Blood Culture Use in Medical and Surgical Intensive Care Units and Wards.

Importance: Blood culture (BC) use benchmarks in US hospitals have not been defined.

Objective: To characterize BC use in adult intensive care units (ICUs) and wards in US hospitals.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A retrospective cross-sectional study of BC use in adult medical ICUs, medical-surgical ICUs, medical wards, and medical-surgical wards from acute care hospitals from the 4 US geographic regions was conducted.

Magnusiomyces capitatus, an Unusual Cause of Invasive Fungal Infections in Neutropenic Patients: Case Reports and Outbreak Investigation.

Magnusiomyces capitatus is an environmental fungus found in soil, water, air, plants, and dairy products which may cause opportunistic infections in patients with haematological disorders resulting in high mortality rates. This series of the first reported cases in Ireland discusses investigation of two patients with underlying haematological disorders, hospitalised in the Irish National Adult Stem Cell Transplant Unit (NASCTU), who developed line-related fungaemias with M. capitatus within a three-month period.

Indoxyl Sulfate and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Literature Review.

Indoxyl sulfate-a bacterially derived metabolite-has been identified as a toxin that is elevated in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As a neurotoxin, uremic toxin, nephrotoxin, cardiotoxin, osteotoxin, and myotoxin, indoxyl sulfate has been associated with several other conditions, including chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, Parkinson's disease, cognitive disorders, and mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Indoxyl sulfate is derived from bacterial modification of host tryptophan, and elevated levels of indoxyl sulfate are associated with decreased levels of important neurotransmitters including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.

Association Between Patient Portal Engagement and Weight Loss Outcomes in Patients After Bariatric Surgery: Longitudinal Observational Study Using Electronic Health Records.

Background: Bariatric surgery is an effective intervention for obesity, but comprehensive postoperative self-management is essential for optimal outcomes. While patient portals are generally seen as beneficial in engaging patients in health management, the link between their use and post-bariatric surgery weight loss remains unclear.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between patient portal engagement and postoperative BMI reduction among patients after bariatric surgery.

Active-reset protein sensors enable continuous in vivo monitoring of inflammation.

Continuous measurement of proteins in vivo is important for real-time disease management and prevention. Implantable sensors for monitoring small molecules such as glucose have been available for more than a decade. However, analysis of proteins remains an unmet need because the lower physiological levels require that sensors have high affinities, which are linked to long complexation half-lives ( ~20 hours) and slow equilibration when concentrations decrease.