A TeamSTEPPS-Based Simulation Delivered Virtually Provides Teamwork and Communication Outcomes Comparable to In-Person Instruction.

Introduction: Interprofessional collaborative practice is linked to decreased medical errors. Previously, we published that large-scale in-person simulations can teach interprofessional teamwork skills. To prove that virtual instruction in these skills produces similar learning outcomes, we compared virtual and in-person learning outcomes from delivery of a workshop based on TeamSTEPPS.

Factors influencing US osteopathic medical students to choose pathology as a specialty.

The decline in the number of US allopathic (Medical Doctor or M.D.) medical students matching to pathology residency has been a topic of much discussion at national pathology professional society meetings and in recent publications.

Constitutive overexpression of phosphomimetic phospholemman S68E mutant results in arrhythmias, early mortality, and heart failure: potential involvement of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger.

Expression and activity of cardiac Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX1) are altered in many disease states. We engineered mice in which the phosphomimetic phospholemman S68E mutant (inhibits NCX1 but not Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase) was constitutively overexpressed in a cardiac-specific manner (conS68E). At 4-6 wk, conS68E mice exhibited severe bradycardia, ventricular arrhythmias, increased left ventricular (LV) mass, decreased cardiac output (CO), and ∼50% mortality compared with wild-type (WT) littermates.

Chronic ethanol feeding causes depression of mitochondrial elongation factor Tu in the rat liver: implications for the mitochondrial ribosome.

Chronic ethanol feeding is known to negatively impact hepatic energy metabolism. Previous studies have indicated that the underlying lesion responsible for this may lie at the level of the mitoribosome. The aim of this study was to characterize the structure of the hepatic mitoribosome in alcoholic male rats and their isocalorically paired controls.

Blue light from light-emitting diodes elicits a dose-dependent suppression of melatonin in humans.

Light suppresses melatonin in humans, with the strongest response occurring in the short-wavelength portion of the spectrum between 446 and 477 nm that appears blue. Blue monochromatic light has also been shown to be more effective than longer-wavelength light for enhancing alertness. Disturbed circadian rhythms and sleep loss have been described as risk factors for astronauts and NASA ground control workers, as well as civilians.

Immunoglobulins from scleroderma patients inhibit the muscarinic receptor activation in internal anal sphincter smooth muscle cells.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) IgGs affecting the M(3)-muscarinic receptor (M(3)-R) have been proposed to be responsible for the gastrointestinal (GI) dysmotility in this disease. However, the effect of SSc IgGs on smooth muscle cell (SMC) function has not been studied. We determined the effect of SSc IgGs on the muscarinic receptor activation by bethanechol (BeCh; methyl derivate of carbachol) in SMC and smooth muscle strips from rat internal anal sphincter.

Phospholemman regulates cardiac Na+/Ca2+ exchanger by interacting with the exchanger's proximal linker domain.

Phospholemman (PLM) belongs to the FXYD family of small ion transport regulators. When phosphorylated at Ser(68), PLM inhibits cardiac Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX1). We previously demonstrated that the cytoplasmic tail of PLM interacts with the proximal intracellular loop (residues 218-358), but not the transmembrane (residues 1-217 and 765-938) or Ca(2+)-binding (residues 371-508) domains, of NCX1.

Interaction of monocarboxylate transporter 4 with beta1-integrin and its role in cell migration.

Monocarboxylate transporter (MCT) 4 is a heteromeric proton-coupled lactate transporter that is noncovalently linked to the extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer CD147 and is typically expressed in glycolytic tissues. There is increasing evidence to suggest that ion transporters are part of macromolecular complexes involved in regulating beta(1)-integrin adhesion and cell movement. In the present study we examined whether MCTs play a role in cell migration through their interaction with beta(1)-integrin.

Substrate uptake and metabolism are preserved in hypertrophic caveolin-3 knockout hearts.

Caveolin-3 (Cav3), the primary protein component of caveolae in muscle cells, regulates numerous signaling pathways including insulin receptor signaling and facilitates free fatty acid (FA) uptake by interacting with several FA transport proteins. We previously reported that Cav3 knockout mice (Cav3KO) develop cardiac hypertrophy with diminished contractile function; however, the effects of Cav3 gene ablation on cardiac substrate utilization are unknown. The present study revealed that the uptake and oxidation of FAs and glucose were normal in hypertrophic Cav3KO hearts.

Cellular regulation of basal tone in internal anal sphincter smooth muscle by RhoA/ROCK.

Sustained contractions of smooth muscle cells (SMC) maintain basal tone in the internal anal sphincter (IAS). To examine the molecular bases for the myogenic tone in the IAS, the present studies focused on the role of RhoA/ROCK in the SMC isolated from the IAS vs. the adjoining phasic tissues of the rectal smooth muscle (RSM) and anococcygeus smooth muscle (ASM) of rat.

Reactive oxygen species production via NADPH oxidase mediates TGF-beta-induced cytoskeletal alterations in endothelial cells.

Cytoskeletal alterations in endothelial cells have been linked to nitric oxide generation and cell-cell interactions. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta has been described to affect cytoskeletal rearrangement in numerous cell types; however, the underlying pathway is unclear. In the present study, we found that human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) have marked cytoskeletal alterations with short-term TGF-beta treatment resulting in filipodia formation and F-actin assembly.

Groucho augments the repression of multiple Even skipped target genes in establishing parasegment boundaries.

Groucho acts as a co-repressor for several Drosophila DNA binding transcriptional repressors. Several of these proteins have been found to contain both Groucho-dependent and -independent repression domains, but the extent to which this distinction has functional consequences for the regulation of different target genes is not known. The product of the pair-rule gene even skipped has previously been shown to contain a Groucho-independent repression activity.

Vapreotide labeled with Tc-99m for imaging tumors.

Vapreotide (RC-160), an octapeptide analog of somatostatin, has a high affinity for somatostatin receptor subtypes SSTR2 and SSTR5. Vapreotide binds differently to the tumors of the breast, ovary, exocrine pancreas, prostate and colon, than octreotide another octapeptide analog of somatostatin. Vapreotide was labeled with Tc-99m, a radionuclide highly suitable for scintigraphic imaging.

Altered expression of p53 and Rb tumor suppressor genes in lung cancer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of altered expression of pRb and p53, two well known tumor suppressor genes, in lung cancer and to relate it to the prognosis of the patients affected by this type of neoplasm. We evaluated 68 specimens from patients with surgically resected lung cancer. Of the 68 neoplasms investigated, 29 (42.

Low dose calcium leucovorin with continuous 5-fluorouracil infusion.

Two hundred and sixty patients with malignant disease were treated, first with an intramuscular injection of 15 mg of calcium (ca.) leucovorin followed in 16 hours by a continuous infusion of 1000 mg/M(2) of 5-fluorouracil and 15 mg of ca, leucovorin; both given over 24 hours for 5 days. Courses were repeated, toxicity permitting, every 21 days.

Characterization of glioma-cells derived from human polyomavirus-induced brain-tumors in hamsters.

Intracerebral injection of human polyomavirus, JCV, into neonatal hamsters causes tumors of,glial origin. HJC is an established cell Line derived from a JCV-induced mixed hamster brain tumor with astrocytic and ependymal components. Flow cytometric and immunohistochemical analysis of HJC suggests that it is comprised of a mixed population of cells all of which contain the JCV early protein, T-antigen, in the nuclei.

Therapy of desmoid tumors, fibromatosis, and related neoplasms.

Forty-seven patients with unresectable desmoid tumors and 32 patients with unresectable fibromatosis were treated with various anti-neoplastic agents including methotrexate, vinblastine, etoposide, actinomycin D, and fluorouracil. A combination of methotrexate with either vinblastine or etoposide was found to be effective in yielding long-term control to both groups of patients. Fluorouracil and actinomycin D were less effective.

Modulation of Cisplatin toxicity by glutathione.

Organ toxicity is the major limiting factor associated with chemotherapeutic treatment of malignancy. By raising the toxicity threshold of the organ to the detrimental effects of chemotherapeutic agents, larger and possibly curative doses may be administered without unacceptable side effects. Glutathione (GSH), a major nonprotein cellular thiol, participates in numerous cellular functions, including detoxification of chemotherapeutic agents.

Dose intensification by the simultaneous use of rhg-csf and anticancer chemotherapy.

We have studied the simultaneous administration of rhG-CSF with doxorubicin, the latter given by continuous infusion either intra-arterially or intravenously, in a group of patients with various sarcomas. This has enabled us to substantially increase the dosage intensity of doxorubicin with a marked decrease in both hematologic and oral toxicity. While the data concerning anti-tumor activity is preliminary we believe that this combination has been responsible for a substantial increase in the effectiveness of doxorubicin in controlling the sarcomas.

Analysis of the C-myc promoter-binding factor zf87/pur1 in transformed and nontransformed cell-lines.

ZF87/Pur1 is a zinc finger protein that binds to the purine-rich element ME1a1 within the c-myc P2 promoter. To better understand the effect of ZF87/Pur1 on c-myc gene expression, the gene was stably expressed in nontransformed NIH3T3 fibroblasts or was transiently overexpressed in transformed COS cells. The protein was targeted almost exclusively to the nucleus.

Growth-factor regulation of mdm-2 messenger-RNA expression.

We have investigated the growth factor regulation of mdm-2 mRNA levels in mouse embryo fibroblasts, whose growth is controlled by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). We find that both growth factors up-regulate the expression of mdm-2 mRNA, independently of each other.