Brown Adipose Tissue and BMP3b Decrease Injury in Cardiac Ischemia-Reperfusion.

Background: Despite advances in treatment, myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of heart failure and death worldwide, with both ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) causing cardiac injury. A previous study using a mouse model of nonreperfused MI showed activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT). Recent studies showed that molecules secreted by BAT target the heart.

Deficiency of bone morphogenetic protein-3b induces metabolic syndrome and increases adipogenesis.

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptor signaling is critical for the regulation of the endocrine system and cardiovascular structure and function. The objective of this study was to investigate whether Bmp3b, a glycoprotein synthetized and secreted by adipose tissue, is necessary to regulate glucose and lipid metabolism, adipogenesis, and cardiovascular remodeling. Over the course of 4 mo, -knockout () mice gained more weight than wild-type (WT) mice.

Forequarter Amputation and Immediate Reconstruction with a Free Extended Humeral-Radial Forearm Flap.

A forequarter amputation is a radical ablative surgical procedure that includes the entire upper extremity with its shoulder girdle. We present a 53-year-old woman with a solid slow growing tumor in her right shoulder of 15 x 20 cm in diameter. Resection and immediate reconstruction with a free radial forearm flap extended from the distal third of the arm to the midpalmar region, taking the humeral artery and the cephalic vein as a main peddicle.

Comparison of radiographic joint space width with magnetic resonance imaging cartilage morphometry: analysis of longitudinal data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Objective: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and radiography are established imaging modalities for the assessment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). The objective of our study was to compare the responsiveness of radiographic joint space width (JSW) with MRI-derived measures of cartilage morphometry for OA progression in participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI).

Methods: This study examined the baseline and 12-month visits of a subset of 150 subjects from the OAI.

Region of interest analysis: by selecting regions with denuded areas can we detect greater amounts of change?

Introduction: Based on recent analyses, the measures of short-term responsiveness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) derived cartilage morphometry may not be as large as earlier studies had suggested. We examined if by selecting regions of interest with denuded cartilage, the remaining cartilage within this region of interest was susceptible to greater rates of cartilage loss.

Methods: Subjects included for this analysis are a subset of the approximately 4700 participants in the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) Study.

Change in cartilage morphometry: a sample of the progression cohort of the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Objective: The performance characteristics of hyaline articular cartilage measurement on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) need to be accurately delineated before widespread application of this technology. Our objective was to assess the rate of natural disease progression of cartilage morphometry measures from baseline to 1 year in knees with osteoarthritis (OA) from a subset of participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI).

Methods: Subjects included for this exploratory analysis are a subset of the approximately 4700 participants in the OAI Study.

Clinical validation of the trait and state versions of the Food Craving Questionnaire.

This is the first study to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T), and Food Craving Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S) measures using a clinically heterogeneous sample of eating disorder patients (N = 177) recruited from seven different outpatient eating disorder treatment centers in Spain. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) corroborated the factor structures of the FCQ-T and FCQ-S. The measures' scores and their factor-derived scale-scores yielded internal consistency reliability indexes that ranged from adequate to excellent.

High fever after flexible bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage in noncritically ill immunocompetent children.

Flexible bronchoscopy (FB) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) have been applied increasingly to the evaluation of pulmonary disease in children. Although several complications have been reported following FB and BAL, high fever after BAL in immunocompetent children has not previously been reported. To determine the frequency, clinical characteristics, and outcome of these complications in children who developed high fever post-BAL, we retrospectively reviewed all bronchoscopic procedures done on an outpatient basis between August 1995 and July 1997.

[Isolated double-chamber right ventricle. Report of 2 cases].

Two cases of double-chambered right ventricle without ventricular septal defect are presented. Both were diagnosed with the hemodynamic study and underwent successful surgical repair. We discuss the probable embryologic development and the diagnostic procedures of this malformation.