Cytokine profiling: variation in immune modulation with preterm birth vs. uncomplicated term birth identifies pivotal signals in pathogenesis of preterm birth.

Objectives: To assess deviations in longitudinally measured cytokines with preterm birth (PTB).

Methods: Prospective longitudinal study targeting 80 subjects. Phlebotomy specimens for broad panel of cytokine analysis were obtained at three time (T) intervals: first trimester (T1: 8-14 weeks' gestation), second trimester (T2: 18-22 weeks' gestation), and third trimester (T3: 28-32 weeks' gestation).

Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Rural-Urban Disparities and Considerations.

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a primary cause of pediatric morbidity. The improved characterization of healthcare disparities for pediatric TBI in United States (U.S.

Variation in C-reactive protein at 1 month post-partum by etiology of preterm birth: selective identification of those at risk for both poor pregnancy outcome and future health complications.

Objective To assess post-partum inflammation for patients delivering prior to 34 6/7 weeks by birth etiology. Methods This was an observational study of early preterm birth (PTB) occurring between 20 0/7 and 34 6/7 weeks of gestation. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured 1 month post-partum.

Pressure ulcers in paediatric patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

It has been shown that pressure ulcer formation in critically ill paediatric patients increases morbidity and mortality. We sought to identify factors associated with pressure ulcer formation in paediatric patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). From December 2014 to 2015, we identified patients at our institution who developed a pressure ulcer to create two cohorts: ulcer and no ulcer.

A quality improvement intervention to enhance performance and perceived confidence of new internal medicine residents.

: Orientation for new medical residents is challenging due to the diversity of prior experiences and cultural backgrounds and is compounded by a lack of orientation curricula that adequately addresses the needs of the medical residents to allow them to perform their duties in an efficient manner from the start. The beginning of residency training is associated with reduced quality of healthcare widely referred to as the 'July effect'. : To assess the impact of a peer-led orientation for new interns on (a) self-reported confidence level, (b) improvement in performance of first-year residents in appropriate clinical documentation and efficient discharge procedures and protocols.

Rigor and reproducibility via laboratory studies of eating behavior: A focused update and conceptual review.

Objective: The eating behavior of individuals with eating disorders has been examined in laboratory settings over the last 30 years. In this focused review, we build on prior research and highlight several feeding laboratory paradigms that have successfully demonstrated quantifiable and observable behavioral disturbances, and thereby add rigor and reproducibility to the examination of disturbances of eating behavior. This review describes the measures commonly obtained via these laboratory techniques.

Human embryos commonly form abnormal nuclei during development: a mechanism of DNA damage, embryonic aneuploidy, and developmental arrest.

Study Question: What is the prevalence and developmental significance of morphologic nuclear abnormalities in human preimplantation embryos?

Summary Answer: Nuclear abnormalities are commonly found in human IVF embryos and are associated with DNA damage, aneuploidy, and decreased developmental potential.

What Is Known Already: Early human embryonic development is complicated by genomic errors that occur after fertilization. The appearance of extra-nuclear DNA, which has been observed in IVF, may be a result of such errors.

Hyperdynamic left ventricle on radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (RNMPI): A marker of diastolic dysfunction in patients presenting with dyspnea on exertion.

Background: We hypothesized that among patients presenting with dyspnea on exertion (DOE), those who were found to have hyperdynamic left ventricle (i.e. LVEF ≥ 70%) on stress radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (RNMPI), are more likely to have features of diastolic dysfunction on transthoracic echocardiography.

Risk of major bleeding in different indications for new oral anticoagulants: insights from a meta-analysis of approved dosages from 50 randomized trials.

Background: A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the risk of major bleeding with the use of New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs).

Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing NOACs (rivaroxaban, dabigatran, apixaban, edoxaban and darexaban) with comparators were selected.

Results: Fifty trials included 155,537 patients.

Neuroimaging explanations of age-related differences in task performance.

Advancing age affects both cognitive performance and functional brain activity and interpretation of these effects has led to a variety of conceptual research models without always explicitly linking the two effects. However, to best understand the multifaceted effects of advancing age, age differences in functional brain activity need to be explicitly tied to the cognitive task performance. This work hypothesized that age-related differences in task performance are partially explained by age-related differences in functional brain activity and formally tested these causal relationships.

Early onset obsessive compulsive disorder with obsessive slowness: a case report and demonstration of management.

Obsessive slowness is a rare entity and is conceptualized either as primary psychiatric illness or as part of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Often its outcome is frustrating even with treatment. We report a case of early onset severe OCD with obsessive slowness which showed good response to combined pharmacotherapy and behavioral therapy.

Bariatric surgery results in cortical bone loss.

Background: Bariatric surgery results in bone loss at weight-bearing sites, the mechanism of which is unknown.

Methods: Twenty-two women (mean body mass index 44 kg/m(2); aged 45 years) who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (n = 14) and restrictive procedures (n = 8) had measurements of areal bone mineral density by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at the lumbar spine, total hip (TH), femoral neck (FN), and one third radius and trabecular and cortical volumetric bone mineral density and microstructure at the distal radius and tibia by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) at baseline and 12 months postoperatively.

Results: Mean weight loss was 28 ± 3 kg (P < .

Cerebral blood flow and gray matter volume covariance patterns of cognition in aging.

Advancing age results in altered cognitive and neuroimaging-derived markers of neural integrity. Whether cognitive changes are the result of variations in brain measures remains unclear and relating the two across the lifespan poses a unique set of problems. It must be determined whether statistical associations between cognitive and brain measures truly exist and are not epiphenomenal due solely to their shared relationships with age.

Immune modulation of rheumatoid arthritis.

The approval - several years ago - of the first tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitor for the management of rheumatoid arthritis launched a new era in the therapeutics of rheumatology. Since then an almost cataclysmic discovery of new treatment targets and corresponding biologic agents ensued. Nowadays, the rheumatologist and the rheumatologic patient have the luxury of several immune modulators available to successfully treat the majority of patients with RA or other inflammatory arthritides and conditions.

Latent and lytic infection of isolated guinea pig enteric ganglia by varicella zoster virus.

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) has been demonstrated to infect guinea pig enteric neurons in vitro. Latent infection of isolated enteric neurons is established when the cultures predominantly consist of neurons and they are exposed to cell-free VZV. Neurons harboring latent infection survive for weeks in vitro and express mRNA encoding ORFs 4, 21, 29, 40, 62, and 63, but not 14(gC) or 68 (gE) (although DNA encoding the glycoproteins is present).

Use of a Durnin-Womersley formula to estimate change in subcutaneous fat content in HIV-infected subjects.

Background: HIV-infected individuals may develop malnutrition or lipodystrophy, leading to losses of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT).

Objective: We compared the ability of a Durnin-Womersley formula for total adipose tissue (TAT) to estimate change in SAT with the use of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a criterion measure.

Design: We analyzed data from 2 clinical trials: a prospective randomized trial of protein supplements, progressive resistance training, or combined treatment in 29 malnourished, HIV-positive women, and a prospective open-label trial of recombinant human growth hormone in 25 HIV-infected subjects with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation.

Global health assistance: a new perspective.

Health care priorities for many emerging economies have undergone a dramatic transition in the recent past because of the rise in chronic illness, increased longevity, and lessened infant mortality. Two additional major societal forces, democratization and the information revolution, will alter the nature of global health assistance. Because of democratization, governments will feel increasing pressure to provide adequate health care.

Prospects for neurology and psychiatry.

Neurological and psychiatric illnesses are among the most common and most serious health problems in developed societies. The most promising advances in neurological and psychiatric diseases will require advances in neuroscience for their elucidation, prevention, and treatment. Technical advances have improved methods for identifying brain regions involved during various types of cognitive activity, for tracing connections between parts of the brain, for visualizing individual neurons in living brain preparations, for recording the activities of neurons, and for studying the activity of single-ion channels and the receptors for various neurotransmitters.

Hemiarthroplasty for glenohumeral arthritis with massive rotator cuff tears.

Rotator cuff deficiency with associated glenohumeral arthritis poses a formidable clinical challenge. Humeral head replacement with maintenance of the coracoacromial arch is the current treatment of choice. Properly performed arthroplasty can provide pain relief and modest gains in motion.

Peptide growth factors in normal and hypertrophied bladder.

The bladder is a dynamic organ that responds to the stress of outlet obstruction by rapidly increasing in mass and cellular content to compensate for increased urethral resistance. If the outlet obstruction is released prior to decompensation, the hypertrophied bladder will shrink, returning to normal size and cellularity. However, with chronic obstruction the bladder will continue to increase in mass, developing drastic alterations in the amount and composition of the extracellular matrix and, ultimately, losing the ability to function.