Qualitative interviews to support development of a patient-reported companion measure to the Glucocorticoid Toxicity Index.

Introduction: Glucocorticoids (GCs) are associated with multiple toxicities that have substantial impact on patients. We conducted qualitative interviews with patients to identify the toxicities that are most relevant from their perspective, with the goal of creating a patient-reported companion measure to the Glucocorticoid Toxicity Index (GTI), a clinician-facing instrument.

Methods: Thirty-one patients with recent or current GC use participated in concept elicitation interviews.

The Glucocorticoid Toxicity Index-Metabolic Domains, an abridged version of the Glucocorticoid Toxicity Index: post-hoc analysis of data from the ADVOCATE trial.

Background: Quantifying glucocorticoid toxicity is crucial to efforts to reduce it. The Glucocorticoid Toxicity Index (GTI) measures toxicity effectively in clinical trials by calculating two scores: the cumulative worsening score (CWS) and the aggregate improvement score (AIS). However, in clinical practice, high patient volumes limit the time available for standardised assessments.

Hormonal basis of sex differences in anesthetic sensitivity.

General anesthesia-a pharmacologically induced reversible state of unconsciousness-enables millions of life-saving procedures. Anesthetics induce unconsciousness in part by impinging upon sexually dimorphic and hormonally sensitive hypothalamic circuits regulating sleep and wakefulness. Thus, we hypothesized that anesthetic sensitivity should be sex-dependent and modulated by sex hormones.

Animal Shelters' Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Survey of 14 Shelters in the Northeastern United States.

Anecdotal reports indicate that many animal shelters experienced increased adoption and foster care rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet peer-reviewed evidence is lacking. In this pilot survey of 14 animal shelters in the Northeastern United States, we aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on animal intakes, foster care and five outcome types and describe operational changes reported by shelters in response to COVID-19. Paired sample -tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare intake, adoption, euthanasia and foster care rates and numbers between March-June 2019 and 2020.

Effects of time and temperature during melanging on the volatile profile of dark chocolate.

Chocolate made from small-batch production is known for distinct sensory properties that differentiate its products from large-scale production. Specifically, small-batch processing includes a melanging step, a chocolate refining (a process involving time and temperature to refine texture and flavor) process that occurs in a stone wet-grinder. Chocolatiers understand that melanging is essential to flavor and overall quality, however the influence of melanging on the aroma chemistry of the finished chocolate is anecdotal and largely uncharacterized.

Clinician Experiences of Care Provision in the Correctional Setting: A Scoping Review.

Little is known about the experiences of correctional health care providers and how their experiences impact the correctional health care system. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols guidelines, multiple databases were searched. Each abstract was read by two reviewers with a third for consensus as needed.

Henry Jacob Bigelow Inhaled Nitrous Oxide While an Undergraduate at Harvard College.

When teenaged Henry Jacob Bigelow was an undergraduate at Harvard College in 1833-1837, he prepared nitrous oxide gas for demonstrations to other students. Bigelow's son, William Sturgis Bigelow, related the claim, and there is an eyewitness account from Augustus Goddard Peabody, a fellow Harvard undergraduate with Bigelow. Peabody wrote to Henry David Thoreau about a nitrous frolic.

Spinal Cord Stimulation vs Conventional Therapies for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back and Leg Pain: A Systematic Review of Health Care Resource Utilization and Outcomes in the Last Decade.

Objective: The purpose of this review is to critically appraise the literature for evidence supporting the health care resource utilization and cost-effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) compared with conventional therapies (CTs) for chronic low back and leg pain.

Methods: The PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine databases were searched for studies published from January 2008 through October 2018, using the following MeSH terms: "spinal cord stimulation," "chronic pain," "back pain," "patient readmission," "economics," and "costs and cost analysis." Additional sources were added based on bibliographies and consultation with experts.

George Washington Frost Mellen and Resuscitation with Nitrous Oxide in 1847.

In The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal of 1847 (later to be called The New England Journal of Medicine), Boston chemist George Washington Frost Mellen claimed that inhaled nitrous oxide gas supports human life in the manner of oxygen gas, and he proposed the use of nitrous oxide in resuscitation from drowning and from carbon monoxide poisoning. The claim was reprinted in at least one dental journal and was long cited as justification for the use of 100% nitrous oxide for inhaled anesthesia. Advocates included anesthesia pioneer and painless dentist Gardner Quincy Colton.

Divine's CO Absorber of 1867.

Chemist and inventor Silas R. Divine (1838-1912) sold ammonium nitrate and other anesthesia supplies in New York City. He offered a carbon dioxide absorber for the purpose of rebreathing nitrous oxide.

Neuropathy with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors: A meta-analysis.

Objective: To explore the association of peripheral neuropathy with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (VEGFR-TKIs) use in patients with cancer.

Methods: Published data search up to November 2018 reporting peripheral neuropathy in patients with cancer treated with VEGFR-TKIs was performed. The primary outcome was presence of peripheral neuropathy at the end of the trial.

Combined effects of storage and processing on the bioactive compounds and pro-apoptotic properties of color-fleshed potatoes in human colon cancer cells.

Potatoes can be stored for up to 1 year before being processed and consumed. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which fresh and stored color-fleshed potatoes retain their anticancer properties after baking and chipping compared with unprocessed potatoes. We utilized white-, yellow-, and purple-fleshed potato clones and tested their phenolic and anthocyanin content, antioxidant activity, metabolite profile, and antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic properties.

Amygdala stimulation evokes time-varying synaptic responses in the gustatory cortex of anesthetized rats.

Gustatory stimuli are characterized by a specific hedonic value; they are either palatable or aversive. Hedonic value, along with other psychological dimensions of tastes, is coded in the time-course of gustatory cortex (GC) neural responses and appears to emerge via top-down modulation by the basolateral amygdala (BLA). While the importance of BLA in modulating gustatory cortical function has been well established, the nature of its input onto GC neurons is largely unknown.

Effects of seasonal variation on sensory properties and total phenolic content of 5 lettuce cultivars.

Butterhead, crisphead, green leaf, red leaf, and romaine types of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) are all commonly available in U.S.

Elton Romeo Smilie, the not-quite discoverer of ether anesthesia.

Like William T.G. Morton, Elton Romeo Smilie (1819-1889) was raised in Massachusetts, attended medical school in New England, practiced dentistry there, strove for clinical invention, and moved to Boston.

The EJC factor eIF4AIII modulates synaptic strength and neuronal protein expression.

Proper neuronal function and several forms of synaptic plasticity are highly dependent on precise control of mRNA translation, particularly in dendrites. We find that eIF4AIII, a core exon junction complex (EJC) component loaded onto mRNAs by pre-mRNA splicing, is associated with neuronal mRNA granules and dendritic mRNAs. eIF4AIII knockdown markedly increases both synaptic strength and GLUR1 AMPA receptor abundance at synapses.

Hippocampal inactivation enhances taste learning.

Learning tasks are typically thought to be either hippocampal-dependent (impaired by hippocampal lesions) or hippocampal-independent (indifferent to hippocampal lesions). Here, we show that conditioned taste aversion (CTA) learning fits into neither of these categories. Rats were trained to avoid two taste stimuli, one novel and one familiar.

"Ask A Librarian": the experiences of four hospital libraries.

The librarians at four hospital libraries describe the electronic reference service, "Ask A Librarian," offered at their institutions. The hospitals are vastly different in size and in number of library staff, and offer the "Ask A Librarian" service to different clientele. The article illustrates that both large hospitals with a large library staff and small hospitals with a solo librarian and some volunteers can offer this type of service.