Metals from spacecraft reentry in stratospheric aerosol particles.

Large increases in the number of low earth orbit satellites are projected in the coming decades [L. Schulz, K.-H.

Ameliorating high-fat diet-induced sperm and testicular oxidative damage by micronutrient-based antioxidant intervention in rats.

Purpose: Emerging evidence from rodent studies suggests that high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity is characterized by increased oxidative damage in sperm and testis. However, interventions using micronutrient supplementation to mitigate oxidative damage in obesity have not been extensively studied. This study aimed to investigate the effect of an antioxidant-based micronutrient supplement (added folate, vitamin B, choline, betaine, and zinc) on sperm and testicular oxidative damage in HFD-fed male Sprague Dawley rats.

Effects of paternal overnutrition and interventions on future generations.

In the last two decades, evidence from human and animal studies suggests that paternal obesity around the time of conception can have adverse effects on offspring health through developmental programming. This may make significant contributions to the current epidemic of obesity and related metabolic and reproductive complications like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and subfertility/infertility. To date, changes in seminal fluid composition, sperm DNA methylation, histone composition, small non-coding RNAs, and sperm DNA damage have been proposed as potential underpinning mechanism to program offspring health.

Effects of Micronutrient Supplementation on Glucose and Hepatic Lipid Metabolism in a Rat Model of Diet Induced Obesity.

Obesity increases the risk of metabolic disorders, partly through increased oxidative stress. Here, we examined the effects of a dietary micronutrient supplement (consisting of folate, vitamin B6, choline, betaine, and zinc) with antioxidant and methyl donor activities. Male Sprague Dawley rats (3 weeks old, 17/group) were weaned onto control (C) or high-fat diet (HFD) or same diets with added micronutrient supplement (CS; HS).

Toward practical stratospheric aerosol albedo modification: Solar-powered lofting.

Many climate intervention (CI) methods have been proposed to offset greenhouse gas-induced global warming, but the practicalities regarding implementation have not received sufficient attention. Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) involves introducing large amounts of CI material well within the stratosphere to enhance the aerosol loading, thereby increasing reflection of solar radiation. We explore a delivery method termed solar-powered lofting (SPL) that uses solar energy to loft CI material injected at lower altitudes accessible by conventional aircraft.

Contextual Factors Influencing Implementation of Evidence-Based Care for Children Hospitalized With Asthma.

Background And Objectives: The translation of research findings into routine care remains slow and challenging. We previously reported successful implementation of an asthma evidence-based care process model (EB-CPM) at 8 (1 tertiary care and 7 community) hospitals, leading to a high health care provider (HCP) adherence with the EB-CPM and improved outcomes. In this study, we explore contextual factors perceived by HCPs to facilitate successful EB-CPM implementation.

Ambulatory Management of Childhood Asthma Using a Novel Self-management Application.

Background And Objectives: Pediatric ambulatory asthma control is suboptimal, reducing quality of life (QoL) and causing emergency department (ED) and hospital admissions. We assessed the impact of the electronic-AsthmaTracker (e-AT), a self-monitoring application for children with asthma.

Methods: Prospective cohort study with matched controls.

Efficient In-Cloud Removal of Aerosols by Deep Convection.

Convective systems dominate the vertical transport of aerosols and trace gases. The most recent in situ aerosol measurements presented here show that the concentrations of primary aerosols including sea salt and black carbon drop by factors of 10 to 10,000 from the surface to the upper troposphere. In this study we show that the default convective transport scheme in the National Science Foundation/Department of Energy Community Earth System Model results in a high bias of 10-1,000 times the measured aerosol mass for black carbon and sea salt in the middle and upper troposphere.

Does exercise improve sleep quality in individuals with mental illness? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

People living with mental illness often experience poor sleep quality compared to the general population. Poor sleep quality exacerbates symptoms of mental illness and contributes to increased physical comorbidities. Exercise has been shown to be an effective non-pharmacological treatment for managing poor sleep in the general population.

Reducing hospital admissions of healthy children with functional constipation: a quality initiative.

Functional constipation (FC) is a common medical problem in children, with minimal risk of long-term complications. We determined that a large number of children were being admitted to our children's hospital for FC in which there was no neurological or anatomical cause. Our hospital experienced a patient complication in which a patient died after inpatient treatment of FC.

Neighborhood Deprivation and Childhood Asthma Outcomes, Accounting for Insurance Coverage.

Objectives: Collecting social determinants data is challenging. We assigned patients a neighborhood-level social determinant measure, the area of deprivation index (ADI), by using census data. We then assessed the association between neighborhood deprivation and asthma hospitalization outcomes and tested the influence of insurance coverage.

Cross-talk among metabolic parameters, esophageal microbiota, and host gene expression following chronic exposure to an obesogenic diet.

Unhealthy diets, and ensuing weight gain, predispose individuals to the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma. We examined the effect of chronic high fat diet (HFD) on the esophageal microbiota of Sprague Dawley rats using Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing (V4, 515 F/806 R) and on esophageal expression of IL18, PTGS2, PPARA, FFAR3, and CRAT. The relationships among metabolic parameters, esophageal microbiota, and host gene expression were determined.

Families as Partners in Hospital Error and Adverse Event Surveillance.

Importance: Medical errors and adverse events (AEs) are common among hospitalized children. While clinician reports are the foundation of operational hospital safety surveillance and a key component of multifaceted research surveillance, patient and family reports are not routinely gathered. We hypothesized that a novel family-reporting mechanism would improve incident detection.

Effects of paternal obesity on growth and adiposity of male rat offspring.

Emerging evidence suggests that paternal obesity plays an important role in offspring health. Our previous work using a rodent model of diet-induced paternal obesity showed that female offspring from high-fat diet (HFD)-fed fathers develop glucose intolerance due to impairment of pancreatic insulin secretion. Here, we focused on the health outcomes of male offspring from HFD-fed fathers.

Infant Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study Testing, Swallowing Interventions, and Future Acute Respiratory Illness.

Objectives: Tube feedings are commonly prescribed to infants with swallowing abnormalities detected by videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS), but there are no studies demonstrating efficacy of these interventions to reduce risk of acute respiratory illness (ARI). We sought to measure the association between swallowing interventions and future ARI, among VFSS-tested infants.

Methods: Retrospective cohort of all infants (<12 months) tested with VFSS at a children's hospital between January 1, 2010, and January 1, 2012.

Value Narratives: A Novel Method for Understanding High-Cost Pediatric Hospital Patients.

Objectives: To delineate the drivers of cost associated with the most-costly inpatients in a tertiary pediatric hospital.

Methods: We identified the 10% most-costly inpatients treated at a large regional children's hospital in 2010. From this group we randomly selected, within representative specialties, 2 groups of 50 inpatients for detailed chart review.

Paternal High Fat Diet in Rats Leads to Renal Accumulation of Lipid and Tubular Changes in Adult Offspring.

Along with diabetes and obesity, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing across the globe. Although some data support an effect of maternal obesity on offspring kidney, the impact of paternal obesity is unknown; thus, we have studied the effect of paternal obesity prior to conception. Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed chow diet or high fat diet (HFD) for 13-14 weeks before mating with chow-fed females.

Obesity-induced sperm DNA methylation changes at satellite repeats are reprogrammed in rat offspring.

There is now strong evidence that the paternal contribution to offspring phenotype at fertilisation is more than just DNA. However, the identity and mechanisms of this nongenetic inheritance are poorly understood. One of the more important questions in this research area is: do changes in sperm DNA methylation have phenotypic consequences for offspring? We have previously reported that offspring of obese male rats have altered glucose metabolism compared with controls and that this effect was inherited through nongenetic means.

Improving Pediatric Asthma Care and Outcomes Across Multiple Hospitals.

Background And Objectives: Gaps exist in inpatient asthma care. Our aims were to assess the impact of an evidence-based care process model (EB-CPM) 5 years after implementation at Primary Children's Hospital (PCH), a tertiary care facility, and after its dissemination to 7 community hospitals.

Methods: Participants included asthmatics 2 to 17 years admitted at 8 hospitals between 2003 and 2013.

Predicting asthma control deterioration in children.

Background: Pediatric asthma affects 7.1 million American children incurring an annual total direct healthcare cost around 9.3 billion dollars.

The Role of Salivary Neuropeptides in Pediatrics: Potential Biomarkers for Integrated Therapies.

Introduction: Objective measures of symptom response to integrated complementary approaches in pediatrics are evolving. The purpose of this study was to document the concentration range of salivary neuropeptides in healthy controls and in children with cancer, to explore correlations between serum and salivary measurements for Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) and Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP), and to determine whether there is a change in these salivary neuropeptide levels in response to integrated mind-body therapies.

Methods: A non-randomized pragmatic study with three phases: Phase 1- Healthy Control Saliva-10 healthy controls provided saliva samples; Phase 2- Cancer Diagnosis Serum-Saliva- 16 mixed-type cancer patients provided blood and saliva samples; Phase 3- Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) Saliva Intervention- 12 patients with ALL provided pre- and post-complementary intervention saliva samples.

Physicians and Physician Trainees Rarely Identify or Address Overweight/Obesity in Hospitalized Children.

Objectives: To determine how frequently physicians identify and address overweight/obesity in hospitalized children and to compare physician documentation across training level (medical student, intern, resident, attending).

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective chart review. Using an administrative database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention body mass index calculator, and random sampling technique, we identified a study population of 300 children aged 2-18 years with overweight/obesity hospitalized on the general medical service of a tertiary care pediatric hospital.