Publications by authors named "M Ia Ruda"

Background: Injuries, the leading cause of death in children 1-17 years old, are often preventable. Injury patterns are impacted by changes in the child's environment, shifts in supervision, and caregiver stressors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence and proportion of injuries, mechanisms, and severity seen in Pediatric Emergency Departments (PEDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Objective: Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners (TXFNE) performs routine testing of genital and non-genital sites for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and further testing for other sexually transmitted pathogens. The current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines recommend that testing be based primarily on patient history of type of sexual contact, patient age, community prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), perpetrator risk factors for STIs, and patient symptoms (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). In this study, we were interested in determining whether our practice of testing all sites in all prepubertal patients presenting for sexual abuse for CT and NG resulted in identification of infections that would have been missed if testing had been limited to disclosed sites of sexual contact.

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Tuberculosis is an infectious disease which most commonly compromises the respiratory system, whereas abdominal involvement is rare, thus its diagnosis is a challenge. The clinical manifestations of abdominal tuberculosis as well as its physical examination findings are usually non-specific and, frequently, similar to those of other diseases, so it is critical to consider abdominal tuberculosis among the differential diagnoses. Here we report the clinical case of a 15-year-old male patient hospitalized for a prolonged febrile syndrome associated with abdominal pain, diarrhea, night sweats, and weight loss.

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Background: Bilateral skull fractures in infancy often raise suspicion for abuse. Nevertheless, literature suggests that they may occur accidentally. However, empiric data are lacking.

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Xylogucan (XG) fractions with different molar masses were prepared while preserving the natural structure of the XG. The solubility of the fractions was investigated using light scattering, chromatography, and microscopy techniques. The conformational changes of the XG molecules and their association and phase separation were investigated together with concentration and molar mass changes.

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