Improving well-being among women in neonatology.

Objective: To evaluate the factors that improve professional and personal well-being amongst women in neonatology (WiN).

Study Design: A 30-question survey of multiple choice, rank order, and open-ended questions focused on professional and personal factors that affect the well-being of WiN members. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to determine leading factors and themes.

Advocating For a Culture of Support for Lactating Medical Residents in Hawai'i.

Lactating medical residents face unique barriers due to intense clinical work schedules, limited support in the clinic and hospital workspaces, and competing pressures between career development and childcare. The objective of this project was to explore the perceived culture of breastfeeding support among medical trainees and design an action plan to improve support for lactating residents in Hawai'i. Resident and faculty representatives from the Hawai'i Residency Programs and the University of Hawai'i John A Burns School of Medicine participated in an 8 month national learning collaborative to review the existing resident lactation policy and resident perception of lactation support.

Distinct transcriptomic profiles of early-onset atopic dermatitis in blood and skin of pediatric patients.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) predominantly affects young children, but our understanding of AD pathogenesis is based on skin and blood samples from long-standing adult AD. Genomic biopsy profiling from early pediatric AD showed significant Th2 and Th17/Th22-skewing, without the characteristic adult Th1 up-regulation. Because obtaining pediatric biopsies is difficult, blood gene expression profiling may provide a surrogate for the pediatric skin signature.

The Major Orphan Forms of Ichthyosis Are Characterized by Systemic T-Cell Activation and Th-17/Tc-17/Th-22/Tc-22 Polarization in Blood.

The ichthyoses are rare skin disorders with immune and barrier aberrations. Identifying blood phenotypes may advance targeted therapeutics. We aimed to compare frequencies of skin homing/cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (+) versus systemic/cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (-) "polar" CD4/CD8 and activated T-cell subsets in ichthyosis versus atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and control blood, with appropriate clinical correlations.

Amyloid β concentrations and stable isotope labeling kinetics of human plasma specific to central nervous system amyloidosis.

Introduction: Cerebrospinal fluid analysis and other measurements of amyloidosis, such as amyloid-binding positron emission tomography studies, are limited by cost and availability. There is a need for a more practical amyloid β (Aβ) biomarker for central nervous system amyloid deposition.

Methods: We adapted our previously reported stable isotope labeling kinetics protocol to analyze the turnover kinetics and concentrations of Aβ38, Aβ40, and Aβ42 in human plasma.

Diagnosis of intussusception using bedside ultrasound by a pediatric resident in the emergency department.

The use of bedside ultrasound in the emergency department has been gaining favor among emergency medicine physicians and can be invaluable in the prompt diagnosis and treatment of acutely ill patients, especially when radiology evaluation is unavailable or delayed. Although pediatric ultrasound examinations are taught in some pediatric residency programs, they are not part of the required pediatric residency curriculum in the United States. This is the first case report of a pediatric resident diagnosing intussusception by bedside ultrasound in a 4-year-old boy under the guidance of a pediatric emergency attending with ultrasound training.

Perspectives of Chuukese patients and their health care providers on the use of different sources of interpreters.

Background: Immigrants from Chuuk, a Pacific Island nation in Micronesia, are a growing population of limited-English speakers in Hawai'i. The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of Chuukese patients and their physicians in Honolulu, Hawai'i on interpreter services.

Methods: An anonymous multiple choice survey was distributed to potential patients through a Chuukese community group and to physicians through the Hawai'i Residency Programs to examine the following sources of interpreters: Family member or friend, telephone interpreter, or professional in-person interpreter.

PAC-1 activates procaspase-3 in vitro through relief of zinc-mediated inhibition.

The direct induction of apoptosis has emerged as a powerful anticancer strategy, and small molecules that either inhibit or activate certain proteins in the apoptotic pathway have great potential as novel chemotherapeutic agents. Central to apoptosis is the activation of the zymogen procaspase-3 to caspase-3. Caspase-3 is the key "executioner" caspase, catalyzing the hydrolysis of a multitude of protein substrates within the cell.