Patient satisfaction in shoulder arthroscopy: telemedicine versus clinic follow-up visits

Background The use of telemedicine for postoperative visits is increasing, especially in rural areas. Few studies have investigated its use for arthroscopic shoulder patients. This study aims to evaluate patient satisfaction with telemedicine for postoperative clinic visits following arthroscopic shoulder procedures in a rural setting. Methods Patients were prospectively enrolled using the following exclusion criteria: 0.05). Patient satisfaction did not vary significantly based on care by the surgeon, concerns being addressed, thoroughness of visit, overall clinical assessment at a prior visit, and improvements in pain and physical function (all p>0.05). Among patients who opted out of telemedicine visits, the most common reason was a preference to meet in-person but these patients agreed that telemedicine visits are a good idea. Conclusions Regardless of type of follow-up, individuals reported similar levels of satisfaction with treatment during the visit and improvements in pain and physical function

Chemical composition of an acetone extract of Vitis riparia

To determine if the riverbank grape, vitis riparia, contained useful polyphenols or resveratrol oligomer units, a large sample of ground leaves and stems were extracted and fractioned with dry celite packing and the use of acetone in solid phase chromatography. Fractions were isolated based on polarity and Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) of resulting fractions allowed further separation. Combiflash solid phase chromatography was used to further separate like fractions, which were dried and identified using NMR spectroscopy. Data of separated compounds revealed the presence of several long fatty acid chains, waxes, phetophytin A, and sitosterol, the latter being a member of phytosterol compounds that has potential to decrease blood cholesterol levels and aid in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Unique fractions have since been found and are being identified. Attempts to separate polyphenolic compounds from vitis riparia have not yet been fruitful, but all fractions have yet to be identified

A View to the Future: Ultraviolet Studies of the Solar System

We discuss the status of ultraviolet knowledge of Solar System objects. We begin with a short historical survey, followed by a review of knowledge gathered so far and of existing observational assets. The survey indicates that UV observations, along with data collected in other spectral bands, are necessary and in some cases essential to understand the nature of our neighbors in the Solar System. By extension, similar observations are needed to explore the nature of extrasolar planets, to support or reject astro-biology arguments, and to compose and test scenarios for the formation and evolution of planetary systems. We propose a set of observations, describing first the necessary instrumental capabilitites to collect these and outlining what would be the expected scientific return. We identify two immediate programmatic requirements: the establishment of a mineralogic database in the ultraviolet for the characterization of planetary, ring, satellite, and minor planet surfaces, and the development and deployment of small orbital solar radiation monitors. The first would extend the methods of characterizing surfaces of atmosphere-less bodies by adding the UV segment. The latter are needed to establish a baseline against which contemporaneous UV observations of Solar System objects must be compared. We identify two types of UV missions, one appropriate for a two-meter-class telescope using almost off-the-shelf technology that could be launched in the next few years, and another for a much larger (5--20 meter class) instrument that would provide the logical follow-up after a decade of utilizing the smaller facility

Distinct roles for de novo versus hydrolytic pathways of sphingolipid biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae produces the sphingolipid ceramide by de novo synthesis as well as by hydrolysis of complex sphingolipids by Isc1p (inositolphosphoceramide-phospholipase C), which is homologous with the mammalian neutral sphingomyelinases. Though the roles of sphingolipids in yeast stress responses are well characterized, it has been unclear whether Isc1p contributes to stress-induced sphingolipids. The present study was undertaken in order to distinguish the relative roles of de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis versus Isc1p-mediated sphingolipid production in the heat-stress response. Ceramide production was measured at normal and increased temperature in an ISC1 deletion and its parental strain (ISC1 being the gene that codes for Isc1p). The results showed that Isc1p contributes specifically to the formation of the C(24)-, C(24:1)- and C(26)-dihydroceramide species. The interaction between these two pathways of sphingolipid production was confirmed by the finding that ISC1 deletion is synthetically lethal with the lcb1-100 mutation. Interestingly, Isc1p did not contribute significantly to transient cell-cycle arrest or growth at elevated temperature, responses known to be regulated by the de novo pathway. In order to define specific contributions of ISC1, microarray hybridizations were performed, and analyses showed misregulation of genes involved in carbon source utilization and sexual reproduction, which was corroborated by defining a sporulation defect of the isc1Δ strain. These results indicate that the two pathways of ceramide production in yeast interact, but differ in their regulation of ceramides of distinct molecular species and serve distinct cellular functions