Implementation and Impact of a Novel Protocol for Inpatient Asylum-Seeking Children.

In response to a record number of immigrant families arriving in the United States through the southern border, a multidisciplinary team at a tertiary care children's hospital developed an inpatient asylum protocol (IAP) whose goals were to identify, screen, and support hospitalized asylum-seeking patients and their families. Identified patients were provided with specialized social work, case management, and legal support and were longitudinally followed after hospital discharge to ensure successful engagement with community resources. A total of 47 patients were enrolled over 2.

Strategies for Equitable Recruitment to Engage Underrepresented Youth and Their Families into Clinical Research: Findings from the BEAD-T1D Pilot Study.

Introduction: To address disparities in clinical research, we present strategies to optimize recruitment of underrepresented families into the Building the Evidence to Address Disparities in Type 1 Diabetes (BEAD-T1D) study.

Methods: A bilingual/bicultural Latino research assistant (RA) was hired to facilitate culturally congruent recruitment for pediatric type 1 diabetes families. The RA screened, approached, and consented families using their preferred language, time of contact, and answered personal concerns around research.

Implementation of COVID-19 infection control best practices in nursing homes amid the pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed around 170,000 lives among nursing home residents and staff in the United States through April 2023. In a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 136 nursing homes, we delivered training to improve COVID-19 infection control best practices. We sought to assess the implementation of infection control practices in participating nursing homes.

Quantitative analysis of protein lipidation and acyl-CoAs reveals substrate preferences of the -acylation machinery.

Protein palmitoylation or -acylation has emerged as a key regulator of cellular processes. Increasing evidence shows that this modification is not restricted to palmitate but it can include additional fatty acids, raising the possibility that differential -acylation contributes to the fine-tuning of protein activity. However, methods to profile the acyl moieties attached to proteins are scarce.

Heavy metal contamination (Cu, Pb, and Cd) of washed and unwashed roadside blackberries (Rubus fruticose L.).

Foraging provides a multitude of individual, social, and environmental benefits. With green spaces decreasing in the United Kingdom, there is an opportunity for roadside verges to become valuable foraging resources; however, there is public concern over the safety of roadside forage. Human ingestion of heavy metal contaminants, such as copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd), originating from traffic activity, induces toxic effects in the body.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Health of Migrant Children in the United States: From Policy to Practice.

In this article, the authors provide an overview how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the health and wellbeing of migrant children in conflict zones, in transit and post-settlement in the United States. In particular, the authors explore how policies implemented during the pandemic directly and indirectly affected migrant children and led to widening disparities in the aftermath of the pandemic. Given these circumstances, the authors provide recommendations for child health care providers caring for migrant children to mitigate and bolster resilience and health.

Prescribing Patterns of Nonrecommended Medications for Children With Acute COVID-19.

Objective: Repurposed medications for acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continued to be prescribed after results from rigorous studies and national guidelines discouraged use. We aimed to describe prescribing rates of nonrecommended medications for acute COVID-19 in children, associations with demographic factors, and provider type and specialty.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort of children <18 years in a large United States all-payer claims database, we identified prescriptions within 2 weeks of an acute COVID-19 diagnosis.

Intraoperative Prophylaxis with Palonosetron for Postoperative Nausea and/or Vomiting in Adults Undergoing Cardiothoracic Surgery Under General Anesthesia: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

Objective: This study assessed the efficacy of palonosetron, alone or with dexamethasone, in reducing postoperative nausea and/or vomiting (PONV) and its impact on hospitalization duration in patients who undergo adult cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) under general anesthesia.

Design: This retrospective analysis involved 540 adult patients who underwent CTS from a single-center cohort, spanning surgeries between September 2021 and March 2023. Sensitivity, logistic, and Cox regression analyses evaluated antiemetic effects, PONV risk factors, and outcomes.

Pediatric advocacy: Advancement in academic institutions.

Children are facing many threats to their health today that require system change at a sweeping level to have real-world impact. Pediatricians are positioned as natural leaders to advocate for these critical community and policy changes. Academic medical center (AMC) leaders recognize the importance of this advocacy and clear steps can be taken to improve the structure to support pediatricians in their advocacy careers through faculty development and promotion, including standardized scholarly measurement of the outcomes.

Online remote behavioural intervention for tics in 9- to 17-year-olds: the ORBIT RCT with embedded process and economic evaluation.

Background: Behavioural therapy for tics is difficult to access, and little is known about its effectiveness when delivered online.

Objective: To investigate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an online-delivered, therapist- and parent-supported therapy for young people with tic disorders.

Design: Single-blind, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial, with 3-month (primary end point) and 6-month post-randomisation follow-up.

Cancer center-based follow-up among pediatric and adolescent/young adult cancer survivors: the role of a community-based organization and the social determinants of health.

Purpose: Adherence to survivorship care is suboptimal among pediatric and adolescent/young adult (AYA) cancer survivors. We evaluated predictors of cancer center-based follow-up among pediatric/AYA cancer survivors, with an emphasis on social determinants of health (SDOH).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used electronic health record data at an academic medical center to identify patients aged 0-29 years at last cancer treatment who completed treatment 2010-2019.

The endoplasmic reticulum-localized enzyme zDHHC6 mediates S-acylation of short transmembrane constructs from multiple type I and II membrane proteins.

In this study, we investigated the S-acylation of two host cell proteins important for viral infection: TMPRSS2 (transmembrane serine protease 2), which cleaves severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike to facilitate viral entry, and bone marrow stromal antigen 2, a general viral restriction factor. We found that both proteins were S-acylated by zDHHC6, an S-acyltransferase enzyme localized at the endoplasmic reticulum, in coexpression experiments. Mutagenic analysis revealed that zDHHC6 modifies a single cysteine in each protein, which are in proximity to the transmembrane domains (TMDs).

Accelerating guideline dissemination in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: A patient-centered randomized controlled trial.

Background: Nursing homes were ill-equipped for the pandemic; though facilities are required to have infection control staff, only 3% have taken a basic infection control course. Little is known about the implementation of effective practices outside of the acute care setting. We proposed an intervention utilizing Project ECHO, to connect Penn State University experts with nursing home staff and administrators to explore how infection control guidelines can be implemented effectively.

A Monitoring System for Carbon Dioxide in Honeybee Hives: An Indicator of Colony Health.

Non-dispersive infra-red (NDIR) detectors have become the dominant method for measuring atmospheric CO, which is thought to be an important gas for honeybee colony health. In this work we describe a microcontroller-based system used to collect data from Senserion SCD41 NDIR sensors placed in the crown boards and queen excluders of honeybee colonies. The same sensors also provide relative humidity and temperature data.

Long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of a therapist-supported online remote behavioural intervention for tics in children and adolescents: extended 12- and 18-month follow-up of a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

Background: Little is known about the long-term effectiveness of behavioural therapy for tics. We aimed to assess the long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of online therapist-supported exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy for tics 12 and 18 months after treatment initiation.

Methods: ORBIT (online remote behavioural intervention for tics) was a two-arm (1:1 ratio), superiority, single-blind, multicentre randomised controlled trial comparing online ERP for tics with online psychoeducation.

S-acylation of Sprouty and SPRED proteins by the S-acyltransferase zDHHC17 involves a novel mode of enzyme-substrate interaction.

S-acylation is an essential post-translational modification, which is mediated by a family of 23 zDHHC enzymes in humans. Several thousand proteins are modified by S-acylation; however, we lack a detailed understanding of how enzyme-substrate recognition and specificity is achieved. Previous work showed that the ankyrin repeat domain of zDHHC17 (ANK17) recognizes a short linear motif, known as the zDHHC ANK binding motif (zDABM) in substrate protein SNAP25, as a mechanism of substrate recruitment prior to S-acylation.

Making Advocacy Part of Your Job: Working for Children in Any Practice Setting.

Effective child health advocacy is an essential strategy to improve child health, and can improve access to equitable care. It can also be professionally rewarding and improve career satisfaction. However, while advocacy has been a part of pediatrics since its origins as a specialty, many barriers to engaging in health advocacy exist which can be challenging to navigate.