Enteral nutritional strategy during therapeutic hypothermia: who? when? what?

Background: There are no guidelines regarding enteral feeding (EF) of infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) during and shortly after therapeutic hypothermia; consequently, clinical practice is, to date, still variable. The objective of this study is to assess whether a minimal EF strategy during therapeutic hypothermia may be associated with a shorter time to full EF of infants with HIE and to identify the clinical variables that independently affect the time to full EF.

Methods: A retrospective study, covering the period from 1 January 2015 to 30 June 2022 was performed at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "Agostino Gemelli" IRCCS, Rome, which compared infants with HIE who received minimal EF during therapeutic hypothermia with those who did not.

pCO2 values in asphyxiated infants under therapeutic hypothermia after tailored respiratory management: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) represents one of the major causes of neonatal death and long-term neurological disability. Both hypoxic-ischemic insults and therapeutic hypothermia (TH) can affect respiratory function. Currently, there is no evidence regarding optimal respiratory management in these infants.

Hearing Loss and Risk Factors in Very Low Birth Weight Infants.

The incidence of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is still high in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. The purpose of our study was to provide the prevalence rates of SNHL and to analyze the risk factors of hearing impairment and changes in hearing thresholds in a cohort of VLBW infants. A retrospective observational study was conducted in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) from 2012 to 2016.

New high intensity fibreoptic phototherapy devices in healthy newborns: a single pad wrapped around the neonate body in comparison with a double pad device.

Background: Fibreoptic Phototherapy (FPT) allows to lower total serum bilirubin (TSB) levels in healthy neonates maintained in rooming-in with their mothers. The 2004 Cochrane review showed that, differently from preterm neonates, FPT was not as effective as traditional phototherapy in term neonates (TN), unless the simultaneous utilization of two FPT devices. Aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of two FPT devices, both equipped with a single light-emitting diode (LED): the first one has a single large pad wrapped around the infant body (Bilisoft, GE Health Care) (device A), the second one is a double-pad phototherapy device (BiliCocoon, CremascolieIris) (device B).

A modified physiologic test for bronchopulmonary dysplasia: a clinical tool for weaning from CPAP and/or oxygen-therapy the premature babies?

Background: A physiologic test for estimating BPD rate has been developed by Walsh and collaborators. Actually there are not standard criteria for weaning from CPAP and/or oxygen therapy the premature babies. Aim of this study was to verify if a physiologic test, modified respect to that developed by Walsh and collaborators for estimating BPD rate, can be used as a clinical tool for weaning the premature babies from CPAP and/or oxygen therapy.

Extubation from high-frequency oscillatory ventilation in extremely low birth weight infants: a prospective observational study.

Objective: To evaluate if weaning from high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) directly to a non-invasive mode of respiratory support is feasible and results in successful extubation in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Tertiary neonatal intensive care unit.

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in very low birth weight newborns needing parenteral nutrition: validation and glycemic percentiles.

Background: Continuous glucose monitoring using subcutaneous sensors is useful in the management of glucose control in neonatal intensive care. We evaluated feasibility and reliability of a continuous glucose monitoring system in a population of very low birth weight neonates needing parenteral nutrition. Moreover, we presented percentiles of glycemia of the studied population.

Semipermeable membranes and hypernatremic dehydration in preterms. A randomized-controlled trial.

Background: Hypernatremic dehydration is a complication of preterm infants with reportedly high morbility. In preterm infants, this happens due to a combination of low fluid intake, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and immaturity of kidney function. Semipermeable membranes are self-adhesive membranes that can be applied as an artificial skin to reduce TEWL.

The Long-Term Efficacy of a Galactagogue Containing Sylimarin-Phosphatidylserine and Galega on Milk Production of Mothers of Preterm Infants.

Aims: To investigate the efficacy of a galactagogue, containing Sylimarin-phosphatidylserine (SILITIDIL) and galega consumed in the first month after delivery by mothers of preterm infants, in maintaining milk production during the first 3-6 months after delivery.

Materials And Methods: Mothers of infants born at gestational age (GA) between 27 and 32 weeks, enrolled in our previous prospective, double-blind, randomized trial and randomly allocated to receive either the galactagogue (GG) or a placebo (PG), were asked about their milk production at 3 and 6 months after delivery.

Results: Of the 100 mothers involved in this study, 45 of GG and 44 of PG responded comprehensively to the questions asked.

Indole diterpenoid natural products as the inspiration for new synthetic methods and strategies.

Indole terpenoids comprise a large class of natural products with diverse structural topologies and a broad range of biological activities. Accordingly, indole terpenoids have and continue to serve as attractive targets for chemical synthesis. Many synthetic efforts over the past few years have focused on a subclass of this family, the indole diterpenoids.

Total synthesis of (-)-tubingensin B enabled by the strategic use of an aryne cyclization.

Tubingensin B is an indole diterpenoid that bears a daunting chemical structure featuring a disubstituted carbazole unit, five stereogenic centres-three of which are quaternary-and a decorated [3.2.2]-bridged bicycle.

P450-Mediated Coupling of Indole Fragments To Forge Communesin and Unnatural Isomers.

Dimeric indole alkaloids are structurally diverse natural products that have attracted significant attention from the synthetic and biosynthetic communities. Here, we describe the characterization of a P450 monooxygenase CnsC from Penicillium that catalyzes the heterodimeric coupling between two different indole moieties, tryptamine and aurantioclavine, to construct vicinal quaternary stereocenters and yield the heptacyclic communesin scaffold. We show, via biochemical characterization, substrate analogues, and computational methods that CnsC catalyzes the C3-C3' carbon-carbon bond formation and controls the regioselectivities of the pair of subsequent aminal bond formations to yield the communesin core.

New ATP-binding cassette A3 mutation causing surfactant metabolism dysfunction pulmonary type 3.

Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) may occur in term and near-term infants because of mutations in surfactant-related genes. ATP-binding cassette A3 (ABCA3), a phospholipid carrier specifically expressed in the alveolar epithelium, is the most frequently involved protein. We report the case of a couple of late-preterm fraternal twin infants of opposite sex carrying the same compound heterozygous ABCA3 mutations, one of which has never been previously reported, with different disease severity, suggesting variable penetrance or sex-related differences.

Synthetic chemistry fuels interdisciplinary approaches to the production of artemisinin.

In the developing world, multi-drug resistant malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum is an epidemic that claims the lives of 1-3 million people per year. Artemisinin, a naturally occurring small molecule that has seen little resistance from malarial parasites, is a valuable weapon in the fight against this disease. Several easily accessible artemisinin derivatives, including artesunate and artemether, display potent antimalarial activity against drug-resistant malaria strains; however, the global supply of artemisinin from natural sources alone remains highly inconsistent and unreliable.

Feasibility of transferring intensive cared preterm infants from incubator to open crib at 1600 grams.

Background: Ability to maintain a normal body temperature in an open crib is an important physiologic competency generally requested to discharge preterm infants from the hospital. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of an early weaning protocol from incubator in preterm newborns in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Methods: 101 infants with birth weight < 1600 g were included in this feasibility study.

Concise enantiospecific total synthesis of tubingensin A.

We report the enantiospecific total synthesis of (+)-tubingensin A. Our synthesis features an aryne cyclization to efficiently introduce the vicinal quaternary stereocenters of the natural product and proceeds in only nine steps (longest linear sequence) from known compounds.

Intervening with practitioners to improve the quality of prevention: one-year findings from a randomized trial of assets-getting to outcomes.

There continues to be a gap in prevention outcomes achieved in research trials versus those achieved in "real-world" practice. This article reports interim findings from a randomized controlled trial evaluating Assets-Getting To Outcomes (AGTO), a two-year intervention designed to build prevention practitioners' capacity to implement positive youth development-oriented practices in 12 community coalitions in Maine. A survey of coalition members was used to assess change on individual practitioners' prevention capacity between baseline and one year later.

Neonatal neurological examination of late preterm babies.

Backgrounds: Healthy late-preterm (LP) infants examined at term equivalent age showed wider median and range of neurological scores than full-term infants; differences between infants born at 34 and those born at 35-36 weeks were also observed.

Aims: The aim of this study is to establish the range and frequency distribution of neonatal neurological scores in a cohort of low risk LP infants assessed during the first 3 days from birth.

Study Design And Subjects: 118 low-risk infants born between 34 and 36 weeks of gestational age (GA) were assessed between 48 and 72 h from birth.

Establishing and evaluating the key functions of an interactive systems framework using an assets-getting to outcomes intervention.

Community practitioners can face difficulty in achieving outcomes demonstrated by prevention science. Building a community practitioner's prevention capacity-the knowledge and skills needed to conduct critical prevention practices-could improve the quality of prevention and its outcomes. The purpose of this article is to: (1) describe how an intervention called Assets-Getting To Outcomes (AGTO) was used to establish the key functions of the ISF and present early lessons learned from that intervention's first 6 months and (2) examine whether there is an empirical relationship between practitioner capacity at the individual level and the performance of prevention at the program level-a relationship predicted by the ISF but untested.

Development of Practical Methodologies for the Synthesis of Functionalized Benzoboroxoles.

2-Formylphenylboronic acids upon reaction with activated olefins such as acrylates, methyl vinyl ketone, and acrylonitrile, etc. provide functionalized benzoboroxoles. The corresponding homologated benzoboroxoles were synthesized via the reaction of 2-formylphenylboronic acids with α-bromomethylacrylates.

Early weaning from incubator and early discharge of preterm infants: randomized clinical trial.

Objective: The goal was to assess the feasibility of earlier weaning from the incubator for preterm infants.

Methods: This was a prospective, randomized study with preterm infants with birth weights of <1600 g who were admitted to a neonatal subintensive ward. Findings for 47 infants who were transferred from an incubator to an open crib at >1600 g (early transition group) were compared with those for 47 infants who were transferred from an incubator to an open crib at >1800 g (standard transition [ST] group).

Peculiar type 1 congenital pyloric atresia: a case report.

Pyloric atresia (PA) is a very rare condition. Its incidence is approximately 1 in 100,000 newborns and constitutes about 1% of all intestinal atresias. We describe the neonatal course of a peculiar case of type 1 pyloric atresia, in which the pyloric membrane was connected to a second duodenal membrane through a virtual duodenal lumen in a premature newborn.