Severe eye injuries in the war in Iraq, 2003-2005.

Purpose: To document the incidence and treatment of patients with severe ocular and ocular adnexal injuries during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Design: Retrospective hospital-based observational analysis of injuries.

Participants: All coalition forces, enemy prisoners of war, and civilians with severe ocular and ocular adnexal injuries.

Colon cancer chemoprevention by a novel NO chimera that shows anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative activity in vitro and in vivo.

Chemopreventive agents in colorectal cancer possess either antiproliferative or anti-inflammatory actions. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors have shown promise, but are compromised by side effects. Nitric oxide donor NSAIDs are organic nitrates conjugated via a labile linker to an NSAID, originally designed for use in pain relief, that have shown efficacy in colorectal cancer chemoprevention.

Limb ossification in the Paleozoic branchiosaurid Apateon (Temnospondyli) and the early evolution of preaxial dominance in tetrapod limb development.

Despite the wide range of shapes and sizes that accompany a vast variety of functions, the development of tetrapod limbs follows a conservative pattern of de novo condensation, branching, and segmentation. Development of the zeugopodium and digital arch typically occurs in a posterior to anterior sequence, referred to as postaxial dominance, with a digital sequence of 4-3-5-2-1. The only exception to this pattern in all of living Tetrapoda can be found in salamanders, which display a preaxial dominance in limb development, a de novo condensation of a basale commune (distal carpal/tarsal 1+2) and a precoccial development of digits I and II.

Zoledronic acid inhibits adjuvant letrozole-induced bone loss in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer.

Purpose: Treatment with aromatase inhibitors decreases bone mineral density (BMD) and may increase the risk of fractures in postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer. The addition of zoledronic acid to adjuvant letrozole therapy may protect against bone loss.

Patients And Methods: Patients receiving adjuvant letrozole were randomly assigned to receive either upfront or delayed-start zoledronic acid (4 mg intravenously every 6 months).

Genomic instability of human aberrant crypt foci measured by inter-(simple sequence repeat) PCR and array-CGH.

Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) are the earliest identifiable neoplastic lesions in the colon. Thirty-two ACFs were examined for genomic instability in forms detectable either by inter-(simple sequence repeat) PCR or by array comparative genomic hybridization [array-CGH]. One-fourth of ACFs revealed moderate instability by inter-(simple sequence repeat) PCR; none showed amplifications or deletions on array-CGH.

The development of a naturalistic data collection system to perform critical incident analysis: an investigation of safety and fatigue issues in long-haul trucking.

Traditionally, both epidemiological and empirical methods have been used to assess driving safety. This paper describes an alternative, hybrid, naturalistic approach to data collection that shares advantages with each traditional approach. Though this naturalistic approach draws on elements of several safety techniques that have been developed in the past, including the Hazard Analysis Technique, instrumented vehicle studies, and fleet studies of driving safety interventions, it has a number of unique elements.

Epidermal growth factor receptor signaling is up-regulated in human colonic aberrant crypt foci.

Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) are collections of abnormal colonic crypts with heterogeneous molecular and pathologic characteristics. Large and dysplastic ACF are putative precursors of colon cancer with neoplastic risk related to increased proliferation. In this study, we examined the role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling in regulating ACF proliferation.

Aberrant crypt foci.

Colon cancer evolves through epithelial cell deregulation and inappropriate proliferation. These histopathological characteristics are exemplified in the biochemical, immunohistochemical, genetic and epigenetic elements detected within colonic mucosa. Early detection is paramount for the prevention of colon cancer deaths.

Allelic loss of the gene for the GPX1 selenium-containing protein is a common event in cancer.

Selenium has been shown to reduce cancer incidence in animal models and more recent data indicate that it may be protective in humans as well. However, little is known about the mechanism by which selenium prevents cancer. Cytosolic glutathione peroxidase (GPX1), a selenium-containing antioxidant enzyme, has been implicated in the development of cancer of the head and neck, lung, and breast, in part because of allelic loss at the GPX1 locus.

Sustained oxygenation without ventilation in paralyzed pigs with high-flow tracheal oxygen.

Objectives: It is generally assumed that ventilation is necessary for oxygenation. This study tested if paralyzed animals without respirations can maintain arterial oxygenation when administered high-flow oxygen delivered by a catheter in the trachea.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Ocular war injuries of the Iraqi Insurgency,January-September 2004.

Purpose: To document the types and causes of ocular and ocular adnexal injuries treated by United States Army ophthalmologists serving in Iraq during the Iraqi Insurgency.

Design: Prospective hospital-based observational analysis of injuries.

Participants: All coalition troops, enemy prisoners of war, and civilians with severe ocular and ocular adnexal injuries.

Identification of RecQL1 as a Holliday junction processing enzyme in human cell lines.

Homologous recombination provides an effective way to repair DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and is required for genetic recombination. During the process of homologous recombination, a heteroduplex DNA structure, or a 'Holliday junction' (HJ), is formed. The movement, or branch migration, of this junction is necessary for recombination to proceed correctly.

Expression of vitamin D receptor and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1{alpha}-hydroxylase in normal and malignant human colon.

Considerable evidence exists to support the use of vitamin D to prevent and/or treat colorectal cancer. However, the routine use of bioactive vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, is limited by the side effect of toxic hypercalcemia. Recent studies, however, suggest that colonic epithelial cells express 25-hydroxyvitamin D3-1alpha-hydroxylase, an enzyme that converts nontoxic pro-vitamin D, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol [25(OH)D3], to its bioactive form.

Finding the Words to Say It: The Healing Power of Poetry.

My purpose in this paper is to help you experience for yourself the potential of poetry to heal by feeling its power through your own voice. Many people have an intuitive sense that voice in general and poetry in particular can be healing. We have all experienced the comfort of soothing words.

Expression and membrane localization of MCT isoforms along the length of the human intestine.

Recent studies from our laboratory and others have demonstrated the involvement of monocarboxylate transporter (MCT)1 in the luminal uptake of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the human intestine. Functional studies from our laboratory previously demonstrated kinetically distinct SCFA transporters on the apical and basolateral membranes of human colonocytes. Although apical SCFA uptake is mediated by the MCT1 isoform, the molecular identity of the basolateral membrane SCFA transporter(s) and whether this transporter is encoded by another MCT isoform is not known.

The Pre-Optic Anterior Hypothalamus (POAH) partially mediates the hypothermic response to hemorrhage in rats.

Two sets of experiments were performed to characterize the role of the Pre-Optic Area of the Anterior Hypothalamus (POAH) in the decrease in set point and hypothermia that follows severe hemorrhage. In the first set, lidocaine or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) was microinjected into the POAH of rats at the time of hemorrhage. Lidocaine microinjection attenuated the hemorrhagic hypothermia by approximately 50%.

Relationship of aging and tobacco use with the development of aberrant crypt foci in a predominantly African-American population.

Background And Aims: In clinical studies, diminished folate availability appears to increase the risk for colorectal neoplasms. Additionally, alcohol and tobacco use are associated with an increased risk for colon cancer, but the early pathologic events by which these agents promote neoplastic transformation are not well understood. Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) are potential precursors of adenoma and cancer, and can be visualized by magnification endoscopy.

Thermoregulatory set point decreases after hemorrhage in rats.

Hemorrhage in rats causes a drop in body core temperature that is proportional to the hemorrhage volume. We tested the hypothesis that the hemorrhagic hypothermia is due to a downward shift in the thermoregulatory set point. If so, rats subjected to hemorrhage would prefer a cooler ambient temperature to enhance heat loss during the posthemorrhage period.