Continuous-flow total artificial heart: hemodynamic and pump-related changes associated with posture in a chronic calf model

Journal of Artificial Organs - This study aimed to evaluate the effects of posture (sitting [lying down]/standing) on hemodynamic and pump-related parameters in calves implanted with our...     

Correction to: Ultrasound in forearm fractures: a pragmatic study assessing the utility of Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) in identifying and managing distal radius fractures

Emergency Radiology -     

Outcomes of patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma of the minor salivary glands

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a tumour of glandular cells responsible for 10% of salivary gland neoplasms. It has a high rate of perineural spread but limited involvement of regional lymphatics even in late stage disease. Early survival is typically good (60-90%) although long term survival is poor with spread to distant sites in 40-60% of cases. The authors performed a retrospective review of clinical and pathological records for 24 patients managed by their institution over a 22-year period. The overall 5, 10 and 20-year survival rates in this study were 92%, 72% and 54%, respectively. Perineural invasion was seen in 63% and close or positive margins seen in 64% of all primary resection specimens although survival was not associated with any clinical factor other than the initial size of lesion. Most patients presented complaining of a lump, whilst a burning neuralgia-type pain was the second most common symptom. The study confirms the conclusion of previous studies that tumour size at diagnosis is the most important predictor of outcome.     

Borrelia burgdorferi Harbors a Transport System Essential for Purine Salvage and Mammalian Infection

Borrelia burgdorferi is the tick-borne bacterium that causes the multistage inflammatory disease Lyme disease. B. burgdorferi has a reduced genome and lacks the enzymes required for de novo synthesis of purines for synthesis of RNA and DNA. Therefore, this obligate pathogen is dependent upon the tick vector and mammalian host environments for salvage of purine bases for nucleic acid biosynthesis. This pathway is vital for B. burgdorferi survival throughout its infectious cycle, as key enzymes in the purine salvage pathway are essential for the ability of the spirochete to infect mice and critical for spirochete replication in the tick. The transport of preformed purines into the spirochete is the first step in the purine salvage pathway and may represent a novel therapeutic target and/or means to deliver antispirochete molecules to the pathogen. However, the transport systems critical for purine salvage by B. burgdorferi have yet to be identified. Herein, we demonstrate that the genes bbb22 and bbb23, present on B. burgdorferi's essential plasmid circular plasmid 26 (cp26), encode key purine transport proteins. BBB22 and/or BBB23 is essential for hypoxanthine transport and contributes to the transport of adenine and guanine. Furthermore, B. burgdorferi lacking bbb22-23 was noninfectious in mice up to a dose of 1 × 10(7) spirochetes. Together, our data establish that bbb22-23 encode purine permeases critical for B. burgdorferi mammalian infectivity, suggesting that this transport system may serve as a novel antimicrobial target for the treatment of Lyme disease.