Cellular and molecular basis for endometriosis-associated infertility

Endometriosis is a gynecological disease characterized by the presence of endometrial glandular epithelial and stromal cells growing in the extra-uterine environment. The disease afflicts 10%–15% of menstruating women causing debilitating pain and infertility. Endometriosis appears to affect every part of a woman’s reproductive system including ovarian function, oocyte quality, embryo development and implantation, uterine function and the endocrine system choreographing the reproductive process and results in infertility or spontaneous pregnancy loss. Current treatments are laden with menopausal-like side effects and many cause cessation or chemical alteration of the reproductive cycle, neither of which is conducive to achieving a pregnancy. However, despite the prevalence, physical and psychological tolls and health care costs, a cure for endometriosis has not yet been found. We hypothesize that endometriosis causes infertility via multifaceted mechanisms that are intricately interwoven thereby contributing to our lack of understanding of this disease process. Identifying and understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for endometriosis-associated infertility might help unravel the confounding multiplicities of infertility and provide insights into novel therapeutic approaches and potentially curative treatments for endometriosis

Prehospital amputation : an experimental comparison of techniques

"Prehospital limb amputation is a rare, but potentially lifesaving intervention. When adequate resuscitation is not possible due to difficult patient access, hemodynamically unstable patients may benefit from an emergent prehospital amputation. There have been a limited number of case reports detailing prehospital amputation. Furthermore, there has only been one experimental trial. Leech et al. explored prehospital-friendly methods of amputation on human cadavers; however, due to a small sample size of four trials, the data has limited reliability."--Introduction

Prehospital hemodynamic improvement in patients treated for suspected sepsis

"Sepsis is a medical condition associated with high morbidity and mortality if not recognized and treated quickly. Over one-third of patients treated for sepsis in the emergency department are brought in by EMS. Studies have shown early recognition and treatment of septic patients shortens time to initiation of intravenous fluids and antibiotics. While this is encouraging, survey data shows aramedic knowledge and awareness of sepsis is widely variable. Due to this variation in knowledge, prehospital sepsis may be missed if there is not a robust prehospital sepsis protocol in place."--Introduction

Signaling and stress: the redox landscape in nos2 biology

Nitric oxide (NO) has a highly diverse range of biological functions from physiological signaling and maintenance of homeostasis to serving as an effector molecule in the immune system. Many of the dichotomous effects of NO and derivative reactive nitrogen species (RNS) can be explained by invoking precise interactions with different targets as a result of concentration and temporal constraints. Endogenous concentrations of NO span five orders of magnitude, with levels near the high picomolar range typically occurring in short bursts as compared to sustained production of low micromolar levels of NO during immune response. This article provides an overview of the redox landscape as it relates to increasing NO concentrations, which incrementally govern physiological signaling, nitrosative signaling and nitrosative stress-related signaling. Physiological signaling by NO primarily occurs upon interaction with the heme protein soluble guanylyl cyclase. As NO concentrations rise, interactions with nonheme iron complexes as well as indirect modification of thiols can stimulate additional signaling processes. At the highest levels of NO, production of a broader range of RNS, which subsequently interact with more diverse targets, can lead to chemical stress. However, even under such conditions, there is evidence that stress-related signaling mechanisms are triggered to protect cells or even resolve the stress. This review therefore also addresses the fundamental reactions and kinetics that initiate signaling through NO-dependent pathways, including the chemistry of RNS and their molecular targets