The relationship between discordant birth weight in twin pairs and the development of retinopathy of prematurity.

The association of low birth weight and development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is well established for singletons; however, the association of birth weight and ROP in twins of discordant weight is understudied. Using an ROP registry, we investigated whether smaller twins were at greater risk for developing any stage ROP (stage 1 or greater in either eye) compared with their larger siblings, after adjusting for birth weight and gestational age. Discordance was defined as a birth weight difference of >25%.

Flumazenil may improve gait and mentation in dogs presenting with marijuana toxicosis.

Introduction: Alongside the United States' growing landscape of legalized recreational marijuana intended for humans, cases of canine marijuana toxicosis have been on the rise. Most commonly these dogs have mild clinical signs and respond well to supportive therapies. However, patients might still be ataxic, unable to walk, or remain heavily sedated at the time of discharge.

The potential of AB-free kava in enabling tobacco cessation via management of abstinence-related stress and insomnia: study protocol for a randomized clinical trial.

Background: As the primary cause of various preventable illnesses, smoking results in approximately five million premature deaths each year in the US and a multitude of adults living with serious illness. The majority of smokers know the health risks associated with smoking and intend to quit. However, quitting is very difficult partly because of insomnia and stress associated with it.

Self-organization of the hematopoietic vascular niche and emergent innate immunity on a chip.

Here, we present a bioengineering approach to emulate the human bone marrow in vitro. Our developmentally inspired method uses self-organization of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and vascular endothelial cells cultured in a three-dimensional microphysiological system to create vascularized, perfusable tissue constructs that resemble the hematopoietic vascular niche of the human marrow. The microengineered niche is capable of multilineage hematopoiesis and can generate functionally mature human myeloid cells that can intravasate into perfused blood vessels, providing a means to model the mobilization of innate immune cells from the marrow.