Nuclear error phenotypes in the two-cell embryo are correlated to blastocyst formation rate after assisted reproduction.

Purpose: Map the nuclear error phenotypes in the two-cell embryo after assisted reproduction using time lapse images and the effect on good quality blastocyst formation.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study using time lapse images, categorizing 2331 two-cell embryos from 392 patient couples and 504 ART cycles categorizing each embryo as mononucleated, multinucleated, micronucleated, binucleated, split nucleation or mixed error. Correlating nuclear error phenotype with good quality blastocyst formation rate (BFR) using contingency tables and unadjusted odds ratio.

Opposing roles by KRAS and BRAF mutation on immune cell infiltration in colorectal cancer - possible implications for immunotherapy.

Background: The immune response has important clinical value in colorectal cancer (CRC) in both prognosis and response to immunotherapy. This study aims to explore tumour immune cell infiltration in relation to clinically well-established molecular markers of CRC.

Methods: Multiplex immunohistochemistry and multispectral imaging was used to evaluate tumour infiltration of cytotoxic T cells (CD8), Th1 cells (T-bet), T regulatory cells (FoxP3), B cells (CD20), and macrophages (CD68) in a cohort of 257 CRC patients.

Proprietary non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid/dextranomer gel (NASHA/Dx) for endoscopic treatment of grade IV vesicoureteral reflux: Long-term observational study.

Background: Since 1993, children aged >1 year with persistent grade III-V vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and febrile urinary tract infections (UTIs) attending Uppsala University Hospital have undergone endoscopic injection with proprietary non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid/dextranomer gel (NASHA/Dx; Deflux®).

Objective: Investigate long-term incidence of UTI, bladder dysfunction, ureteral reimplantation and overall clinical findings following endoscopic injection of NASHA/Dx.

Study Design: Children with grade IV VUR diagnosed by voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) and dilating VUR persisting for >1 year were included in this study.

Timed Up-and-Go Dual-Task Testing in the Assessment of Cognitive Function: A Mixed Methods Observational Study for Development of the UDDGait Protocol.

New methods to screen for and identify early-stage dementia disorders are highly sought after. The purpose of this pilot study is to develop a study protocol for a dual-task test aimed at aiding the early detection of dementia disorders. We used the Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) test, which is a mobility task involving starting in a sitting position, standing up, walking three meters to cross a line on the floor, turning around, walking back and sitting down again.

White spaces, music notation and the facilitation of sight-reading.

The use of interword separation has consistently been proven to enhance fluency in reading language scripts. At the same time, neurophysiological evidence has shown that music and language scripts can activate very similar neural circuitry that integratively encodes the symbols that comprise them. By analogy to interword separations in language, we hypothesize that visual separation cues in musical scores should facilitate music reading.

Improved outcome with standardized plan for clinical management of acute decompensated chronic heart failure.

Background: Our overall goal is to improve clinical care for inpatients with chronic heart failure (CHF). A retrospective assessment of CHF patients admitted to our hospital over the past decade (2005 . 2014) indicated a need for better strategies to evaluate clinical treatment, implement best practices and achieve optimal patient outcome.

Changes of arterial pressure following relief of obstruction in adults with hydronephrosis.

Background: As much as 20% of all cases of hypertension are associated with kidney malfunctions. We have previously demonstrated in animals and in pediatric patients that hydronephrosis causes hypertension, which was attenuated by surgical relief of the ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction. This retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate: (1) the proposed link between hydronephrosis, due to UPJ obstruction, and elevated arterial pressure in adults; and (2) if elevated blood pressure in patients with hydronephrosis might be another indication for surgery.

Changes in arterial pressure and markers of nitric oxide homeostasis and oxidative stress following surgical correction of hydronephrosis in children.

Objective: Recent clinical studies have suggested an increased risk of elevated arterial pressure in patients with hydronephrosis. Animals with experimentally induced hydronephrosis develop hypertension, which is correlated to the degree of obstruction and increased oxidative stress. In this prospective study we investigated changes in arterial pressure, oxidative stress, and nitric oxide (NO) homeostasis following correction of hydronephrosis.

Reboxetine in therapy-resistant enuresis: A randomized placebo-controlled study.

Introduction: A significant minority of children with enuresis do not respond to either desmopressin or the enuresis alarm. Anticholinergics have not proven as successful as expected. The fourth evidence-based treatment, the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine, is cardiotoxic when overdosed, which has led to diminished use.

Does Expert Advice Improve Educational Choice?

This paper reports evidence that an individual meeting with a study counselor at high school significantly improves the quality of choice of tertiary educational field, as self-assessed 18 months after graduation from college. To address endogeneity, we explore the variation in study counseling practices between schools as an instrumental variable (IV). Following careful scrutiny of the validity of the IV, our results indicate a significant and positive influence of study counseling on the quality of educational choice, foremost among males and those with low educated parents.

Surgical treatment reduces blood pressure in children with unilateral congenital hydronephrosis.

Objective: Renal disorders can cause hypertension, but less is known about the influence of hydronephrosis on blood pressure. Hydronephrosis due to pelvo-ureteric junction obstruction (PUJO) is a fairly common condition (incidence in newborns of 0.5-1%).

Signal regulatory protein alpha is present in several neutrophil granule populations and is rapidly mobilized to the cell surface to negatively fine-tune neutrophil accumulation in inflammation.

Signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) is a cell surface glycoprotein with inhibitory functions, which may regulate neutrophil transmigration. SIRPα is mobilized to the neutrophil surface from specific granules, gelatinase granules, and secretory vesicles following inflammatory activation in vitro and in vivo. The lack of SIRPα signaling and the ability to upregulate SIRPα to the cell surface promote neutrophil accumulation during inflammation in vivo.

Lack of CD47 impairs bone cell differentiation and results in an osteopenic phenotype in vivo due to impaired signal regulatory protein α (SIRPα) signaling.

Here, we investigated whether the cell surface glycoprotein CD47 was required for normal formation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts and to maintain normal bone formation activity in vitro and in vivo. In parathyroid hormone or 1α,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 (D3)-stimulated bone marrow cultures (BMC) from CD47(-/-) mice, we found a strongly reduced formation of multinuclear tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)(+) osteoclasts, associated with reduced expression of osteoclastogenic genes (nfatc1, Oscar, Trap/Acp, ctr, catK, and dc-stamp). The production of M-CSF and RANKL (receptor activator of nuclear factor κβ ligand) was reduced in CD47(-/-) BMC, as compared with CD47(+/+) BMC.

Neutrophil apoptosis is associated with loss of signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) from the cell surface.

Cells of the innate immune system, including monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils, play a major role in the development of inflammatory diseases. During inflammation, large numbers of neutrophils are recruited from the blood and subsequently undergo apoptosis, which involves changes in the cell surface expression of a number of receptors. Neutrophils express the Ig superfamily member, SIRPα, which is a receptor involved in regulating cell adhesion and migration.

Complete self-sufficiency planning: designing and building disaster-ready hospitals.

Objectives: The need for healthcare systems and academic medical centers to be optimally prepared in the event of a disaster is well documented. Events such as Hurricane Katrina demonstrate a major gap in disaster preparedness for at-risk medical institutions. To address this gap, we outline the components of complete self-sufficiency planning in designing and building hospitals that will function at full operational capacity in the event of a disaster.

Interpreting estimates of heritability--a note on the twin decomposition.

While most outcomes may in part be genetically mediated, quantifying genetic heritability is a different matter. To explore data on twins and decompose the variation is a classical method to determine whether variation in outcomes, e.g.

An activated triple bond linker enables 'click' attachment of peptides to oligonucleotides on solid support.

A general procedure, based on a new activated alkyne linker, for the preparation of peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates (POCs) on solid support has been developed. With this linker, conjugation is effective at room temperature (RT) in millimolar concentration and submicromolar amounts. This is made possible since the use of a readily attachable activated triple bond linker enhances the Cu(I) catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition ('click' reaction).

Nature, nurture and socioeconomic policy-what can we learn from molecular genetics?

Many countries use public resources to compensate individuals with genetic disorders, identified by behaviors/symptoms such as chronic diseases and disabilities. This paper draws attention to molecular genetic research which may provide a new dimension to our understanding of how socioeconomic outcomes are generated. We provide an overview of the recently emerging evidence of gene-environment interaction effects.

The lived experience of the early postoperative period after colorectal cancer surgery.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancer diagnoses and undergoing colorectal cancer surgery is reported to be associated with physical symptoms and psychological reactions. Social support is described as important during the postoperative period. The purpose of this paper was to describe how patients experience the early postoperative period after colorectal cancer surgery.

Estrogen receptors in the inner ear during different stages of pregnancy and development in the rat.

Conclusion: ERalpha and ERbeta are present in the inner ear and are up- and down-regulated depending on the stage of maturation, development and pregnancy, suggesting that estrogen may have an effect on the cochlea during various stages of life. No estrogen receptors (ERs) were found in the cochlea of the developing fetus, which suggests that estrogen does not have an effect on the cochlea during gestation.

Objective: To investigate the distribution of ERs in the cochlea during pregnancy, maturation and development in a female rat model.

Endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteral reflux: current practice and the need for multifactorial assessment.

Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) affects around 1% of all children. It carries an increased risk of febrile urinary-tract infections (UTIs) and is associated with impaired renal function. Antibiotic prophylaxis is an established approach to managing the condition, but it does not protect against UTI and encourages bacterial resistance.

Inner ear pathology and loss of hearing in estrogen receptor-beta deficient mice.

There are well known differences between males and females in hearing. In the present study, the role of estrogen receptor-beta (ER-beta; listed as ESR2 in the MGI Database) in hearing was investigated by comparing hearing and morphology of the inner ear in ER-beta knock-out mice (ER-beta(-/-)) with that of wild-type (WT) littermates. Hearing was analyzed with auditory brainstem response audiometry at 3 and 12 months.