Biological validation of peak-width of skeletonized mean diffusivity as a VCID biomarker: The MarkVCID Consortium.

Background: Peak-width of skeletonized mean diffusivity (PSMD), a neuroimaging marker of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), has shown excellent instrumental properties. Here, we extend our work to perform a biological validation of PSMD.

Methods: We included 396 participants from the Biomarkers for Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (MarkVCID-1) Consortium and three replication samples (Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology = 6172, Rush University Medical Center = 287, University of California Davis Alzheimer's Disease Research Center = 567).

Leptin bioavailability and markers of brain atrophy and vascular injury in the middle age.

Introduction: We investigated the associations of leptin markers with cognitive function and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of brain atrophy and vascular injury in healthy middle-aged adults.

Methods: We included 2262 cognitively healthy participants from the Framingham Heart Study with neuropsychological evaluation; of these, 2028 also had available brain MRI. Concentrations of leptin, soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R), and their ratio (free leptin index [FLI]), indicating leptin bioavailability, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics Associated With Serum GFAP Levels in an Ethnically Diverse Cohort.

Background And Objectives: Elevations in circulating glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a putative marker of reactive astrocytosis, have been found to associate with cognitive decline and dementia status. Further validation in diverse cohorts and evaluation of potential health disparities are necessary for broader generalization. The goal of this study was to examine the associations between demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, and APOE ε4 status with serum GFAP levels among Mexican American and non-Hispanic White older adults across the continuum from cognitively unimpaired to Alzheimer disease dementia.

Systematic Review of Blood-Borne Pathogen Exposure Rates Among Medical Students.

Background: Blood-borne pathogen exposures (BBPEs) pose a risk to health care workers (HCWs). Needlestick injuries (NSIs) have declined overall, but not for surgical HCWs. There are limited data regarding BBPEs among medical students (MSs) in their clinical years.

Management of Thoracic Insufficiency Syndrome in Patients With Jeune Syndrome Using the 70 mm Radius Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rib.

Background: Jeune syndrome (JS) often results in lethal thoracic insufficiency syndrome. Since 1991, vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib Dynamic PosteroLateral Expansion Thoracoplasty was used at our institution for treatment of JS. This study assesses the safety and efficacy of this procedure.

Management of thoracic insufficiency syndrome in patients with Jarcho-Levin syndrome using VEPTRs (vertical expandable prosthetic titanium ribs).

Background: Jarcho-Levin syndrome represents a spectrum of clinical and radiographic irregularities including abnormal vertebral segmentation or formation defects, rib deformities, and short-trunk dwarfism. These abnormalities cause reduced thoracic capacity for lung development, resulting in thoracic insufficiency syndrome. In the present study, we reviewed outcome measures related to scoliotic curve correction, thoracic growth, and respiratory function following VEPTR treatment in patients with Jarcho-Levin syndrome.

Giardiasis in a hematopoietic stem cell transplant patient.

Giardiasis can mimic diarrhea secondary to mucosal injury from the conditioning therapy prior to hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), as well as from graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Herein, we describe the endoscopic diagnosis of giardiasis in a patient 2 months after HSCT for myelodysplastic syndrome. The patient was referred to gastroenterology service for suspected GVHD, but duodenal biopsy results showed Giardia lamblia.

Comparison of several types of enrichment for captive felids.

Enrichment can increase the complexity of the captive environment and possibly enhance captive animals' well-being by stimulating active behaviors and reducing stereotypical behaviors commonly seen in zoo felids. In this study, three different enrichment items were added to outdoor enclosures of felids at the Montgomery Zoo to test their effects on activity levels and stereotypic pacing. Bones, frozen fish, and spices (cinnamon, chili powder, and cumin) were presented over a 3-month period to six species of felids: cheetah, cougar, jaguar, lion, ocelot, and tiger.

Seasonality of reproduction in captive squirrel monkeys (Saimiri Sciureus).

Seasonality of reproduction is believed to be influenced by environmental factors such as humidity, temperature, and photoperiod. In primates, there has been much speculation about which environmental factors have the greatest influence on reproductive seasonality. To determine whether environmental factors affect seasonality of reproduction of squirrel monkeys in captivity, I used path analysis to compare number of births and matings per month with monkeys kept in indoor enclosures (maintained at optimal temperatures) and those kept in outdoor enclosures (exposed to the elements).

Threats to avifauna on oceanic islands.

Results of the study by Blackburn et al. (2004a) of avifauna on oceanic islands suggest that distance from the mainland and time since European colonization have major influences on species extinctions and that island area is a significant but secondary contributing factor. After augmenting the data of the study on geographical properties for some of the islands they examined, we used a causal analysis approach with structural equation modeling to reexamine their conclusions.

Safety and efficacy of metallic stents in the management of colorectal obstruction.

Background: The use of self-expandable metallic stents in the management of obstructing colorectal cancer has been described with increasing frequency in the literature. Our goal was to evaluate the efficacy and associated morbidity of the use of self-expandable metallic stents to relieve colorectal obstruction at our institution.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients who underwent colorectal stent placement between December 2001 and December 2003 in a tertiary referral center was performed.

Portal hypertensive gastropathy.

Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) is part of a complex syndrome which occurs as a complication of chronic liver disease and portal hypertension (PHTN). At endoscopy, the gastric mucosa shows that mosaic-like pattern and red marks, which are the source of gastric bleeding. Only the severe form of gastropathy is liable to bleed.

Persistence of rabies antibody in free-ranging raccoons.

The immune status of a wildlife population to rabies virus probably influences the occurrences of epizootics among that species in a given geographical area. This is not to say that enzootic transmission of the virus will not occur, but rather that attainment of epizootic levels may be hampered through herd immunity. After an epizootic of rabies in a raccoon population in the Fall of 1970, a serologic surveillance program was initiated from November 1970 through August 1974.

[Evaluation of bilio-intestinal anastomoses using radioisotope cholangiography].

In patients subjected to bilio-intestinal anastomosis as treatment of several diseases of the biliary tract and the Oddi's sphincter, with some frequency have symptoms that make suspect that the anastomosis is stenosed. The experience obtained in the evaluation of 8 cases is presented. The method used was radioisotopic cholangiography, with the administration of pyridoxiphenylalanine labeled with 99m-Technetium.

Prevalence of selected zoonotic diseases in vertebrates from Haiti, 1972.

Vertebrate animals collected in Haiti in 1972 were tested for selected zoonotic diseases. No rabies virus or neutralizing (N) antibody was detected in bats (Artibeus jamaicensis). However, N antibody against St.

Epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis in North America in 1971: vertebrate field studies.

Epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis in North America in 1971: vertebrate field studies. Am J Epidemiol 101:36-50, 1975.-In June 1971, epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) invaded the lower Rio Grande Valley in south Texas.

The raccoon an emerging rabies host.

The geographic distribution of enzootic rabies in raccoons is currently limited to Florida and Georgia. The enzootic area has steadily expanded northward into Georgia during the 1960's. An epizootic in a population of raccoons closely associated with the human residents of a small, off-shore island was investigated.