Publications by authors named "Rudolph J"

Objectives: To examine the rates of and risk factors for acute hospitalization in a prospective cohort of older community-dwelling patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Design: Longitudinal patient registry.

Setting: AD research center.

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Purpose Of Review: Medical management of children with intestinal failure has gained increased relevance in recent years, in part owing to the growth of small bowel transplantation as a therapeutic option. The capacity of a patient to attain enteral autonomy through intestinal adaptation is critical in the decision process of whether or not transplantation is beneficial. This article reviews several important advances in the field of intestinal rehabilitation, focusing on enhancing adaptation and briefly mentioning recent insights into the morbidity of intestinal failure.

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Cortical interneurons are born in the proliferative zones of the ganglionic eminences in the subpallium and migrate to the developing cortex along well-defined tangential routes. The mechanisms regulating interneuron migration are not completely understood. Here we examine the role of class-A members of the Eph/ephrin system in directing the migration of interneurons.

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The objective of this analysis was to develop a measure of neuropsychological performance for cardiac surgery and to assess its psychometric properties. Older patients (n = 210) underwent a neuropsychological battery using nine assessments. The number of factors was identified with variable reduction methods.

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Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a decline in cognitive function from pre-operative levels, which has been frequently described after cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study was to examine the variability in the measurement and definitions for POCD using the framework of a 1995 Consensus Statement on measurement of POCD. Electronic medical literature databases were searched for the intersection of the search terms 'thoracic surgery' and 'cognition, dementia, and neuropsychological test.

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Objectives: To determine whether patients who developed delirium after cardiac surgery were at risk of functional decline.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Two academic hospitals and a Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

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Although hypertension is a major risk factor for cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and is highly prevalent in African Americans, little is known about how blood pressure (BP) affects brain-behavior relationships in this population. In predominantly Caucasian populations, high BP is associated with alterations in frontal-subcortical white matter and in executive functioning aspects of cognition. We investigated associations among BP, brain structure, and neuropsychological functioning in 52 middle-older-age African Americans without diagnosed history of CVD.

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Nef is an accessory protein and pathogenicity factor of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) which elevates virus replication in vivo. We recently described for HIV type 1(SF2) (HIV-1(SF2)) the potent interference of Nef with T-lymphocyte chemotaxis via its association with the cellular kinase PAK2. Mechanistic analysis revealed that this interaction results in deregulation of the actin-severing factor cofilin and thus blocks the chemokine-mediated actin remodeling required for cell motility.

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Delirium is an acute change in cognition which occurs frequently after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Cerebral microemboli, from plaque, air, or thrombus, have been hypothesized to contribute to delirium and cognitive decline after CABG. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an association between cerebral microemboli and delirium after cardiac surgery.

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The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a serious wheat, Triticum aestivum L., and barley, Hordeum vulgare L., pest throughout the small grain-producing areas in the western United States.

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Previous studies demonstrated that in ephrin-A5-deficient mice corticothalamic arbors are reduced by more than 50% in layer 4 of the somatosensory cortex (S1), where ephrin-A5 is normally expressed. Here we examined possible consequences of the reduced thalamic input on spiny stellate cells, the target neurons of thalamocortical afferents. Using ballistic delivery of particles coated with lipophilic dyes in fixed slices and confocal laser-microscopy, we could quantitatively analyze the morphology of these neurons.

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Nef, an important pathogenicity factor of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), elevates virus replication in vivo. Among other activities, Nef affects T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling via several mechanisms. For HIV-1 Nef these include alteration of the organization and function of the immunological synapse (IS) such as relocalization of the Lck kinase, as well as early inhibition of TCR/CD3 complex (TCR-CD3)-mediated actin rearrangements and tyrosine phosphorylation.

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Background: Brief cognitive screening measures are valuable tools for both research and clinical applications. The most widely used instrument, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), is limited in that it must be administered face-to-face, cannot be used in participants with visual or motor impairments, and is protected by copyright. Screening instruments such as the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) were developed to provide a valid alternative, with comparable cut-point scores to rate global cognitive function.

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Background: Delirium is an acute confusional state that is common, preventable, and life-threatening.

Objective: The authors investigated the phenomenology of delirium severity as measured with the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale among 441 older patients (age 65 and older) admitted with delirium in post-acute care.

Methods: Using latent class analysis, they identified four classes of psychomotor-severity subtypes of delirium: 1) hypoactive/mild; 2) hypoactive/severe; 3) mixed, with hyperactive features/severe; and 4) normal/mild.

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Carotid stenosis is a frequent coexisting condition in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The impact of carotid stenosis on cerebral perfusion is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of carotid stenosis on cerebral blood flow velocity in patients undergoing CABG.

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Introduction: Residents train in a historically hierarchical system. They may be compelled to question their teachers if they do not understand or disagree with a clinical decision, have a patient safety concern, or when treatment plans are unclear. We sought to determine whether a debriefing intervention that emphasizes (1) joint responsibility for safety and (2) the "two-challenge rule" (a rubric for challenging others) using a conversational technique that is assertive and collaborative (advocacy-inquiry) can improve the frequency and effectiveness with which residents "speak up" to superiors.

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Objective: To examine the impact of delirium on the trajectory of cognitive function in a cohort of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).

Methods: A secondary analysis of data collected from a large prospective cohort, the Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center's patient registry, examined cognitive performance over time in patients who developed (n = 72) or did not develop (n = 336) delirium during the course of their illnesses. Cognitive performance was measured by change in score on the Information-Memory-Concentration (IMC) subtest of the Blessed Dementia Rating Scale.

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Cdc25B is a dual-specificity phosphatase that catalyzes the dephosphorylation of the Cdk2/CycA protein complex. This enzyme is an important regulator of the human cell cycle and has been identified as a potential anticancer target. In general, protein tyrosine phosphatases are thought to bind the dianionic form of the phosphate and employ general acid catalysis via the Asp residue in the highly conserved WPD-loop.

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Objective: Disturbances in wound healing in patients with hyperglycaemic blood sugar values are a common clinical problem. Recent studies identified PPARalpha-ligands as potential skin therapeutic agents. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of oral fenofibrate treatment on dermal wound healing and microcirculatory parameters in diabetic mice.

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Uroguanylin (UGN) is a peptide hormone that binds to and activates the intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) transmembrane receptor guanylate cyclase C (GC-C), which in turn increases intracellular cGMP. Gene targeting of murine UGN or GC-C results in significantly lower levels of cGMP in IECs. On the basis of effects of cGMP in nonintestinal systems, we hypothesized that loss of GC-C activation would increase intestinal epithelial apoptosis following radiation-induced injury.

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Surveillance ileoscopies are performed regularly immediately post-transplantation to prevent allograft rejection. We investigated whether variability in apoptosis exists between proximal and distal intestinal limbs of double-barreled ileostomies, and if detection varies according to number of biopsies taken and sections prepared for evaluation. We retrospectively analyzed endoscopy/pathology reports of patients who underwent simultaneous proximal and distal ileoscopies during surveillance.

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Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are known to be regulated by phosphorylation, localization, and protein-protein interactions. More recently, redox-dependent inactivation has emerged as a critical factor in attenuating PTP activity in response to cellular stimuli. The tandem Src homology 2 domain-containing PTPs (SHPs) belong to the family of nonreceptor PTPs whose activity can be modulated by reversible oxidation in vivo.

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Background: Delirium is a common outcome after cardiac surgery. Delirium prediction rules identify patients at risk for delirium who may benefit from targeted prevention strategies, early identification, and treatment of underlying causes. The purpose of the present prospective study was to develop a prediction rule for delirium in a cardiac surgery cohort and to validate it in an independent cohort.

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