Objective To evaluate racial and ethnic differences in knowledge about preventative and curative treatments for pelvic floor disorders (PFD). Methods The is a secondary analysis of responses from 416 community-dwelling women, aged 19-98 years, living in New Haven County, Connecticut, who completed the Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire. Associations between race/ethnicity (categorized as White, African American, and Other Women of Color [OWOC, combined group of Hispanic, Asian or ‘Other’ women] and knowledge proficiency about modifiable risk factors and treatments for PFD were evaluated. Associations were adjusted for age, marital status, socioeconomic status, education, working in a medical field, and PFD history. Results Compared to White women, African American women were significantly less likely to recognize childbirth as a risk factor for UI and POP, to know that exercises can help control leakage, and to recognize pessaries as a treatment option for POP. OWOC were also significantly less likely to know about risk factors, preventative strategies and curative treatment options for POP and UI; however, these findings may not be generalizable given the heterogeneity and small size of this group. Conclusions Significant racial disparities exist in women's baseline knowledge regarding risk factors and treatment options for POP and UI. Targeted, culturally-sensitive educational interventions are essential to enhancing success in reducing the personal and economic burden of PFD, which have proven negative effects on women's quality of life.

Background Pregnancy planning and timing may be associated with psychiatric illness, psychological distress and support during pregnancy. Methods We performed secondary analyses of a prospective cohort of 2,654 pregnant women evaluating the impact of depression on preterm birth. We used multivariable logistic regression to test associations between pregnancy planning (“Was this pregnancy planned? Yes/No”) and/or timing (“Do you think this is a good time for you to be pregnant?”) with Composite International Diagnostic Interview generated psychiatric diagnoses and measures of psychological distress and support. Results 37% and 13% of participants reported an unplanned or poorly timed pregnancy, respectively. Unplanned pregnancies were associated with a Major Depressive Episode (MDE) (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.69, 95%CI 1.23–2.32) and the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale’s (CPSS) highest quartile (aOR 1.74, 95%CI 1.40–2.16). Poorly timed pregnancies were associated with a MDE (aOR 3.47, 95%CI 2.46–4.91) and the CPSS’s highest quartile (aOR 5.20, 95%CI 3.93–6.87). Poorly timed pregnancies were also associated with General Anxiety Disorder (GAD; aOR 1.60, 95%CI 1.07–2.40), and the modified Kendler Social Support Inventory’s (MKSSI) lowest quartile (aOR 1.64, 95%CI 1.25–2.16). Psychiatric conditions were strongly associated with planned pregnancies that were subsequently deemed poorly timed (MDE=aOR 5.08, 95%CI 2.52–10.25; GAD=aOR 2.28, 95%CI 1.04–5.03); high CPSS=aOR 6.48, 95%CI 3.59–11.69; and low MKSSI=aOR 3.19, 95%CI 1.81–5.62). Limitations Participant characteristics may limit generalizability of findings. Conclusions Pregnancy timing was a stronger predictor of maternal psychiatric illness, psychological distress and low social support than pregnancy planning in our cohort.

O-Linked N-acetyl-β-d-glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is a dynamic post-translational modification that modifies and regulates over 3000 nuclear, cytoplasmic, and mitochondrial proteins. Upon exposure to stress and injury, cells and tissues increase the O-GlcNAc modification, or O-GlcNAcylation, of numerous proteins promoting the cellular stress response and thus survival. The aim of this study was to identify proteins that are differentially O-GlcNAcylated upon acute oxidative stress (HO) to provide insight into the mechanisms by which O-GlcNAc promotes survival. We achieved this goal by employing Stable Isotope Labeling of Amino Acids in Cell Culture (SILAC) and a novel "G5-lectibody" immunoprecipitation strategy that combines four O-GlcNAc-specific antibodies (CTD110.6, RL2, HGAC39, and HGAC85) and the lectin WGA. Using the G5-lectibody column in combination with basic reversed phase chromatography and C RPLC-MS/MS, 990 proteins were identified and quantified. Hundreds of proteins that were identified demonstrated increased (>250) or decreased (>110) association with the G5-lectibody column upon oxidative stress, of which we validated the O-GlcNAcylation status of 24 proteins. Analysis of proteins with altered glycosylation suggests that stress-induced changes in O-GlcNAcylation cluster into pathways known to regulate the cell's response to injury and include protein folding, transcriptional regulation, epigenetics, and proteins involved in RNA biogenesis. Together, these data suggest that stress-induced O-GlcNAcylation regulates numerous and diverse cellular pathways to promote cell and tissue survival.

Academic rank in plastic surgery is strongly correlated with several quantitative metrics of research productivity. Although academic promotion is the result of success in multiple different areas, bibliometric measures may be useful adjuncts for assessment of research productivity.

Self-citation has a minor impact on common bibliometric measures in academic plastic surgery. The influence of self-citation is consistent across academic ranks and increasing levels of bibliometric measures, suggesting that authors are not manipulating the system with increasing experience.

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Hyperthermia therapy has recently emerged as a clinical modality used to finely tune heat stress inside the human body for various biomedical applications. Nevertheless, little is known regarding the optimal timing or temperature of heat stress that is needed to achieve favorable results following hyperthermia therapy for muscle regeneration purposes. The regeneration of skeletal muscle after injury is a highly complex and coordinated process that involves a multitude of cellular mechanisms. The main objective of this study was to characterize the effects of hyperthermal therapy on the overall behavior of myoblasts during myogenic differentiation. Various cellular processes, including myogenesis, myofibrillogenesis, hypertrophy/atrophy, and mitochondrial biogenesis, were studied using systematic cellular, morphological, and pathway-focused high-throughput gene expression profiling analyses. We found that C2C12 myoblasts exhibited distinctive time and temperature-dependence in biosynthesis and regulatory events during myogenic differentiation. Specifically, we for the first time observed that moderate hyperthermia at 39°C favored the growth of sarcomere in myofibrils at the late stage of myogenesis, showing universal up-regulation of characteristic myofibril proteins. Characteristic myofibrillogenesis genes, including heavy polypeptide 1 myosin, heavy polypeptide 2 myosin, alpha 1 actin, nebulin and titin, were all significantly upregulated (p<0.01) after C2C12 cells differentiated at 39°C over 5 days compared with the control cells cultured at 37°C. Furthermore, moderate hyperthermia enhanced myogenic differentiation, with nucleus densities per myotube showing 2.2-fold, 1.9-fold and 1.6-fold increases when C2C12 cells underwent myogenic differentiation at 39°C over 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours, respectively, as compared to the myotubes that were not exposed to heat stress. Yet, atrophy genes were sensitive even to moderate hyperthermia, indicating that strictly controlled heat stress is required to minimize the development of atrophy in myotubes. In addition, mitochondrial biogenesis was enhanced following thermal induction of myoblasts, suggesting a subsequent shift toward anabolic demand requirements for energy production. This study offers a new perspective to understand and utilize the time and temperature-sensitive effects of hyperthermal therapy on muscle regeneration.