Publications by authors named "Blair J"

Antimicrobial resistance can arise in the natural environment via prolonged exposure to the effluent released by manufacturing facilities. In addition to antibiotics, pharmaceutical plants also produce non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, both the active ingredients and other components of the formulations. The effect of these on the surrounding microbial communities is less clear.

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Background: Solid organ transplant recipients are at risk of severe coccidioidomycosis and are given prophylaxis to mitigate the risk. Patients with seropositive testing typically receive lifelong prophylaxis; currently, this prophylaxis strategy includes patients who are positive only for IgM by enzyme immunoassay (EIA-IgM-only), although this result may be falsely positive.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study at a large-volume transplant center in an endemic coccidioidomycosis region to compare outcomes of non-lung transplant recipients who were seropositive for Coccidioides but discontinued prophylaxis (case patients) to outcomes of patients who continued prophylaxis (controls).

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Objective: To determine the incidence and describe the presentation and management of unexpected symptomatic glucocorticoid-induced adrenal suppression (AS) in children and young people aged 0-15 years.

Setting And Design: Surveillance study of symptomatic glucocorticoid (GC)-induced AS with supportive biochemical evidence or presenting as an adrenal crisis, reported via the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) from September 2020 to September 2022.

Results: Over a 25-month period, 190 reports of symptomatic GC-induced AS/adrenal crisis were made, of which 22 were confirmed cases: 18 AS and 4 adrenal crises.

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Extensive nutritional analyses were conducted for palm kernel meal (PKM) sourced from 5 countries. Two precision-fed rooster trials were conducted to evaluate the nitrogen-corrected true metabolizable energy (TME) and standardized amino acid (AA) digestibility of 10 PKM samples (PKM 1 to 10). The TME was determined using conventional Single Comb White Leghorn roosters, and standardized AA digestibility was determined using cecectomized roosters.

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Introduction: The emergence of large language models (LLMs) has led to significant interest in their potential use as medical assistive tools. Prior investigations have analyzed the overall comparative performance of LLM versions within different ophthalmology subspecialties. However, limited investigations have characterized LLM performance on image-based questions, a recent advance in LLM capabilities.

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Coccidioidomycosis (CM), caused by the dimorphic fungi Coccidioides immitis (C. immitis) and C. posadasii, is recognized as an increasing threat both nationally and worldwide.

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Efflux is one of the mechanisms employed by Gram-negative bacteria to become resistant to routinely used antibiotics. The inhibition of efflux by targeting their regulators is a promising strategy to re-sensitize bacterial pathogens to antibiotics. AcrAB-TolC is the main resistance-nodulation-division efflux pump in Enterobacteriaceae.

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Introduction: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we rapidly implemented a plasma coordination center, within two months, to support transfusion for two outpatient randomized controlled trials. The center design was based on an investigational drug services model and a Food and Drug Administration-compliant database to manage blood product inventory and trial safety.

Methods: A core investigational team adapted a cloud-based platform to randomize patient assignments and track inventory distribution of control plasma and high-titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma of different blood groups from 29 donor collection centers directly to blood banks serving 26 transfusion sites.

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  • Myocardial bridges (MB) are common vascular abnormalities but only a fraction relate to chest pain (angina); this study aimed to investigate coexisting conditions that might cause symptoms in patients with MB.
  • Conducted at the University of Chicago, the study included 30 patients with MB experiencing chest pain, testing for various types of coronary spasm and coronary microvascular dysfunction using specific medical tests.
  • Findings revealed that 60% had endothelium-independent coronary microvascular dysfunction, 29% had microvascular spasm, and 37% had epicardial spasm, with most patients showing at least one of these abnormalities regardless of whether the MB was deemed hemodynamically significant.
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  • Coccidioidomycosis can lead to serious meningitis, which needs long-term treatment.
  • A study examined how pharmacogenomic testing (analyzing genetic variations) could impact treatment outcomes for patients with coccidioidal meningitis.
  • Out of 13 patients tested, 11 had genetic variants that influenced antifungal effectiveness, resulting in immediate treatment adjustments and showing that such testing can prevent ineffective or harmful treatments.
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Agricultural water is commonly treated with chlorine-based disinfectants, which are impacted by water quality. Understanding how water quality influences disinfectants such as chlorine dioxide (ClO) against pathogenic bacteria is important for creating efficacious sanitation regimens. In this study, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ClO needed to achieve a 3-Log reduction against Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) and was compared across agricultural water samples.

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  • Four novel strains resistant to copper were tested against newly synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO and CuO NPs).
  • Characterization methods confirmed the successful creation of these nanoparticles, which showed superiority in inhibiting bacterial growth due to their ability to induce oxidative stress.
  • The study highlighted that CuO NPs not only reduced biofilm formation in copper-resistant strains but also revealed different responses based on the bacterial species, demonstrating the potential of nanotechnology in addressing metal tolerance in bacteria.
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Aim: The treatment of massive diaphyseal tibial bone defects remains challenging with poor results seen from treatment modalities other than bone transport (BT). Current methods of BT require lengthy periods in a circular external fixator. Despite recent modifications in BT techniques via circular external fixator such as multifocal transport and immediate intramedullary nailing after docking, circular external fixation remains poorly tolerated with a high complication profile.

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  • This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of a new procedure called splanchnic nerve ablation for managing fluid volume in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).* -
  • Conducted as a phase 2, double-blind, randomized trial involving 90 patients across 15 centers, the study compared the outcomes of the nerve ablation procedure to a sham control.* -
  • Results showed no significant differences in both the primary outcomes (reduction in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure) and safety events between the treatment and control groups, suggesting that the nerve ablation may not provide the expected benefits for these patients.*
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Protein misfolding and aggregation are cardinal features of neurodegenerative disease (NDD) and they contribute to pathophysiology by both loss-of-function (LOF) and gain-of-function (GOF) mechanisms. This is well exemplified by TDP-43 which aggregates and mislocalizes in several NDDs. The depletion of nuclear TDP-43 leads to reduction in its normal function in RNA metabolism and the cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43 leads to aberrant protein homeostasis.

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Background And Objectives: Diet may influence the development of cognitive impairment and affect cognitive decline, but whether this relationship varies between Black American and White American people is unclear. This study examined the association of Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) and incident cognitive impairment and cognitive trajectories in a biracial prospective cohort study.

Methods: Using data derived from the Food Frequency Questionnaire in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study, we compared MIND diet adherence with incident cognitive impairment and cognitive trajectory in Black participants and White participants.

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  • The Letter reports the most accurate measurement so far of the matter-antimatter imbalance during Pb-Pb collisions at a high energy level of 5.02 TeV.
  • It utilizes the Statistical Hadronization framework to determine precise values for the electric charge and baryon chemical potentials, μ_{Q} and μ_{B}.
  • The analysis of antiparticle-to-particle yield ratios shows that the collisions create a system that is generally baryon-free and electrically neutral at midrapidity.
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Objective: Myocardial bridging (MB) occurs when a coronary artery, commonly the left anterior descending (LAD), has an intramyocardial course. In symptomatic patients who fail medical therapy, surgical unroofing can provide symptomatic relief by improving coronary blood flow. We present a series of patients undergoing robotic totally endoscopic beating-heart MB unroofing.

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Efflux pumps are well known to be an important mechanism for removing noxious substances such as antibiotics from bacteria. Given that many antibiotics function by accumulating inside bacteria, efflux pumps contribute to resistance. Efflux pump inactivation is a potential strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance, as bacteria would not be able to pump out antibiotics.

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Coccidioidomycosis is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia in endemic regions. Approximately 20 000 cases of coccidioidomycosis occur annually; however, this statistic is limited by a widespread lack of testing. Here, we analyze emergency medicine provider attitudes toward coccidioidal testing and assess the effect of an intervention to improve testing rates.

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  • Coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) can lead to chest pain (angina) even when there are no blockages in the major coronary arteries (ANOCA).
  • The thermodilution technique is a useful method for measuring microvascular resistance, from which two key indices (coronary flow reserve and index of microcirculatory resistance) can be derived to assess coronary microcirculation.
  • The text presents the bolus thermodilution method and an algorithm (CATH CMD) to standardize measurements and improve the diagnosis of CMD.
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Unlabelled: A 56-year-old female diagnosed with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and myocardial bridge (MB) of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery underwent septal myectomy with resolution of her left ventricular outflow tract gradient. She had ongoing refractory symptoms of exertional angina and fatigue for over a decade and finally presented to our clinic to be re-evaluated for treatment. Provocative angiographic testing confirmed significant ischemia secondary to LAD MB.

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