Non-sedated fast spine magnetic resonance imaging in pediatric patients.

Background: Traditional spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols require sedation in young children and uncooperative patients. There is an increased interest in non-sedated pediatric MRI protocols to reduce risks associated with anesthetic agents and improve MRI access.

Objective: To evaluate the image quality of pediatric non-sedated fast spine MRI.

Rethinking chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity assessment for agrochemicals project (ReCAAP): A reporting framework to support a weight of evidence safety assessment without long-term rodent bioassays.

Rodent cancer bioassays have been long-required studies for regulatory assessment of human cancer hazard and risk. These studies use hundreds of animals, are resource intensive, and certain aspects of these studies have limited human relevance. The past 10 years have seen an exponential growth of new technologies with the potential to effectively evaluate human cancer hazard and risk while reducing, refining, or replacing animal use.

Investigating the Growth of Algae Under Low Atmospheric Pressures for Potential Food and Oxygen Production on Mars.

With long-term missions to Mars and beyond that would not allow resupply, a self-sustaining Bioregenerative Life Support System (BLSS) is essential. Algae are promising candidates for BLSS due to their completely edible biomass, fast growth rates and ease of handling. Extremophilic algae such as snow algae and halophilic algae may also be especially suited for a BLSS because of their ability to grow under extreme conditions.

Admission COVID-19 clinical risk assessment for guiding patient placement and diagnostic testing strategy.

Introduction: Without universal access to point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 testing, many hospitals rely on clinical judgement alone for identifying cases of COVID-19 early.

Methods: Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust introduced a 'traffic light' clinical judgement aid to the COVID-19 admissions unit in mid-March 2020. Ability to accurately predict COVID-19 was audited retrospectively across different stages of the epidemic.

Healthcare disparities among orthopedic trauma patients in the USA: socio-demographic factors influence the management of calcaneus fractures.

Background: Socio-demographic factors have been suggested to contribute to differences in healthcare utilization for several elective orthopedic procedures. Reports on disparities in utilization of orthopedic trauma procedures remain limited. The purpose of our study is to assess the roles of clinical and socio-demographic variables in utilization of operative fixation of calcaneus fractures in the USA.

Modeling gamma radiation exposure rates using geologic and remote sensing data to locate radiogenic anomalies.

Aerial Gamma-Ray Surveys (GRS) are ideal for tracking anthropogenic gamma radiation releases and transport. The interpretation of a GRS can be complicated by natural gamma-ray sources such as atmospheric radon, cosmic rays, geologic materials, and even the survey equipment itself. Some of these complicating factors can be accounted for or corrected by calibration or mathematic techniques.

Favorable Response of Metastatic Hepatocellular Carcinoma to Treatment with Trans-arterial Radioembolization Followed by Sorafenib and Nivolumab.

Trans-arterial radioembolization (TARE) with Y-90 microspheres is an endovascular, liver-directed therapy suitable for treatment of locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) often as a way to reduce tumor size and bridge patients to resection or liver transplant. Opdivo®, or nivolumab, a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor, is an immunotherapeutic drug approved in September 2017 for the treatment of HCC in patients who have received prior sorafenib. We report on a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma with right and left portal vein involvement, bony metastasis, and possible lung metastasis.

Assessment of Treatment Response Following Yttrium-90 Transarterial Radioembolization of Liver Malignancies.

Transarterial radioembolization using yttrium-90 microspheres is an established and effective treatment for liver malignancies. Determining response to this treatment is difficult due to the radical changes that occur in tissue as a response to radiation. Though accurate assessment of treatment response is paramount for proper patient disposition, there is currently no standardized assessment protocol.

Effects of Organic Compounds on Dissolution of the Phosphate Minerals Chlorapatite, Whitlockite, Merrillite, and Fluorapatite: Implications for Interpreting Past Signatures of Organic Compounds in Rocks, Soils and Sediments.

Phosphate is an essential nutrient for life on Earth, present in adenosine triphosphate (ATP), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and phospholipid membranes. Phosphorus does not have a significant volatile phase, and its release from minerals is therefore critical to its bioavailability. Organic ligands can enhance phosphate release from minerals relative to release in inorganic solutions, and phosphorus depletion in paleosols has consequently been used as a signature of the presence of ligands secreted by terrestrial organisms on early Earth.

Validity of the Hispanic version of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Foot and Ankle Outcomes Questionnaire in patients with traumatic foot and ankle injuries.

Background: Hispanics represent the largest minority group in the United States and are projected to represent 29% of the US population by 2060. Enrolling Hispanic patients in clinical outcome trials is critical to study a representative sample of the general population. Lack of translated and validated survey tools has been identified as a major barrier to enrolling Spanish speaking patients.

Clay mineral formation under oxidized conditions and implications for paleoenvironments and organic preservation on Mars.

Clay mineral-bearing locations have been targeted for martian exploration as potentially habitable environments and as possible repositories for the preservation of organic matter. Although organic matter has been detected at Gale Crater, Mars, its concentrations are lower than expected from meteoritic and indigenous igneous and hydrothermal reduced carbon. We conducted synthesis experiments motivated by the hypothesis that some clay mineral formation may have occurred under oxidized conditions conducive to the destruction of organics.

Shock-transformation of whitlockite to merrillite and the implications for meteoritic phosphate.

Meteorites represent the only samples available for study on Earth of a number of planetary bodies. The minerals within meteorites therefore hold the key to addressing numerous questions about our solar system. Of particular interest is the Ca-phosphate mineral merrillite, the anhydrous end-member of the merrillite-whitlockite solid solution series.

Modeling background radiation in Southern Nevada.

Aerial gamma ray surveys are an important tool for national security, scientific, and industrial interests in determining locations of both anthropogenic and natural sources of radioactivity. There is a relationship between radioactivity and geology and in the past this relationship has been used to predict geology from an aerial survey. The purpose of this project is to develop a method to predict the radiologic exposure rate of the geologic materials by creating a high resolution background model.

Modeling background radiation using geochemical data: A case study in and around Cameron, Arizona.

This study compares high resolution forward models of natural gamma-ray background with that measured by high resolution aerial gamma-ray surveys. The ability to predict variations in natural background radiation levels should prove useful for those engaged in measuring anthropogenic contributions to background radiation for the purpose of emergency response and homeland security operations. The forward models are based on geologic maps and remote sensing multi-spectral imagery combined with two different sources of data: 1) bedrock geochemical data (uranium, potassium and thorium concentrations) collected from national databases, the scientific literature and private companies, and 2) the low spatial resolution NURE (National Uranium Resource Evaluation) aerial gamma-ray survey.

Weathering Profiles in Phosphorus-Rich Rocks at Gusev Crater, Mars, Suggest Dissolution of Phosphate Minerals into Potentially Habitable Near-Neutral Waters.

Unlabelled: Abundant evidence indicates that significant surface and near-surface liquid water has existed on Mars in the past. Evaluating the potential for habitable environments on Mars requires an understanding of the chemical and physical conditions that prevailed in such aqueous environments. Among the geological features that may hold evidence of past environmental conditions on Mars are weathering profiles, such as those in the phosphorus-rich Wishstone-class rocks in Gusev Crater.

Solid-Phase Synthesis of Duocarmycin Analogues and the Effect of C-Terminal Substitution on Biological Activity.

The duocarmycins are potent antitumor agents with potential for use in the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) as well as being clinical candidates in their own right. In this article, we describe the synthesis of a duocarmycin monomer (DSA) that is suitably protected for utilization in solid-phase synthesis. The synthesis was performed on a large scale, and the resulting racemic protected Fmoc-DSA subunit was separated by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) into the single enantiomers; its application to solid-phase synthesis methodology gave a series of monomeric and extended duocarmycin analogues with amino acid substituents.

Ethical, legal and professional issues arising from social media coverage by UK Helicopter Emergency Medical Services.

Objective: Social media (SoMe) are gaining increasing acceptance among, and use by, healthcare service deliverers and workers. UK Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) use SoMe to deliver service information and to fundraise, among other purposes. This article examines UK HEMS use of SoMe between January and February 2014 to determine the extent of adoption and to highlight trends in use.

Deployed antimicrobial stewardship: an audit of antimicrobial use at Role 3.

Introduction: Infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms are increasingly prevalent, and antimicrobial stewardship has become a priority for many healthcare organisations, including the Defence Medical Services. In military environments, infectious diseases remain a significant burden, and infections complicating the care of modern complex combat injuries are well recognised. A focus on infection prevention and control in the deployed environment is essential, and an important element of this is an antimicrobial formulary and stewardship programme.

7-Azaindole-3-acetic acid derivatives: potent and selective CRTh2 receptor antagonists.

High throughput screening identified a 7-azaindole-3-acetic acid scaffold as a novel CRTh2 receptor antagonist chemotype, which could be optimised to furnish a highly selective compound with good functional potency for inhibition of human eosinophil shape change in whole blood and oral bioavailability in the rat.

4-[3-(4-cyclopropanecarbonylpiperazine-1-carbonyl)-4-fluorobenzyl]-2H-phthalazin-1-one: a novel bioavailable inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activation is an immediate cellular response to metabolic-, chemical-, or ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage and represents a new target for cancer therapy. In this article, we disclose a novel series of substituted 4-benzyl-2 H-phthalazin-1-ones that possess high inhibitory enzyme and cellular potency for both PARP-1 and PARP-2. Optimized compounds from the series also demonstrate good pharmacokinetic profiles, oral bioavailability, and activity in vivo in an SW620 colorectal cancer xenograft model.

Novel alkoxybenzamide inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.

We have previously described poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) inhibitors based on a substituted benzyl-phthalazinone scaffold. As an alternative chemical template, a novel series of alkoxybenzamides were developed with restricted conformation through intramolecular hydrogen bond formation; the compounds exhibit low nM enzyme and cellular activity as PARP-1 inhibitors.