Medial Open Transversus Abdominis Plane (MOTAP) Catheters Reduce Opioid Requirements and Improve Pain Control Following Open Liver Resection: A Multicenter, Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: Conventional management of pain following open liver resection involves intravenous, patient-controlled analgesia (IV PCA) or epidural analgesia. The objective of this trial was to assess the efficacy of a regional technique called Medial Open Transversus Abdominis Plane (MOTAP) catheter analgesia compared with IV PCA.

Methods: This was a blinded, randomized, controlled parallel-arm trial conducted at 2 high-volume centers.

Impact of exercise on productivity, behavior, and immune functioning of weaned -cross calves housed in drylots.

The effects of 2 exercise regimes on cattle productivity, immune function, and behavior were evaluated against a control ( = 4 pens/treatment) using weaned -cross calves ( = 203) housed in drylots (16-18 calves/single sex pens). Three treatments were applied 3 times per week for 4 wk: 1) programmatic exercise (PRO), in which cattle and a stockperson walked in the alleyway behind their home pen for 20 min; 2) free exercise (FREE), in which cattle were moved into the drovers alley for 60 min, not exercised by a stockperson, and were allowed free access to their home pen and alleyway; and 3) control (CON), in which calves were removed from their home pen only for routine husbandry. Behavior observations were conducted on d -2 and -1 relative to treatment implementation (d 0) and on d 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, and 27.

Developing a robust suturing assessment: validity evidence for the intracorporeal suturing assessment tool.

Background: Assessment tools specific to intracorporeal suturing are lacking. The purpose of this study was to validate a novel Intracorporeal Suturing Assessment Tool (ISAT) by comparing it with existing measures that have been reported to have validity evidence.

Methods: Videos of laparoscopic suturing were assessed by 3 blinded laparoscopic experts using the validated Global Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills (GOALS) scale and the ISAT.

Clinically apparent adverse reactions to intra-wound vancomycin powder in early onset scoliosis are rare.

Purpose: Spine surgeons have increasingly used intraoperative application of topical vancomycin powder (TVP) to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). The goals of this study were to define the rate of pharmacological adverse reaction to TVP in young patients undergoing posterior spinal surgery and to summarise institutional variation in TVP dosing.

Methods: This retrospective observational study included ten spine centres in the United States and one in Europe.

Feed Intake and Weight Changes in Bos indicus-Bos taurus Crossbred Steers Following Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Type 1b Challenge Under Production Conditions.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) has major impacts on beef cattle production worldwide, but the understanding of host animal genetic influence on illness is limited. This study evaluated rectal temperature, weight change and feed intake in crossbred steers ( = 366) that were challenged with BVDV Type 1b, and where family lines were stratified across three vaccine treatments of modified live (MLV), killed, (KV) or no vaccine (NON). Pyrexia classification based on 40.

Characterization of American Football Injuries in Children and Adolescents.

Background: As a collision sport, football carries a significant risk of injury, as indicated by the large number of pediatric football-related injuries seen in emergency departments. There is little information in the medical literature focusing on the age-related injury patterns of this sport. Our purpose was to evaluate the types of football-related injuries that occur in children and adolescents and assess which patient characteristics, if any, affect injury pattern.

Design of MC1R Selective γ-MSH Analogues with Canonical Amino Acids Leads to Potency and Pigmentation.

Melanoma is a lethal form of skin cancer. Skin pigmentation, which is regulated by the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), is an effective protection against melanoma. However, the endogenous MC1R agonists lack selectivity for the MC1R and thus can have side effects.

The effects of actors vocal exercises for relaxation on fluency: A preliminary study.

Purpose: To determine the efficacy of treatment based on Kristin Linklater's technique for vocal preparation for performance for use with people who stutter.

Method: A protocol for a treatment for stuttering involving breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, and focus on awareness was designed by the first author from Linklater's published exercises in her book Freeing the Natural Voice (2006). Four adults who stutter participated in a 12-week, single-case reversal design study.

Interorgan regulation of intestinal stem cell proliferation by a hybrid organ boundary zone.

The molecular identities and regulation of cells at interorgan boundaries are often unclear, despite the increasingly appreciated role of organ boundaries in disease. Using as a model, we here show that a specific population of adult midgut organ-boundary intestinal stem cells (OB-ISCs) is regulated by the neighboring hindgut, a developmentally distinct organ. This distinct OB-ISC control occurs through proximity to a specialized transition zone between the endodermal midgut and ectodermal hindgut that shares molecular signatures of both organs, which we term the hybrid zone (HZ).

Efficacy and safety of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator for venous thrombosis after paediatric heart surgery.

Objective: Reports in the literature of treatment with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator following cardiac surgery are limited. We reviewed our experience to provide a case series of the therapeutic use of tissue plasminogen activator for the treatment of venous thrombosis in children after cardiac surgery. The data describe the morbidity, mortality, and clinical outcomes of tissue plasminogen activator administration for treatment of venous thrombosis in children following cardiac surgery.

Perioperative Pain Management in Pediatric Spine Surgery.

Pain management after spinal deformity correction surgery for scoliosis in the pediatric population can be difficult. Deformity correction with posterior spinal fusion causes significant tissue trauma. Historically, pain control has been achieved with intravenous opiates.

Extreme weather-year sequences have nonadditive effects on environmental nitrogen losses.

The frequency and intensity of extreme weather years, characterized by abnormal precipitation and temperature, are increasing. In isolation, these years have disproportionately large effects on environmental N losses. However, the sequence of extreme weather years (e.

Factors that predict instability in pediatric diaphyseal both-bone forearm fractures.

The aim of this study was to determine the factors that may predict failure of closed reduction and casting of diaphyseal forearm fractures in children. Demographic and radiographic data of children with closed reduction and casting of these fractures in the emergency department were evaluated. Of 174 patients with adequate follow-up to union, 19 (11%) required a repeat procedure.

Effect of monensin inclusion on intake, digestion, and ruminal fermentation parameters by and steers consuming bermudagrass hay.

Effects of monensin inclusion and cattle subspecies on utilization of bermudagrass hay (13.7% CP, 77.3% NDF, and 38.

Association of udder traits with single nucleotide polymorphisms in crossbred - cows.

The size, support, and health of udders limit the productive life of beef cows, especially those with background, because, in general, such cows have a reputation for problems with udders. Genomic association studies of bovine udder traits have been conducted in dairy cattle and recently in Continental European beef breeds but not in cows with background. The objective of this study was to determine associations of SNP and udder support scores, teat length, and teat diameter in half (Nellore), half (Angus) cows.

Effect of monensin withdrawal on intake, digestion, and ruminal fermentation parameters by and steers consuming bermudagrass hay.

Effects of monensin withdrawal and cattle subspecies on the utilization of bermudagrass hay (14.3% CP, 72.3% NDF, and 36.

The Risk of Curve Progression and Surgery in African Americans With Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Study Design: Retrospective clinical cohort study.

Objective: To determine if certain risk factors (age, curve magnitude, skeletal maturity, gender, and curve pattern) traditionally associated with curve progression and surgical intervention in the general population apply equally to African Americans.

Summary Of Background Data: Currently, information is limited on the role that a patient's race plays in the risk of curve progression of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), and existing studies have conflicting results.

The critical role of logarithmic transformation in Nernstian equilibrium potential calculations.

The membrane potential, arising from uneven distribution of ions across cell membranes containing selectively permeable ion channels, is of fundamental importance to cell signaling. The necessity of maintaining the membrane potential may be appreciated by expressing Ohm's law as current = voltage/resistance and recognizing that no current flows when voltage = 0, i.e.

The Effects of Parent-Focused Slow Relaxed Speech Intervention on Articulation Rate, Response Time Latency, and Fluency in Preschool Children Who Stutter.

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of an intervention to reduce caregivers' articulation rates with children who stutter on (a) disfluency, (b) caregiver and child's articulation rates, and (c) caregiver and child's response time latency (RTL).

Method: Seventeen caregivers and their preschool children who stuttered participated in a group study of treatment outcomes. One speech sample was collected as a baseline, and 2 samples were collected after treatment.

Reactivity of Fe(CO) + O: oxidation of CO by O at an isolated metal atom.

The kinetics of Fe(CO) + O are measured under thermal conditions from 300-600 K using a selected-ion flow tube apparatus. Both the bare metal and n = 2 cations are inert to reaction over this temperature range, but Fe(CO) reacts rapidly (k = 3.2 ± 0.

Benign Natural History of Spondylolysis in Adolescence With Midterm Follow-Up.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Objectives: To use the Micheli Functional Scale to assess adolescent patients with spondylolysis treated conservatively at midterm follow-up.

Summary Of Background: Spondylolysis is a common source of back pain for adolescents and is generally managed with bracing and physical therapy.

Maximum soil organic carbon storage in Midwest U.S. cropping systems when crops are optimally nitrogen-fertilized.

Nitrogen fertilization is critical to optimize short-term crop yield, but its long-term effect on soil organic C (SOC) is uncertain. Here, we clarify the impact of N fertilization on SOC in typical maize-based (Zea mays L.) Midwest U.

Effect of source and level of protein supplementation on rice straw utilization by Brahman steers.

Seven ruminally cannulated Brahman steers were used in a 7 × 4 incomplete block design to determine the effects of cottonseed meal (CSM; 43.9% CP, 82.9% RDP) or dried distillers' grains (DDG; 27.