Workforce Shortage for Retinopathy of Prematurity Care and Emerging Role of Telehealth and Artificial Intelligence.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the leading cause of childhood blindness in very-low-birthweight and very preterm infants in the United States. With improved survival of smaller babies, more infants are at risk for ROP, yet there is an increasing shortage of providers to screen and treat ROP. Through a literature review of new and emerging technologies, screening criteria, and analysis of a national survey of pediatric ophthalmologists and retinal specialists, the authors found the shortage of ophthalmology workforce for ROP a serious and growing concern.

Understanding Barriers to Early Intervention Services for Preterm Infants: Lessons From Two States.

Objective: To explore existing barriers and challenges to Early Intervention (EI) referral, enrollment, and service provision for very low birth weight (VLBW; <1500 g) infants.

Methods: We conducted 10 focus groups with parents of VLBW children (n = 44) and 32 interviews with key informants from EI (n = 7), neonatal intensive care units (n = 17), and outpatient clinics (n = 8) at 6 sites in 2 states. We used grounded theory to identify themes about gaps in services.

Pasteurized human donor milk use among US level 3 neonatal intensive care units.

Background: Pasteurized human donor milk (DM) is recommended by the World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics for preterm infants when mother's own milk is unavailable, yet the extent and predictors of use and criteria for use in US neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are unknown.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate current DM use in US level 3 NICUs and predictors and criteria of use.

Methods: We sent mail surveys to 302 US level 3 NICU directors.

Crystal structure of the SH3 domain of betaPIX in complex with a high affinity peptide from PAK2.

The p21-activated kinases (PAKs) are important effector proteins of the small GTPases Cdc42 and Rac and control cytoskeletal rearrangements and cell proliferation. The direct interaction of PAKs with guanine nucleotide exchange factors from the PIX/Cool family, which is responsible for the localization of PAK kinases to focal complexes in the cell, is mediated by a 24-residue peptide segment in PAKs and an N-terminal src homology 3 (SH3) domain in PIX/Cool. The SH3-binding segment of PAK contains the atypical consensus-binding motif PxxxPR, which is required for unusually high affinity binding.