Systemic Inflammation Rapidly Induces Reversible Atrial Electrical Remodeling: The Role of Interleukin-6-Mediated Changes in Connexin Expression.

Background Systemic inflammation is a strong predictor of atrial fibrillation. A key role for electrical remodeling is increasingly recognized, and experimental data suggest that inflammatory cytokines can directly affect connexins resulting in gap-junction dysfunction. We hypothesized that systemic inflammation, regardless of its origin, promotes atrial electric remodeling in vivo, as a result of cytokine-mediated changes in connexin expression.

Combined antenatal and postnatal steroid effects on fetal and postnatal growth, and neurological outcomes in neonatal rats.

Preterm infants are often exposed to both antenatal and postnatal glucocorticoids (GCs). We tested the hypothesis that combined antenatal and postnatal GCs have long-lasting adverse effects on fetal and neonatal growth, growth factors, and neurological outcomes. Pregnant rats were administered a single IM dose of betamethasone (0.

Otolaryngology interest groups: A potential solution to the residency match crisis.

Objective: To determine whether medical student Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (Oto-HNS) interest groups increase student and resident interest in the specialty and influence decisions to apply to Oto-HNS residency.

Methods: Two web-based surveys were distributed by the Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UConn Health: one to current medical students at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the other to currents residents at Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved otolaryngology training programs.

Results: Fifty medical students and 89 residents completed the surveys.

A Nationwide Analysis of Preoperative Planning on Operative Times and Postoperative Complications in Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Compared with nonelective total knee arthroplasties (TKAs), elective procedures have more time for preoperative planning, which allows for potentially improved patient optimization, risk factor modification, and patient education. The purpose of this study was to (1) determine nationwide trends in operative times and (2) evaluate associations between surgery type, elective or nonelective, with respect to (a) operative times, (b) length of stay (LOS), (c) discharge dispositions, (d) 30-day postoperative complications, (e) reoperations, and (f) readmissions. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database was queried for all primary TKAs performed between 2011 and 2016.

Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Academic Emergency Medicine: How Far Have We Come? Next Steps for the Future.

Although the U.S. population continues to become more diverse, black, Hispanic, and Native American doctors remain underrepresented in emergency medicine (EM).

A Resuscitation Option for Upper Airway Occlusion Based on Bolus Transtracheal Lung Inflation.

Background: Acute laryngospasm sufficient to cause obstructive apnea is a medical emergency that can be difficult to manage within the very short time available for establishing an airway. We have presented substantial evidence that laryngospasm-based obstructive apnea is the cause of sudden death in epilepsy, and airway management is particularly challenging during seizure activity.

Objective: We sought to determine if the transtracheal delivery of a bolus of oxygen or room air below the level of an obstruction to inflate the lungs could be an effective method to prolong the time available for responders seeking to establish a stable airway, and, if so, what could be learned about optimization of delivery parameters from a rat model.

SiRNA silencing of VEGF, IGFs, and their receptors in human retinal microvascular endothelial cells.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent mitogen that regulates proliferation, migration, and tube formation of endothelial cells (EC). VEGF has recently become a target for severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) therapy. We tested the hypothesis that a specific VEGF isoform and/or receptor acts synergistically with insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I to alter normal retinal microvascular EC angiogenesis and RNA interference can be used to reverse VEGF effects.

Biomarkers, menopausal hormone therapy and risk of venous thrombosis: The Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Oral menopausal hormone therapy causes venous thrombosis but whether biomarkers of thrombosis risk can identify women at risk is unknown.

Methods: We completed a nested case control study in the two Women's Health Initiative hormone trials; 27 347 women aged 50-79 were randomized to hormone therapy (conjugated equine estrogen with or without medroxyprogesterone acetate) or placebo. With 4 years follow-up, biomarkers were measured using stored baseline samples prior to starting treatment, and one-year later, in 215 women who developed thrombosis and 867 controls.

Unilateral upper extremity lymphedema in metastatic prostate cancer.

Upper extremity lymphedema and cutaneous spread are atypical behavior of prostate disease and should be kept in the differential for selected patients. This presentation in these patients may be underdiagnosed and potentially an ominous sign. Our case adds to our continued learning of possible prostate malignancy behavior.

van Neck-Odelberg Disease: A 3.5-Year Follow-Up Case Report and Systematic Review.

V an Neck-Odelberg disease (VND) is a benign skeletal overgrowth of the ischiopubic synchondrosis (IPS) in prepubescent patients. There is a paucity of long-term follow-up data and reviews on management decision-making. We report on a 15-year-old female, with a history of sickle-cell disease (HbSS), presenting with unilateral groin pain.

Have the annual trends of total hip arthroplasty in rheumatoid arthritis patients decreased?

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by chronic systemic and synovial inflammation, resulting in damage to both cartilage and bone. Medical treatment, which has increasingly relied upon disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), may fail to slow disease progression and limit joint damage, ultimately warranting surgical intervention. Up to 25% of RA patients will require lower extremity total joint arthroplasty.

Early-Onset Network Hyperexcitability in Presymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease Transgenic Mice Is Suppressed by Passive Immunization with Anti-Human APP/Aβ Antibody and by mGluR5 Blockade.

Cortical and hippocampal network hyperexcitability appears to be an early event in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis, and may contribute to memory impairment. It remains unclear if network hyperexcitability precedes memory impairment in mouse models of AD and what are the underlying cellular mechanisms. We thus evaluated seizure susceptibility and hippocampal network hyperexcitability at ~3 weeks of age [prior to amyloid beta (Aβ) plaque deposition, neurofibrillary pathology, and cognitive impairment] in a triple transgenic mouse model of familial AD (3xTg-AD mouse) that harbors mutated human Aβ precursor protein (APP), tau and presenilin 1 (PS1) genes.

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is impaired by transient and moderate developmental thyroid hormone disruption.

The hippocampus maintains a capacity for neurogenesis throughout life, a capacity that is reduced in models of adult onset hypothyroidism. The effects of developmental thyroid hormone (TH) insufficiency on neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, however, has not been examined. Graded degrees of TH insufficiency were induced in pregnant rat dams by administration of 0, 3 or 10ppm of 6-propylthiouracil (PTU) in drinking water from gestational day (GD) 6 until weaning.

APP Causes Hyperexcitability in Fragile X Mice.

Amyloid-beta protein precursor (APP) and metabolite levels are altered in fragile X syndrome (FXS) patients and in the mouse model of the disorder, mice. Normalization of APP levels in mice ( / mice) rescues many disease phenotypes. Thus, APP is a potential biomarker as well as therapeutic target for FXS.

Sleep disturbance and depressive affect in patients treated with haemodialysis.

Background: Sleep disorders and depression are prevalent conditions in patients with end-stage kidney disease. These co-morbidities have significant overlap and compounded morbidity and mortality burden. This overlap presents challenges to optimal clinical assessment and treatment.

Blocking and Binding Folate Receptor Alpha Autoantibodies Identify Novel Autism Spectrum Disorder Subgroups.

Folate receptor α (FRα) autoantibodies (FRAAs) are prevalent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They disrupt the transportation of folate across the blood-brain barrier by binding to the FRα. Children with ASD and FRAAs have been reported to respond well to treatment with a form of folate known as folinic acid, suggesting that they may be an important ASD subgroup to identify and treat.

Restoring Behavior via Inverse Neurocontroller in a Lesioned Cortical Spiking Model Driving a Virtual Arm.

Neural stimulation can be used as a tool to elicit natural sensations or behaviors by modulating neural activity. This can be potentially used to mitigate the damage of brain lesions or neural disorders. However, in order to obtain the optimal stimulation sequences, it is necessary to develop neural control methods, for example by constructing an inverse model of the target system.

Cortical Spiking Network Interfaced with Virtual Musculoskeletal Arm and Robotic Arm.

Embedding computational models in the physical world is a critical step towards constraining their behavior and building practical applications. Here we aim to drive a realistic musculoskeletal arm model using a biomimetic cortical spiking model, and make a robot arm reproduce the same trajectories in real time. Our cortical model consisted of a 3-layered cortex, composed of several hundred spiking model-neurons, which display physiologically realistic dynamics.

Pharmacologic Treatment Options in Mild, Moderate, and Severe Acne Vulgaris.

Most patients with acne have a disease that responds to acute treatment and can be controlled long term with a maintenance regimen of topical therapy. It is the minority of patients-generally, but not exclusively-the most severely affected, who respond poorly to acute therapy and require continued systemic therapy. The goals of therapy are resolution of visible lesions, prevention of new lesions, avoidance of scarring, and improvement of patient quality of life.