Plos One
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We examined the charges, their variability, and respective payer group for diagnosis and treatment of the ten most common outpatient conditions presenting to the Emergency department (ED). ⋯ Emergency department charges for common conditions are expensive with high charge variability. Greater acute care charge transparency will at least allow patients and providers to be aware of the emergency department charges patients may face in the current health care system.
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Comparative Study
Regional grey matter structure differences between transsexuals and healthy controls--a voxel based morphometry study.
Gender identity disorder (GID) refers to transsexual individuals who feel that their assigned biological gender is incongruent with their gender identity and this cannot be explained by any physical intersex condition. There is growing scientific interest in the last decades in studying the neuroanatomy and brain functions of transsexual individuals to better understand both the neuroanatomical features of transsexualism and the background of gender identity. So far, results are inconclusive but in general, transsexualism has been associated with a distinct neuroanatomical pattern. ⋯ We found differences in the regional grey matter (GM) structure of transsexual compared with control subjects, independent from their biological gender, in the cerebellum, the left angular gyrus and in the left inferior parietal lobule. Additionally, our findings showed that in several brain areas, regarding their GM volume, transsexual subjects did not differ significantly from controls sharing their gender identity but were different from those sharing their biological gender (areas in the left and right precentral gyri, the left postcentral gyrus, the left posterior cingulate, precuneus and calcarinus, the right cuneus, the right fusiform, lingual, middle and inferior occipital, and inferior temporal gyri). These results support the notion that structural brain differences exist between transsexual and healthy control subjects and that majority of these structural differences are dependent on the biological gender.
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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be involved in different aspects of cancer biology including tumor angiogenesis. In this study, we identified that two miRNAs, miR-199a and miR-125b were downregulated in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-199a and miR-125b inhibited tumor-induced angiogenesis associated with the decrease of HIF-1α and VEGF expression in ovarian cancer cells. ⋯ We further showed that direct targets of miR-199a and miR-125b HER2 and HER3 were functionally relevant. Forced expression of HER2 and HER3 rescued miR-199a- and miR-125b-inhibiting angiogenesis responses and Akt/p70S6K1/HIF-1α pathway. This study provides a rationale for new therapeutic approach to suppress tumor angiogenesis using miR-199a, miR-125b, or their mimics for ovarian cancer treatment in the future.
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Comparative Study
Barriers to rural induced abortion services in Canada: findings of the British Columbia Abortion Providers Survey (BCAPS).
Rural induced abortion service has declined in Canada. Factors influencing abortion provision by rural physicians are unknown. This study assessed distribution, practice, and experiences among rural compared to urban abortion providers in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC). ⋯ Medical abortions represented 15% of all BC abortions, a larger proportion than previously reported (under 4%) for Canada. Rural physicians describe addressable barriers to service provision that may explain the declining accessibility of rural abortion services. Moving rural surgical abortions out of operating rooms and into local ambulatory care settings has the potential to improve care and costs, while reducing logistical challenges facing rural physicians.
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Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) has previously been investigated clinically for the treatment of several psychiatric conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and treatment resistant depression. However, the mechanism underlying the therapeutic benefit of DBS, including the brain areas that are activated, remains largely unknown. Here, we utilized 3.0 T functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) changes in Blood Oxygenation Level-Dependent (BOLD) signal to test the hypothesis that NAc/internal capsule DBS results in global neural network activation in a large animal (porcine) model ⋯ Our results suggest that NAc/internal capsule DBS results in modulation of psychiatrically important brain areas notably the prefrontal cortex, cingulate, and insular cortex, which may underlie the therapeutic effect of NAc DBS in psychiatric disorders. Finally, our fMRI setup in the large animal may be a useful platform for translational studies investigating the global neuromodulatory effects of DBS.