A Survey of Expert Opinion Regarding Rotator Cuff Repair.

Many patients with rotator cuff tears have questions for their surgeons regarding the surgical procedure, perioperative management, restrictions, therapy, and ability to work after a rotator cuff repair. The purpose of our study was to determine common clinical practices among experts regarding rotator cuff repair and to assist them in counseling patients. We surveyed 372 members of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and the Association of Clinical Elbow and Shoulder Surgeons (ACESS); 111 members (29.8%) completed all or part of the survey, and 92.8% of the respondents answered every question. A consensus response (\u3e50% agreement) was achieved on 49% (24 of 49) of the questions. Variability in responses likely reflects the fact that clinical practices have evolved over time based on clinical experience

Early sexual dimorphism in the developing gut microbiome of northern elephant seals

The gut microbiome is an integral part of a species’ ecology, but we know little about how host characteristics impact its development in wild populations. Here, we explored the role of such intrinsic factors in shaping the gut microbiome of northern elephant seals during a critical developmental window of six weeks after weaning, when the pups stay ashore without feeding. We found substantial sex-differences in the early-life gut microbiome, even though males and females could not yet be distinguished morphologically. Sex and age both explained around 15% of the variation in gut microbial beta diversity, while microbial communities sampled from the same individual showed high levels of similarity across time, explaining another 40% of the variation. Only a small proportion of the variation in beta diversity was explained by health status, assessed by full blood counts, but clinically healthy individuals had a greater microbial alpha diversity than their clinically abnormal peers. Across the post-weaning period, the northern elephant seal gut microbiome was highly dynamic. We found evidence for several colonisation and extinction events as well as a decline in Bacteroides and an increase in Prevotella, a pattern that has previously been associated with the transition from nursing to solid food. Lastly, we show that genetic relatedness was correlated with gut microbiome similarity in males but not females, again reflecting early sex-differences. Our study represents a naturally diet-controlled and longitudinal investigation of how intrinsic factors shape the early gut microbiome in a species with extreme sex differences in morphology and life history

An AGAMOUS-related MADS-box gene, XAL1 (AGL12), regulates root meristem cell proliferation and flowering transition in Arabidopsis

11 pages, 5 figures, 1 table.-- PMID: 18203871 [PubMed].-- PMCID: PMC2259045.-- Supplementary information available at: http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/pp.107.108647/DC1MADS-box genes are key components of the networks that control the transition to flowering and flower development, but their role in vegetative development is poorly understood. This article shows that the sister gene of the AGAMOUS (AG) clade, AGL12, has an important role in root development as well as in flowering transition. We isolated three mutant alleles for AGL12, which is renamed here as XAANTAL1 (XAL1): Two alleles, xal1-1 and xal1-2, are in Columbia ecotype and xal1-3 is in Landsberg erecta ecotype. All alleles have a short-root phenotype with a smaller meristem, lower rate of cell production, and abnormal root apical meristem organization. Interestingly, we also encountered a significantly longer cell cycle in the strongest xal1 alleles with respect to wild-type plants. Expression analyses confirmed the presence of XAL1 transcripts in roots, particularly in the phloem. Moreover, XAL1beta-glucuronidase expression was specifically up-regulated by auxins in this tissue. In addition, mRNA in situ hybridization showed that XAL1 transcripts were also found in leaves and floral meristems of wild-type plants. This expression correlates with the late-flowering phenotypes of the xal1 mutants grown under long days. Transcript expression analysis suggests that XAL1 is an upstream regulator of SOC, FLOWERING LOCUS T, and LFY. We propose that XAL1 may have similar roles in both root and aerial meristems that could explain the xal1 late-flowering phenotype.This work was supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), México (grant nos. CO1.41848/A–1, CO1.0538/A–1, and CO1.0435.B–1); Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico (DGAPA)-Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica (PAPIIT), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM; grant nos. IN230002 and IX207104); and the University of California-MEXUS ECO IE 271 to E.R.A.-B. R.T.-L. was a recipient of CONACYT and DGAPA-PAPIIT-UNAM fellowships (no. IX225304). J.G.D. was supported by DGAPA-PAPIIT-UNAM (grant nos. IN210202 and IN225906) and CONACYT (grant no. 49267).Peer reviewe

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Endoventricular patch plasty for dyskinetic anteroapical left ventricular aneurysm increases systolic circumferential shortening in sheep

ObjectiveEndoventricular patch plasty (Dor procedure) has gained favor as a surgical treatment for heart failure associated with large anteroapical myocardial infarction. We tested the hypotheses that the Dor procedure increases systolic circumferential shortening and longitudinal shortening in noninfarcted left ventricular regions in sheep.MethodsIn 6 male Dorsett sheep, the left anterior descending coronary artery and its second diagonal branch were ligated 40% of the distance from the apex to the base. Sixteen weeks after myocardial infarction, a Dor procedure was performed with a Dacron patch that was 50% of the infarct neck dimension. Two weeks before and 2 and 6 weeks after the Dor procedure, animals underwent magnetic resonance imaging with tissue tagging in multiple short-axis and long-axis slices. Fully three-dimensional strain analyses were performed. All 6 end-systolic strain components were compared in regions 1 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm, and 4 cm below the valves, as well as in the anterior, posterior, and lateral left ventricular walls and the interventricular septum.ResultsCircumferential shortening increased from before the Dor procedure to 6 weeks after repair in nearly every left ventricular region (13/16). The greatest regional change in circumferential shortening was found in the equatorial region or 2 cm below the base and in the posterior wall (from 9.0% to 18.4%; P < .0001). Longitudinal shortening increased 2 weeks after the Dor procedure but then returned near baseline by 6 weeks after the Dor procedure.ConclusionThe Dor procedure significantly increases systolic circumferential shortening in nearly all noninfarcted left ventricular regions in sheep

A preliminary study of genetic factors that influence susceptibility to bovine tuberculosis in the British cattle herd

Associations between specific host genes and susceptibility to Mycobacterial infections such as tuberculosis have been reported in several species. Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) impacts greatly the UK cattle industry, yet genetic predispositions have yet to be identified. We therefore used a candidate gene approach to study 384 cattle of which 160 had reacted positively to an antigenic skin test (‘reactors’). Our approach was unusual in that it used microsatellite markers, embraced high breed diversity and focused particularly on detecting genes showing heterozygote advantage, a mode of action often overlooked in SNP-based studies. A panel of neutral markers was used to control for population substructure and using a general linear model-based approach we were also able to control for age. We found that substructure was surprisingly weak and identified two genomic regions that were strongly associated with reactor status, identified by markers INRA111 and BMS2753. In general the strength of association detected tended to vary depending on whether age was included in the model. At INRA111 a single genotype appears strongly protective with an overall odds ratio of 2.2, the effect being consistent across nine diverse breeds. Our results suggest that breeding strategies could be devised that would appreciably increase genetic resistance of cattle to bTB (strictly, reduce the frequency of incidence of reactors) with implications for the current debate concerning badger-culling

Response to comment on 'Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity'

Lambert et al. question our retrospective and holistic epidemiological assessment of the role of chytridiomycosis in amphibian declines. Their alternative assessment is narrow and provides an incomplete evaluation of evidence. Adopting this approach limits understanding of infectious disease impacts and hampers conservation efforts. We reaffirm that our study provides unambiguous evidence that chytridiomycosis has affected at least 501 amphibian species

Resistance to autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease in an APOE3 Christchurch homozygote: a case report.

We identified a PSEN1 (presenilin 1) mutation carrier from the world's largest autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease kindred, who did not develop mild cognitive impairment until her seventies, three decades after the expected age of clinical onset. The individual had two copies of the APOE3 Christchurch (R136S) mutation, unusually high brain amyloid levels and limited tau and neurodegenerative measurements. Our findings have implications for the role of APOE in the pathogenesis, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease

Multi-level modeling of social factors and preterm delivery in Santiago de Chile

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Birth before the 37th week of gestation (preterm birth) is an important cause of infant and neonatal mortality, but has been little studied outside of wealthy nations. Chile is an urbanized Latin American nation classified as "middle-income" based on its annual income per capita of about $6000.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied the relations between maternal social status and neighborhood social status on risk of preterm delivery in this setting using multilevel regression analyses of vital statistics data linked to geocoded decennial census data. The analytic data set included 56,970 births from 2004 in the metropolitan region of Santiago, which constitutes about 70% of all births in the study area and about 25% of all births in Chile that year. Dimensionality of census data was reduced using principal components analysis, with regression scoring to create a single index of community socioeconomic advantage. This was modeled along with years of maternal education in order to predict preterm birth and preterm low birthweight.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Births in Santiago displayed an advantaged pattern of preterm risk, with only 6.4% of births delivering before 37 weeks. Associations were observed between risk of outcomes and individual and neighborhood factors, but the magnitudes of these associations were much more modest than reported in North America.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While several potential explanations for this relatively flat social gradient might be considered, one possibility is that Chile's egalitarian approach to universal prenatal care may have reduced social inequalities in these reproductive outcomes.</p