Development and validation of an assay for quantifying budesonide in dried blood spots collected from extremely low gestational age neonates.

Budesonide is a potential therapeutic option for the prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in mechanically ventilated premature neonates. The dose and concentrations of budesonide that drive effective prophylaxis are unknown, due in part to the difficulty in obtaining serial blood samples from this fragile population. Of primary concern is the limited total blood volume available for collection for the purposes of a pharmacokinetic study.

Candida albicans-associated sepsis in a pre-term neonatal rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta).

Invasive Candida infections (ICI) have been associated with neurodevelopmental impairment or death in human pre-term neonates. Candidiasis in nonhuman primates is seen mostly in immunosuppressed animals, and ICI is not commonly reported. Here, we report a case of Candida albicans-associated ICI in a pre-term neonatal rhesus macaque.

Trial to Encourage Adoption and Maintenance of a Mediterranean Diet (TEAM-MED): Protocol for a Randomised Feasibility Trial of a Peer Support Intervention for Dietary Behaviour Change in Adults at High Cardiovascular Disease Risk.

Adoption of a Mediterranean diet (MD) reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, interventions to achieve dietary behaviour change are typically resource intensive. Peer support offers a potentially low-cost approach to encourage dietary change.

Larger-Caliber Alternative Devices for Decompression of Tension Hemopneumothorax in the Setting of Hemorrhagic Shock.

Background: The 14-gauge (14G) angiocatheter (AC) has an unacceptably high failure rate in treatment of tension pneumothorax (tPTX). Little is known regarding the interplay among hemorrhage, hemothorax (HTX), and tPTX. We hypothesized that increased hemorrhage predisposes tension physiology and that needle decompression fails more often with increased HTX.

Oral Vitamin C (500 mg/d) to Pregnant Smokers Improves Infant Airway Function at 3 Months (VCSIP). A Randomized Trial.

We reported a randomized trial demonstrating daily supplemental vitamin C to pregnant smokers significantly improved newborn pulmonary function tests. The current study tests these results in a new cohort using infant pulmonary function tests. To determine if infants of pregnant smokers randomized to daily supplemental vitamin C would have improved forced expiratory flows (FEFs) at 3 months of age compared with those randomized to placebo, and to investigate the association of the α5 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The effectiveness of peer-supported interventions for encouraging dietary behaviour change in adults: a systematic review.

Objective: There is an urgent need to find effective methods of supporting individuals to make dietary behaviour changes. Peer-supported interventions (PSI) have been suggested as a cost-effective strategy to support chronic disease self-management. However, the effect of PSI on dietary behaviour is unclear.

Effect of dietary interventions in mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review.

Diet has been investigated in relation to its ability to promote cognitive function. However, evidence is currently limited and has rarely been systematically reviewed, particularly in a mild cognitive impairment (MCI) population. This review examined the effect of diet on cognitive outcomes in MCI patients.

Safety and tolerability of transition from inhaled treprostinil to oral selexipag in pulmonary arterial hypertension: Results from the TRANSIT-1 study.

Background: A long-term trial showed that the oral prostacyclin (PGl) receptor (IP) agonist, selexipag, delayed disease progression in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Transition to selexipag in patients treated with more burdensome inhaled therapies that target the prostacyclin pathway may be considered by patients and physicians. The Phase 3b, prospective, open-label TRANSIT-1 (Tolerability and Safety of the Transition From Inhaled Treprostinil to Oral Selexipag in Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension) study evaluated the safety and tolerability of transition from inhaled treprostinil to oral selexipag.

Smoking cessation in pregnancy: a continuing challenge in the United States.

Despite significant population level declines, smoking during pregnancy remains a major public health issue in the United States (US). Approximately 360,000-500,000 smoke-exposed infants are born yearly, and prenatal smoking remains a leading modifiable cause of poor birth outcomes (e.g.

Development of a peer support intervention to encourage dietary behaviour change towards a Mediterranean diet in adults at high cardiovascular risk.

Background: Mediterranean diet (MD) interventions are demonstrated to significantly reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk but are typically resource intensive and delivered by health professionals. There is considerable interest to develop interventions that target sustained dietary behaviour change and that are feasible to scale-up for wider public health benefit. The aim of this paper is to describe the process used to develop a peer support intervention to encourage dietary behaviour change towards a MD in non-Mediterranean adults at high CVD risk.

The Burden of Pediatric Neurocritical Care in the United States.

Background: Disorders requiring pediatric neurocritical care (PNCC) affect thousands of children annually. We aimed to quantify the burden of PNCC through generation of national estimates of disease incidence, utilization of critical care interventions (CCI), and hospital outcomes.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of the Kids Inpatient Database over three years to evaluate pediatric traumatic brain injury, neuro-infection or inflammatory diseases, status epilepticus, stroke, hypoxic ischemic injury after cardiac arrest, and spinal cord injury.

The non-visualized appendix and secondary signs on ultrasound for pediatric appendicitis in the community hospital setting.

Background: Secondary signs of appendicitis on ultrasound may aid with diagnosis in the setting of a non-visualized appendix (NVA). This role has not been shown in the community hospital setting.

Materials And Methods: All right lower quadrant ultrasounds performed in children for clinical suspicion of appendicitis over a 5-year period in a single community hospital were evaluated.

Breast cancer metastasis to gynaecological organs: a clinico-pathological and molecular profiling study.

Breast cancer metastasis to gynaecological organs is an understudied pattern of tumour spread. We explored clinico-pathological and molecular features of these metastases to better understand whether this pattern of dissemination is organotropic or a consequence of wider metastatic dissemination. Primary and metastatic tumours from 54 breast cancer patients with gynaecological metastases were analysed using immunohistochemistry, DNA copy-number profiling, and targeted sequencing of 386 cancer-related genes.

Quality of oxytocin ampoules available in health care facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo: an exploratory study in five provinces.

Background: Oxytocin injection is the first line therapy for the prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), the leading cause of maternal mortality. Currently access to high quality oxytocin in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is compromised by variable manufacturing quality and the requirement for cold chain supply and storage to prevent product deterioration. Previous studies of oxytocin ampoules sampled from Africa, the region with highest maternal mortality rates, indicate that over half do not contain the specified amount of oxytocin.

Dietary Patterns and Retinal Vessel Caliber in the Irish Nun Eye Study.

Background: Retinal vessel abnormalities are associated with cardiovascular disease risk. Widening of retinal venules is associated with increased risk of stroke while narrowing of retinal arterioles independently predicts incident hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes. Dietary factors are known to play an important role in cardiovascular health.

Respiratory Compliance in Late Preterm Infants (34-34 Weeks) after Antenatal Steroid Therapy.

Objective: To compare respiratory compliance in late preterm infants (34-34 weeks) who received antenatal steroids vs matched late preterm infants who did not receive antenatal steroids.

Study Design: This was a single-center prospective cohort study. Patients were matched for birth weight, gestational age, race, and sex.

Management of the Critically Ill Adult Chimeric Antigen Receptor-T Cell Therapy Patient: A Critical Care Perspective.

Objectives: Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, a type of immune effector therapy for cancer, has demonstrated encouraging results in clinical trials for the treatment of patients with refractory hematologic malignancies. Nevertheless, there are toxicities specific to these treatments that, if not recognized and treated appropriately, can lead to multiple organ failure and death. This article is a comprehensive review of the available literature and provides, from a critical care perspective, recommendations by experienced intensivists in the care of critically ill adult chimeric antigen receptor T-cell patients.

Diet Quality Indices and Leukocyte Telomere Length Among Healthy US Adults: Data From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002.

Aging is the biggest risk factor for the development of chronic diseases. Telomere length may represent one important mechanism by which dietary intake influences risk of age-related diseases; however, it is unknown which diet pattern is most strongly related to telomere length. We compared the relationships between 4 evidence-based diet quality indices and leukocyte telomere length in a nationally representative sample of healthy adults, and the extent to which these associations differed between men and women.

SDH-deficient renal cell carcinoma associated with biallelic mutation in succinate dehydrogenase A: comprehensive genetic profiling and its relation to therapy response.

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH)-deficient renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a rare RCC subtype that is caused by biallelic mutation of one of the four subunits of the SDH complex (, , , and ) and results in inactivation of the SDH enzyme. Here we describe a case of genetically characterized SDH-deficient RCC caused by biallelic (germline plus somatic) mutations. pathogenic variants were detected using comprehensive genomic profiling and SDH absence was subsequently confirmed by immunohistochemistry.

The window of improved neonatal respiratory compliance after rescue antenatal steroids.

Objective: To evaluate whether premature infants delivered ≤7 days after rescue antenatal steroid treatment (ideal treatment) have increased passive respiratory compliance compared to those delivered >7 days after treatment (remote treatment).

Methods: Secondary analysis of a randomized trial of rescue antenatal steroids on respiratory compliance. Infants in the treatment group were stratified by the interval between rescue antenatal steroids and delivery.

Cost effectiveness of vitamin c supplementation for pregnant smokers to improve offspring lung function at birth and reduce childhood wheeze/asthma.

Objective: To determine the implications of supplemental vitamin C for pregnant tobacco smokers and its effects on the prevalence of pediatric asthma, asthma-related mortality, and associated costs.

Study Design: A decision-analytic model built via TreeAge compared the outcome of asthma in a theoretical annual cohort of 480,000 children born to pregnant smokers through 18 years of life. Vitamin C supplementation (500 mg/day) with a standard prenatal vitamin was compared to a prenatal vitamin (60 mg/day).