Congenital left atrial appendage ostial stenosis in an extremely premature infant diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography.

Congenital left atrial appendage ostial stenosis is a very rare congenital cardiac condition. We present the case of an extremely premature infant with congenital left atrial appendage ostial stenosis diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiographic imaging.

An ancestral mycobacterial effector promotes dissemination of infection.

The human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis typically causes lung disease but can also disseminate to other tissues. We identified a M. tuberculosis (Mtb) outbreak presenting with unusually high rates of extrapulmonary dissemination and bone disease.

Taping, Bracing, and Injection Treatment for Patellofemoral Pain and Patellar Tendinopathy.

Purpose Of Review: This article will focus on additional treatment options for the two most common causes of anterior knee pain, patellofemoral pain syndrome, and patellar tendinopathy. Conservative management is the first-line treatment for these conditions. For clinicians to maximize the efficacy of conservative treatment options for their patients, they must understand the most up-to-date literature evaluating the potential benefit of taping, bracing, and injections as adjunctive treatments for maximizing treatment success.

Update of Risk Factors, Diagnosis, and Management of Patellofemoral Pain.

Purpose Of Review: Patellofemoral pain is the most common cause of anterior knee pain. The purpose of this review is to examine the latest research on risk factors, physical examination, and treatment of patellofemoral pain to improve accuracy of diagnosis and increase use of efficacious treatment modalities.

Recent Findings: The latest research suggests patellofemoral pain pathophysiology is a combination of biomechanical, behavioral, and psychological factors.

Simplifying Disinfectant Choices to Improve Safety in Contact Precaution Rooms.

Both quaternary ammonium and bleach-based cleaning products are effective in reducing the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus in hospitals, but bleach-based compounds demonstrate better control of Clostridium difficile infections. Our pilot study demonstrates the potential to reduce C. difficile transmission in an acute care hospital by eliminating the need for providers to choose the appropriate cleaning product from isolation precaution carts.

Macrophage Epithelial Reprogramming Underlies Mycobacterial Granuloma Formation and Promotes Infection.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in humans triggers formation of granulomas, which are tightly organized immune cell aggregates that are the central structure of tuberculosis. Infected and uninfected macrophages interdigitate, assuming an altered, flattened appearance. Although pathologists have described these changes for over a century, the molecular and cellular programs underlying this transition are unclear.

Decreased false-positive adolescent pre-athletic screening with Seattle Criteria-interpreted electrocardiograms.

Sudden cardiac arrest is a rare but devastating cause of death in young adults. Electrocardiograms may detect many causes of sudden cardiac arrest, but are not routinely included in pre-athletic screening in the United States of America partly because of high rates of false-positive interpretation. To improve electrocardiogram specificity for identifying cardiac conditions associated with sudden cardiac arrest, an expert panel developed refined criteria known as the Seattle Criteria.

Whole genome sequencing identifies circulating Beijing-lineage Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in Guatemala and an associated urban outbreak.

Limited data are available regarding the molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains circulating in Guatemala. Beijing-lineage Mtb strains have gained prevalence worldwide and are associated with increased virulence and drug resistance, but there have been only a few cases reported in Central America. Here we report the first whole genome sequencing of Central American Beijing-lineage strains of Mtb.

CLARITY and PACT-based imaging of adult zebrafish and mouse for whole-animal analysis of infections.

Visualization of infection and the associated host response has been challenging in adult vertebrates. Owing to their transparency, zebrafish larvae have been used to directly observe infection in vivo; however, such larvae have not yet developed a functional adaptive immune system. Cells involved in adaptive immunity mature later and have therefore been difficult to access optically in intact animals.

Application and Utility of iPads in Pediatric Tele-echocardiography.

Background: Telemedicine is used with increasing frequency to improve patient care in remote areas. The interpretation of medical imaging on iPad(®) (Apple, Cupertino, CA) tablets has been reported to be accurate. There are no studies on the use of iPads for interpretation of pediatric echocardiograms.

Search for microRNAs expressed by intracellular bacterial pathogens in infected mammalian cells.

MicroRNAs are expressed by all multicellular organisms and play a critical role as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. Moreover, different microRNA species are known to influence the progression of a range of different diseases, including cancer and microbial infections. A number of different human viruses also encode microRNAs that can attenuate cellular innate immune responses and promote viral replication, and a fungal pathogen that infects plants has recently been shown to express microRNAs in infected cells that repress host cell immune responses and promote fungal pathogenesis.

New generation NMR bioreactor coupled with high-resolution NMR spectroscopy leads to novel discoveries in Moorella thermoacetica metabolic profiles.

An in situ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) bioreactor was developed and employed to monitor microbial metabolism under batch growth conditions in real time. We selected Moorella thermoacetica ATCC 49707 as a test case. M.

Detection of autofluorescent Mycobacterium chelonae in living zebrafish.

Mycobacterium chelonae is widespread in aquatic environments and can cause mycobacteriosis with low virulence in zebrafish. The risk of infection in zebrafish is exacerbated in closed-recirculating aquatic systems where rapidly growing mycobacteria can live on biofilms, as well as in zebrafish tissues. We have discovered a method of identifying and visualizing M.

Improved iterative synthesis of linearly disassembling dendrons.

We report a significant improvement in the synthesis of disassembling dendritic structures by using 4-hydroxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid as the building block. We have prepared multigram quantities of first- through third-generation linearly disassembling dendrons containing a [3-N,4-O]-benzylaryl ether disassembly pathway, capped by a vanillin-derived phenyl allyl ether trigger, and a p-nitrophenoxy (PNP) reporter group. The disassembly process of these materials was initiated by allyl deprotection and monitored by the absorbance of the PNP reporter unit in the UV-vis.

Postpartum depression assessments at well-baby visits: screening feasibility, prevalence, and risk factors.

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a disorder with broad public health implications and consequences that impact almost every aspect of child development.

Methods: In this pilot study, study participants were 96 women who brought their babies to the University of Arizona Pediatrics Clinic for their 8-week well-baby visit. Participants completed a packet that consisted of questions about demographics, potential correlates of PPD, and the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS).

Clinic-based screening for domestic violence: use of a child safety questionnaire.

Background: Domestic violence affects many women during their lifetime. Children living in homes where they are or have been exposed to violence are at increased risk for adverse outcomes. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Practice, and the American College of Obstetrics/Gynecology have recently joined in recommending routine screening of all families for the presence of domestic violence.

Neurocircuitry of conditioned inhibition of analgesia: effects of amygdala, dorsal raphe, ventral medullary, and spinal cord lesions on antianalgesia in the rat.

Pain inhibition (analgesia) is produced by learned danger signals and inhibited by learned safety signals (antianalgesia). Conditioned analgesia is mediated by brain-to-spinal pathways releasing spinal endogenous opiates. Spinal morphine mimics learned danger signals in producing analgesia, which is inhibited by antianalgesia.

Reversal of spinal cord non-opiate analgesia by conditioned anti-analgesia in the rat.

The spinal cord contains endogenous substances (such as cholecystokinin, FMRFamide, etc.) that can block the analgesic effects of opiates. Anti-opiate actions have been most commonly studied by exogenous administration of receptor agonists and receptor antagonists of these substances.

Nutritional myodegeneration associated with dorsal scapular displacement in beef heifers.

Scapular displacement due to bilateral rupture of the serratus ventralis muscles ("flying scapula") occurred in four heifers from a large beef herd. Two of the four affected animals were necropsied. Additional animals on the farm developed intermittent lameness when enclosed on certain pastures.

Blockade of cytokine induced conditioned taste aversion by subdiaphragmatic vagotomy: further evidence for vagal mediation of immune-brain communication.

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) are cytokines released by activated immune cells. IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha elicit various illness symptoms including avoidance of novel tastes with which they have been paired (conditioned taste aversion). Previous hypotheses to account for these actions have focused on blood-borne IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha exerting their effects directly at the brain.

Clinical and pathologic features of ceroid lipofuscinosis in two Australian cattle dogs.

A lysosomal storage disease was diagnosed in 2 Australian Cattle Dog siblings, using light and electron microscopic evaluation. Both dogs developed clinical signs of disease at about 1 year of age. Vision and motor function deteriorated over several months; by 2 years of age, the dogs were blind and had progressive ataxia.

Experimental acute inorganic boron toxicosis in the goat: effects on serum chemistry and CSF biogenic amines.

Following acute accidental death of 26 cows exposed to boron fertilizer, effects of inorganic boron treatment in goats were studied. Goats were orally dosed with toxic but sublethal amounts of the fertilizer. Multiple hematologic and serum chemistry parameters were assessed, as were cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurotransmitters and some of their metabolites.

Acute, fatal illness in cattle exposed to boron fertilizer.

Twenty-six cows died after accidental exposure to boron fertilizer. Cows developed diarrhea, weakness, ataxia, signs of depression, and died, usually within a few hours. Seizure-like behavior was noticed in 2 cows, and 2 were suspected of aborting.