Survival rates of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting to a pediatric rheumatologist in the United States.

Background: Approximately 30% of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients present with musculoskeletal symptoms and are often referred first to a pediatric rheumatologist. We examined the survival and causes of death of these patients presenting to a pediatric rheumatologist and compared the rates with that reported in the hematology-oncology literature.

Procedure: We used the Pediatric Rheumatology Disease Registry, including 49,023 patients from 62 centers, newly diagnosed between 1992 and 2001.

Hyaluronan matrices in pathobiological processes.

Hyaluronan matrices are ubiquitous in normal and pathological biological processes. This remarkable diversity is related to their unique mechanism of synthesis by hyaluronan synthases. These enzymes are normally activated in the plasma membrane and utilize cytosolic substrates directly to form these large polyanionic glycosaminoglycans, which are extruded directly into the extracellular space.

Quantitative electrocardiography for predicting postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiac surgery is a common marker of poor outcomes. Quantitative electrocardiographic (ECG) measurements may be valuable predictors of postoperative AF.

Methods: We evaluated clinical and ECG predictors of postoperative AF in 13,356 patients who underwent cardiac surgery in sinus rhythm.

Hyaluronan deposition and correlation with inflammation in a murine ovalbumin model of asthma.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by airway remodeling, which includes changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM). However the role of the ECM in mediating these changes is poorly understood. Hyaluronan (HA), a major component of the ECM, has been implicated in asthma as well as in many other biological processes.

Identifying important risk factors for survival in patient with systolic heart failure using random survival forests.

Background: Heart failure survival models typically are constructed using Cox proportional hazards regression. Regression modeling suffers from a number of limitations, including bias introduced by commonly used variable selection methods. We illustrate the value of an intuitive, robust approach to variable selection, random survival forests (RSF), in a large clinical cohort.

Atomic force microscopy-based screening of drug-excipient miscibility and stability of solid dispersions.

Purpose: Development of a method to assess the drug/polymer miscibility and stability of solid dispersions using a melt-based mixing method.

Methods: Amorphous fractured films are prepared and characterized with Raman Microscopy in combination with Atomic Force Microscopy to discriminate between homogenously and heterogeneously mixed drug/polymer combinations. The homogenous combinations are analyzed further for physical stability under stress conditions, such as increased humidity or temperature.

Chronic copper toxicity in the estuarine copepod Acartia tonsa at different salinities.

Chronic Cu toxicity was evaluated in the euryhaline copepod Acartia tonsa. Male and female copepods were exposed (6 d) separately to different combinations of Cu concentration and water salinity (5, 15, and 30 ppt) using different routes of exposure (waterborne, waterborne plus dietborne, and dietborne). After exposure, groups of one male and three female copepods were allowed to reproduce for 24 h.

Indigenous knowledge and long-term ecological change: detection, interpretation, and responses to changing ecological conditions in Pacific Island communities.

When local resource users detect, understand, and respond to environmental change they can more effectively manage environmental resources. This article assesses these abilities among artisanal fishers in Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands. In a comparison of two villages, it documents local resource users' abilities to monitor long-term ecological change occurring to seagrass meadows near their communities, their understandings of the drivers of change, and their conceptualizations of seagrass ecology.

Mortality outcomes in pediatric rheumatology in the US.

Objective: To describe mortality rates, causes of death, and potential mortality risk factors in pediatric rheumatic diseases in the US.

Methods: We used the Indianapolis Pediatric Rheumatology Disease Registry, which includes 49,023 patients from 62 centers who were newly diagnosed between 1992 and 2001. Identifiers were matched with the Social Security Death Index censored for March 2005.