High prevalence of contralateral ankle abnormalities in association with knee osteoarthritis and malalignment.

Objective: To evaluate ankle joint abnormalities in a knee osteoarthritis (OA) cohort.

Methods: Participants (n = 159) with symptomatic and radiographic OA in at least one knee underwent technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate bone scan (scored 0-3) of the ankles and forefeet. Knee radiographs were graded for OA features of joint space narrowing (JSN) and osteophyte (OST).

Life-threatening rupture of a false aneurysm after femoral arterial catheterization: unexpected delay after a common procedure.

We report the case of a 79-year-old patient who presented with a femoral iatrogenic pseudoaneurysm of delayed and unusual onset with immediately life-threatening massive bleeding. Ultrasound is the method of choice for the diagnosis of pseudo aneurysm. If there is not spontaneous closure, ultrasound-guided compression repair, minimally invasive percutaneous treatments, and surgical repair are the three therapeutic options.

Postoperative neurocognitive dysfunction in patients undergoing cardiac surgery after remote ischemic preconditioning: a double-blind randomized controlled pilot study.

Background: Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) has been shown to enhance the tolerance of remote organs to cope with a subsequent ischemic event. We hypothesized that RIPC reduces postoperative neurocognitive dysfunction (POCD) in patients undergoing complex cardiac surgery.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial including 180 adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Assessment of overweight and obesity among Nigerian children and adolescents using triceps skin-fold thickness and body mass index.

The prevalence of obesity is increasing in children and adolescents even in resource-poor countries. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity in a group of Nigerian school children using triceps skin-fold thickness (SFT) and body mass index (BMI). The subjects were 1235 randomly selected primary and secondary Lagos school children aged 5-18 years, triceps SFT was measured with Harpenden® calipers and BMI calculated from weight and height.

Consecutive gold(I)-catalyzed cyclization reactions of o-(buta-1,3-diyn-1-yl-)-substituted N-aryl ureas: a one-pot synthesis of pyrimido[1,6-a]indol-1(2H)-ones and related systems.

Treatment of readily available o-(buta-1,3-diyn-1-yl-)-substituted N-aryl ureas such as 1 with the Au(I)-catalyst 11 affords, via a twofold cyclization process, the isomeric pyrimido[1,6-a]indol-1(2H)-one 3 in good yield.

[Labour epidural analgesia for a parturient with a factor XI deficiency: an ill-considered challenge or a reasonable risk?].

The authors report the performance of a labour epidural analgesia in a 26-year-old parturient presenting a moderate factor XI (FXI) deficiency. If haemostasis disorders usually contraindicate an epidural analgesia (with a risk of epidural haematoma), a moderate FXI deficiency is not an absolute contraindication to perform such an epidural analgesia. Desmopressin, sometimes used in surgery to reduce the bleeding, was administered to withdraw the catheter in better haemostasis conditions.

Composite measures of multi-joint symptoms, but not of radiographic osteoarthritis, are associated with functional outcomes: the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project.

Purpose: To determine associations between multiple joint symptoms and radiographic osteoarthritis (rOA) and functional outcomes.

Method: Complete cross-sectional data for multi-joint symptoms and radiographs, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) scores, and gait speed were available for 1307 Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project participants (34% men, 32% African American, mean age 66 years). Factor analysis of symptom scores and radiographic grades for the lumbosacral spine, bilateral hands, knees, and hips provided composite scores.

IL-1 receptor antagonist gene as a predictive biomarker of progression of knee osteoarthritis in a population cohort.

Objective: Within the interleukin-1 (IL-1) cytokine family, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RN) gene variants have been associated with radiological severity of knee osteoarthritis (OA) in cross-sectional studies. The present study tested the relation between IL1RN gene variants and progression of knee OA assessed radiographically by change in Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) score over time.

Design: 1153 Caucasian adults (age range: 44-89) from the Johnson County Osteoarthritis Project were evaluated for unequivocal radiographic evidence of knee OA at baseline, defined as KL score ≥2, and were re-examined after 4-11 years for radiographic changes typical of OA progression.

Pattern and characteristics of growth faltering in early infancy in an urban sub-Saharan African setting.

Objective: To determine the pattern of and factors associated with changes in nutritional status in early infancy in a resource-poor setting.

Methods: A cohort study in Lagos, Nigeria, in which the nutritional status at birth was compared with status at the first postnatal check-up routinely scheduled for 6-8 weeks based on the World Health Organization's multicenter growth reference and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 growth charts. Factors associated with improved, worsened or steady nutritional status at follow-up based on z-scores for weight-for-age, length-for-age and weight-for-length were determined with multinomial regression analysis.

Dynamic and volumetric variables reliably predict fluid responsiveness in a porcine model with pleural effusion.

Background: The ability of stroke volume variation (SVV), pulse pressure variation (PPV) and global end-diastolic volume (GEDV) for prediction of fluid responsiveness in presence of pleural effusion is unknown. The aim of the present study was to challenge the ability of SVV, PPV and GEDV to predict fluid responsiveness in a porcine model with pleural effusions.

Methods: Pigs were studied at baseline and after fluid loading with 8 ml kg(-1) 6% hydroxyethyl starch.

Brief report: differences in multijoint symptomatic osteoarthritis phenotypes by race and sex: the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project.

Objective: To determine differences in the phenotypes (patterns) of multiple-joint symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) involvement by race and sex.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of symptomatic OA phenotypes was performed in a community-based cohort, comprising subjects for whom data were collected from 4 sites of symptomatic OA involvement (the hands, knees, hips, and lumbosacral [LS] spine) at a single visit (2003-2010). Mutually exclusive phenotypes describing all combinations of these 4 sites were compared by race and by sex, using Fisher's exact tests.

Characterization of shear-sensitive genes in the normal rat aorta identifies Hand2 as a major flow-responsive transcription factor.

Objective: Shear forces play a key role in the maintenance of vessel wall integrity. Current understanding regarding shear-dependent gene expression is mainly based on in vitro or in vivo observations with experimentally deranged shear, hence reflecting acute molecular events in relation to flow. Our objective was to combine computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations with global microarray analysis to study flow-dependent vessel wall biology in the aortic wall under physiological conditions.

Occurrence of radiographic osteoarthritis of the knee and hip among African Americans and whites: a population-based prospective cohort study.

Objective: To compare the incidence and progression of radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) in the knee and hip among African Americans and whites.

Methods: Using the joint as the unit of analysis, we analyzed data from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, a population-based prospective cohort study in rural North Carolina. Baseline and followup assessments were 3-13 years apart.

A comparison of continuous non-invasive arterial pressure with invasive radial and femoral pressure in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Background: Non-invasive continous monitoring of finger arterial pressure has gained increasing interest. The aim of the present study was to compare the accuracy of non-invasive reconstructed brachial artery pressure by the Nexfin™ device (NFAP) with invasive femoral (IFAP) and radial (IRAP) artery pressure before and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

Methods: Fifty patients scheduled for elective coronary surgery were studied before and after CPB, respectively.

Associations of educational attainment, occupation, and community poverty with hip osteoarthritis.

Objective: To examine cross-sectional baseline data from the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project for the association between individual and community socioeconomic status (SES) measures with hip osteoarthritis (OA) outcomes.

Methods: We analyzed data on 3,087 individuals (68% white and 32% African American). Educational attainment and occupation were used as individual measures of SES.

Remote ischemic preconditioning regulates HIF-1α levels, apoptosis and inflammation in heart tissue of cardiosurgical patients: a pilot experimental study.

Transient episodes of ischemia in a remote organ (remote ischemic preconditioning, RIPC) bears the potential to attenuate myocardial injury, but the underlying mechanisms are only poorly understood. In the pilot experimental study presented we investigated cellular and molecular effects of RIPC in heart tissue of cardiosurgical patients with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and focussed on apoptotic events, local and systemic inflammation as well as the regulation of the hypoxia induced factor-1α (HIF-1α). RIPC was induced by four 5-min cycles of transient upper limb ischemia/reperfusion using a blood-pressure cuff.

Is maternal posturing during labor efficient in preventing persistent occiput posterior position? A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the efficacy of maternal posturing during labor on the prevention of persistent occiput posterior (OP) position.

Study Design: We conducted a randomized trial including 220 patients in labor with a single fetus in documented OP position. Main outcome was the proportion of anterior rotation from OP position.

Hospitalized cases of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the French territories of the Americas, July 2009-March 2010.

Objective: To describe the methodology used for implementing a surveillance system specifically for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the French West Indies and French Guiana during an outbreak of this new virus in 2009-2010, and to report its main results.

Methods: This was an observational descriptive study of confirmed and probable cases of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 hospitalized for at least 24 hours in 23 July 2009-3 March 2010. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed on nasopharyngeal swab samples according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocol.

Characterization of resilin-based materials for tissue engineering applications.

Modular proteins have emerged as powerful tools in tissue engineering because both the mechanical and biochemical properties can be precisely controlled through amino acid sequence. Resilin is an attractive candidate for use in modular proteins because it is well-known for having low stiffness, high fatigue lifetime, and high resilience. However, no studies have been conducted to assess resilin's compressive properties, cytocompatibility with clinically relevant cells, or effect on cell spreading.

Subject-specific aortic wall shear stress estimations using semi-automatic segmentation.

Atherosclerosis development is strongly believed to be influenced by hemodynamic forces such as wall shear stress (WSS). To estimate such an entity in-vivo in humans, image-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a useful tool. In this study, we use a combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CFD to estimate WSS.