COVID-19 and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Examining the Impact of the First 2 Years of the Pandemic on the Demand for Pediatric Inpatient Care.

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained the resources of the world's healthcare systems. Most individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) experience significant mental health issues and face substantial barriers in accessing appropriate supports which have been exacerbated during the pandemic. It is unknown the extent to which COVID-19 impacted the demand for and effectiveness of inpatient care for those with NDDs.

Diffuse pulmonary meningotheliomatosis: a rare cause of multiple pulmonary nodules.

This case describes a woman in her 50s who presented with recurrent lower respiratory tract infections. She was an ex-smoker and had worked on a livestock farm for many years. Chest radiograph and CT of the chest revealed multiple bilateral pulmonary nodules.

Social support and childhood cancer survivors: A systematic review (2006-2022).

Objective: Research has indicated that social support may play a protective role in the face of stress and help children and adolescents cope with the demands and challenges they face on a daily basis during their cancer journey. However, social support tends to reduce over time as survivors overcome their illness despite its ongoing importance even years after treatment has finished. The current review aimed to systematically examine existing evidence on social support in child and adolescent cancer survivors.

A qualitative meta-synthesis examining spirituality as experienced by individuals living with terminal cancer.

This review aimed to examine and synthesise literature on spirituality as experienced by individuals living with terminal cancer. Six databases were systematically searched for studies with qualitative findings relevant to spirituality and terminal cancer. Thirty-seven studies were included and thematic synthesis was used to identify themes.

An investigation into the relationship between social support, stress, and psychological well-being in farmers.

This study investigated the stress-buffering effect of social support on psychological well-being and impact of demographic factors on stress in a sample of farmers. One-hundred and ninety-six farmers completed an online questionnaire including measures of social support, stress, psychological well-being, and demographics. Overall, after controlling for stress, increased social support was associated with higher psychological well-being.

Application of OCT-Derived Attenuation Coefficient in Acute Burn-Damaged Skin.

Background And Objectives: There remains a need to objectively monitor burn wound healing within a clinical setting, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) is proving itself one of the ideal modalities for just such a use. The aim of this study is to utilize the noninvasive and multipurpose capabilities of OCT, along with its cellular-level resolution, to demonstrate the application of optical attenuation coefficient (OAC), as derived from OCT data, to facilitate the automatic digital segmentation of the epidermis from scan images and to work as an objective indicator for burn wound healing assessment.

Study Design/materials And Methods: A simple, yet efficient, method was used to estimate OAC from OCT images taken over multiple time points following acute burn injury.

Imaging human skin autograft integration with optical coherence tomography.

Background: Skin autografting is a common clinical procedure for reconstructive surgery. Despite its widespread use, very few studies have been conducted to non-invasively evaluate and monitor the vascular and structural features of skin grafts. This study, therefore, aims to demonstrate the potential of optical coherence tomography (OCT) alongside OCT-based angiography (OCTA) to non-invasively image and monitor human skin graft health and integration over time.

Dexamethasone versus betamethasone for preterm birth: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the comparative clinical effectiveness and safety of dexamethasone vs betamethasone for preterm birth.

Data Sources: The sources searched were MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, LILACS, ClinicalTrials.gov, and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform without language restrictions until October 2019 in addition to the reference lists of included studies.

Modulation of brain serotonin by benzyl butyl phthalate in Fundulus heteroclitus (mummichog).

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals have been known to alter important animal behaviors by modulating serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) and dopamine. F. heteroclitus (mummichog) brain serotonin and dopamine levels were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) following a 28-day exposure regimen involving daily doses of either 0.

Regulation of endothelial cell arrangements within hMSC - HUVEC co-cultured aggregates.

Background: Micro-mass culturing or cellular aggregation is an effective method used to form mineralised bone tissue. Poor core cell viability, however, is often an impeding characteristic of large micro-mass cultures, and equally for large tissue-engineered bone grafts. Because of this, efforts are being made to enhance large graft perfusion, often through pre-vascularisation, which involves the co-culture of endothelial cells and bone cells or stem cells.

Optical coherence tomography correlates multiple measures of tissue damage following acute burn injury.

Background: The visual assessment of burned skin is inherently subjective, and whilst a number of imaging modalities have identified quantifiable parameters to characterize vascular and structural changes following burn damage, none have become common place in the assessment protocol. Here, we use optical coherence tomography (OCT)-based angiography (OCTA) to introduce novel correlations between vessel depth, i.e.

Microvascular imaging of the skin.

Despite our understanding that the microvasculature plays a multifaceted role in the development and progression of various conditions, we know little about the extent of this involvement. A need exists for non-invasive, clinically meaningful imaging modalities capable of elucidating microvascular information to aid in our understanding of disease, and to aid in the diagnosis/monitoring of disease for more patient-specific care. In this review article, a number of imaging techniques are summarized that have been utilized to investigate the microvasculature of skin, along with their advantages, disadvantages and future perspectives in preclinical and clinical settings.

Comparing hydroxyapatite with osteogenic medium for the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on PHBV nanofibrous scaffolds.

Having advantageous biocompatibility and osteoconductive properties known to enhance the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), hydroxyapatite (HA) is a commonly used material for bone tissue engineering. What remains unclear, however, is whether HA holds a similar potential for stimulating the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs to that of a more frequently used osteogenic-inducing medium (OIM). To that end, we used PHBV electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds to directly compare the osteogenic capacities of HA with OIM over MSCs.

Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneities of Capillary Hemodynamics and Its Functional Coupling During Neural Activation.

The cerebral vascular system provides a means to meet the constant metabolic needs of neuronal activities in the brain. Within the cerebral capillary bed, the interactions of spatial and temporal hemodynamics play a deterministic role in oxygen diffusion, however, the progression of which remains unclear. Taking the advantages of high-spatiotemporal resolution of optical coherence tomography capillary velocimetry designed with the eigen-decomposition statistical analysis, we investigated intrinsic red blood cell (RBC) velocities and their spatiotemporal adjustment within the capillaries permeating mouse cerebral cortex during electrical stimulation of contralateral hind paw.

Comparing imaging capabilities of spectral domain and swept source optical coherence tomography angiography in healthy subjects and central serous retinopathy.

Background: There are two forms of system implementation of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in ophthalmic imaging, i.e., spectral domain (SD-) and swept source OCTA (SS-OCTA).

OCT-based angiography of human dermal microvascular reactions to local stimuli: Implications for increasing capillary blood collection volumes.

Objectives: To measure and compare microvascular responses within the skin of the upper arm to local stimuli, such as heating or rubbing, through the use of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), and to investigate its impact on blood volume collection.

Materials And Methods: With the use of heat packs or rubbing, local stimulation was applied to the skin of either the left or right upper arm. Data from the stimulated sites were obtained using OCTA comparing pre- and post-stimulation microvascular parameters, such as vessel density, mean vessel diameter, and mean avascular pore size.

The effects of biomimetically conjugated VEGF on osteogenesis and angiogenesis of MSCs (human and rat) and HUVECs co-culture models.

The purpose of this work was to investigate if the biomimetically conjugated VEGF and HUVECs co-culture could modulate the osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation of MSCs derived from rat and human bone marrow (rMSCs and hMSCs). After treated by ammonia plasma, Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) electrospun nanofibers were immobilized with VEGF through heparin to fulfil the sustained release. The proliferation capacity of rMSCs and hMSCs on neat PLGA nanofibers (NF) and VEGF immobilized NF (NF-VEGF) surfaces were assessed by CCK-8 and compared when MSCs were mono-cultured and co-cultured with HUVECs.

Optical coherence tomography angiography monitors human cutaneous wound healing over time.

Background: imaging of the complex cascade of events known to be pivotal elements in the healing of cutaneous wounds is a difficult but essential task. Current techniques are highly invasive, or lack the level of vascular and structural detail required for accurate evaluation, monitoring and treatment. We aimed to use an advanced optical coherence tomography (OCT)-based angiography (OCTA) technique for the non-invasive, high resolution imaging of cutaneous wound healing.

On Becoming Trauma-Informed: Role of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey in Tertiary Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the Association with Standard Measures of Impairment and Severity.

Context: There is a movement toward trauma-informed, trauma-focused psychiatric treatment.

Objective: To examine Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) survey items by sex and by total scores by sex vs clinical measures of impairment to examine the clinical utility of the ACE survey as an index of trauma in a child and adolescent mental health care setting.

Design: Descriptive, polychoric factor analysis and regression analyses were employed to analyze cross-sectional ACE surveys (N = 2833) and registration-linked data using past admissions (N = 10,400) collected from November 2016 to March 2017 related to clinical data (28 independent variables), taking into account multicollinearity.

Optical coherence tomography angiography of normal skin and inflammatory dermatologic conditions.

Background: In clinical dermatology, the identification of subsurface vascular and structural features known to be associated with numerous cutaneous pathologies remains challenging without the use of invasive diagnostic tools.

Objective: To present an advanced optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) method to directly visualize capillary-level vascular and structural features within skin in vivo.

Methods: An advanced OCTA system with a 1310 nm wavelength was used to image the microvascular and structural features of various skin conditions.

ERRATUM TO: On Becoming Trauma-Informed: Role of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey in Tertiary Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the Association with Standard Measures of Impairment and Severity.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7812/TPP/17-054.].

Current State-of-the-Art 3D Tissue Models and Their Compatibility with Live Cell Imaging.

Mammalian cells grow within a complex three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment where multiple cells are organized and surrounded by extracellular matrix (ECM). The quantity and types of ECM components, alongside cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix interactions dictate cellular differentiation, proliferation and function in vivo. To mimic natural cellular activities, various 3D tissue culture models have been established to replace conventional two dimensional (2D) culture environments.

Automatic motion correction for in vivo human skin optical coherence tomography angiography through combined rigid and nonrigid registration.

When using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), the development of artifacts due to involuntary movements can severely compromise the visualization and subsequent quantitation of tissue microvasculatures. To correct such an occurrence, we propose a motion compensation method to eliminate artifacts from human skin OCTA by means of step-by-step rigid affine registration, rigid subpixel registration, and nonrigid B-spline registration. To accommodate this remedial process, OCTA is conducted using two matching all-depth volume scans.