Evaluation of the Catheter Clamp over Hydrophilic Guide Wire Central Venous Catheter Exchange Technique for Air Embolism Prophylaxis in an In Vitro Model.

Purpose: To develop a reproducible in vitro model simulating central venous catheter (CVC) exchange with high potential for air embolization and test the hypothesis that a closed catheter clamp over hydrophilic guide wire exchange technique will significantly reduce the volume of air introduced during CVC exchange.

Materials And Methods: The model consisted of a 16-F valved sheath, 240-mL container, and pressure transducer submerged in water in a 1,200-mL suction canister system. Continuous wall suction was applied to the canister to maintain negative pressure at -7 mm Hg or -11 mm Hg.

Current concepts in evaluation and management of preoperative anaemia in patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this review is to evaluate the current recommendations for management of perioperative anaemia in patients undergoing thoracic surgery, present the impact of anaemia on outcomes in this patient population and suggest an algorithm for evaluating and treating anaemia preoperatively.

Recent Findings: Anaemia is a common medical issue noted preoperatively in patients presenting for thoracic surgery and carries significant morbidity. Preoperative anaemia increases the likelihood of receiving a perioperative transfusion, which represents a significant risk factor for morbidity and reduced disease-free survival in lung cancer patients presenting for thoracic surgery.

Understanding Questions and Concerns Regarding COVID-19 and the COVID-19 Vaccine Among Populations Presenting at a COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Hub: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Skepticism among the public surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine is still prevalent despite vaccine-positive communication and many Americans having already received the vaccine. Side effects of the vaccine, as well as its expeditious research and development, are among the top concerns among those hesitant to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Moreover, there is additional concern regarding the association between comorbidities and severity of illness due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Use of a Viscoelastic-Based Transfusion Algorithm Significantly Reduces Non-red Blood Cell Transfusion in Patients Undergoing Left Ventricular Assist Device Placement or Heart Transplantation: A Single-Center Observational Study.

Objectives: Does point-of-care viscoelastic testing in patients undergoing left ventricular assist device implantation or orthotopic heart transplantation reduce non-red blood cell transfusion or improve postoperative outcomes?

Design: A retrospective observational study.

Setting: At a single-center tertiary university hospital.

Participants: Patients undergoing left ventricular assist device placement or heart transplantation INTERVENTIONS: The authors implemented a TEG-based transfusion algorithm to reduce non-red cell transfusion rates compared with historical controls.

Genome Sequences of 14 Siphophages That Infect Serratia marcescens.

We announce the complete genome sequences of 14 bacteriophages isolated from wastewater treatment plants. These phages define two previously undescribed types which we call the Carrot-like phage cluster (phages Carrot, BigDog, LittleDog, Niamh, Opt-148, Opt-169, PhooPhighters, Rovert, Serratianator, Stoker, Swain, and Ulliraptor) and Tlacuache-like phage cluster (Tlacuache and Opt-155).

Doing Genetic and Genomic Biology Using the Legume Information System and Associated Resources.

In this chapter, we introduce the main components of the Legume Information System ( https://legumeinfo.org ) and several associated resources. Additionally, we provide an example of their use by exploring a biological question: is there a common molecular basis, across legume species, that underlies the photoperiod-mediated transition from vegetative to reproductive development, that is, days to flowering? The Legume Information System (LIS) holds genetic and genomic data for a large number of crop and model legumes and provides a set of online bioinformatic tools designed to help biologists address questions and tasks related to legume biology.

Blood Conservation and Hemostasis in Cardiac Surgery: A Survey of Practice Variation and Adoption of Evidence-Based Guidelines.

Background: Blood conservation and hemostasis are integral parts of reducing avoidable blood transfusions and the associated morbidity and mortality. Despite the publication of blood conservation guidelines for cardiac surgery, evidence suggests persistent variability in practice patterns. Members of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) created a survey to audit conformance to existing guidelines and use the results to help narrow the evidence-to-practice gap.

A new decade and new data at SoyBase, the USDA-ARS soybean genetics and genomics database.

SoyBase, a USDA genetic and genomics database, holds professionally curated soybean genetic and genomic data, which is integrated and made accessible to researchers and breeders. The site holds several reference genome assemblies, as well as genetic maps, thousands of mapped traits, expression and epigenetic data, pedigree information, and extensive variant and genotyping data sets. SoyBase displays include genetic, genomic, and epigenetic maps of the soybean genome.

GCViT: a method for interactive, genome-wide visualization of resequencing and SNP array data.

Background: Large genotyping datasets have become commonplace due to efficient, cheap methods for SNP identification. Typical genotyping datasets may have thousands to millions of data points per accession, across tens to thousands of accessions. There is a need for tools to help rapidly explore such datasets, to assess characteristics such as overall differences between accessions and regional anomalies across the genome.

One Multidisciplinary Cleft and Craniofacial Team's Experience in Shifting to Family-Centered Care.

Family-centered care is a high-priority focus area in health care and is associated with increased family satisfaction and quality of life, better health outcomes and family follow-up, decreased burden of care, and improved efficiency of resource utilization. Motivated by our aim to improve clinic efficiency and patient retention, our multidisciplinary cleft palate and craniofacial center has been undergoing a complex family-centered reorganization over the past 3 years. We seek to share our experience in hope the information will be a useful starting point to other teams in structuring their own family-centered improvements.

Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Clinical Practice Improvement Advisory for Management of Perioperative Bleeding and Hemostasis in Cardiac Surgery Patients.

Bleeding after cardiac surgery is a common and serious complication leading to transfusion of multiple blood products and resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Despite the publication of numerous guidelines and consensus statements for patient blood management in cardiac surgery, research has revealed that adherence to these guidelines is poor, and as a result, a significant variability in patient transfusion practices among practitioners still remains. In addition, although utilization of point-of-care (POC) coagulation monitors and the use of novel therapeutic strategies for perioperative hemostasis, such as the use of coagulation factor concentrates, have increased significantly over the last decade, they are still not widely available in every institution.

Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Clinical Practice Improvement Advisory for Management of Perioperative Bleeding and Hemostasis in Cardiac Surgery Patients.

Bleeding after cardiac surgery is a common and serious complication leading to transfusion of multiple blood products and resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Despite the publication of numerous guidelines and consensus statements for patient blood management in cardiac surgery, research has revealed that adherence to these guidelines is poor, and as a result, a significant variability in patient transfusion practices among practitioners still remains. In addition, although utilization of point of care coagulation monitors and the use of novel therapeutic strategies for perioperative hemostasis, such as the use of coagulation factor concentrates, has increased significantly over the last decade, they are still not widely available in every institution.

Evaluation of linkage disequilibrium, population structure, and genetic diversity in the U.S. peanut mini core collection.

Background: Due to the recent domestication of peanut from a single tetraploidization event, relatively little genetic diversity underlies the extensive morphological and agronomic diversity in peanut cultivars today. To broaden the genetic variation in future breeding programs, it is necessary to characterize germplasm accessions for new sources of variation and to leverage the power of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to discover markers associated with traits of interest. We report an analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD), population structure, and genetic diversity, and examine the ability of GWA to infer marker-trait associations in the U.

Legume information system (LegumeInfo.org): a key component of a set of federated data resources for the legume family.

Legume Information System (LIS), at http://legumeinfo.org, is a genomic data portal (GDP) for the legume family. LIS provides access to genetic and genomic information for major crop and model legumes.

Cartilage extracellular matrix metabolism differs in serum and synovial fluid.

Most cartilage explant culture studies assume conventional serum-supplemented growth media are biologically equivalent to the natural synovial fluid which baths cartilage in vivo. Few studies have systematically compared the effects of serum versus synovial fluid in culture. To address this assumption we conducted a series of studies to determine if cartilage matrix synthesis is significantly different in serum-based versus synovial fluid-based media.

Malignant transformation in human chondrosarcoma cells supported by telomerase activation and tumor suppressor inactivation.

Human chondrosarcomas do not respond to current chemotherapies or radiation therapy, and their size and histological appearance do not reliably predict the risk of local recurrence and metastases, making selection of surgical treatment difficult. Identifying mechanisms responsible for the proliferation and invasive behavior of these tumors would be of immense clinical value. We hypothesized that telomerase expression is one of these mechanisms.