly based on monitoring of signs and symptoms of HF exacerbation, which have mostly given disappointing results.

Septic arthritis in children: Updated epidemiologic, microbiologic, clinical and therapeutic correlations.

Background: Septic arthritis (SA) is an infection characterized by significant epidemiologic and microbiologic differences between developed and developing regions and between age groups.

Objectives: To determine the epidemiologic, clinical, microbiologic and therapeutic aspects of pediatric SA in Southern Israel.

Methods: A retrospective case-series study based on the records of children <16 years of age admitted with SA at Soroka Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, during 2006-2013.

Long QT and death in hospitalized patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is not related to electrolyte disorders.

COPD is the fourth-leading cause of mortality worldwide. Prolonged QTc has been found to be a long-term negative prognostic factor in ambulatory COPD patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of prolonged-QTc syndrome in COPD patients upon admission to an internal medicine department, its relationship to hypomagnesemia, hypokalemia, and hypocalcemia, and the effect of COPD treatment on mortality during hospital stay.

JAK2 mutation: an aid in the diagnosis of occult myeloproliferative neoplasms in patients with major intraabdominal vein thrombosis and normal blood counts.

Background: Janus kinase-2 (JAK2) is mutated in a high proportion of patients with polycythemia vera and in a smaller number with essential thrombocythemia and primary myelofibrosis. Mutated JAK2 is an important diagnostic marker for myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) and may also play a major role in the pathogenesis of MPN.

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of mutated JAK2 (JAK2-V617F) among patients with major intraabdominal vein thrombosis who had normal blood counts at diagnosis of the initial event.

Is the visual analyzer orthographic-specific? Reading words and numbers in letter position dyslexia.

Letter position dyslexia (LPD) is a deficit in the encoding of letter position within words. It is characterized by errors of letter migration within words, such as reading trail as trial and form as from. In order to examine whether LPD is domain-specific, and to assess the domain-specificity of the visual analysis system, this study explored whether LPD extends to number reading, by testing whether individuals who have letter migrations in word reading also show migrations while reading numbers.

Developmental letter position dyslexia.

Letter position dyslexia (LPD) is a peripheral dyslexia that causes errors of letter order within words. So far, only cases of acquired LPD have been reported. This study presents selective LPD in its developmental form, via the testing of II Hebrew-speaking individuals with developmental dyslexia.

Total and differential leukocyte counts percentiles in normal pregnancy.

Objective: To establish leukocyte count and leukocyte differential percentiles in normal uncomplicated pregnancy.

Study Design: This retrospective longitudinal study was performed in an outpatient facility for routine antenatal care. The study population comprised of 726 healthy women from the 5th to the 41st week of pregnancy.

Early clinical heterogeneity in choreoacanthocytosis.

Background: Choreoacanthocytosis (CHAC) is a slowly progressive multisystem disorder with involuntary movements, cognitive decline, behavioral changes, seizures, and polyneuropathy caused by mutations in the VPS13A gene.

Objective: To describe the early clinical features and possible genotype-phenotype correlation in CHAC.

Design And Setting: Case series in a tertiary care center.

Electron microscope and biochemical observations of the surface active phospholipids on the articular surfaces and in the synovial fluid of the temporomandibular joint: a preliminary investigation.

Purpose: The goal of this article is to investigate the surface-active phospholipids located on the articular surfaces and in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) synovial fluid (SF) by means of electron microscopy and biochemical analysis.

Materials And Methods: Synovial fluids and articular cartilage samples taken from 6 normally functioning TMJs were studied. The osmiophilic lining of human TMJ articular surfaces has been studied by using special nondestructive fixation procedures.

Protective effects of tea polyphenols against oxidative damage to red blood cells.

Tea polyphenols (TPP) from black and green teas were evaluated for their antioxidant effects on normal red blood cells (RBC) and beta-thalassemic RBC membranes challenged with exogenous oxidants in vitro. The TPP of both types protected RBC against primaquine-induced lysis; they also protected the whole cells and the membranes against H2O2-induced lipid peroxidation so that about 80% protection was reached at [TPP] = 10 microg/mL. TPP from black tea at the same concentration protected normal RBC from morphological alterations caused by the peroxide treatment.

The response of supraalveolar gingival collagen to orthodontic rotation movement in dogs.

An orthodontically rotated tooth relapses toward its pretreatment position. Explanations for this phenomenon have been given after light microscopic studies, according to which it had been assumed that stretched supraalveolar gingival fibers pulled back the tooth and brought about relaxation of the stretched fibers. The rotational relapse, however, can be prevented by supraalveolar fiberotomy of the gingiva around the tooth.

Localization of immunogenic antigens on midgut of the human body louse Pediculus humanus humanus (Anoplura: Pediculidae).

Immunogenic midgut antigens of the human body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus L., were localized using rabbit antisera against a louse-midgut extract followed by a 2nd antibody conjugated to either fluorescein or colloidal gold. Strong fluorescence was observed on the outer membrane of the epithelial cell of the midgut.

Proteases of Treponema denticola outer sheath and extracellular vesicles.

Electron microscopical observations of the oral periodontopathogen Treponema denticola show the presence of extracellular vesicles bound to the bacterial surface or free in the surrounding medium. Extracellular vesicles from T. denticola ATCC 35404, 50 to 100 nm in diameter, were isolated and further characterized.

Neurites induced by staurosporine in PC12 cells are resistant to colchicine and express high levels of tau proteins.

Staurosporine, a protein kinase inhibitor, induces neurite outgrowth in pheochromocytoma cells and, therefore, may serve as a potential prototype for neurotropic drugs. The principal aim of the present study was to characterize the cytoskeletal properties of neurites induced in pheochromocytoma cells by staurosporine, in comparison to those induced by nerve growth factor, with emphasis on tubulin and tau proteins. Two major findings are described: a) staurosporine rapidly induces outgrowth of neurites that are resistant to colchicine treatment; and b) staurosporine treatment causes a rapid increase in tau protein levels, with a time course similar to the initiation of its neurotropic effects.

Staurosporine-induced neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells is independent of protein kinase C inhibition.

The protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor staurosporine, a member of the K252a family of fungal alkaloids that are known as protein kinase inhibitors, induces neurite outgrowth in pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. The progressive staurosporine-induced neurotropic effect (EC50 = 50 nM) has the following characteristics: it is evident after 4 hr of incubation, requires the continuous presence of staurosporine, occurs at 37 degrees but not at 4 degrees, and is not blocked by K252a derivatives. Scanning electron micrographs showed long neurites, ruffling, and dense networks in nerve growth factor (NGF)-treated cells and short neurites, flattening, and smooth cell surface in staurosporine-treated cells.

Effects of methotrexate on rabbit oviducts and on cell cultures of bovine oviduct epithelium.

The influence of a local injection of 0.05 ml/kg weight of 8 mg/ml methotrexate (MTX) was evaluated in 6 rabbit oviducts and compared with saline injections to the contralateral oviducts. Cell cultures of bovine oviducts were incubated in vitro for 7 days and then incubated for 24 h with 100-nmol MTX.

Immunomagnetic separation and analysis of non-malignant variants and parental malignant mouse lymphoma cells.

We have devised conditions whereby non-tumorigenic, immunogenic cell variants of S49 mouse lymphoma were analyzed and separated from parental tumorigenic lymphoma cells. This was carried out using polyclonal antibodies (raised against the immunogenic variants) and immunomagnetic beads. The efficacy of the procedure depended on the amount of polyclonal antiserum, the immunobead to cell ratio, incubation time and the number of repetitions of the procedure.