Publications by authors named "K M Kerr"
SARS-CoV-2 variants are mainly defined by mutations in their spike. It is therefore critical to understand how the evolutionary trajectories of spike affect virus phenotypes. So far, it has been challenging to comprehensively compare the many spikes that emerged during the pandemic in a single experimental platform.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Acute kidney injury (AKI) increases the risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD). We aimed to identify combinations of clinical variables and biomarkers that predict long-term kidney disease risk after AKI.
Methods: We analyzed data from a prospective cohort of 723 hospitalized patients with AKI in the Assessment, Serial Evaluation, and Subsequent Sequelae of AKI (ASSESS-AKI) Study.
Article Synopsis
- Noninvasive ventilation therapy is a key alternative to invasive mechanical ventilation in treating acute respiratory failure, particularly for pediatric patients, and requires effective communication strategies to address challenges like discomfort and anxiety.
- A case study of a 7-year-old girl with pulmonary arterial hypertension revealed that discomfort with the bilevel positive airway pressure mask led to compliance issues.
- The introduction of a novel communication device improved mask compliance, communication clarity, mobility, and reduced anxiety during treatment, suggesting such devices can greatly enhance the overall experience and outcomes for young patients on noninvasive ventilation.
Article Synopsis
- There is a rising concern regarding problematic cannabis use (PCU) in low- and middle-income countries like Jamaica, where cannabis has a rich cultural history, highlighting the need for further research.
- The study analyzed data from the Jamaica National Drug Prevalence Survey, focusing on 786 cannabis users to determine prevalence, sociodemographic factors, and psychosocial aspects linked to severe PCU.
- Findings revealed that over half of the cannabis users had severe PCU, with males and younger adults being at higher risk, and factors like early cannabis use onset, easy access, and perceived treatment needs contributing to these high prevalence rates.
Introduction: With the implementation of low-dose computed tomography screening, multiple pulmonary tumor nodules are diagnosed with increasing frequency and the selection of surgical treatments versus systemic therapies has become challenging on a daily basis in clinical practice. In the presence of multiple carcinomas, especially adenocarcinomas, pathologically determined to be of pulmonary origin, the distinction between separate primary lung carcinomas (SPLCs) and intrapulmonary metastases (IPMs) is important for staging, management, and prognostication.
Methods: We systemically reviewed various means that aid in the differentiation between SPLCs and IPMs explored by histopathologic evaluation and molecular profiling, the latter includes DNA microsatellite analysis, array comparative genomic hybridization, TP53 and oncogenic driver mutation testing and, more recently, with promising effectiveness, next-generation sequencing comprising small- or large-scale multi-gene panels.