Longitudinal Lower Airway Microbial Signatures of Acute Cellular Rejection in Lung Transplantation.

Acute cellular rejection (ACR) after lung transplant is a leading risk factor for chronic lung allograft dysfunction. Prior studies have demonstrated dynamic microbial changes occurring within the allograft and gut that influence local adaptive and innate immune responses. However, the lung microbiome's overall impact on ACR risk remains poorly understood.

An In Vitro Brain Tumour Model in Organotypic Slice Cultures Displaying Epileptiform Activity.

Brain tumours have significant impacts on patients' quality of life, and current treatments have limited effectiveness. To improve understanding of tumour development and explore new therapies, researchers rely on experimental models. However, reproducing tumour-associated epilepsy (TAE) in these models has been challenging.

Frequent microbiological surveillance during inpatient cystic fibrosis pulmonary exacerbations has limited clinical value.

Background: No evidence exists to guide the frequency of obtaining bacterial respiratory cultures during inpatient treatment of pediatric cystic fibrosis (CF) pulmonary exacerbations (PEx). At our institution, admission and weekly respiratory cultures are routinely collected to guide antimicrobial selection. This study evaluates the extent that this practice informs clinical management and the healthcare-related costs associated with routinely repeating cultures.

Correcting dysbiosis in the lungs of COPD, one pathogen at a time.

In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Liang et al. demonstrate through genomic analysis of the sputum microbiome from COPD patients and preclinical models that Staphylococcus aureus promotes lung function decline via regulation of homocysteine levels. Homocysteine can promote lung injury by promoting neutrophil apoptosis-to-NETosis shift via AKT1-S100A8/A9 axis.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight MS for the accurate identification of complex and in the clinical microbiology laboratory.

complex (Bcc) bacteria, currently consisting of 23 closely related species, and , can cause serious and difficult-to-treat infections in people with cystic fibrosis. Identifying bacteria to the species level is considered important for understanding epidemiology and infection control, and predicting clinical outcomes. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight MS (MALDI-TOF) is a rapid method recently introduced in clinical laboratories for bacterial species-level identification.

Design of Safe Nanotherapeutics for the Excretion of Excess Systemic Toxic Iron.

Chronic transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) to patients with β-thalassemia, sickle cell disease, and other acquired anemic disorders generates significant amounts of bioactive iron deposits in the body. The inactivation and excretion of redox active iron(III) from the blood pool and organs are critical to prevent organ damage, and are the focus of iron chelation therapy (ICT) using low molecular weight Fe(III) specific chelators. However, the current ICT is suboptimal because of the short circulation time of chelators, toxicity, severe side effects, difficult regime of administration, and patient noncompliance.

Patterns of in-hospital mortality and bleeding complications following PCI for very elderly patients: insights from the Dartmouth Dynamic Registry.

Background: Very elderly patients (age ≥ 85 years) are a rapidly increasing segment of the population. As a group, they experience high rates of in-hospital mortality and bleeding complications following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the relationship between bleeding and mortality in the very elderly is unknown.

Primary Stroke Center Hospitalization for Elderly Patients With Stroke: Implications for Case Fatality and Travel Times.

Importance: Physicians often must decide whether to treat patients with acute stroke locally or refer them to a more distant Primary Stroke Center (PSC). There is little evidence on how much the increased risk of prolonged travel time offsets benefits of a specialized PSC care.

Objectives: To examine the association of case fatality with receiving care in PSCs vs other hospitals for patients with stroke and to identify whether prolonged travel time offsets the effect of PSCs.

The practice of cranial neurosurgery and the malpractice liability environment in the United States.

Object: The potential imbalance between malpractice liability cost and quality of care has been an issue of debate. We investigated the association of malpractice liability with unfavorable outcomes and increased hospitalization charges in cranial neurosurgery.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study involving patients who underwent cranial neurosurgical procedures from 2005-2010, and were registered in the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database.

Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury Results in Long-Term Recovery of Functional Responsiveness in Sensory Cortex but Persisting Structural Changes and Sensorimotor, Cognitive, and Emotional Deficits.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death worldwide. In recent studies, we have shown that experimental TBI caused an immediate (24-h post) suppression of neuronal processing, especially in supragranular cortical layers. We now examine the long-term effects of experimental TBI on the sensory cortex and how these changes may contribute to a range of TBI morbidities.

Exploring prenatal outdoor air pollution, birth outcomes and neonatal health care utilization in a nationally representative sample.

The impact of air pollution on fetal growth remains controversial, in part, because studies have been limited to sub-regions of the United States with limited variability. No study has examined air pollution impacts on neonatal health care utilization. We performed descriptive, univariate and multivariable analyses on administrative hospital record data from 222,359 births in the 2000, 2003 and 2006 Kids Inpatient Database linked to air pollution data drawn from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Aerometric Information Retrieval System.

Fine particulate matter pollution linked to respiratory illness in infants and increased hospital costs.

There has been little research to date on the linkages between air pollution and infectious respiratory illness in children, and the resulting health care costs. In this study we used data on air pollutants and national hospitalizations to study the relationship between fine particulate air pollution and health care charges and costs for the treatment of bronchiolitis, an acute viral infection of the lungs. We found that as the average exposure to fine particulate matter over the lifetime of an infant increased, so did costs for the child's health care.

The effects of outdoor air pollutants on the costs of pediatric asthma hospitalizations in the United States, 1999 to 2007.

Background: Acute exposure to outdoor air pollutants has been associated with increased pediatric asthma morbidity. However, the impact of subchronic exposures is largely unknown.

Objective: To examine the association between subchronic exposure to 6 outdoor air pollutants (PM2.