COVID-19 Acutely Impacted the Delmarva Poultry Industry in Early 2020.

Early community spread of COVID-19 presented a public health crisis and Delmarva's essential workforce at the poultry processing plants. Plant workers in May 2020 were struggling to adapt to exposure risk and illness in the workforce. Furthermore, pressures of an unfamiliar marketplace strained the supply and demand linkages in poultry processing.

Phosphorus and the Chesapeake Bay: Lingering Issues and Emerging Concerns for Agriculture.

Hennig Brandt's discovery of phosphorus (P) occurred during the early European colonization of the Chesapeake Bay region. Today, P, an essential nutrient on land and water alike, is one of the principal threats to the health of the bay. Despite widespread implementation of best management practices across the Chesapeake Bay watershed following the implementation in 2010 of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) to improve the health of the bay, P load reductions across the bay's 166,000-km watershed have been uneven, and dissolved P loads have increased in a number of the bay's tributaries.

Volume replacement with a balanced hydroxyethyl starch (HES) preparation in cardiac surgery patients.

Objective: Balanced fluids appear to be have advantages over unbalanced fluids for correcting hypovolemia. The effects of a new balanced hydroxyethyl starch (HES) were studied in cardiac surgery patients.

Design: Prospective, randomized, unblinded study.

Electrophysiological characterization of ATPases in native synaptic vesicles and synaptic plasma membranes.

Vesicular V-ATPase (V-type H+-ATPase) and the plasma membrane-bound Na+/K+-ATPase are essential for the cycling of neurotransmitters at the synapse, but direct functional studies on their action in native surroundings are limited due to the poor accessibility via standard electrophysiological equipment. We performed SSM (solid supported membrane)-based electrophysiological analyses of synaptic vesicles and plasma membranes prepared from rat brains by sucrose-gradient fractionation. Acidification experiments revealed V-ATPase activity in fractions containing the vesicles but not in the plasma membrane fractions.

Cardiopulmonary bypass priming using a high dose of a balanced hydroxyethyl starch versus an albumin-based priming strategy.

Background: The optimal priming solution for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is unclear. In this study, we evaluated the influence of high-volume priming with a modern balanced hydroxyethyl starch (HES) preparation on coagulation, inflammation, and organ function compared with an albumin-based CPB priming regimen.

Methods: In 50 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, the CPB circuit was prospectively and randomly primed with either 1500 mL of 6% HES 130/0.

Influence on coagulation of a potato-derived hydroxethylstarch (HES 130/0.42) and a maize-derived hydroxethylstarch (HES 130/0.4) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Background: This study compared the effects of a potato-based hydroxyethyl starch (HES) with those of a maize-derived HES preparation on coagulation in cardiac surgery patients.

Methods: Sixty patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were allocated randomly to receive either a potato-derived HES (6% HES 130/0.42) (n=30) or a waxy-maize-derived HES (6% HES 130/0.

Is albumin administration in hypoalbuminemic elderly cardiac surgery patients of benefit with regard to inflammation, endothelial activation, and long-term kidney function?

Background: Because patients with low albumin levels may benefit from human albumin (HA) administration, we studied correction of hypovolemia with HA in hypoalbuminic elderly cardiac surgery patients.

Methods: In a prospective, randomized study, 50 patients aged >80 yr undergoing cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass with a preoperative serum albumin concentration of <3.5 mg/dL, received either 5% HA (n = 25) or hydroxyethyl starch (6% HES 130/0.

The influence of a balanced volume replacement concept on inflammation, endothelial activation, and kidney integrity in elderly cardiac surgery patients.

Purpose: A balanced fluid replacement strategy appears to be promising for correcting hypovolemia. The benefits of a balanced fluid replacement regimen were studied in elderly cardiac surgery patients.

Methods: In a randomized clinical trial, 50 patients aged >75 years undergoing cardiac surgery received a balanced 6% HES 130/0.

Comparison of the effects of gelatin and a modern hydroxyethyl starch solution on renal function and inflammatory response in elderly cardiac surgery patients.

Background: The effects of hydroxyethylstarch (HES) 130/0.4 6% and gelatin 4% on inflammation, endothelial integrity, and renal function after cardiac surgery were compared.

Methods: Sixty patients aged >80 yr undergoing cardiac surgery were randomized to receive gelatin (n=30) or HES 130/0.

Influence of volume therapy with a modern hydroxyethylstarch preparation on kidney function in cardiac surgery patients with compromised renal function: a comparison with human albumin.

Objective: There is continuing concern about the influence of hydroxyethylstarch on renal function in patients with compromised kidney function.

Design: Prospective, randomized, single-center study.

Setting: University-affiliated hospital.

The prophylactic use of the beta-blocker esmolol in combination with phosphodiesterase III inhibitor enoximone in elderly cardiac surgery patients.

We assessed the influence of the prophylactic use of a combination of the IV beta-adrenergic blocker, esmolol, and the phosphodiesterase III inhibitor, enoximone, on postbypass hemodynamic status, inflammation, and endothelial and organ function in a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study in 42 patients aged >65 yr undergoing aortocoronary bypass grafting. In 21 patients, esmolol (aim: heart rate <70 bpm) plus enoximone (initial bolus of 0.5 mg/kg followed by a continuous infusion of 2.

Prophylactic use of the phospodiesterase III inhibitor enoximone in elderly cardiac surgery patients: effect on hemodynamics, inflammation, and markers of organ function.

Objective: Elderly patients appear prone to develop overwhelming post-bypass inflammation and organ dysfunction. We assessed the effect of prophylactic administration of the phosphodiesterase III inhibitor enoximone on inflammation and organ function.

Design: Prospective, blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

Does coagulation differ between elderly and younger patients undergoing cardiac surgery?

Objective: Multiple improvements allow cardiac surgery in an increasingly older population. It is still unclear whether perioperative hemostasis differs between elderly and younger patients.

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Prophylactic use of pentoxifylline on inflammation in elderly cardiac surgery patients.

Background: Inflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of organ injury after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Elderly patients appear to be especially prone to develop general inflammation. Use of pentoxifylline (PTX) before surgery may be a promising approach to minimize the negative effects of CPB in these patients.

Influence of prophylactic use of pentoxifylline on postoperative organ function in elderly cardiac surgery patients.

Objective: To study the effects of pretreatment with pentoxifylline before cardiac surgery on postoperative organ function in elderly patients (>80 yrs) undergoing cardiac surgery.

Design: Prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

Setting: Two-day clinical investigation in an intensive care unit of a university-affiliated hospital.

Hemodynamics, intramucosal pH and regulators of circulation during perioperative epidural analgesia.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of perioperative epidural analgesia on hemodynamics, splanchnic perfusion and regulators of circulation.

Methods: Twenty patients undergoing aortic surgery were randomised into two groups: epidural analgesia group (EAG): epidural analgesia with bupivacaine (15 ml, 0.125%) was started before surgery.

Influence of dopexamine on hemodynamics, intramucosal pH, and regulators of the macrocirculation and microcirculation in patients undergoing abdominal aortic surgery.

Objective: To investigate whether dopexamine hydrochloride beneficially influences splanchnic perfusion and regulators of the macrocirculation and microcirculation in patients undergoing surgery of the abdominal aorta.

Design: Prospective, blinded, and randomized study.

Setting: University-affiliated hospital.

[Tooth protecting chewing gum tablets for lessening caries risk].

This study examines whether the regular use of sugar-free chewing gum can improve oral hygiene and therefore reduce the risk of caries. During a four-week test, twenty subjects chewed a piece of gum twice a day for thirty minutes after meals. At the start, after two weeks, and at the end of the test period, the plaque and gingiva indices were recorded and the buffer capacity and secretion rate of the saliva determined.