Vertebral Fractures: Clinical Importance and Management.

Vertebral fractures are common and can result in acute and chronic pain, decreases in quality of life, and diminished lifespan. The identification of vertebral fractures is important because they are robust predictors of future fractures. The majority of vertebral fractures do not come to clinical attention.

Turning off the tap: stopping tuberculosis transmission through active case-finding and prompt effective treatment.

To halt the global tuberculosis epidemic, transmission must be stopped to prevent new infections and new cases. Identification of individuals with tuberculosis and prompt initiation of effective treatment to rapidly render them non-infectious is crucial to this task. However, in settings of high tuberculosis burden, active case-finding is often not implemented, resulting in long delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Map the gap: missing children with drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Background: The lack of published information about children with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is an obstacle to efforts to advocate for better diagnostics and treatment.

Objective: To describe the lack of recognition in the published literature of MDR-TB and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) in children.

Design: We conducted a systematic search of the literature published in countries that reported any MDR- or XDR-TB case by 2012 to identify MDR- or XDR-TB cases in adults and in children.

Intra-carotid arterial administration of autologous peripheral blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells improves acute ischemic stroke neurological outcomes in rats.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that transfusion of autologous peripheral blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells (PBDEPC) via the internal carotid artery could reduce brain-infarct zone (BIZ) and neurological deficit in rats following acute ischemic stroke (IS) induced by 50-min left middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Design: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=60) were equally divided into group 1 [sham control (SC)], group 2 [SC-PBDEPC (5.7 × 10(6)/kg)], group 3 (IS), group 4 [IS-low-dose PBDEPC (1.

Phylogenetic characterization and promoter expression analysis of a novel hybrid protein disulfide isomerase/cargo receptor subfamily unique to plants and chromalveolates.

Protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs) play critical roles in protein folding by catalyzing the formation and rearrangement of disulfide bonds in nascent secretory proteins. There are six distinct PDI subfamilies in terrestrial plants. A unique feature of PDI-C subfamily members is their homology to the yeast retrograde (Golgi-to-endoplasmic reticulum) cargo receptor proteins, Erv41p and Erv46p.

Extracorporeal shock wave effectively attenuates brain infarct volume and improves neurological function in rat after acute ischemic stroke.

Background: To investigate the effect of shock wave (SW) on brain-infarction volume (BIV) and neurological function in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) by left internal carotid artery occlusion in rats.

Methods And Results: SD rats (n=48) were divided into group 1 [sham-control (SC)], group 2 [SC-ECSW (energy dosage of 0.15 mJ/mm(2)/300 impulses)], group 3 (AIS), and group 4 (AIS-ECSW) and sacrificed by day 28 after IS induction.

Early Experience in Da Vinci Robot-Assisted Partial Nephrectomy: An Australian Single Centre Series.

Introduction and Objectives. To demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) technique in an Australian setting. Methods.

Using the Theories of Joseph Babinski to Manage Functional Vision Loss.

Objective: To report our use of persuasion to treat patients with functional vision loss and to place them in the context of both Joseph Babinski's theories on hysteria and the current literature on management of functional vision loss.

Background: Conversion disorders, such as functional vision loss, can develop in response to a traumatic event. Recent functional imaging studies have found that, rather than being malingerers, patients with conversion disorders show changes within neuromodulatory pathways, suggesting organic dysfunction rather than a purely psychological disorder.

Global and Regional Burden of Isoniazid-Resistant Tuberculosis.

Background: Isoniazid has been the backbone of tuberculosis chemotherapy for 6 decades. Resistance to isoniazid threatens the efficacy of treatment of tuberculosis disease and infection. To inform policies around treatment of tuberculosis disease and infection in children, we sought to estimate both the proportion of child tuberculosis cases with isoniazid resistance and the number of incident isoniazid-resistant tuberculosis cases in children, by region.

Combined therapy with shock wave and autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells alleviates left ventricular dysfunction and remodeling through inhibiting inflammatory stimuli, oxidative stress & enhancing angiogenesis in a swine myocardial infarction model.

Background: We hypothesized that combined therapy with shock wave (SW) and autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMDMSCs) is superior to either therapy alone for alleviating left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.

Methods And Results: Male mini-pigs (n=30) equally divided into group 1 (sham control), group 2 [acute myocardial infarction (AMI) by left coronary artery ligation], group 3 (AMI-SW), group 4 (AMI-BMDMSC), and group 5 (AMI-SW-BMDMSC) were sacrificed by day 60 and the hearts were collected for studies. Baseline LV injection fraction [LVEF (%)] and LV chamber size did not differ among the five groups (p>0.

Basal blood glucose concentration in free-living striped mice is influenced by food availability, ambient temperature and social tactic.

Vertebrates obtain most of their energy through food, which they store mainly as body fat or glycogen, with glucose being the main energy source circulating in the blood. Basal blood glucose concentration (bBGC) is expected to remain in a narrow homeostatic range. We studied the extent to which bBGC in free-living African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) is influenced by ecological factors with a bearing on energy regulation, i.

Adolescent-Peer Relationships, Separation and Detachment from Parents, and Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: Linkages and Interactions.

Most research exploring the interplay between context and adolescent separation and detachment has focused on the family; in contrast, this investigation directs its attention outside of the family to peers. Utilizing a latent variable approach for modeling interactions and incorporating reports of behavioral adjustment from 14-year-old adolescents ( = 190) and their mothers, we examine how separation and detachment relate to adolescent peer relationships, and whether peer relationships moderate how separation and detachment relate to adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Positive peer relationships were both associated with lower detachment and sharply attenuated relations between detachment and higher adolescent internalizing and externalizing.

Dual protein trafficking to secretory and non-secretory cell compartments: clear or double vision?

Approximately 18% of Arabidopsis thaliana proteins encode a signal peptide for translocation to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the gateway of the eukaryotic secretory pathway. However, it was recently discovered that some ER proteins can undergo both co-translational import into the ER/secretory pathway and trafficking to compartments outside of the secretory pathway. This phenomenon is observed among members of the protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) family, which are traditionally regarded as ER enzymes involved in protein folding.

Small joint arthroscopy in foot and ankle.

The clinical application of small joint arthroscopies (metatarsophalangeal joint, Lisfranc joint, Chopart joint, and interphlangeal joint) in the foot has seen significant advancements in the past decades. This article reviews the clinical indications, technical details, outcomes, and potential complications of small joint arthroscopies of the foot.

Surgical outcomes for unilateral superior oblique palsy in Chinese population: a retrospective study.

Aim: To evaluate the outcome after surgery for unilateral superior oblique (SO) palsy in Chinese.

Methods: The medical records of 39 patients that underwent surgery for unilateral SO palsy between January 2003 and December 2012 at Caritas Medical Centre, Hong Kong, were retrospectively reviewed. All surgeries were performed by a single surgeon.

Hollow agarose microneedle with silver coating for intradermal surface-enhanced Raman measurements: a skin-mimicking phantom study.

Human intradermal components contain important clinical information beneficial to the field of immunology and disease diagnosis. Although microneedles have shown great potential to act as probes to break the human skin barrier for the minimally invasive measurement of intradermal components, metal microneedles that include stainless steel could cause the following problems: (1) sharp waste production, and (2) contamination due to reuse of microneedles especially in developing regions. In this study, we fabricate agarose microneedles coated with a layer of silver (Ag) and demonstrate their use as a probe for the realization of intradermal surface enhanced Raman scattering measurements in a set of skin-mimicking phantoms.

Adhesion of flexor hallucis longus at the site of a tibial-shaft fracture--a cause of a checkrein deformity.

Post-traumatic adhesion of toe flexors at the tibial fracture site resulted in checkrein deformity is rare and only a few case reports or case series were reported in the English literature. Major differential diagnosis includes deep compartment syndrome or adhesion of the muscle due to various causes. We are not able to conclude what is the best treatment option.

Longitudinal Changes in Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness after an Isolated Unilateral Retrobulbar Optic Neuritis: 1-Year Results.

The objective of this study was to investigate the longitudinal changes in retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness 1 year after an episode of unilateral acute optic neuritis. This prospective cohort study recruited consecutive patients with a first episode of isolated, unilateral acute optic neuritis from October 2010 to June 2013. RNFL thickness of the attack and normal fellow eyes was measured by optical coherence tomography on presentation and 3, 6, and 12 months post attack in both the treatment and non-treatment groups.

Adoptive and Nonadoptive Mother-Child Behavioral Interaction: A Comparative Study at 4 Years of Age.

Comparable samples of low-risk adopted and nonadopted children and mothers were observed during 3 tasks at age 4 years. Quality of mother-child interactions, child level of functioning in 4 domains, and maternal parenting satisfaction and social support were assessed. Adopted children were as competent as nonadopted children on measures of developmental functioning.

Treatment for a eumycetoma infection caused by Aspergillus in an immunocompromised host: a case report.

Eumycetoma is a chronic infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue caused by filamentous fungi, which usually occurs in tropical or subtropical countries. We report a case of an immunocompromised patient presenting with presumed eumycetoma in the United States and his subsequent treatment with voriconazole. The use of voriconazole and liposomal amphotericin B halted the progression and allowed gradual resolution of the infection.

Annual risk of tuberculous infection measured using serial skin testing, Orel Oblast, Russia, 1991-2005.

Objective: To compare trends in direct annual risk of tuberculous infection (ARTI) during 1991-2005 in relation to tuberculosis (TB) incidence and to indirect estimates of ARTI derived from the prevalence of tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity in schoolchildren in Orel Oblast, Russia.

Design: In 2005, we abstracted annual TST results and vaccination histories from a representative sample of schoolchildren in Orel Oblast, Russia, where bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination and annual TST of children are nearly universal. We calculated direct ARTI based on the percentage of children tested with TST conversions each year, excluding conversions following BCG vaccination.

The (111) surface of NaAu2: structure, composition, and stability.

The (111) surface of single-crystal NaAu(2) is a model for catalytically active, powdered NaAu(2). We prepare and characterize this surface with a broad suite of techniques. Preparation in ultrahigh vacuum consists of the traditional approach of ion bombardment (to remove impurities) and thermal annealing (to restore surface order).

The anterior chamber depth and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in children.

Purpose: To investigate the correlation of anterior chamber depth (ACD) with the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, age, axial length (AL), and spherical equivalent in children.

Subjects: Consecutive subjects aged 4 to 18 were recruited. Visually disabling eye conditions were excluded.