Perspective on Systematic Medical Literature Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Purpose: This study sought to identify factors contributing to the inadequacies of systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMAs) published in the ophthalmology literature.

Design: Perspective.

Methods: Review and synthesis of selective literature, with interpretation and perspective.

The predictive power of intelligence: Miranda abilities of individuals with intellectual disability.

Objective: The (1966) decision was intended to protect individuals' rights in custodial situations. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate abilities of individuals with intellectual disability and evaluate the utility of intelligence in predicting these abilities. Additionally, we aimed to provide an updated resource for forensic examiners regarding the performance of individuals with intellectual disability on the Standardized Assessment of Abilities (SAMA).

Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation in paediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome: overrated or underutilized?

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a modified form of cardiopulmonary bypass which may provide support for severe cardiorespiratory failure including paediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS). While ECMO was initially demonstrated to successfully support neonates with severe respiratory failure, the use of ECMO has expanded rapidly to support both paediatric and adult respiratory failure. Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) registry data shows that the use of ECMO for paediatric respiratory failure has expanded rapidly over the past decades with increasing use of venovenous ECMO.

Genetic variation in dopamine neurotransmission and motor development of infants born extremely-low-birthweight.

Aim: To determine if genetic variation associated with decreased dopamine neurotransmission predicts a decrease in motor development in a convenience cohort study of infants born extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW).

Method: Four hundred and ninety-eight infants born ELBW had genome-wide genotyping and a neurodevelopmental evaluation at 18 to 22 months of age, corrected for preterm birth. A polygenic risk score (PRS) was created to combine into one predictor variable the hypothesized influences on motor development of alleles at seven independent single nucleotide polymorphisms previously associated with relative decreases in both dopamine neurotransmission and motor learning, by summing the number of alleles present in each infant (range=0-14).

Student Perspectives Regarding Specialty Pharmacy Within Doctor of Pharmacy Curricula.

Background: The rapid growth of the specialty pharmacy industry will require many pharmacists with experience and/or training in specialty pharmacy practice (SPP). Unfortunately, there is no standard requirement set forth by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) for specialty pharmacy education among pharmacy schools, which has resulted in graduates with doctor of pharmacy degrees (PharmD) having little to no didactic or experiential training in SPP.

Objectives: To (a) assess PharmD student perspectives on coverage of specialty pharmacy in their respective curricula and (b) identify whether attitudes and perspectives towards SPP vary based on student work experience.

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping.

The Translational Brain Mapping Program at the University of Rochester is an interdisciplinary effort that integrates cognitive science, neurophysiology, neuroanesthesia, and neurosurgery. Patients who have tumors or epileptogenic tissue in eloquent brain areas are studied preoperatively with functional and structural MRI, and intraoperatively with direct electrical stimulation mapping. Post-operative neural and cognitive outcome measures fuel basic science studies about the factors that mediate good versus poor outcome after surgery, and how brain mapping can be further optimized to ensure the best outcome for future patients.

EVALUATION OF SURGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING VITREOUS HEMORRHAGE FOLLOWING PORT DELIVERY SYSTEM WITH RANIBIZUMAB IMPLANT INSERTION IN A MINIPIG MODEL.

Purpose: To develop an animal model of vitreous hemorrhage (VH) to explore the impact of surgical parameters on VH associated with insertion of the Port Delivery System with ranibizumab (PDS) implant.

Methods: Ninety eyes from 45 treatment-naive male Yucatan minipigs received PDS implant insertion or a sham procedure. The effect of prophylactic pars plana hemostasis, scleral incision length, scleral cauterization, surgical blade type/size, and viscoelastic usage on postsurgical VH was investigated.

The association between maternal interaction and infant cortisol stress reactivity among preterm and full term infants at 4 months adjusted age.

The purpose of this study was to assess the association between maternal interactive behavior and infant cortisol stress reactivity in response to the Still Face paradigm (SF) in a cohort of four-month old infants (adjusted age) born preterm (<32 weeks gestation, N = 22) compared with infants born full term (>37 weeks gestation, N = 28). Infant cortisol reactivity was calculated as area under the curve (AUC) from baseline to the third cortisol sample (30 min post-SF) using the trapezoidal rule, while the percent of time mothers spent using a contingent interaction style was measured (0-100%) during episodes 1 (Play; baseline), 3 (Reunion#1), and 5 (Reunion#2) while mother-infant dyads participated in the SF paradigm. We hypothesized that because infants born preterm are at increased risk for dysregulation, they would show, compared to full-term infants, a blunted stress response, involving under-responsiveness.

Study protocol: NITric oxide during cardiopulmonary bypass to improve Recovery in Infants with Congenital heart defects (NITRIC trial): a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of infant mortality. Many infants with CHD require corrective surgery with most operations requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). CPB triggers a systemic inflammatory response which is associated with low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS), postoperative morbidity and mortality.

Agreement Between Arterial Carbon Dioxide Levels With End-Tidal Carbon Dioxide Levels and Associated Factors in Children Hospitalized With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Importance: Alterations in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide, arterial (Paco2) can affect cerebral perfusion after traumatic brain injury. End-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) monitoring is a noninvasive tool used to estimate Paco2 values.

Objective: To examine the agreement between Paco2 and EtCO2 and associated factors in children with traumatic brain injury.

Local FK506 delivery at the direct nerve repair site improves nerve regeneration.

Introduction: The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of local tacrolimus (FK506) delivery to improve outcomes in the setting of nerve transection injury.

Methods: FK506 embedded poly(lactide-co-caprolactone) films capable of extended, localized release of FK506 were developed. FK506 rate of release testing and bioactivity assay was performed.

Labeling Proteins at Site-Specifically Incorporated 5-Hydroxytryptophan Residues Using a Chemoselective Rapid Azo-Coupling Reaction.

Chemoselective protein labeling is a valuable tool in the arsenal of modern chemical biology. The unnatural amino acid mutagenesis technology provides a powerful way to site-specifically introduce nonnatural chemical functionalities into recombinant proteins, which can be subsequently functionalized in a chemoselective manner. Even though several strategies currently exist to selectively label recombinant proteins in this manner, there is considerable interest for the development of additional chemoselective reactions that are fast, catalyst-free, use readily available reagents, and are compatible with existing conjugation chemistries.

Malaria surveillance from both ends: concurrent detection of Plasmodium falciparum in saliva and excreta harvested from Anopheles mosquitoes.

Background: Malaria is the most important vector-borne disease in the world. Epidemiological and ecological studies of malaria traditionally utilize detection of Plasmodium sporozoites in whole mosquitoes or salivary glands by microscopy or serological or molecular assays. However, these methods are labor-intensive, and can over- or underestimate mosquito transmission potential.

Rituximab or Cyclosporine in the Treatment of Membranous Nephropathy.

Background: B-cell anomalies play a role in the pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy. B-cell depletion with rituximab may therefore be noninferior to treatment with cyclosporine for inducing and maintaining a complete or partial remission of proteinuria in patients with this condition.

Methods: We randomly assigned patients who had membranous nephropathy, proteinuria of at least 5 g per 24 hours, and a quantified creatinine clearance of at least 40 ml per minute per 1.

Environmental and individual predictors of medication adherence among elderly patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease: A geospatial approach.

Background: Few studies have examined how adherence to antihypertensive medications varies across different regions or how neighborhood-level factors were related to individuals' medication-taking behaviors in patients.

Objective: To explore local variation in medication adherence and examine environmental and individual influences on adherence to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) among elderly hypertensive patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the United States.

Methods: The Medicare 5% sample claim data (2006-2013), American Community Survey 5-Year Data (2005-2009) and the Health Resources and Services Administration Primary Care Service Area data (2007).

Association between Anticholinergic Medication Use and Risk of Dementia among Patients with Parkinson's Disease.

Study Objectives: To evaluate the association between anticholinergic medication use, categorized by anticholinergic cognitive burden (primary objective) and cumulative dose (secondary objective), and the risk of developing dementia among patients with Parkinson's disease.

Design: Retrospective cohort study with an active comparator design.

Data Source: National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan (2001-2011).

Design and students' perceptions of a virtually facilitated outpatient pharmacy practice laboratory course.

Background And Purpose: Web conferencing, interactive video conferencing, and classroom and lecture capture are widely used in pharmacy education. This study aimed to determine student pharmacists' receptiveness to a virtually facilitated outpatient pharmacy practice laboratory course.

Educational Activity And Setting: A new course design was implemented for a first-year (P1) laboratory course utilizing Zoom, an internet-based "cloud" video and chat conference room, for communication across two campuses.

Bluegill Picornavirus isolated from a mortality event involving Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in the upper Mississippi River.

A mortality event involving an estimated 1,000 adult bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) was observed in an ice-covered backwater lake of the upper Mississippi River near Alma, Wisconsin, in December of 2017. Macroscopic signs of disease included abdominal distension due to fluid accumulation within the internal organs as well as external and internal haemorrhaging. Histological evaluation revealed chronic peritonitis with peritoneal adhesions in all fish examined.

Quantum gate teleportation between separated qubits in a trapped-ion processor.

Large-scale quantum computers will require quantum gate operations between widely separated qubits. A method for implementing such operations, known as quantum gate teleportation (QGT), requires only local operations, classical communication, and shared entanglement. We demonstrate QGT in a scalable architecture by deterministically teleporting a controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate between two qubits in spatially separated locations in an ion trap.

Evaluation of entinostat alone and in combination with standard-of-care cytotoxic agents against rhabdomyosarcoma xenograft models.

Background: Entinostat, a selective class I histone deacetylase inhibitor, has been reported to enhance the activity of cytotoxic agents and suppress expression of PAX3-FOXO1 in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS).

Procedures: Entinostat was tested against three rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines using 96-hour drug exposure. Entinostat alone or in binary combination with vincristine, actinomycin D or cyclophosphamide was tested in ARMS and two embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) xenograft models.

Calcium-phosphate product and its impact on mortality in hospitalized patients.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the relationship between admission Calcium-phosphate (CaP) and in-hospital mortality in hospitalized patients.

Methods: All adult hospitalized patients who had both admission serum calcium and phosphate levels available between years 2009 and 2013 were enrolled. Admission CaP was categorized based on its distribution into six groups (<21, 21-<27, 27-<33, 33  39, 39-<45 and ≥45 mg /dL ).

RACHS - ANZ : A Modified Risk Adjustment in Congenital Heart Surgery Model for Outcome Surveillance in Australia and New Zealand.

Background Outcomes for pediatric cardiac surgery are commonly reported from international databases compiled from voluntary data submissions. Surgical outcomes for all children in a country or region are less commonly reported. We aimed to describe the bi-national population-based outcome for children undergoing cardiac surgery in Australia and New Zealand and determine whether the Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery ( RACHS ) classification could be used to create a model that accurately predicts in-hospital mortality in this population.

OBI-3424, a Novel AKR1C3-Activated Prodrug, Exhibits Potent Efficacy against Preclinical Models of T-ALL.

Purpose: OBI-3424 is a highly selective prodrug that is converted by aldo-keto reductase family 1 member C3 (AKR1C3) to a potent DNA-alkylating agent. OBI-3424 has entered clinical testing for hepatocellular carcinoma and castrate-resistant prostate cancer, and it represents a potentially novel treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Experimental Design: We assessed AKR1C3 expression by RNA-Seq and immunoblotting, and evaluated the cytotoxicity of OBI-3424.

Serum levels of DNAJB9 are elevated in fibrillary glomerulonephritis patients.

Fibrillary glomerulonephritis (FGN) is a rare glomerular disease. Kidney biopsy is required to establish the diagnosis. Recent studies have identified abundant glomerular deposition of DNAJB9 as a unique histological marker of FGN.