Safety of Immediate-Release Nifedipine.

Nifedipine immediate release (IR) is a short-acting dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker historically used for hypertensive crisis, but its use has decreased because of reports of adverse reactions such as myocardial infarction (MI), arrhythmias, and stroke. This was a retrospective evaluation of the safety of nifedipine IR in 122 patients at an academic medical center from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2014. Patients were separated into high- and low-risk groups.

Predictors of Hospital Readmission in Patients Receiving Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy.

Study Objective: Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is increasingly used, and unfortunately, readmissions during OPAT are common. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of hospital readmission among patients receiving OPAT.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Update on pediatric cancer predisposition syndromes.

Hereditary cancer syndromes in children and adolescents are becoming more recognized in the field of pediatric hematology/oncology. A recent workshop held at the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) 2012 Annual Meeting included several interactive sessions related to specific familial cancer syndromes, genetic testing and screening, and ethical issues in caring for families with inherited cancer risk. This review highlights the workshop presentations, including a brief background about pediatric cancer predisposition syndromes and the importance of learning about them for the practicing pediatric hematologists/oncologists.

Management of a Type I Hypersensitivity Reaction to IV Etoposide in a Woman with a Yolk Sac Tumor: A Case Report.

Type I hypersensitivity reactions to intravenous administration of etoposide are extremely rare. Etoposide is an essential component of several chemotherapy regimens used in gynecologic oncology, and discontinuation of this drug during a course of treatment should only be due to severe patient intolerance. We report the successful use of intravenous etoposide phosphate as a substitute drug in a patient with a yolk sac tumor who manifested a Type I hypersensitivity to intravenous etoposide.

Value transfer across odor stimuli using probability of reinforcement in the rat.

In a series of experiments value transfer across odor stimuli using probability of reinforcement was demonstrated in rats. Rats were trained with the following pairs of simple simultaneous discriminations A(100) B(0) and C(50) D(0) where the letter represents a particular scent mixed with sand presented in a cup and the number in parentheses represents the probability of reinforcement given that the rats dug to the bottom of the cup. In test, the rats were confronted with a choice between the B and D stimuli and (in experiments 2 and 3) the rats preferred to dig in the B stimulus providing evidence for value transfer using procedures similar to those that have been used in the pigeon literature.

Human implicit memory for irrelevant dimension values is similar to rats' incidental memory in simultaneous discrimination tasks.

Participants completed a category-learning task in which they needed to discover which of three stimulus dimensions (shape, color or size) was relevant. After meeting a learning criterion (nine of 10 consecutive correct responses), participants continued making categorization choices and response latencies associated with these trials were examined. In both Experiments 1 and 2, people responded reliably faster when correct responses matched the previous responses with respect to irrelevant dimension values.

Anesthesia for minimally invasive surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery has become the surgical approach of choice for a number of operative procedures in adults, but remains a challenge in children, especially the youngest, due to the physiologic changes that occur during the procedure as well as limitations posed by equipment. These surgical techniques can present unique problems to the pediatric anesthesiologist in designing and implementing the anesthetic management plan. In this article, we will outline the physiologic impact, anesthetic management, and potential challenges and complications associated with minimally invasive surgery in children.

Short-term incidental memory for irrelevant cues.

A new analysis of previously published studies of delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) water-escape and the results of a new food-reinforced discrimination study are presented. In both cases, male Sprague-Dawley rats demonstrated short-term incidental memory for irrelevant cues in the context of two-alternative forced-choice problems that required learning about relevant cues. In the DMTS experiments, relevant and irrelevant cues were place or brightness.

The behavioral effects of magnesium therapy on recovery of function following bilateral anterior medial cortex lesions in the rat.

Magnesium (Mg(++)) therapy has been shown to be neuroprotective and to facilitate recovery of motor and sensorimotor function in a variety of animal models of traumatic brain injury. However, few studies have investigated the efficacy of Mg(++) therapy on cognitive impairments following injury. The present study evaluated the ability of magnesium chloride (MgCl(2)) to facilitate recovery of function following bilateral anterior medial cortex lesions (bAMC).

Place DMTS water-escape with direct placement or response information runs.

A two-choice, spatial delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) water-escape task has proved to be a valuable of assay of trial-dependent memory. The task involves giving rats trials consisting of a forced-choice information run and a free-choice test run that are separated by a 5-m retention interval. Two experiments were conducted to determine the importance of making a complete response (R), partial response (P), or no response (NR; direct placement on escape platform) during the information "run" on acquisition and the subsequent performance of the task.

Ensuring the success of women faculty at AMCs: lessons learned from the National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health.

Since the early 1970s, the numbers of women entering medical school and, subsequently, academic medicine have increased substantially. However, women faculty have not advanced at the expected rate to senior academic ranks or positions of leadership. In 1996, to counter this trend, the U.

Rats more readily acquire a time-of-day go no-go discrimination than a time-of-day choice discrimination.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were used to compare six time-place training procedures that differed with respect to housing or training conditions. All procedures involved training food-deprived rats to enter one choice arm of a T-maze during a morning test session and to enter the other choice arm during an afternoon session to obtain Cocoa Puffs(R). The task proved to be difficult.

Effects of pregnancy and progesterone on the consumption of ethanol by the high ethanol preferring (HEP) rat.

A significant fraction of women continue to drink heavily during pregnancy, which is associated with the fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol-related birth defects, alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder, and spontaneous abortion. The objective of this study was to determine whether the selectively bred genetic drinking Myers High Ethanol Preferring (HEP) rat would continue to drink through pregnancy. Rats from the F7 generation were screened by a 10-day 3-30% (v/v) ethanol concentration 'step up' procedure in order to determine the concentration which resulted in maximal drinking with an ethanol solution to total fluid ratio closest to 0.

Breakfast in the nook and dinner in the dining room: time-of-day discrimination in rats.

Four studies were conducted which demonstrate that most (63%) male Sprague-Dawley rats can attain criterion, nine correct choices over ten consecutive trials, on a time-of-day discrimination in an elevated T-maze, but that the task is relatively difficult. The discrimination required that the rats go to one goal arm during a morning session and the other in an afternoon session. The sessions always began at the same time and were at least 6 h apart.

Working memory deficits induced by single but not repeated exposures to domoic acid.

Single injections of domoic acid, given either intraperitoneally to mice or directly into the hippocampal formation of rats, have been shown to impair learning on the place version of the Morris water maze task and the eight arm radial maze task. The present study was designed to test whether both single and repeated exposures of intraperitoneally administered domoic acid (1.0 or 2.

Glucose minimally attenuates scopolamine-but not morphine-induced deficits on a water maze alternation task.

In a previous study, daily injections of glucose, 100 and 250 mg/kg i.p., in Sprague-Dawley rats failed to either facilitate acquisition or to ameliorate scopolamine- or morphine-induced deficits on a water maze alternation task (Means, et al.

Guidelines for the pediatric perioperative anesthesia environment. American Academy of Pediatrics. Section on Anesthesiology.

The American Academy of Pediatrics proposes the following guidelines for the pediatric perioperative anesthesia environment. Essential components are identified that make the perioperative environment satisfactory for the anesthesia care of infants and children. Such an environment promotes the safety and wellbeing of infants and children by reducing the risk for adverse events.

Transnasal butorphanol is effective for postoperative pain relief in children undergoing myringotomy.

Background: More than 70% of children require analgesics after bilateral myringotomy and tube placement (BMT). Because anesthesia for BMT is generally provided by face mask without placement of an intravenous catheter, an alternative route for analgesia administration is needed. Transnasal butorphanol is effective in relieving postoperative pain in adults and children.

Dilutional and modified ultrafiltration reduces pulmonary hypertension after operations for congenital heart disease: a prospective randomized study.

Objective: A prospective randomized study was performed to test whether removal of endothelin-1, by ultrafiltration techniques, will reduce pulmonary hypertension after operations for congenital heart disease.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with pulmonary hypertension (systolic pulmonary/systemic arterial pressure ratio > 60%) undergoing cardiac operations were randomized into a control group (n = 12) having conventional ultrafiltration and an experimental group (n = 12) undergoing dilutional ultrafiltration during and modified ultrafiltration after cardiopulmonary bypass. Plasma endothelin-1, nitric oxide metabolites, and cyclic guanosine monophosphate were assayed before bypass, 10 minutes into bypass, after bypass, and 0, 3, 6, and 12 hours after the operation in both groups, as well as in the ultrafiltrates and after modified ultrafiltration in the experimental group.

A comparison of visual- and response-generated cues in a spatial DMTS task for rats.

In an attempt to clarify the nature of the memory cues used in a spatial, working memory task, rats were tested in a two-choice water maze. Each trial consisted of an information run, which forced the rat to the correct choice compartment, a retention period, and a test run. A response-associated cue condition, in which the relevant cue was the direction of the turn in the information run, was compared to a visual cue condition in which the animal had to remember whether the escape platform had been in the light or dark compartment.

Comparison of the alcohol-preferring P rat to the Wistar rat in behavioral tests of impulsivity and anxiety.

To determine whether the selectively bred alcohol preferring P rat displays impulsive and anxiety-related behaviors, as have been noted in Type 2 human alcoholics, P rats were compared with outbred Wistar rats, the strain from which P rats were derived, on a series of behaviors reflecting impulsivity and anxiety. The two groups were also compared on their volitional consumption of ethanol. When compared with the Wistar rats, the P rats preferred a higher concentration of ethanol and imbibed a much greater amount of ethanol when they were offered their preferred concentration.