Medical complexity and concurrent hospice care: A national study of Medicaid children from 2011 to 2013.

Purpose: Pediatric hospice is a comprehensive model of care for medically complex children at end of life. The Affordable Care Act changed regulatory requirements for pediatric Medicaid enrollees to allow for enrollment into hospice services while still receiving life-prolonging therapy. There are gaps in understanding factors associated with pediatric concurrent hospice care use.

A Phenome-Wide Association Study (PheWAS) of COVID-19 Outcomes by Race Using the Electronic Health Records Data in Michigan Medicine.

Background: We performed a phenome-wide association study to identify pre-existing conditions related to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prognosis across the medical phenome and how they vary by race.

Methods: The study is comprised of 53,853 patients who were tested/diagnosed for COVID-19 between 10 March and 2 September 2020 at a large academic medical center.

Results: Pre-existing conditions strongly associated with hospitalization were renal failure, pulmonary heart disease, and respiratory failure.

Caregiver Reported Quality of End-of-Life Care of Adolescent and Young Adult Decedents With Cancer.

The quality of palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer remains largely unknown. To describe caregivers of AYA cancer decedents perspectives' on EOL care quality related to EOL care communication. Cross-sectional observational study.

Endothelial Control of Cerebral Blood Flow.

Since constant perfusion of blood throughout the brain is critical for neuronal health, the regulation of cerebral blood flow is complex and highly controlled. This regulation is controlled, in part, by the cerebral endothelium. In this review, multiple modes of endothelium-derived blood flow regulation is discussed, including chemical control of vascular tone, heterotypic and homotypic cell-cell interactions, second messenger signaling, and cellular response to physical forces and inflammatory mediators.

Photodynamic activity and photoantimicrobial chemotherapy studies of ferrocene-substituted 2-thiobarbituric acid.

A ferrocene-substituted thiobarbituric acid (FT) has been synthesized to explore its photophysical properties and photodynamic and photoantimicrobial chemotherapy activities. FT has an intense metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) band at ca. 575 nm.

A Rapid Food-Preference Assay in Drosophila.

To select food with nutritional value while avoiding the consumption of harmful agents, animals need a sophisticated and robust taste system to evaluate their food environment. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is a genetically tractable model organism that is widely used to decipher the molecular, cellular, and neural underpinnings of food preference. To analyze fly food preference, a robust feeding method is needed.

Low-Dose ATG/GCSF in Established Type 1 Diabetes: A Five-Year Follow-up Report.

Previously, we demonstrated low-dose antithymocyte globulin (ATG) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) immunotherapy preserved C-peptide for 2 years in a pilot study of patients with established type 1 diabetes ( = 25). Here, we evaluated the long-term outcomes of ATG/GCSF in study participants with 5 years of available follow-up data ( = 15). The primary end point was area under the curve (AUC) C-peptide during a 2-h mixed-meal tolerance test.

Multilevel barriers to communication in pediatric oncology: Clinicians' perspectives.

Background: Communication serves several functions in pediatric oncology, but communication deficiencies persist. Little is known about the broad spectrum of barriers contributing to these deficiencies. Identifying these barriers will support new strategies to improve communication.

Barriers to Optimal End-of-Life Care for Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer: Bereaved Caregiver Perspectives.

Background: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs; aged 15-39 years) with cancer frequently receive intensive measures at the end of life (EoL), but the perspectives of AYAs and their family members on barriers to optimal EoL care are not well understood.

Methods: We conducted qualitative interviews with 28 bereaved caregivers of AYAs with cancer who died in 2013 through 2016 after receiving treatment at 1 of 3 sites (University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Iowa, or University of California San Diego). Interviews focused on ways that EoL care could have better met the needs of the AYAs.

Parental views on communication between children and clinicians in pediatric oncology: a qualitative study.

Purpose: Communication is essential to providing family-centered care in pediatric oncology. Previously, we developed a functional model of communication between parents and clinicians. Prior research has not examined the domains and purposes of communication between children and clinicians.

Patients' understanding of communication about palliative care and health condition in Japanese patients with unresectable or recurrent cancer: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Understanding treatment goal is essential for decision-making among patients with unresectable/recurrent solid cancers. However, no previous studies in Japan have examined the association between patients' understanding and physicians' explanations. We aimed to examine agreement between patients' and physicians' reports of communication about palliative care and current health condition among patients with unresectable/recurrent cancer and explore factors associated with optimistic understanding in Japan.

Mapping Cell Viability Quantitatively and Independently From Cell Density in 3D Gels Noninvasively.

Objective: In biomanufacturing there is a need for quantitative methods to map cell viability and density inside 3D bioreactors to assess health and proliferation over time. Recently, noninvasive MRI readouts of cell density have been achieved. However, the ratio of live to dead cells was not varied.

Aerobic exercise ameliorates survival, clinical score, lung inflammation, DNA and protein damage in septic mice.

Background And Objective: Sepsis is a potentially deadly organic dysfunction, and one of the main causes of mortality in intensive care units (ICU). Aerobic exercise (AE) is a preventive intervention in the establishment of inflammatory conditions, such as chronic lung diseases, but its effects on sepsis remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of AE on health condition, mortality, inflammation, and oxidative damage in an experimental model of pneumosepsis induced by Klebsiella pneumoniae (K.

Photodynamic activity of Sn(IV) tetrathien-2-ylchlorin against MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

A new readily-synthesized Sn(iv) tetraarylchlorin with thien-2-yl substituents (SnC) has been prepared and fully characterized by various spectroscopic techniques and its photophysical and photochemical properties, such as the singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ), fluorescence quantum yield (ΦF), triplet lifetime (τT) and photostability, have been evaluated. SnC has an unusually high ΦΔ value of 0.89 in DMF.

Thematic Integration Impairments in Primary Progressive Aphasia: Evidence From Eye-Tracking.

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a degenerative disease affecting language while leaving other cognitive facilities relatively unscathed. The agrammatic subtype of PPA (PPA-G) is characterized by agrammatic language production with impaired comprehension of noncanonical filler-gap syntactic structures, such as object-relatives [e.g.

Identification of Evidence for Key Positive Psychological Constructs in Pediatric and Adolescent/Young Adult Patients with Cancer: A Scoping Review.

Children and adolescents/young adults (AYAs) with cancer are a vulnerable population susceptible to numerous late effects, such as fatigue and depression, which may diminish their long-term psychological, physical, spiritual, and emotional health. A well-rounded understanding of how positive psychological constructs affect the quality of care and treatment outcomes is therefore warranted. We conducted a scoping review of 15 positive psychological constructs in children and AYAs with cancer.

A Diverse View of Science to Catalyse Change.

Valuing diversity leads to scientific excellence, the progress of science and most importantly, it is simply the right thing to do. We can value diversity not only in words, but also in actions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: Outcomes From a Multi-State, Multi-Site Primary Care Practice.

Background: Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions. Individuals with anxiety typically seek services in primary, rather than specialty, care. While there is significant evidence supporting the efficacy and effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders, there have been no naturalistic studies reporting anxiety-specific treatment outcomes in primary care.

Plasticity of sentence processing networks: evidence from a patient with agrammatic variant of primary progressive aphasia (PPA).

This study reports the results of a longitudinal study examining the effects of treatment for sentence processing deficits for a 70-year-old gentleman (DK) with the agrammatic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). On entry into the study, he presented with a 2-year history of impaired verb and sentence processing and concomitant neural atrophy in primarily subcortical regions. Spanning an 18-month period, treatment focused on improving comprehension and production of syntactically complex, passive and object cleft, structures, consecutively.

Exploring Peaks in Hospital Blood Component Utilization: A 10-Year Retrospective Study at a Large Multisite Academic Centre.

Peak demand analysis is common in industries such as the energy sector, but can also be applied to the field of transfusion to characterize the nature and timing of peak days in hospital blood utilization. This information can be used to forecast future peak days or to inform hospital emergency preparedness plans. The aims of this study are to characterize peak days in red blood cell (RBC) utilization over the past 10 years at our hospital, and to compare RBC peaks with peaks in platelet, plasma, and cryoprecipitate utilization.

Validation of the caregiver Pediatric Patient-Reported Outcomes Version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events measure.

Background: Despite improvements in survival rates, cancer treatments have significant side effects that affect the quality of life of children and their families. When an ill child cannot self-report symptoms (eg, he or she is too ill), caregiver (parent) reporting becomes critical. This study evaluates the validity and reliability of the caregiver-reported Pediatric Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (Ped-PRO-CTCAE [Caregiver]) measure.

Electronic decision support and diarrhoeal disease guideline adherence (mHDM): a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Acute diarrhoeal disease management often requires rehydration alone without antibiotics. However, non-indicated antibiotics are frequently ordered and this is an important driver of antimicrobial resistance. The mHealth Diarrhoea Management (mHDM) trial aimed to establish whether electronic decision support improves rehydration and antibiotic guideline adherence in resource-limited settings.

Quantifying grammatical impairments in primary progressive aphasia: Structured language tests and narrative language production.

Purpose: This study examined grammatical production impairments in primary progressive aphasia (PPA), as measured by structured tests and narrative samples. We aimed to quantify the strength of the relationship between grammatical measures across tasks, and identify factors that condition it. Three grammatical domains were investigated: overall sentence production, verb morphology, and verb-argument structure.

Provider Specialty and Receipt of Metabolic Monitoring for Children Taking Antipsychotics.

Background And Objectives: Metabolic monitoring is important for children taking antipsychotic medication, given the risk for increased BMI, impaired glucose metabolism, and hyperlipidemia. The purpose was to examine the influence of provider specialty on the receipt of metabolic monitoring. Specifically, differences in the receipt of recommended care when a child receives outpatient care from a primary care provider (PCP), a mental health provider with prescribing privileges, or both was examined.