Exposure to corticosteroids in pregnancy is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes among infants of mothers with inflammatory bowel disease: results from the PIANO registry.

Objective: Active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) during pregnancy may require the use of corticosteroids. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of in utero corticosteroid exposure on adverse pregnancy outcomes, congenital malformations, infections and neurocognitive development among offspring of mothers with IBD.

Design: Using the prospective Pregnancy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Neonatal Outcomes registry, data were collected at each trimester, delivery; and in the 12 months post partum.

Phylogeography of the Asian lesser white-toothed shrew, Crocidura shantungensis, in East Asia: role of the Korean Peninsula as refugium for small mammals.

Many peninsulas in the temperate zone played an important role as refugia of various flora and fauna, and the southern Korean Peninsula also served as a refugium for many small mammals in East Asia during the Pleistocene. The Asian lesser white-toothed shrew, Crocidura shantungensis, is a widely distributed species in East Asia, and is an appropriate model organism for exploring the role of the Korean Peninsula as a refugium of small mammals. Here, we investigated phylogenetic relationships and genetic diversity based on the entire sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1140 bp).

Pharmacokinetics of biologics and the role of therapeutic monitoring.

Biologic therapies, including the anti-tumor necrosis factor-α and cell adhesion molecule inhibitor drugs, have revolutionized the treatment of moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease. Since the introduction of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapies, the strategy of empiric dose-escalation, either increasing the dose or frequency of administration, has been used to recapture clinical response in inflammatory bowel disease. Disparate clinical outcomes have been linked to serum drug and antidrug antibody levels.

Restoration of an endangered plant, Hygrophila pogonocalyx, leads to an adaptive host shift of the chocolate pansy (Junonia iphita iphita).

Anthropogenic introduction of a plant species may cause novel encounters between the plant and local herbivores, and initiate evolutionary changes in host plant usage by herbivores. Until recently the endemic aquatic plant Hygrophila pogonocalyx was endangered and had a restricted distribution in Taiwan. Massive restoration efforts since 1997 have led to an expansion of the plant's distribution and a novel encounter between it and an Asian butterfly, the chocolate pansy, Junonia iphita (Nymphalidae).

The effects of race and socioeconomic status on immunomodulator and anti-tumor necrosis factor use among ambulatory patients with inflammatory bowel disease in the United States.

Objectives: Health-care disparities exist for patients of minority race and low socioeconomic status (SES) in many chronic disease states, but little is known regarding health-care disparities for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Using nationally representative data, we sought to determine whether use of immunomodulators and anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents differed by race/ethnicity and SES among ambulatory patients with IBD.

Methods: We used data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 1998 to 2010.

Doubling the infliximab dose versus halving the infusion intervals in Crohn's disease patients with loss of response.

Background: Intensifying infliximab therapy is often practiced in Crohn's disease (CD) patients losing response to the drug but there are no data if halving the interval is superior to doubling the dose. We aimed to assess the efficacy of infliximab dose intensification by interval-halving compared with dose-doubling.

Methods: A multicenter retrospective study of CD patients losing response to infliximab was undertaken.

Durability of infliximab dose intensification in Crohn's disease.

Background: Dose intensification is a common approach to treat Crohn's disease (CD) patients who lose response to infliximab maintenance therapy. Few studies have reported upon its long-term efficacy or predictors of response.

Aim: The goal of this study is to investigate durability and predictors of response to dose intensification-including method of dose intensification, combination immunomodulator therapy, and premedication with intravenous hydrocortisone.

Repeat 2-stage revision for recurrent infection of total hip arthroplasty.

Eleven patients who developed reinfection after 2-stage revision for infected total hip arthroplasty (THA) were treated with a repeat 2-stage rerevision. Of the 11 rerevisions, 4 were successful, with no recurrent infection at mean follow-up of 44 months. Reinfection occurred in 7 patients of whom 6 involved either a significantly compromised host or poor local wound status.

Resilience in parentally bereaved children and adolescents seeking preventive services.

This study examined environmental stress, family, and child variables that differentiate resilient children and adolescents from those with mental health problems following the death of a primary caregiver. The community-based sample included 179 bereaved children ages 8 to 16 years and their surviving caregivers who completed a test battery of measures before participating in a prevention program. Forty-four percent of bereaved children were classified as resilient and 56% as affected based on the absence of clinically significant mental health problems on at least 1 measure as reported by either the child, surviving caregiver, or teacher on standardized measures of mental health problems.

Laboratory implementation of human papillomavirus testing.

Human papillomavirus testing is becoming an integral component of cervical cancer screening. Market forces will require most laboratories that perform Papanicolaou tests to develop a system for handling human papillomavirus testing also. Data and information are presented that may facilitate laboratories when addressing the following issues in the process of developing a human papillomavirus testing service: Which methodology is the best fit for the laboratory? Is it better to develop an in-house testing service or to send it out? How do I get started? What are the financial and economic issues, and how should they be managed?

The family bereavement program: efficacy evaluation of a theory-based prevention program for parentally bereaved children and adolescents.

This article presents an experimental evaluation of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP), a 2-component group intervention for parentally bereaved children ages 8-16. The program involved separate groups for caregivers, adolescents, and children, which were designed to change potentially modifiable risk and protective factors for bereaved children. The evaluation involved random assignment of 156 families (244 children and adolescents) to the FBP or a self-study condition.