Should early extubation be the goal for children after congenital cardiac surgery?

Objective: We sought to determine the feasibility and assess the clinical outcomes associated with an early extubation strategy for all children undergoing congenital heart surgery, including neonates (age, <30 days).

Methods: We performed a linked database analysis of all patients undergoing congenital heart surgery from July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2012. We collected data on the cardiac diagnoses, preoperative status, procedure, and postoperative course, including the duration of invasive and noninvasive ventilation, failure of extubation, hemodynamic data, length of stay, complications, and mortality.

Amphiregulin-EGFR signaling regulates PTHrP gene expression in breast cancer cells.

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is an autocrine/paracrine factor produced by breast cancer cells that is speculated to play a major role in permitting breast cancer cells to grow into the bone microenvironment by stimulating the bone resorption axis. It has been previously shown that EGFR signaling induces the production of PTHrP in several primary and transformed epithelial cell types. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between EGFR and PTHrP gene expression in human breast cancer cells.

Phosphorylation of ErbB4 on tyrosine 1056 is critical for ErbB4 coupling to inhibition of colony formation by human mammary cell lines.

In many studies, ErbB4 expression in breast tumor samples correlates with a favorable patient prognosis. Similarly, ErbB4 signaling is coupled to cellular differentiation and growth arrest in a variety of model systems. However, in some studies, ErbB4 expression in breast tumor samples correlates with poor outcome.

A constitutively active ErbB4 mutant inhibits drug-resistant colony formation by the DU-145 and PC-3 human prostate tumor cell lines.

ErbB4 (HER4) is a member of the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases, a family that also includes the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR/ErbB1/HER1), Neu/ErbB2/HER2, and ErbB3/HER3. Several groups have hypothesized that signal transduction by the ErbB4 receptor tyrosine kinase is coupled to differentiation, growth arrest, and tumor suppression in mammary and prostate epithelial cells. In this report we demonstrate that a constitutively active ErbB4 mutant inhibits the formation of drug-resistant colonies by the DU-145 and PC-3 human prostate tumor cell lines.

Biobehavioral pain responses in former extremely low birth weight infants at four months' corrected age.

Objective: To compare biobehavioral responses to acute pain at 4 months' corrected age between former extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants and term-born controls.

Methodology: Measures of facial behavioral and cardiac autonomic reactivity in 21 former ELBW infants (mean birth weight = 763 g) were compared with term-born infants (n = 24) during baseline, lance, and recovery periods of a finger-lance blood collection. Further, painful procedures experienced during neonatal care were quantified in both groups.