Results of palliation with an initial modified Blalock-Taussig shunt in neonates with single ventricle anomalies associated with restrictive pulmonary blood flow.

Background: We report our current-era results after placement of a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (mBTS) as the first surgery in the multistage palliation strategy of neonates born with single ventricle (SV) anomalies associated with restrictive pulmonary blood flow.

Methods: Between 2002 and 2012, 174 neonates with SV underwent mBTS. Competing risks analysis modeled events after mBTS (death or transplantation, transition to Glenn) and subsequently after Glenn (death or transplantation, transition to Fontan) and examined risk factors affecting outcomes.

Acute alcohol consumption and secondary psychopathic traits increase ratings of the attractiveness and health of ethnic ingroup faces but not outgroup faces.

Studies have consistently shown that both consumption of acute amounts of alcohol and elevated antisocial psychopathic traits are associated with an impaired ability for prepotent response inhibition. This may manifest as a reduced ability to inhibit prepotent race biased responses. Here, we tested the effects of acute alcohol consumption, and elevated antisocial psychopathic traits, on judgments of the attractiveness and health of ethnic ingroup and outgroup faces.

A dose-ranging trial to optimize the dose of rifampin in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Rationale: Rifampin at a dose of 10 mg/kg was introduced in 1971 based on pharmacokinetic, toxicity, and cost considerations. Available data in mice and humans showed that an increase in dose may shorten the duration of tuberculosis treatment.

Objectives: To evaluate the safety and tolerability, the pharmacokinetics, and the extended early bactericidal activity of increasing doses of rifampin.

Risk for CMV reactivation in children undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Tailoring pre-emptive CMV therapy to hematopoietic cell transplant recipients' risk for reactivation could make this approach more cost-effective. To determine the feasibility of creating a risk classification system for this purpose, we analyzed 169 pediatric HCTs involving seropositive recipients or donors. Using risk factors derived from multivariable analysis, we stratified patients as having no risk factors, any one, any two, or all three risk factors (age, donor type, and presence of GVHD).

Early phase evaluation of SQ109 alone and in combination with rifampicin in pulmonary TB patients.

Objectives: SQ109, an asymmetrical diamine, is a novel anti-TB drug candidate. This first study in patients was done to determine safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and bacteriological effect of different doses of SQ109 alone and in combination with rifampicin when administered over 14 days.

Patients And Methods: Smear-positive pulmonary TB patients were randomized into six groups of 15 to receive once-daily oral treatment with 75, 150 or 300 mg of SQ109, rifampicin (10 mg/kg body weight), rifampicin plus 150 mg of SQ109, or rifampicin plus 300 mg of SQ109 for 14 days.

HspX knock-out in Mycobacterium tuberculosis leads to shorter antibiotic treatment and lower relapse rate in a mouse model--a potential novel therapeutic target.

Effective global tuberculosis control is hindered by the need for prolonged chemotherapy which leads to poor patient compliance. Therefore novel drug targets that shorten the duration of chemotherapy and reduce disease relapse rates are highly desirable. We have previously shown that HspX, an alpha-crystallin-like protein, is associated with growth suppression of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mouse models.

The association of uncontrolled HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections in metropolitan Atlanta youth.

Background: Half of the 19 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and 26% of HIV infections annually in the United States occur in youth aged 13-24 years. STIs are a risk factor for HIV acquisition and transmission, but data are lacking on HIV treatment as an intervention to reduce STIs.

Methods: A single-centered, retrospective analysis of HIV-infected sexually active adolescents and young adults from January 2009 to December 2011 was performed to compare STI incidence among patients with controlled and uncontrolled HIV and to identify associated risk factors.

EWS-FLI1 utilizes divergent chromatin remodeling mechanisms to directly activate or repress enhancer elements in Ewing sarcoma.

The aberrant transcription factor EWS-FLI1 drives Ewing sarcoma, but its molecular function is not completely understood. We find that EWS-FLI1 reprograms gene regulatory circuits in Ewing sarcoma by directly inducing or repressing enhancers. At GGAA repeat elements, which lack evolutionary conservation and regulatory potential in other cell types, EWS-FLI1 multimers induce chromatin opening and create de novo enhancers that physically interact with target promoters.

Characteristics of females who sexually offend: a comparison of solo and co-offenders.

Although recent typologies of female sexual offenders have recognized the importance of having a co-offender, the clinical characteristics of solo and co-female sexual offenders remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to compare solo (n = 20) and co- (n = 20) female sexual offenders on a variety of clinical characteristics. It was found that although solo and co-offenders reported similar developmental experiences and psychological dispositions, differences were found in environmental niche, offense preceding, and positive factors.

Expression of insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor in corneal keratocytes during differentiation and in response to wound healing.

Purpose: Insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF2R) associates with ligands that influence wound healing outcomes. However, the expression pattern of IGF2R and its role in the cornea is unknown.

Methods: Human keratocytes were isolated from donor corneas.

The relationship between Mycobacterium tuberculosis MGIT time to positivity and cfu in sputum samples demonstrates changing bacterial phenotypes potentially reflecting the impact of chemotherapy on critical sub-populations.

Objectives: The relationship between cfu and Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) time to positivity (TTP) is uncertain. We attempted to understand this relationship and create a mathematical model to relate these two methods of determining mycobacterial load.

Methods: Sequential bacteriological load data from clinical trials determined by MGIT and cfu were collected and mathematical models derived.

Genomic Investigations unmask Mycoplasma amphoriforme, a new respiratory pathogen.

Background: Mycoplasma amphoriforme has been associated with infection in patients with primary antibody deficiency (PAD). Little is known about the natural history of infection with this organism and its ability to be transmitted in the community.

Methods: The bacterial load was estimated in sequential sputum samples from 9 patients by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Pediatric critical care physician-administered procedural sedation using propofol: a report from the Pediatric Sedation Research Consortium Database.

Objective: Increasing demand for pediatric procedural sedation has resulted in a marked increase in provision of pediatric procedural sedation by pediatric critical care physicians both inside and outside of the ICU. Reported experience of pediatric critical care physicians-administered pediatric procedural sedation is limited. We used the Pediatric Sedation Research Consortium database to evaluate a multicenter experience with propofol by pediatric critical care physicians in all settings.

Identification of a neurologic scale that optimizes EMS detection of older adult traumatic brain injury patients who require transport to a trauma center.

Objective: We sought to identify a scale or components of a scale that optimize detection of older adult traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients who require transport to a trauma center, regardless of mechanism.

Methods: We assembled a consensus panel consisting of nine experts in geriatric emergency medicine, prehospital medicine, trauma surgery, geriatric medicine, and TBI, as well as prehospital providers, to evaluate the existing scales used to identify TBI. We reviewed the relevant literature and solicited group feedback to create a list of candidate scales and criteria for evaluation.

The impact of delays on parents' perceptions of treatments for problem behavior.

Parent engagement in behavioral interventions is critical for treatments to succeed. Parental decision-making regarding treatments can be impacted by systematic biases, such as the tendency to discount the value of delayed benefits, or "delay discounting". This study examined the impact of delay discounting on parents' perceptions of treatment for their children's problem behavior.

Sexual selection is influenced by both developmental and adult environments.

Sexual selection is often assumed to be strong and consistent, yet increasing research shows it can fluctuate over space and time. Few experimental studies have examined changes in sexual selection in response to natural environmental variation. Here, we use a difference in resource quality to test for the influence of past environmental conditions and current environmental conditions on male and female mate choice and resulting selection gradients for leaf-footed cactus bugs, Narnia femorata.

Four-month moxifloxacin-based regimens for drug-sensitive tuberculosis.

Background: Early-phase and preclinical studies suggest that moxifloxacin-containing regimens could allow for effective 4-month treatment of uncomplicated, smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial to test the noninferiority of two moxifloxacin-containing regimens as compared with a control regimen. One group of patients received isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol for 8 weeks, followed by 18 weeks of isoniazid and rifampin (control group).

Disposable platform provides visual and color-based point-of-care anemia self-testing.

Background: Anemia, or low blood hemoglobin (Hgb) levels, afflicts 2 billion people worldwide. Currently, Hgb levels are typically measured from blood samples using hematology analyzers, which are housed in hospitals, clinics, or commercial laboratories and require skilled technicians to operate. A reliable, inexpensive point-of-care (POC) Hgb test would enable cost-effective anemia screening and chronically anemic patients to self-monitor their disease.

Attracting mutualists and antagonists: plant trait variation explains the distribution of specialist floral herbivores and pollinators on crops and wild gourds.

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Premise Of The Study: Floral traits play important roles in pollinator attraction and defense against floral herbivory. However, plants may experience trade-offs between conspicuousness to pollinators and herbivore attraction. Comparative studies provide an excellent framework to examine the role of multiple traits shaping mutualist and antagonist interactions.

Assessing microbiological water quality in drinking water distribution systems with disinfectant residual using flow cytometry.

Flow cytometry (FCM) as a diagnostic tool for enumeration and characterization of microorganisms is rapidly gaining popularity and is increasingly applied in the water industry. In this study we applied the method to obtain a better understanding of total and intact cell concentrations in three different drinking water distribution systems (one using chlorine and two using chloramines as secondary disinfectants). Chloramine tended to result in lower proportions of intact cells than chlorine over a wider residual range, in agreement with existing knowledge that chloramine suppresses regrowth more efficiently.

Agriculture and nutrition in India: mapping evidence to pathways.

In India, progress against undernutrition has been slow. Given its importance for income generation, improving diets, care practices, and maternal health, the agriculture sector is widely regarded as playing an important role in accelerating the reduction in undernutrition. This paper comprehensively maps existing evidence along agriculture-nutrition pathways in India and assesses both the quality and coverage of the existing literature.

Differences in inflammatory markers between nulliparous women admitted to hospitals in preactive vs active labor.

Objective: To determine whether labor-associated inflammatory markers differ between low-risk, nulliparous women in preactive vs active labor at hospital admission and over time.

Study Design: Prospective comparative study of low-risk, nulliparous women with spontaneous labor onset at term (n = 118) sampled from 2 large Midwestern hospitals. Circulating concentrations of inflammatory markers were measured at admission and again 2 and 4 hours later: namely, neutrophil, and monocyte counts; and serum inflammatory cytokines (interleukin -1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-10) and chemokines (interleukin-8).