A Coala-T-Cannabis Survey Study of breast cancer patients' use of cannabis before, during, and after treatment.

Background: The goal of this study was to characterize cannabis use among patients with breast cancer, including their reasons for and timing of use, their sources of cannabis information and products, their satisfaction with the information found, their perceptions of its safety, and their dialogue about cannabis with their physicians.

Methods: United States-based members of the Breastcancer.org and Healthline.

Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency-Associated Hemolytic Anemia and Methemoglobinemia in a Patient Treated With Hydroxychloroquine in the Era of COVID-19.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common enzymatic disorder of red blood cells worldwide. The severity of hemolytic anemia varies among individuals with G6PD deficiency, depending on the genetic variant in the G6PD gene; this makes the diagnosis of the condition more challenging in some cases. In this report, we present a case of severe hemolytic anemia and methemoglobinemia in a patient with G6PD deficiency who had been exposed to hydroxychloroquine prescribed for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Social marketing nutrition education for low-income population.

As access to healthy food (or lack thereof) could be considered a social justice issue, social workers should be concerned about this issue and willing to collaborate with colleagues of various disciplines to address it. This study was a formative evaluation conducted to understand best practices, recommendations, and feasibility of a social-marketing-based nutrition education program tailored to the needs of adults with limited income. The authors report findings from focus groups conducted with Cooperative Extension Agents (CEAs) and region coordinators (n = 45) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) (n = 69) eligible participants to inform the development of a social marketing nutrition intervention for SNAP-Ed in Georgia.

Complex coordinated extracellular metabolism: Acid phosphatases activate diluted human leukocyte proteins to generate energy flow as NADPH from purine nucleotide ribose.

Complex metabolism is thought to occur exclusively in the crowded intracellular environment. Here we report that diluted enzymes from lysed human leukocytes produce extracellular energy. Our findings involve two pathways: the purine nucleotide catabolic pathway and the pentose phosphate pathway, which function together to generate energy as NADPH.

Oropharyngeal Kingella kingae carriage in children: characteristics and correlation with osteoarticular infections.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate changes in oropharyngeal K. kingae carriage during the first 4 y of life, including seasonal variation and comparison of asymptomatic carriage with cases of invasive osteoarticular infections (OAI).

Methods: Oropharyngeal bacterial K.

A distonic radical-ion for detection of traces of adventitious molecular oxygen (O2) in collision gases used in tandem mass spectrometers.

We describe a diagnostic ion that enables rapid semiquantitative evaluation of the degree of oxygen contamination in the collision gases used in tandem mass spectrometers. Upon collision-induced dissociation (CID), the m/z 359 positive ion generated from the analgesic etoricoxib undergoes a facile loss of a methyl sulfone radical [(•)SO(2)(CH(3)); 79-Da] to produce a distonic radical cation of m/z 280. The product-ion spectrum of this m/z 280 ion, recorded under low-energy activation on tandem-in-space QqQ or QqTof mass spectrometers using nitrogen from a generator as the collision gas, or tandem-in-time ion-trap (LCQ, LTQ) mass spectrometers using purified helium as the buffer gas, showed two unexpected peaks at m/z 312 and 295.

Fulminant atypical Cryptococcus neoformans pneumonia confirmed by PLEX-ID.

Use of the PLEX-ID system can lead to a rapid molecular diagnosis in microbiology. To illustrate the clinical implications of this new diagnostic tool, we present the case of a 46-year-old patient admitted with severe respiratory failure and septic shock. Cryptococcal pneumonia was diagnosed by Fungi-Fluor™ staining of the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and the patient tested positive for HIV.

Gas-phase fragmentations of anions derived from N-phenyl benzenesulfonamides.

In addition to the well-known SO2 loss, there are several additional fragmentation pathways that gas-phase anions derived from N-phenyl benzenesulfonamides and its derivatives undergo upon collisional activation. For example, N-phenyl benzenesulfonamide fragments to form an anilide anion (m/z 92) by a mechanism in which a hydrogen atom from the ortho position of the benzenesulfonamide moiety is specifically transferred to the charge center. Moreover, after the initial SO2 elimination, the product ion formed undergoes primarily, an inter-annular H2 loss to form a carbazolide anion (m/z 166) because the competing intra-annular H2 loss is significantly less energetically favorable.

Effects of amoxicillin treatment on the salivary microbiota in children with acute otitis media.

Amoxicillin is a first-line antibiotic treatment for acute otitis media in children and one of the most commonly used antibiotics for human bacterial infections. We investigated changes in salivary bacterial communities among children treated with amoxicillin for acute otitis media (n = 18), using a culture-independent approach based on pyrosequencing of the V3 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. The control group consisted of children with acute otitis media who were not given antibiotics (n = 15).

Detection of Kingella kingae osteoarticular infections in children by oropharyngeal swab PCR.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate if oropharyngeal swab polymerase chain reaction (PCR) could predict osteoarticular infection (OAI) due to Kingella kingae in young children.

Methods: One hundred twenty-three consecutive children aged 6 to 48 months presenting with atraumatic osteoarticular complaints were prospectively studied. All had a clinical evaluation, imaging, and blood samples.

Incorporating active-learning techniques and competency assessment into a critical care elective course.

Objective: To design, implement, and measure the effectiveness of a critical care elective course for second-year students in a 3-year accelerated doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program.

Design: A critical care elective course was developed that used active-learning techniques, including cooperative learning and group presentations, to deliver content on critical care topics. Group presentations had to include a disease state overview, practice guidelines, and clinical recommendations, and were evaluated by course faculty members and peers.

Robustness of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification reaction for diagnostic applications.

We evaluated the robustness of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) of DNA for bacterial diagnostic applications. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi was used as the target organism and compared with a real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) for testing assay performance and reproducibly, as well as the impact of pH and temperature stability. This isothermal amplification method appeared to be particularly robust across 2 pH units (7.

Comparison of two matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry methods with conventional phenotypic identification for routine identification of bacteria to the species level.

Bacterial identification relies primarily on culture-based methodologies requiring 24 h for isolation and an additional 24 to 48 h for species identification. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is an emerging technology newly applied to the problem of bacterial species identification. We evaluated two MALDI-TOF MS systems with 720 consecutively isolated bacterial colonies under routine clinical laboratory conditions.

Development and validation of a modified broad-range 16S rDNA PCR for diagnostic purposes in clinical microbiology.

Broad-range PCR followed by sequencing identifies bacterial pathogens, even in challenging settings such as patients receiving antibiotics or infected with fastidious or non-cultivable organisms. The major problem with broad-range PCR is the risk of sample contamination. Risk is present at every step of the procedure, starting from sample collection.

Long-term care in the St. John's region: impact of single entry and prediction of bed need.

In 1996, the St. John's region had a population of 8,435 > or = 75 years, with 996 nursing home (NH) beds and 550 supervised care (SC) beds. A single entry system to these institutions was implemented in 1995.

Effect of levofloxacin on the viability of intracellular Chlamydia pneumoniae and modulation of proinflammatory cytokine production by human monocytes.

Although antibiotics are known to affect the intracellular growth of Chlamydia pneumoniae in acute infections, their efficacy in therapy for chronic infections, including atherosclerosis, remains debatable. Human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) obtained from monocytes of healthy donors were infected with C. pneumoniae AR-39 and treated with levofloxacin (8 microg/mL) immediately after infection (0 hours) or 24 hours after infection.

Molecular subtyping to detect human listeriosis clusters.

We analyzed the diversity (Simpson's Index, D) and distribution of Listeria monocytogenes in human listeriosis cases in New York State (excluding New York City) from November 1996 to June 2000 by using automated ribotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). We applied a scan statistic (p View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Levofloxacin kills Chlamydia pneumoniae and modulates interleukin 6 production by HEp-2 cells.

Background: Chlamydia pneumoniae is known to cause acute respiratory infection and more recently it has been studied as a pathogen causing inflammatory changes in chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis. This study addresses the antichlamydial effect of levofloxacin and its role in modulation of a proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 production by uninfected and infected HEp-2 cells.

Methods: HEp-2 cell monolayers were infected with previously prepared and frozen aliquots of C.

Infection and nitric oxide.

The author describes how his experience as an infectious disease fellow at Stanford University with Jack Remington from 1969 to 1971 influenced the direction of his subsequent laboratory investigation. The author reviews a series of studies that were intended to provide a mechanistic understanding of an in vitro cytotoxicity assay developed while he was a fellow with Jack Remington. These investigations resulted in the 1987 discovery of the synthesis of nitric oxide from L-arginine by cytokine-activated macrophages.

Survival effect of lung transplantation among patients with cystic fibrosis.

Context: Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are the second largest group of lung transplant recipients in the United States. The survival effect of transplantation on a general CF population has not previously been measured.

Objective: To determine the impact of bilateral lung transplantation on survival in patients with CF.