Bone and joint infections in adults: a comprehensive classification proposal.

INTRODUCTION AND METHODS: Ten currently available classifications were tested for their ability to describe a continuous cohort of 300 adult patients affected by bone and joint infections. Each classification only focused, on the average, on 1.3 ± 0.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy in a mouse model of implant-associated osteomyelitis.

Implant associated osteomyelitis (OM) is difficult to treat with antibiotics, and outcomes remain poor. Some reports suggest that hyperbaric oxygen treatment is a safe and effective means of treating OM. We tested this hypothesis in a murine model.

Raf family kinases: old dogs have learned new tricks.

First identified in the early 1980s as retroviral oncogenes, the Raf proteins have been the objects of intense research. The discoveries 10 years later that the Raf family members (Raf-1, B-Raf, and A-Raf) are bona fide Ras effectors and upstream activators of the ubiquitous ERK pathway increased the interest in these proteins primarily because of the central role that this cascade plays in cancer development. The important role of Raf in cancer was corroborated in 2002 with the discovery of B-Raf genetic mutations in a large number of tumors.

Two-stage revision surgery with preformed spacers and cementless implants for septic hip arthritis: a prospective, non-randomized cohort study.

Background: Outcome data on two-stage revision surgery for deep infection after septic hip arthritis are limited and inconsistent. This study presents the medium-term results of a new, standardized two-stage arthroplasty with preformed hip spacers and cementless implants in a consecutive series of adult patients with septic arthritis of the hip treated according to a same protocol.

Methods: Nineteen patients (20 hips) were enrolled in this prospective, non-randomized cohort study between 2000 and 2008.

Healing of surgical site after total hip and knee replacements show similar telethermographic patterns.

Background: Isolated reports indicate the efficacy of infrared thermography for monitoring wound healing and septic complications, but no long-term analysis has ever been performed on this, and there are no data on the telethermographic patterns of surgical site healing after uncomplicated total hip prosthesis and after knee prosthesis.

Materials And Methods: In this prospective, observational, nonrandomized cohort study, two groups with forty consecutive patients each, who were operated on respectively for total hip and for total knee replacements, underwent telethermographic examination of the operated and contralateral joints prior to and at fixed intervals for up to 1 year after uncomplicated surgery. A digital, portable telethermocamera and dedicated software were used for data acquisition and processing.

Changes in the expression of the Alzheimer’s disease-associated presenilin gene in drosophila heart leads to cardiac dysfunction.

Mutations in the presenilin genes cause the majority of early-onset familial Alzheimer’s disease. Recently, presenilin mutations have been identified in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a common cause of heart failure and the most prevalent diagnosis in cardiac transplantation patients. However, the molecular mechanisms, by which presenilin mutations lead to either AD or DCM, are not yet understood.

Constructing complex 3D biological environments from medical imaging using high performance computing.

Extracting information about the structure of biological tissue from static image data is a complex task requiring computationally intensive operations. Here, we present how multicore CPUs and GPUs have been utilized to extract information about the shape, size, and path followed by the mammalian oviduct, called the fallopian tube in humans, from histology images, to create a unique but realistic 3D virtual organ. Histology images were processed to identify the individual cross sections and determine the 3D path that the tube follows through the tissue.

Resilience training for hospital workers in anticipation of an influenza pandemic.

Background: Well before the H1N1 influenza, health care organizations worldwide prepared for a pandemic of unpredictable impact. Planners anticipated the possibility of a pandemic involving high mortality, high health care demands, rates of absenteeism rising up to 20-30% among health care workers, rationing of health care, and extraordinary psychological stress.

Method: The intervention we describe emerged from the recognition that an expected influenza pandemic indicated a need to build resilience to maintain the health of individuals within the organization and to protect the capacity of the organization to respond to extraordinary demands.

The gsp oncogene disrupts Ras/ERK-dependent prolactin gene regulation in gsp inducible somatotroph cell line.

The MAPK ERK1/2 cascade regulates all the critical cellular functions, and in many pathological situations, these regulatory processes are perturbed. It has been clearly established that this cascade is an integrative point in the control of the pituitary functions exerted by various extracellular signals. In particular, ERK1/2 cross talk with the cAMP pathway is determinant in the control of somatolactotroph hormonal secretion exerted via neuropeptide receptors.

Age-related metabolic profiles in cognitively healthy elders: results from a voxel-based [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron-emission tomography study with partial volume effects correction.

Background And Purpose: Functional brain variability has been scarcely investigated in cognitively healthy elderly subjects, and it is currently debated whether previous findings of regional metabolic variability are artifacts associated with brain atrophy. The primary purpose of this study was to test whether there is regional cerebral age-related hypometabolism specifically in later stages of life.

Materials And Methods: MR imaging and FDG-PET data were acquired from 55 cognitively healthy elderly subjects, and voxel-based linear correlations between age and GM volume or regional cerebral metabolism were conducted by using SPM5 in images with and without correction for PVE.

A preliminary investigation of varenicline for heavy drinking smokers.

Rationale: Varenicline, an approved smoking cessation pharmacotherapy, also shows promise as a potential treatment for alcohol dependence. However, varenicline has not been tested in heavy drinkers, and it remains to be determined whether varenicline could reduce alcohol craving and consumption in smokers who are trying to quit smoking.

Objectives: We conducted a preliminary study to examine the effect of varenicline on drinking behavior and the effects of extended varenicline pretreatment on smoking.

Alzheimer's disease-associated ubiquilin-1 regulates presenilin-1 accumulation and aggresome formation.

The Alzheimer's disease (AD)-associated ubiquilin-1 regulates proteasomal degradation of proteins, including presenilin (PS). PS-dependent γ-secretase generates β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides, which excessively accumulate in AD brain. Here, we have characterized the effects of naturally occurring ubiquilin-1 transcript variants (TVs) on the levels and subcellular localization of PS1 and other γ-secretase complex components and subsequent γ-secretase function in human embryonic kidney 293, human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y and mouse primary cortical cells.

Metformin and cancer occurrence in insulin-treated type 2 diabetic patients.

Objective: Metformin is associated with reduced cancer-related morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of metformin on cancer incidence in a consecutive series of insulin-treated patients.

Research Design And Methods: A nested case-control study was performed in a cohort of 1,340 patients by sampling, for each case subject, age-, sex-, and BMI-matched control subjects from the same cohort.

Amyloid-β production via cleavage of amyloid-β protein precursor is modulated by cell density.

Mounting evidence suggests that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by the accumulation of the small peptide, amyloid-β (Aβ), a proteolytic cleavage product of amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP). Aβ is generated through a serial cleavage of AβPP by β- and γ-secretase. Aβ40 and Aβ42 are the two main components of amyloid plaques in AD brains, with Aβ42 being more prone to aggregation.

Septic versus aseptic hip revision: how different?

Background: The few available studies directly comparing aseptic and septic joint revision surgery report conflicting results. We investigated whether two-stage revision of septic hip prosthesis with a preformed antibiotic-loaded spacer and an uncemented prosthesis provides hip function and quality of life similar to those provided by aseptic revision surgery in the medium term, as well as the associated direct hospital costs.

Materials And Methods: We prospectively evaluated the hip function (Harris hip score) and quality of life (WOMAC and SF-12 scores) of 80 patients who underwent one-stage revision for aseptic loosening (Group A, 40 patients) or two-stage revision for septic total hip prostheses (Group S, 40 patients).

Reshaping an enduring sense of self: the process of recovery from a first episode of schizophrenia.

Aim: Although advances in the treatment of schizophrenia have been made, little is known about the process of recovery from first episode of schizophrenia (FES). To date, the study of recovery in the field of mental health has focused on long-term mental illness. This qualitative study addresses ways in which individuals with FES describe their process of recovery and how identified individuals (e.

Trade Union Priority List for REACH authorisation.

Background: The new EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) Regulation to control the trade and use of chemicals has a great potential to reduce worker exposure to hazardous substances and therefore reduce chemical-related occupational diseases. REACH requires manufacturers of substances of very high concern (SVHC) to request an authorisation for each use of these substances in order to continue marketing them. There are between 1500 and 2000 SVHC on the European market; however, to date, the European Chemicals Agency has published only 29 substances as candidates for the authorisation procedure.

Face and neck revitalization with platelet-rich plasma (PRP): clinical outcome in a series of 23 consecutively treated patients.

Background: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has long been known as an effective treatment in various surgical and medical fields. Face and neck revitalization with PRP is an application that is currently being explored. The aim of this paper is practical: to evaluate if there are real outcomes, benefits and side effects of a standardized injection protocol in a continuous series, without control groups.

Long-stem versus short-stem preformed antibiotic-loaded cement spacers for two-stage revision of infected total hip arthroplasty.

Two-stage revision is the most widely accepted and performed intervention for chronically infected hip prostheses. In recent years short and long stem antibiotic-loaded preformed spacers have become available on the market. The aim of this prospective, comparative study was to assess the safety and efficacy of long stem versus short stem preformed spacers.

High performance cellular level agent-based simulation with FLAME for the GPU.

Driven by the availability of experimental data and ability to simulate a biological scale which is of immediate interest, the cellular scale is fast emerging as an ideal candidate for middle-out modelling. As with 'bottom-up' simulation approaches, cellular level simulations demand a high degree of computational power, which in large-scale simulations can only be achieved through parallel computing. The flexible large-scale agent modelling environment (FLAME) is a template driven framework for agent-based modelling (ABM) on parallel architectures ideally suited to the simulation of cellular systems.

Proapoptotic kinase MST2 coordinates signaling crosstalk between RASSF1A, Raf-1, and Akt.

Mammalian MST kinases function in stress-induced apoptosis to limit tumor progression. However, there is limited understanding about MST2 control by key regulators of cell division and survival. Raf-1 binds and inhibits MST2 kinase, whereas dissociation from Raf-1 and binding to tumor suppressor protein RASSF1A activates MST2.

Pregabalin, celecoxib, and their combination for treatment of chronic low-back pain.

Background: The efficacy and safety of the association of celecoxib [a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor] and pregabalin (commonly used to control neuropathic pain), compared with monotherapy of each, were evaluated for the treatment of chronic low-back pain, a condition known to be due to neuropathic as well as nociceptive pain mechanisms.

Materials And Methods: In this prospective randomized trial, 36 patients received three consecutive 4-week treatment regimes, randomly assigned: celecoxib plus placebo, pregabalin plus placebo, and celecoxib plus pregabalin. All patients were assessed by using a visual analogue scale (VAS, 0-100 mm) and the Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) pain scale by an investigator blinded to the administered pharmacological treatment.

Self-referral of imaging and increased utilization: some practical perspectives on tackling the dilemma.

Health care costs are higher in the United States than in any other country in the world, and imaging services have been growing much more rapidly than other services. Studies have shown a tendency for increased utilization of services, including imaging services, when referring physicians have ownership interest in the services. In recent years, the CMS has taken some action with respect to how it pays for imaging, including reducing physician payments when multiple images are taken on contiguous body parts during the same visit, establishing a cap on payments for certain imaging services, and imposing an antimarkup rule on diagnostic tests.

Combined Diagnostic Tool for joint prosthesis infections.

While diagnosing infection of a joint prosthesis often requires a multi-modal approach, evaluation of combined multiple diagnostics is still a rather subjective process. Based on the known sensitivity and specificity of commonly performed tests for joint prosthesis infection, we developed the Combined Diagnostic Tool, a software program that automatically allows the Combined Tests Index (CTI) to be calculated. The CTI indicates, in a given subject, the relative probability of a combined series of positive tests being true compared to negative tests.