Percutaneous pigtail catheter in the treatment of pneumothorax in major burns: the best alternative? Case report and review of literature.

Multiple factors place burn patients at a high risk of pneumothorax development. Currently, no specific recommendations for the management of pneumothorax in large total body surface area (TBSA) burn patients exist. We present a case of a major burn patient who developed pneumothorax after central line insertion.

Supermolecular columnar liquid-crystalline phosphorus dendrimers decorated with sulfonamide derivatives.

A series of supermolecular liquid crystals has been synthesized by combining phosphorus dendrimers of the zero, first, and fourth generations with sulfonamide derivatives, thus generating dendromesogens bearing 6, 12, and 96 mesogenic units on their surfaces. The relevant reactions could be monitored by (1) H, (19) F, and (31) P{(1) H} NMR spectroscopies. The thermal and mesomorphic properties of the products have been studied by optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction.

Sandwiches are major contributors of sodium in the diets of American adults: results from What We Eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2010.

Efforts to sharpen the focus of sodium reduction strategies include identification of major food group contributors of sodium intake. Although sandwiches are a staple of the American diet, previous examinations of their contribution to sodium intake captured only a small subset of sandwiches. One day of dietary intake data from 5,762 adults aged 20 years and older in What We Eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2010 was analyzed.

An alternative to the classical α-arylation: the transfer of an intact 2-iodoaryl from ArI(O₂CCF₃)₂.

The α-arylation of carbonyl compounds is generally accomplished under basic conditions, both under metal catalysis and via aryl transfer from the diaryl λ(3)-iodanes. Here, we describe an alternative metal-free α-arylation using ArI(O2CCF3)2 as the source of a 2-iodoaryl group. The reaction is applicable to activated ketones, such as α-cyanoketones, and works with substituted aryliodanes.

Pulmonary embolism in burns, is there an evidence based prophylactic recommendation? Case report and review of literature.

Burn patients exhibit an acquired hypercoagulable state with increased risk of venous thromboembolism. Currently, no randomized control study assessing the efficacy of chemical venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in burn patients has been performed. We present a case of a morbidly (body mass index>54kg/m(2)) obese patient with 18% total body surface area (TBSA) burn who developed a VTE and a non-fatal submassive pulmonary embolus (PE).

Difference in adult food group intake by sex and age groups comparing Brazil and United States nationwide surveys.

Background: International comparisons of dietary intake are an important source of information to better understand food habits and their relationship to nutrition related diseases. The objective of this study is to compare food intake of Brazilian adults with American adults identifying possible dietary factors associated with the increase in obesity in Brazil.

Methods: This research used cross-national analyses between the United States and Brazil, including 5,420 adults in the 2007-2008 What We Eat In America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and 26,390 adults in the 2008-2009 Brazilian Household Budget Survey, Individual Food Intake.

Photochemical activation of extremely weak nucleophiles: highly fluorinated urethanes and polyurethanes from polyfluoro alcohols.

An efficient and environmentally friendly photoreaction between phenyl isocyanate or pentafluorophenyl isocyanate and polyfluorinated alcohols and diols is described for the first time. New highly fluorinated urethanes and diurethanes, derived from aromatic isocyanates, are produced in good yields in a photoreaction that is apparently governed by the acidic properties of the polyfluoro alcohols and diols. The wettability properties of the new polyfluorinated diurethanes have been tested, some of them showing significantly high values of hydrophobicity and oleophobicity.

Dissecting the mechanism of Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum chilense flower colour formation.

Flowers are the defining feature of angiosperms, and function as indispensable organs for sexual reproduction. Flower colour typically plays an important role in attracting pollinators, and can show considerable variation, even between closely related species. For example, domesticated tomato (S.

Measuring youth health engagement: development of the youth engagement with health services survey.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create and validate a survey instrument designed to measure Youth Engagement with Health Services (YEHS!).

Methods: A 61-item YEHS! survey was created through a multistaged process, which included literature review, subject matter expert opinion, review of existing validated measures, and cognitive interviewing with 41 adolescents in Colorado and New Mexico. The YEHS! was then pilot tested with a diverse group of high school students (n = 354) accessing health services at one of eight school-based health centers in Colorado and New Mexico.

The roles of occipitotemporal cortex in reading, spelling, and naming.

We evaluated the hypothesis that Brodmann's area (BA) 37 within left occipitotemporal cortex has at least two important functions in lexical processing. One role is the computation of case-, font-, location-, and orientation-independent grapheme descriptions for written word recognition and production (reading and spelling). This role may depend on the medial part of BA 37, in left midfusiform gyrus.

Distinct mechanisms and timing of language recovery after stroke.

The "language network" is remarkably stable across language tasks but changes in response to injury to specific components or in response to "disconnection" of input to one component. We investigated network changes during language recovery, hypothesizing that language recovery takes place through distinct mechanisms: (a) reperfusion; (b) recovery from diaschisis; (c) recovery from structural disconnection; and (d) "reorganization" of language, whereby various components assume function of a damaged component. We also tested the hypothesis that "reorganization" depends on: the language task, level of performance, size and site of stroke, and time post onset.

Modeling the different sections of the cardiac conduction system to obtain realistic electrocardiograms.

The cardiac conduction system is divided in different sections that play an important role in the cardiac depolarization sequence and define the morphology of the electrocardiogram. In this study we have built several configurations for each section based on anatomical descriptions. The effect of the morphology of the bundle branches, and the density of both Purkinje branches and Purkinje-myocardial junctions (PMJ) has been studied by comparing the pseudo-ECGs obtained with the standard precordial leads of the electrocardiogram.

Comparison of innate immune activation after prolonged feeding of milk fermented with three species of Lactobacilli.

The present investigation aimed at identifying the abilities of three different species of probiotic lactobacilli to modulate cellular immune responses in mouse neutrophils and macrophages in vivo over a study period of 60 days. Neutrophil respiratory burst enzymes (cytochrome c reductase and MPO) showed remarkable increased activity (P ≤ 0.01) after consumption of milks fermented by different species of probiotics over 30 and 60 days of feeding trials.

Direct arylation of oligonaphthalenes using PIFA/BF3·Et2O: from double arylation to larger oligoarene products.

Direct dehydrogenative coupling between the linear ter- and quaternaphthalenes and substituted benzenes was achieved under the Kita conditions using the hypervalent PIFA/BF3 reagent. Products resulting from either the double arylation of the naphthalenic substrate or the formal dimerizative arylation have been prepared. For example, in the latter mode, ternaphthalene was converted into a series of linear octiarenes (counting the capping Ar).

Synthesis and structural characterization of a dendrimer model compound based on a cyclotriphosphazene core with TEMPO radicals as substituents.

The synthesis of the 3Gc0T zero generation dendrimer with a cyclotriphosphazene core functionalized with nitroxyl radicals in its six branches has been performed. The radical units have been used as probes to determine the orientation of the six branches in solution experimentally by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy compared with the structure obtained in the solid state by X-ray diffraction. The orientation of the dendrimer branches is the same in solution as in the solid state.

Combination of HIF-1α gene transfection and HIF-1-activated bone marrow-derived angiogenic cell infusion improves burn wound healing in aged mice.

Impaired burn wound healing in the elderly represents a major clinical problem. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a transcriptional activator that orchestrates the cellular response to hypoxia. Its actions in dermal wounds promote angiogenesis and improve healing.

Monitoring sodium intake of the US population: impact and implications of a change in what we eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey dietary data processing.

Accurate monitoring of US sodium intake requires familiarity with national dietary data collection and processing procedures. This article describes a data processing step that impacts sodium intake estimates, reasons for discontinuing the step, and implications of its discontinuation. This step, termed salt adjustment, was performed in US Department of Agriculture (USDA) dietary intake surveys from 1985 through 2008.

The USDA Automated Multiple-Pass Method accurately assesses population sodium intakes.

Background: Given current sodium-reduction strategies, accurate and practical methods to monitor sodium intake in the US population are critical. Although the gold standard for estimating sodium intake is the 24-h urine collection, few studies have used this biomarker to evaluate the accuracy of a dietary instrument.

Objective: Our objective was to compare self-reported dietary intake of sodium with 24-h urinary excretion obtained in the USDA Automated Multiple-Pass Method (AMPM) Validation Study.

A novel technique of using externally directed visual attention to treat psychological illnesses.

This paper puts forward a potentially path breaking approach for alleviating symptoms of psychological illnesses. In this paper, the author would also like to state with supporting evidence that inward attention style plays a major role in the maintenance or even onset of psychological illnesses ranging from as varied as depression to schizophrenia. For the purpose of this paper, the term "inward attention" has been defined as a form of attention where one's awareness is mostly focused on internal cognitive processes rather than the stimuli from the external environment.

Understanding the mechanisms amenable to CRT response: from pre-operative multimodal image data to patient-specific computational models.

This manuscript describes our recent developments towards better understanding of the mechanisms amenable to cardiac resynchronization therapy response. We report the results from a full multimodal dataset corresponding to eight patients from the euHeart project. The datasets include echocardiography, MRI and electrophysiological studies.

Chondro-manubrial deformity and bifid rib, rare variations seen in pectus carinatum: a radiological finding.

Pectus carinatum or protrusion deformity of chest wall is less frequently occurring anterior chest wall deformity when compared to pectus excavatum. It may be classified as type 1 or chondro-gladiolar and type 2 or chondro-manubrial deformity. Other variations seen are symmetrical and asymmetrical pectus carinatum.

Characterization and modeling of the peripheral cardiac conduction system.

The development of biophysical models of the heart has the potential to get insights in the patho-physiology of the heart, which requires to accurately modeling anatomy and function. The electrical activation sequence of the ventricles depends strongly on the cardiac conduction system (CCS). Its morphology and function cannot be observed in vivo, and therefore data available come from histological studies.

Centrifugal countercurrent chromatography to elucidate surface differences of adipose tissue-derived stem cells.

The current methods of isolation of adipose tissue-derived stem cells result in a heterogeneous population that might interfere with their differentiation potential and makes it difficult to compare the results between different groups. Partition in aqueous two-phase systems is one of the few techniques that separate cells on the basis of surface properties, gentle enough to isolate fragile cell types in isotonic conditions without altering their structure, and can be easily scaled. In this study, stem cells isolated from human adipose tissue seeded and expanded in vitro were fractionated by using centrifugal countercurrent distribution in an aqueous two-phase system.

Change in methodology for collection of drinking water intake in What We Eat in America/National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: implications for analysis.

Objective: To provide updated estimates of drinking water intake (total, tap, plain bottled) for groups aged ≥1 year in the USA and to determine whether intakes collected in 2005-2006 using the Automated Multiple-Pass Method for the 24 h recall differ from intakes collected in 2003-2004 via post-recall food-frequency type questions.

Design: Cross-sectional, observational study.

Setting: What We Eat in America (WWEIA), the dietary intake component of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Time-dependent predominance of nonhomologous DNA end-joining pathways during embryonic development in mice.

Repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is crucial for maintaining genomic integrity during the successful development of a fertilized egg into a whole organism. To date, the mechanism of DSB repair in postimplantation embryos has been largely unknown. In the present study, using a cell-free repair system derived from the different embryonic stages of mice, we find that canonical nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), one of the major DSB repair pathways in mammals, is predominant at 14.