Purpose: To identify prognostic factors for poor visual outcomes in patients with isolated retinal vasculitis and to elucidate the outcome of immunosuppressive treatment without the use of antituberculosis drugs for patients with retinal vasculitis associated with a positive QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT) test.
Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed of patients presenting with retinal vasculitis. After the diagnosis of active retinal vasculitis had been confirmed by fluorescein angiography and other possible causes of retinal vasculitis had been excluded, patients were categorized into two groups by their QFT result.
Background And Importance: Augmented reality (AR) is a novel technology with broadening applications to neurosurgery. In deformity spine surgery, it has been primarily directed to the more precise placement of pedicle screws. However, AR may also be used to generate high fidelity three-dimensional (3D) spine models for cases of advanced deformity with existing instrumentation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Carbon dioxide concentration trending is used in chronic management of children with invasive home mechanical ventilation (HMV) in clinical settings, but options for end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO ) monitoring at home are limited. We hypothesized that a palm-sized, portable endotracheal capnograph (PEC) that measures EtCO could be adapted for in-home use in children with HMV.
Methods: We evaluated the internal consistency of the PEC by calculating an intraclass correlation coefficient of three back-to-back breaths by children (0-17 years) at baseline health in the clinic.
Objectives: Systems approaches aim to change the environments in which people live, through cross-sectoral working, by harnessing the complexity of the problem. This paper sought to identify: (1) the strategies which support the implementation of We Can Move (WCM), (2) the barriers to implementation, (3) key contextual factors that influence implementation and (4) impacts associated with WCM.
Design: A multi-methods evaluation of WCM was completed between April 2019 and April 2021.
The contributions of mitochondria to cancer have been recognized for decades. However, the focus on the metabolic role of mitochondria and the diminutive size of the mitochondrial genome compared to the nuclear genome have hindered discovery of the roles of mitochondrial genetics in cancer. This review summarizes recent data demonstrating the contributions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy-number variants (CNVs), somatic mutations, and germline polymorphisms to cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOcul Immunol Inflamm
October 2023
Purpose: To characterize various ocular inflammatory complications arising from metastatic cutaneous melanoma therapies and their management.
Methods: Retrospective case series of patients who were referred to a tertiary uveitis practice for ophthalmic exam All patients received targeted metastatic cutaneous melanoma treatment, including BRAF/MEK inhibitors and various immunotherapies.
Results: 109 patients were identified, with 43 (39.
Purpose: To investigate differences in athletes' knowledge, beliefs, and training practices during COVID-19 lockdowns with reference to sport classification and sex. This work extends an initial descriptive evaluation focusing on athlete classification.
Methods: Athletes (12,526; 66% male; 142 countries) completed an online survey (May-July 2020) assessing knowledge, beliefs, and practices toward training.
The first dominant SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant BA.1 harbours 35 mutations in its Spike protein from the original SARS-CoV-2 variant that emerged late 2019. Soon after its discovery, BA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The ability of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to cause neurological insults in afflicted adults is becoming increasingly understood by way of an ever-growing amount of international data. By contrast, the pandemic illness's neurological effects in the pediatric population are both poorly understood and sparsely reported.
Observations: In this case, the authors reported their experience with a preschool-age child with hydrocephalus who suffered multiterritory strokes presumed secondary to immune-mediated cerebral vasculopathy as a result of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection.
Purpose: Off-label use of prostacyclins to manage congenital diaphragmatic hernia-associated pulmonary hypertension (CDH-PHTN) has been described over recent years, but use is not standardized across institutions. This study aims to describe trends in use of these medications in the CDH Study Group (CDHSG) patients.
Methods: The CDHSG was queried for all patients born from 2007 to 2019.
Understanding the responses of rare species to altered fire disturbance regimes is an ongoing challenge for ecologists. We asked: are there associations between fire regimes and plant rarity across different vegetation communities? We combined 62 years of fire history records with vegetation surveys of 86 sites across three different dry sclerophyll vegetation communities in Booderee National Park, south-east Australia to: (1) compare associations between species richness and rare species richness with fire regimes, (2) test whether fire regimes influence the proportion of rare species present in an assemblage, and (3) examine whether rare species are associated with particular fire response traits and life history. We also sought to determine if different rarity categorisations influence the associations between fire regimes and plant rarity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is common in older adults, with more than 70% of diagnoses in people aged ≥65 years. Despite this, there is a knowledge gap regarding longer-term outcomes in this population. Here, we identify those older people most at risk of poor quality of life (QoL) and health status in the five years following CRC treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Parents in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) report low self-confidence managing their children's ongoing medical and social needs. While bedside nurses provide critical support for families throughout their NICU admission, there may be a role for nursing coordination throughout hospitalization, discharge, and in the transition to outpatient care.
Purpose: This program evaluation explores parent and provider experiences of a novel longitudinal care coordination program for infants with medical complexity from the NICU through their first year of life post-discharge.
Direct monitoring of chemical concentrations in different environmental and biological media is critical to understanding the mechanisms by which human and ecological receptors are exposed to exogenous chemicals. Monitoring data provides evidence of chemical occurrence in different media and can be used to inform exposure assessments. Monitoring data provide required information for parameterization and evaluation of predictive models based on chemical uses, fate and transport, and release or emission processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Exercise is advised for young adults with elevated blood pressure, but no trials have investigated efficacy at this age. We aimed to determine whether aerobic exercise, self-monitoring and motivational coaching lowers blood pressure in this group.
Methods: The study was a single-centre, open, two-arm, parallel superiority randomized clinical trial with open community-based recruitment of physically-inactive 18-35 year old adults with awake 24 h blood pressure 115/75mmHg-159/99 mmHg and BMI<35 kg/m.
Domains are the three-dimensional building blocks of proteins. An individual domain can occur in a variety of domain architectures that perform unique functions and are subject to different evolutionary selective pressures. We describe an approach to evaluate the variability in amino acid sequences of a single domain across architectural contexts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Sports Physiol Perform
August 2022
Background: Germline variants explain more than a third of prostate cancer (PrCa) risk, but very few associations have been identified between heritable factors and clinical progression.
Objective: To find rare germline variants that predict time to biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical treatment in men with PrCa and understand the genetic factors associated with such progression.
Design, Setting, And Participants: Whole-genome sequencing data from blood DNA were analysed for 850 PrCa patients with radical treatment from the Pan Prostate Cancer Group (PPCG) consortium from the UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, and France.
Cytomegalovirus infection during antiviral prophylaxis occurs in transplant recipients despite individualized regimens based on renal function. Fifty kidney transplant recipients were assessed between 2016 and 2019 for valganciclovir dosing, ganciclovir exposure, cytomegalovirus infection, and genotypic resistance markers during the first year posttransplant. Ganciclovir plasma concentrations were measured using mass spectrometry.
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