Black and white body mass index values in developing nineteenth century Nebraska.

Little is known about late 19th and early 20th century BMIs on the US Central Plains. Using data from the Nebraska state prison, this study demonstrates that the BMIs of dark complexioned blacks were greater than for fairer complexioned mulattos and whites. Although modern BMIs have increased, late 19th and early 20th century BMIs in Nebraska were in normal ranges; neither underweight nor obese individuals were common.

A broadly implementable research course in phage discovery and genomics for first-year undergraduate students.

Unlabelled: Engaging large numbers of undergraduates in authentic scientific discovery is desirable but difficult to achieve. We have developed a general model in which faculty and teaching assistants from diverse academic institutions are trained to teach a research course for first-year undergraduate students focused on bacteriophage discovery and genomics. The course is situated within a broader scientific context aimed at understanding viral diversity, such that faculty and students are collaborators with established researchers in the field.

Effective iron chelation practice for patients with β-thalassemia major.

Chronic blood transfusion is the only treatment for severe anemia in patients with β-thalassemia major. However, red blood cell transfusions lead to iron overload and subsequent organ damage because of the toxic effects of iron. The heart is particularly vulnerable to iron toxicity, and heart failure is the leading cause of death among these patients.

Ferritin trends do not predict changes in total body iron in patients with transfusional iron overload.

Ferritin levels and trends are widely used to manage iron overload and assess the efficacy of prescribed iron chelation in patients with transfusional iron loading. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 134 patients with transfusion-dependent anemia, over a period of up to 9 years. To determine whether the trends in ferritin adequately reflect the changes in total body iron, changes in ferritin between consecutive liver iron measurements by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were compared to changes in liver iron concentrations (LIC), a measure of total body iron.

Inquiry into chemotherapy-induced p53 activation in cancer cells as a model for teaching signal transduction.

Intracellular and extracellular communication is conducted through an intricate and interwoven network of signal transduction pathways. The mechanisms for how cells speak with one another are of significant biological importance to both basic and industrial scientists from a number of different disciplines. We have therefore developed and implemented a new laboratory-intensive course that teaches students the theory and techniques used to study cell signaling pathways.

An official American Thoracic Society research statement: comparative effectiveness research in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.

Background: Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is intended to inform decision making in clinical practice, and is central to patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR).

Purpose: To summarize key aspects of CER definitions and provide examples highlighting the complementary nature of efficacy and CER studies in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.

Methods: An ad hoc working group of the American Thoracic Society with experience in clinical trials, health services research, quality improvement, and behavioral sciences in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine was convened.

Metabolism and disposition of oral dabrafenib in cancer patients: proposed participation of aryl nitrogen in carbon-carbon bond cleavage via decarboxylation following enzymatic oxidation.

A phase I study was conducted to assess the metabolism and excretion of [(14)C]dabrafenib (GSK2118436; N-{3-[5-(2-amino-4-pyrimidinyl)-2-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,3-thiazol-4-yl]-2-fluorophenyl}-2,6-difluorobenzene sulfonamide, methanesulfonate salt), a BRAF inhibitor, in four patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive tumors after a single oral dose of 95 mg (80 µCi). Assessments included the following: 1) plasma concentrations of dabrafenib and metabolites using validated ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography--tandem mass spectrometry methods, 2) plasma and blood radioactivity, 3) urinary and fecal radioactivity, and 4) metabolite profiling. Results showed the mean total recovery of radioactivity was 93.

Fast, label-free force spectroscopy of histone-DNA interactions in individual nucleosomes using nanopores.

Herein we report a novel approach for fast, label-free probing of DNA-histone interactions in individual nucleosomes. We use solid-state nanopores to unravel individual DNA/histone complexes for the first time and find that the unraveling time depends on the applied electrophoretic force, and our results are in line with previous studies that employ optical tweezers. Our approach for studying nucleosomal interactions can greatly accelerate the understanding of fundamental mechanisms by which transcription, replication, and repair processes in a cell are modulated through DNA-histone interactions, as well as in diagnosis of diseases with abnormal patterns of DNA and histone modifications.

Prevalence and predictors of hypoxaemia in respiratory and non-respiratory primary diagnoses among emergently ill children at a tertiary hospital in south western Nigeria.

Background: Hypoxaemia is a potentially harmful complication of both acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) and non-ALRI in children but its contribution to burden and outcomes of hospital admissions in Africa is unclear. We investigated prevalence and predictors of hypoxaemia in ALRI and non-ALRI according to age and primary diagnoses in emergently ill children in south western Nigeria.

Methods: In 1726 emergently ill children admitted to a tertiary hospital in Ibadan, south western Nigeria, oxygen saturation was measured shortly after admission.

Strategies to combat chronic critical illness.

Purpose Of Review: The population of chronically critically ill patients is growing as advances in intensive care management improve survival from the acute phase of critical illness. These patients are characterized by complex medical needs and heavy resource utilization. This article reviews evidence supporting a comprehensive approach to the prevention and management of chronic critical illness (CCI).

The relationship between positive end-expiratory pressure and cardiac index in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the association between positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and cardiac index in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Methods: This is a secondary cross-sectional analysis of the multicenter randomized controlled Fluid and Catheter Treatment Trial enrolling adult patients within 48 hours of ARDS onset. Patients randomized to the pulmonary artery catheter arm, who had PEEP and cardiac index measurements performed within a short period of each other during the first 3 days of the FACTT study enrollment, were included in this study.

Multidrug-resistant transport activity protects oocytes from chemotherapeutic agents and changes during oocyte maturation.

Objective: To determine the multidrug-resistant transporter (MDR) activity in oocytes and their potential role in oocyte susceptibility to chemotherapy.

Design: Experimental laboratory study.

Setting: University and academic center for reproductive medicine.

Cost and health care utilization in ARDS--different from other critical illness?

Costs of care in the intensive care unit are a frequent target for concern in the current health care system. Utilization of critical care services in the United States is increasing and will continue to do so. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a common and important complication of critical illness.

Pain over time and its effects on life in thalassemia.

Pain reports have become increasingly common and problematic in thalassemia. As patients are living longer,there is a growing need to study pain and to explore its impact on patient lives. The Brief Pain Inventory(BPI) was used quarterly to assess pain and pain interference in patients with thalassemia in North America.

Enhancing insulin-use safety in hospitals: Practical recommendations from an ASHP Foundation expert consensus panel.

Purpose: Consensus recommendations to help ensure safe insulin use in hospitalized patients are presented.

Summary: Insulin products are frequently involved in medication errors in hospitals, and insulin is classified as a high-alert medication when used in inpatient settings. In an initiative to promote safer insulin use, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Research and Education Foundation convened a 21-member panel representing the fields of pharmacy, medicine, and nursing and consumer advocacy groups for a three-stage consensus-building initiative.

Management of the first in vitro fertilization cycle for unexplained infertility: a cost-effectiveness analysis of split in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Objective: To determine the cost-effectiveness of split IVF-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for the treatment of couples with unexplained infertility.

Design: Adaptive decision model.

Setting: Academic infertility clinic.

Assessment of a novel group-centered testing schema in an upper-level undergraduate molecular biotechnology course.

Providing students with assignments that focus on critical thinking is an important part of their scientific and intellectual development. However, as class sizes increase, so does the grading burden, prohibiting many faculty from incorporating critical thinking assignments in the classroom. In an effort to continue to provide our students with meaningful critical thinking exercises, we implemented a novel group-centered, problem-based testing scheme.

Tissue iron evaluation in chronically transfused children shows significant levels of iron loading at a very young age.

Chronic blood transfusions start at a very young age in subjects with transfusion-dependent anemias, the majority of whom have hereditary anemias. To understand how rapidly iron overload develops, we retrospectively reviewed 308 MRIs for evaluation of liver, pancreatic, or cardiac iron in 125 subjects less than 10 years old. Median age at first MRI evaluation was 6.

Concomitant oral and intravenous pharmacokinetics of dabrafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, in patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive solid tumors.

Dabrafenib is an orally bioavailable, potent, and selective inhibitor of human wild-type BRAF and CRAF kinases as well as mutant forms of BRAF kinase. The aim of this phase 1, single-center, open-label study in four patients with BRAF mutation-positive solid tumors was to determine the absolute bioavailability of a 150 mg oral dose of dabrafenib. A microtracer study approach, in which a 50 µg radiolabeled intravenous (IV) microdose of dabrafenib was given concomitantly with a 150 mg oral dose, was used to simultaneously recover IV and oral pharmacokinetic parameters.

Possible role for arginine-containing toothpastes in managing dentine hypersensitivity.

Data Sources: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline, Embase and LILACS databases were searched. Reference lists of eligible studies and systematic reviews were cross-checked to identify additional studies.

Study Selection: Randomised and controlled clinical trials conducted in adults with at least two hypersensitive teeth confirmed by evaporative stimulus or tactile hypersensitivity assessment comparing arginine-containing desensitising toothpastes to non-arginine-containing control toothpastes were included.

Effects of particle size, food, and capsule shell composition on the oral bioavailability of dabrafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, in patients with BRAF mutation-positive tumors.

Dabrafenib is a small-molecule inhibitor of BRAF kinase activity that is currently being developed for the treatment of BRAF V600 mutation-positive melanoma. This clinical, open-label, two-cohort (n = 14 per cohort), randomized study was designed to evaluate the effect of drug substance particle size, and food on the plasma pharmacokinetics of a single oral dose of dabrafenib in patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive solid tumors. In addition, an exploratory cross-cohort comparison of the relative bioavailability of single-dose dabrafenib administered in gelatin and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) capsules was performed.

Limited evidence for existing caries assessment systems.

Data Sources: Data were sourced from the Cochrane Oral Health Groups Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trails, Medline, bibliographic references of identified systematic reviews, prospective cohort studies and clinical trials, textbooks and review articles.

Study Selection: The studies included presented validating criteria for caries incidence/ increment and were limited to those with human subjects and natural carious lesions. Only studies published in peer reviewed journals were included.

Estrogen-suppressed in vitro maturation: a novel approach to in vitro maturation.

Objective: To evaluate the laboratory and clinical outcomes of estrogen-suppressed in vitro maturation (ES-IVM), a novel IVM protocol that eliminates the need for FSH stimulation and cycle monitoring.

Design: Case series.

Setting: Academic infertility center.