COVID-19 Severity and Mortality in Veterans with Chronic Lung Disease.

Chronic lung diseases (CLDs) have been variably associated with a risk for more severe manifestations and death with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). To determine the risk overall and by type of CLD for severity of COVID-19 outcomes in a U.S.

Association of Tubular Solute Clearance with Symptom Burden in Incident Peritoneal Dialysis.

Background And Objectives: Residual kidney function is important to the health and wellbeing of patients with ESKD. We tested whether the kidney clearances of proximal tubular secretory solutes are associated with burden of uremic and heart failure symptoms among patients on peritoneal dialysis with residual kidney function.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We enrolled 29 patients on incident peritoneal dialysis with residual urine output >250 ml daily.

A wearable artificial kidney for patients with end-stage renal disease.

Background: Stationary hemodialysis machines hinder mobility and limit activities of daily life during dialysis treatments. New hemodialysis technologies are needed to improve patient autonomy and enhance quality of life.

Methods: We conducted a FDA-approved human trial of a wearable artificial kidney, a miniaturized, wearable hemodialysis machine, based on dialysate-regenerating sorbent technology.

Use of the national surgical quality improvement program to reduce surgical mortality: implementation of intensive preoperative screening and intervention.

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) data at our institution indicated that surgical mortality was significantly higher than expected. This study examines the effect of implementation of a strict, intensive preoperative screening and intervention process on postoperative mortality at our institution, as measured by the NSQIP. Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital (CRMH) is a 763-bed tertiary care hospital serving a population of one million people in southwest Virginia.

Control of simultaneous outbreaks of carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae and extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infection in an intensive care unit using interventions promoted in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2012 carbapenemase-resistant Enterobacteriaceae Toolkit.

Objective: We describe the efficacy of enhanced infection control measures, including those recommended in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2012 carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) toolkit, to control concurrent outbreaks of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) and extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDR-AB).

Design: Before-after intervention study.

Setting: Fifteen-bed surgical trauma intensive care unit (ICU).

Physical activity and change in estimated GFR among persons with CKD.

Physical activity may counteract metabolic disturbances that promote the progression of CKD. To address this concept, we performed a longitudinal cohort study of 256 participants in the Seattle Kidney Study, a clinic-based study of CKD. Participants with an estimated GFR (eGFR) of 15-59 ml/min per 1.

Community-associated and healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus virulence toward Caenorhabditis elegans compared.

Community-associated (CA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains have emerged as major human pathogens. CA-MRSA virulence appears to be distinct from healthcare-associated (HA) MRSA with several factors [α-hemolysin (Hla), Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), α-type phenol soluble modulins (PSMα) and SCCmec IV] postulated to enhance virulence or fitness. Using the Caenorhabditis elegans infection model, we compared the virulence of clinical and laboratory isolates of CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA and explored the contribution of CA-MRSA associated virulence factors to nematode killing.