Clinical performance of a novel and rapid bioassay for detection of thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins in Graves' orbitopathy patients: a comparison with two commonly used immunoassays.

Background: For the selective detection of thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibodies with stimulating properties (thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins; TSI), a novel and rapid bioassay (Turbo TSI) has been introduced. We evaluate the clinical performance of Turbo TSI in Graves' orbitopathy (GO) patients and compare it to a bridge-based TSI binding immunoassay and third generation TSH-R-binding inhibitory immunoglobulins (TBII) assay. Also, we investigate the association of Turbo TSI and TBII measurements with GO activity and severity, as well as response to intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP), and compare results to previous findings on the bridge-based TSI binding immunoassay.

Model-informed dose optimization of mycophenolic acid in pediatric kidney transplant patients.

Purpose: We aimed to develop and evaluate a population PK model of mycophenolic acid (MPA) in pediatric kidney transplant patients to aid MPA dose optimization.

Methods: Data were collected from pediatric kidney transplant recipients from a Dutch academic hospital (Radboudumc, the Netherlands). Pharmacokinetic model-building and model-validation analyses were performed using NONMEM.

Retrospective study in 1020 cases on the rate of surgical site infections after lacrimal surgery without prophylactic systemic antibiotics.

Background/aims: Data regarding the effectiveness of prophylactic systemic antibiotics (PSA) in lacrimal surgery is scarce. Therefore, we determined the postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) rate in lacrimal surgery without PSA.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed files of patients who underwent external (extDCR) or endoscopic endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy (endoDCR).

Developing Parametric and Nonparametric Models for Model-Informed Precision Dosing: A Quality Improvement Effort in Vancomycin for Patients With Obesity.

Background: Both parametric and nonparametric methods have been proposed to support model-informed precision dosing (MIPD). However, which approach leads to better models remains uncertain. Using open-source software, these 2 statistical approaches for model development were compared using the pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in a challenging subpopulation of class 3 obesity.

Best Practice for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Infliximab: Position Statement from the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology.

Background: Infliximab, an anti-tumor necrosis factor monoclonal antibody, has revolutionized the pharmacological management of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). This position statement critically reviews and examines existing data on therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of infliximab in patients with IMIDs. It provides a practical guide on implementing TDM in current clinical practices and outlines priority areas for future research.

Thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin concentration is associated with disease activity and predicts response to treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone in patients with Graves' orbitopathy.

Background: Thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins (TSI) play a central role in the pathogenesis of Graves' orbitopathy (GO), while soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) is a marker for T-cell activity. We investigated TSI and sIL-2R levels in relation to thyroid function, disease activity and severity and response to treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) in patients with GO.

Methods: TSI (bridge-based TSI binding assay), sIL-2R, TSH and fT4 levels were measured in biobank serum samples from 111 GO patients (37 male, 74 female; mean age 49.

Maximum a posteriori Bayesian methods out-perform non-compartmental analysis for busulfan precision dosing.

Dose personalization improves patient outcomes for many drugs with a narrow therapeutic index and high inter-individuality variability, including busulfan. Non-compartmental analysis (NCA) and model-based methods like maximum a posteriori Bayesian (MAP) approaches are two methods routinely used for dose optimization. These approaches vary in how they estimate patient-specific pharmacokinetic parameters to inform a dose and the impact of these differences is not well-understood.

Performance of Eight Infliximab Population Pharmacokinetic Models in a Cohort of Dutch Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background And Objective: Efficacy of infliximab in children with inflammatory bowel disease can be enhanced when serum concentrations are measured and further dosing is adjusted to achieve and maintain a target concentration. Use of a population pharmacokinetic model may help to predict an individual's infliximab dose requirement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive performance of available infliximab population pharmacokinetic models in an independent cohort of Dutch children with inflammatory bowel disease.

What maternal educational mobility tells us about the mother's parenting routines, offspring school achievement and intelligence.

Background: Educational mobility at the macro-level is a common measure of social inequality. Nonetheless, the correlates of mobility of education at the individual level are less well studied. We evaluated whether educational mobility of the second generation (compared to the first generation level) predicts differences in parenting practices of the second generation and school achievement and intelligence in the third generation.

Inequalities in Resources for Preschool-Age Children by Parental Education: Evidence from Six Advanced Industrialized Countries.

This paper provides new evidence on inequalities in resources for children age 3-4 by parental education using harmonized data from six advanced industrialized countries-United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Japan-that represent different social welfare regime types. We analyze inequalities in two types of resources for young children-family income, and center-based child care-applying two alternative measures of parental education-highest parental education, and maternal education. We hypothesize that inequalities in resources by parental education will be less pronounced in countries where social policies are designed to be more equalizing.

Changes in coercive parenting and child externalizing behavior across COVID-19 and the moderating role of parent-child attachment relationship quality.

Research indicates increases in coercive parenting towards children and increases in child externalizing behavior during COVID-19 as compared to the pre-pandemic period. In this preregistered study, we extended previous knowledge by investigating to what extent, and under what conditions, changes in coercive parenting and child externalizing behavior are interrelated. Ninety-five mothers and fathers of children (of age 3 prior to the pandemic) reported on coercive parenting and child externalizing behavior before and during the pandemic, and trained assistants observed the quality of mother-child and father-child attachment relationship prior to the pandemic.

Architecture for a Mobile Robotic Camera Positioning System for Photogrammetric Data Acquisition in Hydroelectric Tunnels.

The structural condition of hydroelectric tunnels is important to the overall performance, safety, and longevity of generating stations. Significant effort is required to inspect, monitor, and maintain these tunnels. Photogrammetry is an effective method of collecting highly accurate visual and spatial data.

Clinical decision support for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia using a hybrid pharmacodynamic/machine learning model.

Consensus guidelines recommend use of granulocyte colony stimulating factor in patients deemed at risk of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, however, these risk models are limited in the factors they consider and miss some cases of neutropenia. Clinical decision making could be supported using models that better tailor their predictions to the individual patient using the wealth of data available in electronic health records (EHRs). Here, we present a hybrid pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PKPD)/machine learning (ML) approach that uses predictions and individual Bayesian parameter estimates from a PKPD model to enrich an ML model built on her data.

Within-family linkages between parental monitoring and adolescents externalizing problems with autonomy support as a moderator.

Parents' monitoring efforts are thought to be effective in reducing children's future externalizing problems. Empirical evidence for this claim, however, is limited, as only few studies have unraveled the temporal ordering of these constructs. The present six-wave longitudinal study contributed to the existing literature by examining within-family linkages between monitoring efforts (behavioral control and solicitation) and adolescents' externalizing behaviors while controlling for between-family differences.

International differences in gradients in early childhood overweight and obesity: the role of maternal employment and formal childcare attendance.

Background: There are significant cross-country differences in socio-economic gradients in later childhood and adulthood overweight/obesity; few studies assess whether this cross-national variation is evident from early childhood. Furthermore, the role of childcare in explaining overweight/obesity gradients might vary across countries, given differences in access, quality and heterogeneity within. Additionally, childcare is linked to parental characteristics such as maternal employment.

Do high-income households 'label' family cash benefits? Evidence on family expenditures from Australia.

This study examines family expenditures and how they respond to the provision of family cash transfers, particularly among higher-income families. Naming cash benefits with explicit reference to 'families' or 'children' can nudge households into labelling the extra cash for financial investments in children. Labelling has mainly been assessed among lower-income families.

Eye Muscle MRI in Myasthenia Gravis and Other Neuromuscular Disorders.

Introduction: MRI of extra-ocular muscles (EOM) in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) could aid in diagnosis and provide insights in therapy-resistant ophthalmoplegia. We used quantitative MRI to study the EOM in MG, healthy and disease controls, including Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO), oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) and chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO).

Methods: Twenty recently diagnosed MG (59±19yrs), nineteen chronic MG (51±16yrs), fourteen seronegative MG (57±9yrs) and sixteen healthy controls (54±13yrs) were included.

The timing of parental unemployment, insurance and children's education.

The timing of parental unemployment can impact children's educational transitions. Previous research has mostly examined transitions to higher education, proxying timing in relation to children's age and often focusing on selective populations. We study unemployment's intergenerational effects at multiple stages of the educational career, and define timing relative to important crossroads within and across school years for a broader population of children.

Globe-sparing surgical treatment for periocular malignancies with anterior orbital invasion: a consecutive case series.

Purpose: Orbital exenteration of periocular tumors complicated by orbital invasion is a heavy burden for patients and leads to disfiguring cosmesis and loss of vision. Here, we report our experience with globe-sparing surgery in a series of patients with periocular malignancies other than basal cell carcinoma (BCC), all exhibiting anterior orbital invasion.

Methods: In this consecutive case series, we examined medical records of all patients between 2000 and 2018 with periocular malignancies (other than BCC) invading the anterior orbit (without extraocular muscle or scleral invasion) treated by one orbital surgeon (DP).

Bone metastasis in a case of primary acquired melanosis with atypia resulting from conjunctiva melanoma.

A 66-year-old woman presented to a tertiary referral centre with a diagnosis of limbal stem cell deficiency secondary to multiple treatments for primary acquired melanosis (PAM) by her referring ophthalmologists. She was known with primary acquired melanosis with severe atypia of the right eye which had been treated with several excisions, cryotherapy and topical chemotherapy. She had PAM over 360° of alternating intensity.

Adult orbital xanthogranuloma: long-term follow-up of treated cases.

Background: Adult orbital xanthogranulomatous disease (AOXGD) is a group of rare disorders. Four subtypes are identified: adult-onset xanthogranuloma (AOX), adult-onset asthma and periocular xanthogranuloma (AAPOX), necrobiotic xanthogranuloma (NBX), and Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD). Therapy options vary and little is known about the long-term effect of the treatment.