Nipple/Areola Dimensions in Early Breastfeeding.

Nipple dimensions may be an important factor in breastfeeding (BF) initiation success. To establish standards of nipple/areola dimensions in early BF and to determine whether maternal age, gestational age (GA), parity, cup size, previous BF experience, and early (<2 hours) BF affect nipple dimensions (assessed on the second day of BF). A total of 205 consecutive BF women were enrolled.

The goniomaxillar length/goniomandibular length ratio in normal newborn infants: A clinical tool for defining chin position abnormalities.

Retrognathia (recessed chin) and prognathism (prominent chin) often present as signs of an underlying condition. Accurate clinical definitions are important. Yet their definitions were according to "clinical impression", or to seldom used X-ray criteria.

Markers of the pre-metastatic niche "knock on the door" of metastasis-free cervical lymph nodes in patients with oral cancer.

Aim: To assess expression of some markers of the pre-metastatic niche (PMN) in lymph nodes (LNs) of oral cancer patients.

Materials: LNs from metastatic-free neck dissections (LN0/N0, N = 43) and metastatic-free LNs in the vicinity of metastasis-containing LNs (LN0/N+, N = 30) were immuno-histochemically stained for lysyl oxidase (LOX), fibronectin (FN), vascular-endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-1 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9. Staining was assessed as 0 (no or weak staining), 1 (strong stain in 25% cells or extracellular area), 2 (same as 1 but in up to 50%) and 3 (same as 1 but in > than 50% of cells/area).

Association between cultural factors and readmissions: the mediating effect of hospital discharge practices and care-transition preparedness.

Objectives: The study examines whether hospital discharge practices and care-transition preparedness mediate the association between patients' cultural factors and readmissions.

Methods: A prospective study of internal medicine patients (n=599) examining a culturally diverse cohort, at a tertiary medical centre in Israel. The in-hospital baseline questionnaire included sociodemographic, cultural factors (Multidimensional Health Locus of Control, family collectivism, health literacy and minority status) and physical, mental and functional health status.

PP2A enables IL-2 signaling by preserving IL-2Rβ chain expression during Treg development.

Tregs require IL-2 signaling for signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5)-mediated induction of Foxp3. While phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a negative regulator of IL-2 production in effector T cells and Tregs do not produce IL-2, it is not known whether PP2A controls IL-2 signaling in Tregs. To address the role of PP2A in IL-2 signaling in Tregs we studied mice engineered to lack PP2A in all Foxp3-expressing cells.

Consensus recommendations for patient-centered therapy in mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis: the i Support Therapy-Access to Rapid Treatment (iSTART) approach.

Symptomatic ulcerative colitis (UC) can be a chronic, disabling condition. Flares in disease activity are associated with many of the negative impacts of mild-to-moderate UC. Rapid resolution of flares can provide benefits to patients and healthcare systems.

The Impact of a Cultural Lifestyle Intervention on Metabolic Parameters After Gestational Diabetes Mellitus A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Israel is increasing in all ethnic groups but most markedly in the Bedouin population. We aimed to assess the effects of a lifestyle change intervention on risk markers for type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Methods: One hundred eighty Jewish and Bedouin post-GDM women were randomly assigned to a lifestyle intervention group (IG) or a control group (CG) starting 3-4 months after delivery.

Surgery for Recurrent High-Grade Glioma After Treatment with Bevacizumab.

Background: Bevacizumab (BVZ) is an antiangiogenic agent approved by the Food and Drug Administration that is used for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma. Complications related to impaired healing may adversely affect patients resected for recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG) after treatment with BVZ.

Objective: To examine the complication rate, outcome, and tumor vasculature in patients resected for recurrent HGG after treatment with BVZ.

Predictors of 1-Year Mortality After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation in Patients With and Without Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease.

Advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an independent predictor of mortality in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). We aimed to identify predictors of 1-year mortality in patients after TAVI stratified by the presence or absence of advanced CKD (defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate ≤30 ml/min/1.73 m or permanent renal replacement therapy).

Effects of changes in copayment for obstetric emergency room visits on the utilization of obstetric emergency rooms.

In view of the growing proportion of "non-urgent" admissions to obstetric emergency rooms (OERs) and recent changes in copayment policies for OER visits in Israel, we assessed factors contributing to OER overcrowding. The changes investigated were (a) exemption from copayment for women with birth contractions, (b) allowing phone referrals to the OER and (c) exemption from copayment during primary care clinic closing hours. We analyzed data of a large tertiary hospital with 37 deliveries per day.

Intraoperative hydrocolonic ultrasonography for localization of small colorectal tumors in laparoscopic surgery.

Background: Accurate localization of small colorectal cancers and polyps during laparoscopic resection may be difficult and requires precise and reliable localization techniques. This study aimed to assess the usefulness of intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUS) combined with retrograde saline instillation in locating small colorectal cancers and polyps during laparoscopically assisted colectomy.

Methods: The study investigated 14 patients with left-sided lesions of the colon and rectum necessitating preoperative marking.

Body mass index is inversely related to mortality in elderly subjects.

Purpose: To study the long-term effect of being overweight on mortality in very elderly subjects.

Methods: The medical records of 470 inpatients (226 males) with a mean age of 81.5 +/- 7 years and hospitalized in an acute geriatric ward between 1999 and 2000 were reviewed for this study.

Plasma dependent reduction in red blood cell aggregation after dextran sulfate low-density lipoprotein apheresis--implications for rheological studies.

Red blood cell (RBC) aggregation is increased in familial hypercholesterolemia, and is reduced significantly after low density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis. The purpose of the present study was to clarify whether this reduction depends on changes in plasma composition, RBC membrane properties, or both. RBC aggregation was determined in a computerized cell flow-properties analyzer, before and after LDL apheresis.

An open trial of climatotherapy at the Dead Sea for patch-stage mycosis fungoides.

Background: Climatotherapy at the Dead Sea (CDS) is a well-established therapeutic modality for moderate to severe psoriasis vulgaris, resulting in sustained remissions. It has also been found to be effective for atopic dermatitis, another T-cell-mediated dermatosis.

Objective: We sought to prospectively evaluate the efficacy of CDS in patch-stage mycosis fungoides.

The erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation test to reveal real-time information of rheological relevance in patients with familial and primary hypercholesterolemia before and following plasma exchange.

We applied an erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation test (EAAT) to a model of plasma exchange in individuals with familial and primary hypercholesterolemia. The significant (p < 0.0001) reduction in the concentration of fibrinogen by 56%, globulins by 48%, and cholesterol by 53% corresponded to the expected significant (p < 0.

Increased median nerve latency at the carpal tunnel of patients with "trigger finger": comparison of 62 patients and 13 controls.

An association between symptomatic compression neuropathy of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel and "trigger finger" has been reported in endocrine and metabolic disorders. We assessed the incidence of increased median nerve latency in subjects with "trigger finger". 62 consecutive patients with "trigger finger" and no signs or symptoms of median nerve compression underwent nerve conduction studies of the median nerve.

Sonographic features of dialysis-related amyloidosis of the shoulder.

This study evaluated the diagnostic role of ultrasonography in dialysis-related amyloidosis in shoulders of chronically hemodialyzed patients. Fourteen shoulders of 12 long-term hemodialysis patients were examined. All patients had been on dialysis for at least 10 years.

The myocardial profile of the cytosolic isozymes of creatine kinase is apparently not related to cyanosis in congenital heart disease.

Background: CKMB, the cardiac-specific heterodimer of cytosolic creatine-kinase (CK), is developmentally and physiologically regulated, tissue hypoxia being a proposed regulator. In patients with cyanotic heart disease the myocardium is perfused with partially saturated blood. We questioned whether the myocardium of cyanotic subjects contains higher proportions of CKMB.

Thromboxane A2 in postischemic acute compartmental syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate whether thromboxane A2 participates in the ischemia-reperfusion injury associated with acute compartmental syndrome (ACS) and if by using a cyclooxygenase inhibitor this can be either reduced or abolished.

Design: To assess the role of thromboxane A2 in ACS, a tourniquet was applied for 2 hours to the hind limb of 12 dogs. Group 1 (n = 6) served as controls while group 2 (n = 6) was pretreated with lysine-acetyl-salicylate (Lysoprim).

Mechanisms of docosahexaenoic acid accretion in the fetal brain.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n-3) is the major polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the adult mammalian brain. DHA is an essential fatty acid (FA) since it, or its short chain precursor, alpha-linolenic acid (LnA, 18:3 n-3), have to be obtained in the diet. Moreover, dietary n-3 FA deficiency is associated with biochemical changes in the brain and with disturbances in vision and other neurological parameters.