Design of a randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluating efficacy and safety of a cancer preventative vaccine in dogs.

Preventative anti-cancer vaccination strategies have long been hampered by the challenge of targeting the diverse array of potential tumor antigens, with successes to date limited to cancers with viral etiologies. Identification and vaccination against frameshift neoantigens conserved across multiple species and tumor histologies is a potential cancer preventative strategy currently being investigated. Companion dogs spontaneously develop cancers at a similar incidence to those in people and are a complementary comparative patient population for the development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics.

Case Report: Not Your Typical Kidney Stone.

Unlabelled: The patient is a 66-year-old male, with a history of kidney stones, who presents to the emergency department complaining of dull, right-sided flank pain radiating to the right testicle that began one hour prior to arrival. The patient had a computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and pelvis without contrast, which demonstrated a right renal calculus with forniceal rupture. This case represents a rare complication of a typical Emergency Department complaint; therefore, clinicians should be aware of its clinical relevance.

Point-of-care ultrasound assessment of the abdominal aorta by physician assistant students: a pilot study.

Objective: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) decreases time to diagnosis and improves mortality of those diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysms and dissections. While medical students have demonstrated an ability to obtain adequate POCUS images of the abdominal aorta (AA), physician assistant (PA) student studies are lacking. This pilot study aims to evaluate the ability of PA students to acquire AA POCUS images.

Henoch-Schönlein Purpura in the Adult, a Case Report.

Unlabelled: This case report describes a dermatologic finding that is not typical in the adult population, but may be medically significant. A 39-year-old female patient with a past medical history that was negative for autoimmune disorders, vasculitides, or chronic infectious disease presented to our emergency department for evaluation of a painful rash on the bilateral lower extremities. She complained of two days of worsening raised, erythematous, pruritic and painful patches around both ankles, some of which had opened to become weeping sores.

Bilateral Common Iliac Artery Aneurysm, a Case Report.

Unlabelled: Patient is a 72-year-old male who presented with abdominal pain and hypertension. Through bedside point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), patient was found to have markedly enlarged bilateral iliac artery aneurysms with signs of impending rupture, which was confirmed on computed tomography (CT) angiogram of the abdomen/pelvis. Patient was immediately taken to the operating room for emergent repair of aneurysm, and was discharged from the hospital the next day.

How should we treat patients who wake up with a stroke? A review of recent advances in management of acute ischemic stroke.

Acute ischemic strokes account for 85% of all strokes and are the fifth leading cause of mortality in the United States. About one in five of all ischemic strokes occur during sleep and are not noticed until the patient wakes up with neurological deficits. There is growing evidence to support that a significantly higher number of stroke patients could benefit from more aggressive care, especially those patients who wake up with strokes.

Hydroceles-Not Just For Men.

Background: Hydroceles develop in females through the canal of Nuck. This canal is formed when the processes vaginalis fails to obliterate during development. The canal of Nuck can lead to the formation of not only hydroceles, but hernias as well.

Microparticle-based lung delivery of INH decreases INH metabolism and targets alveolar macrophages.

Microparticles prepared by the precipitation with a compressed antisolvent (PCA) process were evaluated for their potential in targeting an ionizable prodrug of isoniazid (INH), isoniazid methanesulfonate (INHMS), for sustained delivery of INH to alveolar macrophages (AMs). The charged prodrug was ion-paired with two different hydrophobic cations (tetrapentylammonium (TPA)- and tetraheptylammonium (THA)-bromide), and loaded separately into the poly(l-lactide) (PLA) microparticles. The drug/polymer particles were spherical in shape and between 1 and 3 mum in diameter.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of the effects of PLA microparticle crystallinity on cellular response.

Previous research suggests that crystallinity of poly(L-lactide) P(L)LA microparticles can influence surface free energy, which in turn might influence biocompatibility. This work studies the cellular response to P(L)LA microparticles of different crystallinity both in vitro and in vivo. Following incubation with P(L)LA microparticles, the in vitro production of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) was measured as a marker of cellular response.