[Capitate Non-Union: One of the Causes of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome].

We report on a carpal tunnel syndrome in a 50-year-old woman, presumably caused in part by a 35-year-old asymptomatic capitate non-union. The carpal tunnel was released and a large exostosis removed. 3 weeks after the operation the patient was free of symptoms.

Increased seawater temperature increases the abundance and alters the structure of natural Vibrio populations associated with the coral Pocillopora damicornis.

Rising seawater temperature associated with global climate change is a significant threat to coral health and is linked to increasing coral disease and pathogen-related bleaching events. We performed heat stress experiments with the coral Pocillopora damicornis, where temperature was increased to 31°C, consistent with the 2-3°C predicted increase in summer sea surface maxima. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing revealed a large shift in the composition of the bacterial community at 31°C, with a notable increase in Vibrio, including known coral pathogens.

CoQ₁₀ Function and Role in Heart Failure and Ischemic Heart Disease.

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is an essential lipid of cells present in all cellular compartments. The functions of CoQ in mitochondrial respiration and as an antioxidant are established, although the lipid likely has additional, presently unknown, roles. While the therapeutic utility of CoQ10 supplements is recognized in the rare cases of primary CoQ10 deficiencies, a potential role for CoQ10 supplements in cardiovascular disease, particularly heart failure, has also been studied for over 40 years.

Perceived barriers to computerised quality documentation during anaesthesia: a survey of anaesthesia staff.

Background: Underreporting of intraoperative events in anaesthesia is well-known and compromises quality documentation. The reasons for such omissions remain unclear. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey of anaesthesia staff to explore perceived barriers to reliable documentation during anaesthesia.

Generalized receptor law governs phototaxis in the phytoplankton Euglena gracilis.

Phototaxis, the process through which motile organisms direct their swimming toward or away from light, is implicated in key ecological phenomena (including algal blooms and diel vertical migration) that shape the distribution, diversity, and productivity of phytoplankton and thus energy transfer to higher trophic levels in aquatic ecosystems. Phototaxis also finds important applications in biofuel reactors and microbiopropellers and is argued to serve as a benchmark for the study of biological invasions in heterogeneous environments owing to the ease of generating stochastic light fields. Despite its ecological and technological relevance, an experimentally tested, general theoretical model of phototaxis seems unavailable to date.

Therapeutic targeting of oxidative stress with coenzyme Q10 counteracts exaggerated diabetic cardiomyopathy in a mouse model of diabetes with diminished PI3K(p110α) signaling.

Diabetes-induced cardiac complications include left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and heart failure. We previously demonstrated that LV phosphoinositide 3-kinase p110α (PI3K) protects the heart against diabetic cardiomyopathy, associated with reduced NADPH oxidase expression and activity. Conversely, in dominant negative PI3K(p110α) transgenic mice (dnPI3K), reduced cardiac PI3K signaling exaggerated diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy, associated with upregulated NADPH oxidase.

Microbes in flow.

Microbes often live in moving fluids. Despite the multitude of implications that flow has on microbial ecology and environmental microbiology, only recently have experimental tools and conceptual frameworks from fluid physics been applied systematically to further our knowledge of the behavior of microbes in flow. This nascent research field, which truly straddles biology and physics, has already produced important contributions to our understanding of the physical interaction between microbes and flow, both in bulk fluid and close to surfaces, at the same time revealing the richness and complexity of the resulting dynamics.

Heme oxygenase-1 deficiency alters erythroblastic island formation, steady-state erythropoiesis and red blood cell lifespan in mice.

Heme oxygenase-1 is critical for iron recycling during red blood cell turnover, whereas its impact on steady-state erythropoiesis and red blood cell lifespan is not known. We show here that in 8- to 14-week old mice, heme oxygenase-1 deficiency adversely affects steady-state erythropoiesis in the bone marrow. This is manifested by a decrease in Ter-119(+)-erythroid cells, abnormal adhesion molecule expression on macrophages and erythroid cells, and a greatly diminished ability to form erythroblastic islands.

[Transposition of the Ring Finger after Severe Hand Injury].

We report a severe hand injury with a fracture of the third metacarpal bone, destruction of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the fourth finger, amputation of the little finger of the right hand and several tendon injuries, in an active musician. The fourth metacarpal bone was offset close to the base, the hand narrowed, and the ring finger transferred to the base of the little finger. The outcome was very favourable.

Chemotaxis by natural populations of coral reef bacteria.

Corals experience intimate associations with distinct populations of marine microorganisms, but the microbial behaviours underpinning these relationships are poorly understood. There is evidence that chemotaxis is pivotal to the infection process of corals by pathogenic bacteria, but this evidence is limited to experiments using cultured isolates under laboratory conditions. We measured the chemotactic capabilities of natural populations of coral-associated bacteria towards chemicals released by corals and their symbionts, including amino acids, carbohydrates, ammonium and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP).

Proteasome inhibition and oxidative reactions disrupt cellular homeostasis during heme stress.

Dual control of cellular heme levels by extracellular scavenger proteins and degradation by heme oxygenases is essential in diseases associated with increased heme release. During severe hemolysis or rhabdomyolysis, uncontrolled heme exposure can cause acute kidney injury and endothelial cell damage. The toxicity of heme was primarily attributed to its pro-oxidant effects; however additional mechanisms of heme toxicity have not been studied systematically.

Treatment for insomnia in combat-exposed OEF/OIF/OND military veterans: preliminary randomized controlled trial.

Unlabelled: Chronic insomnia is highly prevalent among military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. We evaluated the effects of a military version of a brief behavioral treatment of insomnia (BBTI-MV) compared to an information only control (IC) condition in combat-exposed Veterans of Operations Enduring/Iraqi Freedom or Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) on insomnia, sleep quality, and daytime symptoms of anxiety and depression. Forty OEF/OIF/OND Veterans (Mean age = 38.

Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals.

The exchange of nutrients and dissolved gasses between corals and their environment is a critical determinant of the growth of coral colonies and the productivity of coral reefs. To date, this exchange has been assumed to be limited by molecular diffusion through an unstirred boundary layer extending 1-2 mm from the coral surface, with corals relying solely on external flow to overcome this limitation. Here, we present direct microscopic evidence that, instead, corals can actively enhance mass transport through strong vortical flows driven by motile epidermal cilia covering their entire surface.

Failed escape: solid surfaces prevent tumbling of Escherichia coli.

Understanding how bacteria move close to surfaces is crucial for a broad range of microbial processes including biofilm formation, bacterial dispersion, and pathogenic infections. We used digital holographic microscopy to capture a large number (>10(3)) of three-dimensional Escherichia coli trajectories near and far from a surface. We found that within 20  μm from a surface tumbles are suppressed by 50% and reorientations are largely confined to surface-parallel directions, preventing escape of bacteria from the near-surface region.

RecA protein plays a role in the chemotactic response and chemoreceptor clustering of Salmonella enterica.

The RecA protein is the main bacterial recombinase and the activator of the SOS system. In Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica sv. Typhimurium, RecA is also essential for swarming, a flagellar-driven surface translocation mechanism widespread among bacteria.

Brain endothelial cells increase the proliferation of Plasmodium falciparum through production of soluble factors.

We here describe the novel finding that brain endothelial cells in vitro can stimulate the growth of Plasmodium falciparum through the production of low molecular weight growth factors. By using a conditioned medium approach, we show that the brain endothelial cells continued to release these factors over time. If this mirrors the in vivo situation, these growth factors potentially would provide an advantage, in terms of enhanced growth, for sequestered parasitised red blood cells in the brain microvasculature.

Assessing the uptake of the Liverpool Care Pathway for dying patients: a systematic review.

Improving the care of the dying is regarded as a national priority and current guidelines stipulate the need to provide holistic palliative care. Despite this, many dying patients and carers report low levels of comfort and satisfaction with care. Reasons include poor coordination of care, variability in communication and crisis-driven interventions.

Reactive species and oxidative stress in optic nerve vulnerable to secondary degeneration.

Secondary degeneration contributes substantially to structural and functional deficits following traumatic injury to the CNS. While it has been proposed that oxidative stress is a feature of secondary degeneration, contributing reactive species and resultant oxidized products have not been clearly identified in vivo. The study is designed to identify contributors to, and consequences of, oxidative stress in a white matter tract vulnerable to secondary degeneration.

The role of placental tryptophan catabolism.

This review discusses the mechanisms and consequences of degradation of tryptophan (Trp) in the placenta, focusing mainly on the role of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO1), one of three enzymes catalyzing the first step of the kynurenine pathway of Trp degradation. IDO1 has been implicated in regulation of feto-maternal tolerance in the mouse. Local depletion of Trp and/or the presence of metabolites of the kynurenine pathway mediate immunoregulation and exert antimicrobial functions.

Combat-related blast exposure and traumatic brain injury influence brain glucose metabolism during REM sleep in military veterans.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), a signature wound of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom, can result from blunt head trauma or exposure to a blast/explosion. While TBI affects sleep, the neurobiological underpinnings between TBI and sleep are largely unknown. To examine the neurobiological underpinnings of this relationship in military veterans, [(18)F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) was used to compare mTBI-related changes in relative cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (rCMRglc) during wakefulness, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, and non-REM (NREM) sleep, after adjusting for the effects of posttraumatic stress (PTS).

Microfluidic-based Time-kill Kinetic Assay.

In many environments, bacteria favor a sessile, surface-attached community lifestyle. These communities, termed biofilms, are ubiquitous among many species of bacteria. In some cases, biofilms form under flow conditions.

Microfluidics expanding the frontiers of microbial ecology.

Microfluidics has significantly contributed to the expansion of the frontiers of microbial ecology over the past decade by allowing researchers to observe the behaviors of microbes in highly controlled microenvironments, across scales from a single cell to mixed communities. Spatially and temporally varying distributions of organisms and chemical cues that mimic natural microbial habitats can now be established by exploiting physics at the micrometer scale and by incorporating structures with specific geometries and materials. In this article, we review applications of microfluidics that have resulted in insightful discoveries on fundamental aspects of microbial life, ranging from growth and sensing to cell-cell interactions and population dynamics.

Single-cell genomics reveals hundreds of coexisting subpopulations in wild Prochlorococcus.

Extensive genomic diversity within coexisting members of a microbial species has been revealed through selected cultured isolates and metagenomic assemblies. Yet, the cell-by-cell genomic composition of wild uncultured populations of co-occurring cells is largely unknown. In this work, we applied large-scale single-cell genomics to study populations of the globally abundant marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus.