Objective: The current study focuses on the propensity of drivers to engage in crash avoidance maneuvers in relation to driver attributes, critical events, crash characteristics, vehicles involved, road characteristics, and environmental conditions. The importance of avoidance maneuvers derives from the key role of proactive and state-aware road users within the ...

Information on practice patterns and outcomes in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) in Canada vs United States is limited. We evaluated differences in clinical and angiographic features, practice patterns, and outcomes between Canada and United States in 2,086 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing ...

Objectives: It is generally assumed that there are minimal gender differences in the safety and efficacy of central nervous system drugs, as is evidenced by men and women receiving the same drug dosage. There is, however, evidence that drugs may have a differential effect on performance in men and women, ...

Dialysis patients suffer a greatly heightened risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. These patients also experience an extremely high prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy, heart failure, and coronary artery disease. Thus, there is a clinical need to identify circulating biomarkers that have diagnostic value for cardiovascular disease and have prognostic ...

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, safety, and preliminary efficacy of a novel percutaneous left ventricular partitioning device (VPD) in patients with chronic heart failure (HF) and a prior anterior myocardial infarction. Anterior myocardial infarction is frequently followed by left ventricular remodeling, HF, and increased long-term ...

Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever only present in West Africa. The mortality rate is 1% and may reach 15% among hospitalized patients. Transmission between humans is mostly due to direct contact with infected body fluids. Aeromedical evacuation of patients with viral hemorrhagic fevers (such as Lassa fever) demands ...

Purpose: To examine the effects of various medical conditions and medications on subsequent motor vehicle injuries (MVIs). Method: The National Population Health Survey, a large, nationally representative, longitudinal study of Canadians, included self-reported medical conditions of asthma, arthritis/rheumatism, back problems excluding arthritis, high blood pressure, migraine headaches, diabetes, heart disease ...

It has been shown that flight experience may induce an adaptation of the vestibular system. The aim of the present work was to elucidate whether pilots, in comparison with non-pilots, have an increased responsiveness to angular displacement canal stimuli in the pitch plane during a conflict between the otolith organs ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a complex and heterogeneous autoimmune disease with a relatively low incidence. Clinical research in this disease at individual centers is complicated by the difficulty of accruing enough patient numbers. In this context, the development of cohorts and multi-institutional registries during the last decades has allowed an ...

Heart failure still maintains a high mortality. Biomarkers reflecting different pathophysiological pathways are under evaluation to better stratify the mortality risk. The objective was to assess high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) in combination with N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for risk stratification in a real-life cohort of ambulatory heart ...

The vertebrate thalamus contains multiple sensory nuclei, and relays sensory information to corresponding cortical areas. Moreover, the thalamus actively regulates information transmission to the cortex by modulating the response magnitude, firing mode and synchrony of neurons according to behavioral demands. The thalamus serves many other functions including motor control, learning ...

Due to the stresses of flight, air force pilots are more likely to experience oral parafunctions such as bruxism when compared to the general population. Further, their craniocervical mandibular system is subjected to particular stresses in the course of their duties. The aim of this study was to analyze an ...

Objective: The objective of this research was to study the risk factors that significantly influence the severity of intersection crashes for vehicle occupants, as well as for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. Methods: Logistic regression was applied as the method in this study to analyze a data set of ...

Injury to cranial nerve represents 5% of negligence litigation against general surgeons and of all malpractice jury verdicts in endocrine surgery 60% accounts for recurrent nerve injuries and 15% for anoxic brain injuries from RLN injuries, unrecognized post-operatively. During Total Thyroidectomy is reported an incidence of failure to find the ...

Interview by Lauren Constable, Commissioning Editor Polly Matzinger, now Chief of the Ghost Laboratory and the section on T-cell Tolerance and Memory at the NIH, has previously worked as a bartender, carpenter, jazz musician, playboy bunny and dog trainer. She completed her PhD at the University of California, San Diego ...

Stress is a common trigger for various physiological disturbances, including feeding disorders. One of the possible mechanisms for feeding disorders may be linked to changes in intestinal movement caused by stress. Therefore, here we investigated in vitro stress-induced changes in ileal movement. Rats (female Wistar, SPF) were divided into Control ...

The 5th Asian Congress on Autoimmunity took place in Suntec City, Singapore, on the 17-19 November 2011 under the presidency of Yehuda Shoenfeld (Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel). Senior investigators from a range of fields - including immunology, autoimmunity, rheumatology, neurology and hepatology - attended the conference. The ...

Centimetre-scale vertical distribution of mineralization potential was determined for 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) and 2-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)propanoic acid (MCPP) by 96-well microplate radiorespirometric analysis in aquifer sediment sampled just below the groundwater table. Mineralization of 2,4-D and MCPA was fastest in sediment samples taken close to the groundwater table, whereas ...

Objective: To utilize teen traffic safety belief profiles to improve targeting of resources and messages to young novice drivers. Methods: The National Young Driver Survey is a nationally representative sample 5665 of 9th to 11th graders in the United States. Using latent class analysis, we grouped beliefs about 25 safety-relevant ...

Understanding childhood obesity's root causes is critical to the creation of strategies to improve our children's health. We sought to define the association between childhood obesity and household income and how household income and childhood behaviors promote childhood obesity. We assessed body mass index in 109,634 Massachusetts children, identifying the ...

The optimal antiplatelet regimen in elective patients undergoing complex percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) is uncertain. We aimed to assess the impact of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GpIIb/IIIa) inhibition with eptifibatide in clinically stable subjects with diffuse coronary lesions. Patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing PCI by means of implantation of >33 ...

The present article is the third part of a general overview of the gas-phase protonation thermochemistry of polyfunctional molecules (first part: Mass Spectrom. Rev., 2007, 26:775-835, second part: Mass Spectrom. Rev., 2011, in press). This review is devoted to the 20 proteinogenic amino acids and is divided in two parts. ...

In order to perform safety-critical roles in emergency situations, flight attendants should meet minimum health standards and not be impaired by factors such as fatigue. In addition, the unique occupational and environmental characteristics of flight attendant employment may have consequential occupational health and safety implications, including radiation exposure, cancer, mental ...

Objective: To compare the predictions of the head injury criterion (HIC), currently used to predict the risk of traumatic brain injury in frontal vehicle impact and pedestrian impact tests, with the predictions of other empirical and analytical injury metrics. Methods: The appropriateness of different criteria relative to injury metrics derived ...

Thyroidectomy is considered a low-risk operation. The authors report a case of tracheal necrosis after total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter with bilateral adenomas, and a case of oesophageal fistula after total thyroidectomy for papillary cancer. The patient with tracheal perforation was treated by a non operative management after clinical stabilization. ...

Archaea are ubiquitous in forest soils, but little is known about the factors regulating their abundance and distribution. Low molecular weight organic compounds represent an important energy source for archaea in marine environments, and it is reasonable to suspect that archaeal abundance is dependent on such compounds in soils as ...

The cyanobacterial community colonizing phyllosphere in a well-preserved Brazilian mangrove ecosystem was assessed using cultivation-independent molecular approaches. Leaves of trees that occupy this environment (Rhizophora mangle,Avicennia schaueriana and Laguncularia racemosa) were collected along a transect beginning at the margin of the bay and extending upland. The results demonstrated that the ...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of suspected cases of common mental disorders (CMD) on Brazilian civil aviation pilots and to investigate associations between CMD, demographics, and labor variables. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 807 working pilots between October 2009 and October 2010 using ...

Objective: Several traffic safety research techniques require researchers to separate crash-involved drivers into culpable and nonculpable. Nonculpable drivers are assumed to be randomly involved in crashes by external factors and to approximate a noncollision control population. If this is true, factors that increase crash risk should be found more often ...

Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) may progress to persistent AF. We studied the clinical correlates and the effect of rhythm-control strategy on AF progression. RecordAF was a worldwide prospective survey of AF management. Consecutive eligible patients with recent-onset AF were included and allocated to rate or rhythm control according to patient/physician ...

Conversion during laparoscopic cholecystectomy has adverse effects on operating time, postoperative morbidity and hospital costs. Identifying risk factors for conversion is thus important to help surgeons to plan and counsel the patient and arranging operating schedules accordingly. This study evaluated retrospectively preoperative and intraoperative risk factors for conversion in 906 ...

Bed rest is a terrestrial experimental analogue of unloading experienced during exposure to microgravity. Such unloading causes atrophy predominantly of the postural muscles, especially those of the lower limbs. We tested the hypothesis that 35 d horizontal bed rest alters thermoregulatory responses of subjects (N = 10) immersed in 15 ...

Cardiovascular risk models remain incomplete. Small-molecule metabolites may reflect underlying disease and, as such, serve as novel biomarkers of cardiovascular risk. We studied 2,023 consecutive patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Mass spectrometry profiling of 69 metabolites and lipid assessments were performed in fasting plasma. Principal component analysis reduced metabolites to a ...

Early generation drug-eluting stents (DESs) reduce restenosis and repeat revascularization procedures. However, the long-term safety and efficacy of early generation DES according to diabetic status are poorly established. A total of 1,012 patients were randomly assigned to treatment with sirolimus-eluting (n = 503) or paclitaxel-eluting stents (n = 509). Serial ...

A cardiovascular risk prediction score is routinely applied by aviation authorities worldwide. We examined the accuracy of the Framingham-based risk chart used by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority in predicting cardiovascular events among airline pilots. A matched case-control design was applied to assess the association of 5-yr cardiovascular risk ...

The multimarker risk score, based on estimated glomerular filtration rate, glucose, and N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), has been shown to predict mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). In this study, we investigated the relation between the multimarker risk score and ...

Despite advances in immunosuppression and antiviral therapy, CMV continues to be a significant opportunistic pathogen adversely affecting the outcome of solid organ transplantation (SOT) recipients. While a significant proportion of CMV disease is caused by reactivation of latent virus, the risk is highest among CMV donor+ and recipient- SOT patients. ...

Objective: The aim was to use similar population data to examine the relative risk of collision injury among children of different ages and adolescents involved in various collision types and to elucidate the possible risk factors related to road collisions involving children and adolescents in a large, 2-wheeled vehicle environment. ...

Nitrification plays a significant role in the global nitrogen cycle. Ammonia oxidation, the first step of nitrification, is performed in wastewater treatment by both ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). Most previous studies focused on their distribution in natural environments. In this study we qualified and quantified AOB, AOA, ...

Objective: The objective of the present study was to validate sequelae prediction by the Maximal Injury Impairment Score (M-IIS) in comparison with the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) assessed at 1-year follow-up of severe road crash victims. Methods: The study population came from "the Etude et Suivi d'une Population d'Accidentés de ...

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may contribute to health status declines including "independence loss" and "physical function decline." Despite the importance of these outcomes for prognosis and quality of life, their incidence and predictors have not been well described. We studied 2,002 patients with AMI enrolled across 24 sites in the ...

In 2007, the American Heart Association recommended cessation of antibiotic prophylaxis for infective endocarditis (IE) before dental procedures for all but those at highest risk for adverse outcomes from IE. The impact of these guidelines is unclear. We evaluated IE hospitalizations at US children's hospitals during this period. Children <18 ...

The topographic organization of the thalamocortical axons (TCAs) in the barrel field (BF) in the rodent primary somatosensory cortex results from a succession of temporally and spatially precise developmental events. Prenatally, growth and guidance mechanisms enable TCAs to navigate through the forebrain and reach the cortex. Postnatally, TCAs grow into ...

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only therapy with curative potential for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. Many conditioning regimens have been developed that, along with the use of cord blood or HLA-haploidentical donors, allow doctors to offer HCT to a growing proportion of patients. New classification schemes identify more narrowly ...

In primary sensory neocortical areas of mammals, the distribution of sensory receptors is mapped with topographic precision and amplification in proportion to the peripheral receptor density. The visual, somatosensory and auditory cortical maps are established during a critical period in development. Throughout this window in time, the developing cortical maps ...

We are interested in the role of neural activity mediated through regulated vesicular release in the stopping and early branching of the thalamic projections in the cortex. Axon outgrowth, arrival at the cortical subplate, side-branch formation during the waiting period and cortical plate innervation of embryonic thalamocortical projections occurs without ...

This final rule finalizes several provisions of the Affordable Care Act implemented in the May 5, 2010 interim final rule with comment period. It requires all providers of medical or other items or services and suppliers that qualify for a National Provider Identifier (NPI) to include their NPI on all ...

Title I of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 amended the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) to establish the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program. Sections 3311, 3312, and 3321 of Title XXXIII of the PHS Act require that the WTC Program Administrator develop regulations ...

The purpose of this article is to provide resources for primary care physicians to manage heart failure as a chronic disease. We review evidence-based interventions that can be adopted in primary care practices to improve adherence to available guidelines for medication use, promotion of self-care behaviors, transitions of care in ...

With the changing health care environment, prevalence of chronic health conditions, and burgeoning challenges of health literacy, obesity, and homelessness, self-management support provides an opportunity for clinicians to enhance effectiveness and, at the same time, to engage patients to participate in managing their own personal care. This article reviews the ...