Mast cells contain an abundance of tryptase, and preclinical models have shown elevated serum mast cell tryptase (SMCT) in the setting of posttraumatic joint contractures. Therefore, SMCT emerged as a potential biomarker to help recognize patients with more severe injuries and a higher likelihood of developing contractures. The objective of this study is to assess SMCT levels in participants with varying severity of elbow fractures and/or dislocations. A prospective cohort including 13 participants with more severe injuries that required an operation and 28 participants with less severe injuries managed nonoperatively were evaluated. A control group of eight individuals without elbow injuries was also evaluated. The SMCT levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit specific for human mast cell tryptase. A one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's Honest Significance test was used to assess for statistical significance among and between the three groups. The average time from injury to the collection of the blood samples was 4 ± 2 days. Highly significant differences were identified between the operative, nonoperative, and control groups (P = .0005). In the operative group, SMCT levels were significantly higher than the nonoperative group (P = .0005) and the control group (P = .009), suggesting a correlation between SMCT levels and injury severity. There was no statistically significant difference in SMCT levels between the nonoperative and control groups. The SMCT levels were elevated in participants with acute elbow injuries requiring operative intervention, suggesting that SMCT levels were higher in injuries regarded as more severe. © 2020 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Hydrogen sulfide (H2 S), produced from metabolism of dietary sulfur-containing amino acids, is allegedly a renoprotective compound. Twenty-four hour urinary sulfate excretion (USE) may reflect H2 S bioavailability. We aimed to investigate the association of USE with graft failure in a large prospective cohort of renal transplant recipients (RTR). We included 704 stable RTR, recruited at least 1 year after transplantation. We applied log-rank testing and Cox regression analyses to study association of USE, measured from baseline 24h urine samples, with graft failure. Median age was 55 [45-63] years (57% male, eGFR was 45±19 ml/min/1.73m2 ). Median USE was 17.1 [13.1-21.1] mmol/24h. Over median follow-up of 5.3 [4.5-6.0] years, 84 RTR experienced graft failure. RTR in the lowest sex-specific tertile of USE experienced a higher rate of graft failure during follow-up than RTR in the middle and highest sex-specific tertiles (18%, 13%, and 5%, respectively, log-rank P less then 0.001). In Cox regression analyses, USE was inversely associated with graft failure (HR per 10mmol/L 0.37 [0.24-0.55], P less then 0.001). The association remained independent of adjustment for potential confounders, including age, sex, eGFR, proteinuria, transplantation to baseline time, BMI, smoking, and CRP (HR per per 10mmol/L 0.51, [0.31-0.82], P=0.01). In conclusion, this study demonstrates a significant inverse association of USE with graft failure in RTR, suggesting high H2 S bioavailability as a novel, potentially modifiable factor for prevention of graft failure in RTR. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Liver transplantation is a potentially curative treatment for terminal stage hepatic diseases. Bacterial infections are the main causes of mortality and morbidity in the early period post liver transplantation. Identifying the risk factors could help in minimizing their development. We prospectively investigated the incidence, characteristics, and risk factors of bacterial infections among the recipients during hospitalization after LT and assigned a predictive score. All 389 consecutive adults who underwent LT at the main referral hospital of LT in Iran during one year were enrolled prospectively in a cohort study. Infection group consisted of 143 recipients (36.8%). Urinary tract and surgical site infections were the most frequent ones. Gram-negative bacteria were more prevalent than Gram-positive ones. Independent risk factors were female sex (relative risks=2.13), age ≤43.5 years (3.70), hospital stay ≥9.5 days (5.22), abdominal reoperation (3.03), vancomycin-resistant Enterococci colonization (5.52), hospitalization three months prior to LT (3.25), mechanical ventilation ≥48 hours (4.93), and renal replacement therapies (13.40). We developed a risk score for the prediction of bacterial infections with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.81-0.89) with sensitivity 88% and specificity 64%. In the infection group, mortality was higher than controls (18.9% vs. 2.0%) with longer hospitalization (16 vs. 10 days) (p= less then 0.001). We detected a high rate of bacterial infections leading to longer hospital stay and higher mortality rate. The formulated risk score can help predict bacterial infections; however, it requires clinical validation in further studies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Gefitinib.html  This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, multifactorial, inflammatory skin disease which can have a negative impact on the quality of life (QoL). The moderate-to-severe forms frequently require systemic treatment. Dupilumab is a human monoclonal antibody directed against the alpha subunit of the IL-4 receptor. It has been the first biologic drug that approved for the treatment of moderate to severe AD. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.OBJECTIVE To analyze the impact of gestational age (GA) at the time of fetal open spinal dysraphism (OSD) repair through a mini-hysterotomy on the perinatal outcomes and the infants' ventriculoperitoneal shunt rates. METHODS Retrospective study of cases of fetal OSD correction performed from 2014 and 2019. RESULTS One hundred and ninety women underwent fetal surgery for OSD through a mini-hysterotomy, and 176 (176/19092.6%) have since delivered. Fetal OSD correction performed earlier in the gestational period, ranging from 19.7 to 26.9 weeks, was associated with lower rates of postnatal ventriculoperitoneal shunting (P .049). Earlier fetal surgeries were associated with shorter surgical times (P .01), smaller hysterotomy lengths (P less then  .001), higher frequencies of hindbrain herniation reversal (P .003), and longer latencies from surgery to delivery (P less then  .001). Median GA at delivery was 35.3 weeks. Multivariate binary logistic regression showed that both fetal lateral ventricle-to-hemisphere ratio (%; P less then  .