With the significant financial burden of chronic cutaneous wounds on the healthcare system, not to the personal burden mention on those individuals afflicted, it has become increasingly essential to improve our clinical treatments. This requires the translation of the most recent benchtop approaches to clinical wound repair as our current treatment modalities have proven insufficient. The most promising potential treatment options rely on stem cell-based therapies. Stem cell proliferation and signaling play crucial roles in every phase of the wound healing process and chronic wounds are often associated with impaired stem cell function. Clinical approaches involving stem cells could thus be utilized in some cases to improve a body's inhibited healing capacity. We aim to present the laboratory research behind the mechanisms and effects of this technology as well as current clinical trials which showcase their therapeutic potential. Given the current problems and complications presented by chronic wounds, we hope to show that developing the clinical applications of stem cell therapies is the rational next step in improving wound care.

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Notch is a cell–cell signaling pathway that is involved in a host of activities including development, oncogenesis, skeletal homeostasis, and much more. More specifically, recent research has demonstrated the importance of Notch signaling in osteogenic differentiation, bone healing, and in the development of the skeleton. The craniofacial skeleton is complex and understanding its development has remained an important focus in biology. In this review we briefly summarize what recent research has revealed about Notch signaling and the current understanding of how the skeleton, skull, and face develop. We then discuss the crucial role that Notch plays in both craniofacial development and the skeletal system, and what importance it may play in the future.

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Background: Previous studies have demonstrated racial disparities in breast cancer treatment and secondary lymphedema. However, no studies have yet examined the effects of race and socioeconomic status on physiological surgical treatment for lymphedema. The authors aimed to evaluate whether disparities exist within patients seeking physiological surgical lymphedema treatment. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of patients presenting for physiological surgical treatment of lymphedema from 2013 to 2019. Data on demographics, medical history, socioeconomic factors, lymphedema, and treatments were collected. Results: A total of 789 patients (712 women and 77 men) seeking physiological surgical treatment of lymphedema were selected. Their mean age was 54.4 ± 13.4 years. A total of 620 patients (78.5%) self-reported as White, 120 (15.2%) as Black, 17 (2.2%) as Asian, five (0.6%) as Hispanic, and eight (2.4%) as multiracial. A total of 566 patients (71.7%) met criteria for surgical candidacy. White race was associated with increased rates of surgical candidacy compared with Black race (46.6% versus 77.2%; P < 0.0001). Compared with White patients, Black patients presented with a longer symptom duration (11.07 versus 6.99 years; P < 0.001), had a higher body mass index (mean, 34.5 versus 28.1; P < 1 × 10–10), had a higher International Society of Lymphology stage (P < 0.05), and were less likely to have maximized medical treatment for lymphedema (30.8% versus 55.4%; P < 0.01). Conclusions: This study demonstrates racial disparities in patients seeking physiological surgical treatment for lymphedema. Black patients present later with more severe disease, receive less nonsurgical treatment before consultation, and are less likely to meet criteria for physiological surgery. Improved patient and provider education on lymphedema and appropriate diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment is of primary importance to address this disparity.

Currently, the most common approach for treating midface hypoplasia in syndromic craniosynostoses patients is the LeFort III with distraction osteogenesis. Distraction osteogenesis can be performed through either internal or external distraction systems. Each modality offers unique advantages and disadvantages. A rare complication associated with internal distraction is fracture of the zygomatic-maxillary suture caused by distraction forces on this area. This complication has been reported in patients with Pfeiffer and Apert syndromes, related to convexity of temporal bones increasing force on the zygomatic-maxillary suture. In the current report, we present the first case in the literature of an internal distraction associated zygomatic-maxillary fracture in a patient with Crouzon syndrome. We also present a subunit osteotomy salvage approach. Through mobilization of a LeFort II segment and rigid external distraction to advance orphaned segments of the midface, a favorable aesthetic result was salvaged from this complication.

One of the objectives of the undergraduate physics curriculum is for students to become aware of the connections between formal physical principles and personal experience. However, research has shown that awareness of connections between the abstract and the experiential tends to deteriorate, sometimes significantly, after instruction in undergraduate physics courses. Although this phenomenon has been discussed extensively in the literature, few pedagogical interventions have been designed or implemented to address this particular weakness in undergraduate physics instruction.

Staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a severe systemic disease characterized by fever, hypotension, desquamating rash, and multiorgan dysfunction. Attributed to bacterial exotoxins, TSS has been a known, though rare, complication in the field of pediatric burns for decades. The adoption of new antimicrobial burn dressings has allowed for the management of small to medium sized burns with minimal discomfort or inconvenience to the patient. In this report, we discuss a 3-year-old male with burns wounds dressed using a silver-impregnated foam who went on to develop TSS.