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Introduction: Surgical treatment of distal biceps tendon ruptures is recommended in an active population to avoid loss of strength, especially in supination and flexion., Hypothesis: A double incision repair technique with immediate postoperative mobilization for acute distal biceps tendon ruptures is safe and provides good results after 2 years in active patients., Material and Methods: Seventy-four men (47±7 years) with acute tears of the distal biceps tendon tears were included in this retrospective single-center study. All patients were operated using the double-incision repair technique described by Morrey. The tendon was inserted with transosseous sutures into the biceps tuberosity. Patients were allowed to perform immediate postoperative active mobilization. A minimum follow-up of two years was required including clinical and radiological evaluation., Results: Sixteen patients were lost to follow up leaving 58 (78%) patients for analysis with a mean follow-up of 53±19 months. At final follow-up, the mean evaluation for pain on the VAS scale was 0.22±0.7. Mean range of motion results included extension -1°±2°, flexion 138°±6°, pronation 72°±16° and supination 81°±10°. The strength ratio in flexion was 94±8% and in supination 90.5±12% compared to the contralateral limb. Subjective elbow value and DASH score were respectively 94±6% and 7.5±9%. All patients were satisfied or very satisfied and all except one returned to their previous sport. We noticed 2 heterotopic ossifications and one patient needed a reoperation for a radioulnar synostosis. Neither re-rupture nor nerve injury were observed., Discussion: A double incision technique for distal biceps tendon repair is a minimally invasive procedure with reliable results. Morrey's modification of the initial procedure associated with early mobilization is associated with a low rate of complications and limited the occurrence of synostosis or ossifications., Level of Evidence: IV, case series, with no comparison group., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

We describe a method to measure protein synthesis and catabolism in humans without prior purification and use the method to measure the turnover of surfactant protein-B (SP-B). SP-B, a lung-specific, hydrophobic protein essential for fetal-neonatal respiratory transition, is present in only picomolar quantities in tracheal aspirate samples and difficult to isolate for dynamic turnover studies using traditional in vivo tracer techniques. Using infusion of [5,5,5-(2)H(3)] leucine and a targeted proteomics method, we measured both the quantity and kinetics of SP-B tryptic peptides in tracheal aspirate samples of symptomatic newborn infants. The fractional synthetic rate (FSR) of SP-B measured using the most abundant proteolytic fragment, a 10 amino acid peptide from the carboxy-terminus of proSP-B (SPTGEWLPR), from the circulating leucine pool was 0.035 +/- 0.005 h(-1), and the fractional catabolic rate was 0.044 +/- 0.003 h(-1). This technique permits high-throughput and sensitive measurement of turnover of low abundance proteins with minimal sample preparation.

Background: The aim of the Competency-Based Training in Intensive Care Medicine in Europe (CoBaTrICE) project is to create an internationally acceptable competency-based training program for specialists in intensive care medicine. The CoBaTrICE Project has performed a survey, in collaboration with the Picker institute, United Kingdom, to identify desirable characteristics of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) specialists, as expressed by patients and their relatives., Methods: A questionnaire was developed to assess 21 elements of professional competence. Each element was assigned to one of four categories of a Likert scale: 1=essential; 2=very important; 3=not too important; 4=does not matter. The results were dichotomized into essential (score: 1) and not essential (scores: 2-4) categories. Further, the documents were related to three key concepts: "medical skills and competencies", "communication with patients", and "communication with relatives". Questionnaire statements grouped by theme were also ranked for each item using a number: 1=highest rank; 21=lowest rank. Free text responses were also invited., Results: Ten Italian ICUS were enrolled in the study. There were 249 questionnaires completed (18% total return rate)., Conclusion: Priority in Italy was given to medical skills and competence. Involvement of patients and relatives in decision-making processes were among the items considered least important. Italian families preferred a paternalist approach to the end of life decision-making process.