Genetic analysis in young-age-of-onset Graves' disease reveals new susceptibility loci.

Context: Genetic and environmental factors play an essential role in the pathogenesis of Graves' Disease (GD). Children with GD have less exposure time to environmental factors and therefore are believed to harbor stronger genetic susceptibility than adults.

Objective: The aim of the study was to identify susceptibility loci that predispose to GD in patients with young-age-of-onset (YAO) GD.

Myogenin, AP2β, NOS-1, and HMGA2 are surrogate markers of fusion status in rhabdomyosarcoma: a report from the soft tissue sarcoma committee of the children's oncology group.

Pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is traditionally classified on the basis of the histologic appearance into alveolar (ARMS) and embryonal (ERMS) subtypes. The majority of ARMS contain a PAX3-FOXO1 or PAX7-FOXO1 gene fusion, but about 20% do not. Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study stage-matched and group-matched ARMS typically behaves more aggressively than ERMS, but recent studies have shown that it is, in fact, the fusion status that drives the outcome for RMS.

A critical appraisal of the first-year experience of 5 pediatric orthopaedic surgeons.

Background: The transition into practice following a fellowship in pediatric orthopaedics is challenging. This study seeks to describe the first-year experiences of 5 pediatric orthopaedists.

Methods: An Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective review was conducted of 5 pediatric orthopaedic surgeons' first year in practice.

Increased incidence of tuberculosis in zimbabwe, in association with food insecurity, and economic collapse: an ecological analysis.

Background: Zimbabwe underwent a socioeconomic crisis and resultant increase in food insecurity in 2008-9. The impact of the crisis on Tuberculosis (TB) incidence is unknown.

Methods: Prospective databases from two mission hospitals, which were geographically widely separated, and remained open during the crisis, were reviewed.

Sexual orientation, gender, and racial differences in illicit drug use in a sample of US high school students.

Objectives: We evaluated drug use differences between sexual minority and heterosexual students, including interactions with gender and race/ethnicity.

Methods: We used 2005 and 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data pooled from Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Delaware; Maine; Massachusetts; New York City, New York; Rhode Island; and Vermont to evaluate drug use (marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, heroin, methamphetamine, and MDMA [Ecstasy]) using 2 aspects of sexual orientation (identity and sex of sexual partners).

Results: Sexual minority students had higher prevalence of drug use than did heterosexuals on both sexual orientation dimensions, and differences were particularly pronounced among bisexual students on both dimensions.

Ultrasound-guided approach to the paravertebral space for catheter insertion in infants and children.

Background: Paravertebral perineural blocks are used to prevent pain in the thoracoabdominal dermatomes. Traditionally, a landmark-based technique is used in children, while ultrasound-guided (UG) techniques are being employed in adult patients.

Objective: To describe an UG technique for placement of thoracic paravertebral nerve block (TPVNB) catheters in pediatric patients.

Adrenomedullin signaling pathway polymorphisms and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Objective: Reduced maternal plasma levels of the peptide vasodilator adrenomedullin have been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. We measured the extent to which genetic polymorphisms in the adrenomedullin signaling pathway are associated with birth weight, glycemic regulation, and preeclampsia risk.

Study Design: We genotyped 1,353 women in the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Postpartum Study for 37 ancestry-informative markers and for single-nucleotide polymorphisms in adrenomedullin (ADM), complement factor H variant (CFH), and calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CALCRL).

Analogous responses in the nucleus accumbens and cingulate cortex to pain onset (aversion) and offset (relief) in rats and humans.

In humans, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc) appears to reflect affective and motivational aspects of pain. The responses of this reward-aversion circuit to relief of pain, however, have not been investigated in detail. Moreover, it is not clear whether brain processing of the affective qualities of pain in animals parallels the mechanisms observed in humans.

Cerebral melioidosis for the first time in the western hemisphere.

This report is the first published case of cerebral melioidosis in the western hemisphere. In this paper the authors review the literature on neurological melioidosis and its presentation and treatment in endemic areas, describe the clinical course of this unique case of a presentation of the disease with cranial abscess in the US, review the pathological and radiological findings associated with this seminal case, and put forth recommendations for recognizing and treating possible future instances of the disease within the western hemisphere.

High-impact articles in hand surgery.

Background: There have been few attempts to identify classic papers within the hand surgery literature. This study used citation analysis to identify and characterize the top 50 highly cited hand surgery articles published in six peer-reviewed journals.

Methods: The 50 most highly cited hand surgery articles were identified in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) American, JBJS British, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Journal of Hand Surgery (JHS) American, JHS British/European, and Hand.

Maternal genotype and gestational diabetes.

Objective: To determine whether genetic variants associated with glucose homeostasis are associated with gestational diabetes (GDM).

Study Design: We genotyped 899 self-identified Caucasian women and 386 self-identified African-American women in the Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition (PIN) Studies cohorts for 38 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with type II diabetes (T2DM) and/or glucose homeostasis in European populations.

Results: GDM was diagnosed in 56 of 899 (6.

Parallel buprenorphine phMRI responses in conscious rodents and healthy human subjects.

Pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging (phMRI) is one method by which a drug's pharmacodynamic effects in the brain can be assessed. Although phMRI has been frequently used in preclinical and clinical settings, the extent to which a phMRI signature for a compound translates between rodents and humans has not been systematically examined. In the current investigation, we aimed to build on recent clinical work in which the functional response to 0.

Factors associated with attaining coaching goals during an intervention to improve child asthma care.

Purpose: To examine parent and child characteristics associated with engagement in a coaching intervention to improve pediatric asthma care and factors associated with readiness to adopt and maintain targeted asthma management behaviors.

Methods: Using methods based on the Transtheoretical Model, trained lay coaches worked with 120 parents of children with asthma promoting adoption and maintenance of asthma management strategies (behaviors). Coaches assigned stage-of-change (on continuum: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance) for each behavior every time it was discussed.

The efficacy of minimally invasive discectomy compared with open discectomy: a meta-analysis of prospective randomized controlled trials.

Object: Advocates of minimally invasive discectomy (MID) have promoted this operation as an alternative to open discectomy (OD), arguing that there may be less injury to the paraspinal muscles, decreased postoperative pain, and a faster recovery time. However, a recently published large randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing these approaches reported inferior relief of leg pain in patients undergoing MID. The authors conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate complications and improvement in leg pain in patients with radiculopathy enrolled in RCTs comparing OD to MID.

The impact of insurance status on outcomes after surgery for spinal metastases.

Background: Disparities based on insurance status in the American health care system are well established. However, to the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate variables that may explain differences based on payer type in the outcomes after surgery for spinal metastases.

Methods: Data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2005-2008) were retrospectively extracted.

Paediatric cardiac rehabilitation in congenital heart disease: a systematic review.

Background: Advances in medical and surgical care have contributed to an important increase in the survival rates of children with congenital heart disease. However, survivors often have decreased exercise capacity and health-related issues that affect their quality of life. Cardiac Rehabilitation Programmes have been extensively studied in adults with acquired heart disease.

The Effect of Synovial Fluid Enzymes on the Biodegradability of Collagen and Fibrin Clots.

Recently there has been a great deal of interest in the use of biomaterials to stimulate wound healing. This is largely due to their ability to centralize high concentrations of compounds known to promote wound healing at a needed location. Joints present a unique challenge to using scaffolds because of the presence of enzymes in synovial fluid which are known to degrade materials that would be stable in other parts of the body.

Otolaryngology education in family medicine and communication sciences training.

Objectives: To characterize the extent and format of otolaryngology instruction during family medicine and communication disorders training and to determine the comfort level of graduate trainees to assess specific hearing disorders.

Design: Online surveys were sent to program directors in the fields of family medicine, audiology, and speech pathology. Directors were asked to delineate methods of teaching otolaryngology-related material and to define how often otolaryngologists were involved in their curricula.

A comparative anatomical study of the human knee and six animal species.

Purpose: Animal models are an indispensable tool for developing and testing new clinical applications regarding the treatment of acute injuries and chronic diseases of the knee joint. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the anatomy of the intra-articular structures of the human knee to species commonly used in large animal research studies.

Methods: Fresh frozen cow (n=4), sheep (n=3), goat (n=4), dog (n=4), pig (n=5), rabbit (n=5), and human (n=4) cadaveric knees were used.

Chronic (neuropathic) corneal pain and blepharospasm: five case reports.

Pain and focal dystonias have been associated with chronic pain conditions such as complex regional pain syndrome. Corneal pain, frequently known as "dry eye", may be a neuropathic pain condition with abnormalities of the nerve plexus. Here we present 5 case histories of patients with defined corneal pain (with associated neuropathic features) and objective measures of changes in the nerve plexus and associated blepharospasm.

A randomized controlled trial of parental asthma coaching to improve outcomes among urban minority children.

Objectives: To investigate whether asthma coaching decreases emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations and increases outpatient asthma monitoring visits.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Urban tertiary care children's hospital.

Exhaled nitric oxide levels during treatment of pediatric acute asthma exacerbations and association with the need for hospitalization.

Objectives: To examine how exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) levels measured before and after treatment of asthma exacerbations relate to emergency department (ED) disposition.

Methods: We enrolled children 6 to 17 years old treated for asthma exacerbations in a pediatric ED. Using an offline single-breath eNO sampling technique, we collected replicate initial samples before treatment and replicate final samples when disposition was decided.

Erythrocytes inhibit ligament fibroblast proliferation in a collagen scaffold.

In this work, we hypothesized that the concentration of erythrocytes in a provisional scaffold would have a significant effect on three of the major biological processes occurring in early wound healing. ACL fibroblast proliferation, collagen production, and scaffold contraction were measured in collagen gels containing fibroblasts and erythrocytes in subphysiologic (1 × 10(8)  erythrocytes/ml), physiologic (1 × 10(9)  erythrocytes/ml), and supraphysiologic (1 × 10(10)  erythrocytes/ml) concentrations. Fibroblast-seeded gels containing only platelet-poor plasma were used as a control group.

Platelet activation by collagen provides sustained release of anabolic cytokines.

Background: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been increasingly used in sports medicine applications. Platelets are thought to release growth factors important in wound healing, including transforming growth factor (TGF-β1), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-AB), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). However, little is known about the effect of platelet activator choice on growth factor release kinetics.