A custom nasal obturator for velopharyngeal dysfunction: A dental technique.

Removable nasal obturators provide a treatment option for a range of patients presenting with velopharyngeal dysfunction without eliminating the possibility for future surgery, speech therapy, or the provision of other devices. The presented technique describes the fabrication of a 1-piece silicone nasal obturator to reduce hypernasality and nasal airflow errors without causing significant hyponasality. The obturator has minimal visibility and minimal risk of inhalation.

A feasible route for the design and manufacture of customised respiratory protection through digital facial capture.

The World Health Organisation has called for a 40% increase in personal protective equipment manufacturing worldwide, recognising that frontline workers need effective protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current devices suffer from high fit-failure rates leaving significant proportions of users exposed to risk of viral infection. Driven by non-contact, portable, and widely available 3D scanning technologies, a workflow is presented whereby a user's face is rapidly categorised using relevant facial parameters.

Pilot study of a combined genomic and epidemiologic surveillance program for hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant pathogens across multiple hospital networks in Australia.

Objectives: To conduct a pilot study implementing combined genomic and epidemiologic surveillance for hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) to predict transmission between patients and to estimate the local burden of MDRO transmission.

Design: Pilot prospective multicenter surveillance study.

Setting: The study was conducted in 8 university hospitals (2,800 beds total) in Melbourne, Australia (population 4.

Trial to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of a melanoma helper peptide vaccine plus incomplete Freund's adjuvant, cyclophosphamide, and polyICLC (Mel63).

Background: Peptide vaccines designed to stimulate melanoma-reactive CD4 T cells can induce T cell and antibody (Ab) responses, associated with enhanced overall survival. We hypothesized that adding toll-like receptor 3 agonist polyICLC to an incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) would be safe and would support strong, durable CD4 T cell and Ab responses. We also hypothesized that oral low-dose metronomic cyclophosphamide (mCy) would be safe, would reduce circulating regulatory T cells (T-regs) and would further enhance immunogenicity.

Risks factors and outcomes of Clostridium difficile infection in patients with cancer: a matched case-control study.

Purpose: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of diarrhoea in hospitalised patients. Cancer populations are at high-risk for infection, but comprehensive evaluation in the current era of cancer care has not been performed. The objective of this study was to describe characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes of CDI in cancer patients.

The epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection in patients with cancer.

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a significant cause of healthcare-associated diarrhoea, and the emergence of endemic strains resulting in poorer outcomes is recognised worldwide. Patients with cancer are a specific high-risk group for development of infection. Areas covered: In this review, modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for CDI in adult patients with haematological malignancy or solid tumours are evaluated.

A randomized pilot trial testing the safety and immunologic effects of a MAGE-A3 protein plus AS15 immunostimulant administered into muscle or into dermal/subcutaneous sites.

Introduction: Methods to induce T cell responses to protein vaccines have not been optimized. The immunostimulant AS15 has been administered with the recombinant MAGE-A3 protein (recMAGE-A3) i.m.

Vaccination with Melanoma Helper Peptides Induces Antibody Responses Associated with Improved Overall Survival.

Purpose: A melanoma vaccine incorporating six peptides designed to induce helper T-cell responses to melanoma antigens has induced Th1-dominant CD4(+) T-cell responses in most patients, and induced durable clinical responses or stable disease in 24% of evaluable patients. The present study tested whether this vaccine also induced antibody (Ab) responses to each peptide, and whether Ab responses were associated with T-cell responses and with clinical outcome.

Experimental Design: Serum samples were studied from 35 patients with stage III-IV melanomas vaccinated with 6 melanoma helper peptides (6MHP).

Hydroxyurea and growth in young children with sickle cell disease.

Background: Growth impairment is a known complication of sickle cell disease. Effects of hydroxyurea (HU) on growth in very young children are not known.

Methods: Height, weight, BMI, and head circumference (HC) were compared with World Health Organization (WHO) standards in BABY HUG, a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled 2-year clinical trial of HU in 193 children 9 to 18 months of age.

Neurodevelopmental deficits among infants and toddlers with sickle cell disease.

Objective: Neurodevelopmental deficits are among the serious complications of sickle cell disease (SCD). However, few studies have prospectively evaluated neurodevelopmental deficits in very young children with SCD. We analyzed baseline neurodevelopmental data from a cohort of 80 infants and toddlers with SCD to identify primary disease-related events and sociodemographic risk factors associated with early developmental delay.

Pathogenicity of non-albicans yeasts in the vagina.

Objective: It is hypothesized that vaginal non-albicans yeasts (NAYs) do not require treatment. The objective was to determine whether women (presenting with a range of vulvovaginal complaints) found to be harboring NAY, which is left untreated (no antifungals), have similar clinical outcomes to women with comparable presentations but who do not harbor NAY.

Design: This is a case-control study design comparing patient outcomes between women with untreated non-albicans Candida on vaginal swab cultures and those who were swab culture-negative.

Recruitment of infants with sickle cell anemia to a Phase III trial: data from the BABY HUG study.

Background: Protocol-eligible subjects may not be candidates for research participation or may decline. To determine factors that affected accrual, we evaluated enrollment in BABY HUG, a multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III trial of hydroxyurea (HU) in infants with sickle cell anemia.

Methods: An anonymized registry of potential subjects served as the primary source of data.

Catechol O-methyltransferase haplotype predicts immediate musculoskeletal neck pain and psychological symptoms after motor vehicle collision.

Unlabelled: Genetic variations in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene have been associated with experimental pain and risk of chronic pain development, but no studies have examined genetic predictors of neck pain intensity and other patient characteristics after motor vehicle collision (MVC). We evaluated the association between COMT genotype and acute neck pain intensity and other patient characteristics in 89 Caucasian individuals presenting to the emergency department (ED) after MVC. In the ED in the hours after MVC, individuals with a COMT pain vulnerable genotype were more likely to report moderate-to-severe musculoskeletal neck pain (76 versus 41%, RR = 2.

Exploring posttraumatic stress disorder symptom profile among pregnant women.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more prevalent in perinatal than general samples of women (6-8% vs. 4-5%). To explore potential causes, we examined the symptom profiles of women belonging to two separate samples: a perinatal clinic sample (n = 1581) and a subsample of women in a similar age range from the U.

Ecological salivary cortisol specimen collection--part 1: methodological consideration of yield, error, and effects of sampling decisions in a perinatal mental health study.

Background: Current health research strives to integrate biological, psychological, and social factors consistent with ecological models. Home-based biomarker specimens are consistent with an ecological approach, but deviations from laboratory norms could affect validity of results.

Objective: This article uses salivary cortisol specimens collected early in a perinatal mental health study to describe (a) return rate and returner characteristics, (b) adherence to procedures, (c) sources of laboratory error, (d) effects of deleting specimens with "nuisance" factors, and (e) effects that selection bias could have on cortisol concentration distribution.