The use of aprepitant for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting in endoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary surgery.

Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are adverse effects after surgery, which may increase the risk of complications. Aprepitant is a neurokinin-1 receptor blocker and has been shown to reduce chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting and PONV. However, its role in endoscopic skull base surgery remains unclear.

Possible new phase transition in the 3D Ising model associated with boundary percolation.

In the ordered phase of the 3D Ising model, minority spin clusters are surrounded by a boundary of dual plaquettes. As the temperature is raised, these spin clusters become more numerous, and it is found that eventually their boundaries undergo a percolation transition when about 13% of spins are minority. Boundary percolation differs from the more commonly studied site and link percolation, although it is related to an unusual type of site percolation that includes next to nearest neighbor relationships.

Portable Ultraviolet-C Chambers for Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2.

The goal of this project was to create and optimize the performance of portable chambers for reliable ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of personal protective equipment (PPE) and enable its safe reuse. During unforeseen times of high demand for PPE, such as during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), single-use PPE supply can be quickly depleted. UV radiation has been shown to disinfect materials with high efficacy.

The Effect of Race on Short-Term Pituitary Tumor Outcomes.

Background: The relationship between race and neurosurgical outcomes is poorly characterized despite its importance. The influence of race on short-term patient outcomes in a pituitary tumor surgery population was assessed.

Methods: Coarsened exact matching was used to retrospectively analyze 567 consecutive pituitary tumor cases from a 6-year period (June 7, 2013, to April 29, 2019) at a single, multihospital academic medical center.

Resolution of Papilledema Associated with Chiari I Malformation with Ventriculoperitoneal Shunting.

Chiari malformation type 1 (CMI) usually presents with cervical pain and suboccipital headache, among other symptoms. Patients with CMI describe symptoms that are clearly correlated with CMI for an average of 3.1 years before diagnosis.

Impact of Reduced Preincision Antibiotic Infusion Time on Surgical Site Infection Rates: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: Our objective was to determine the impact of total preincision infusion time on surgical site infections (SSIs) and establish an optimal time threshold for subsequent prospective study.

Background: SSIs remain a major cause of morbidity. Although regulated, the total time of infusion of preincision antibiotics varies widely.

Simultaneously reducing CO and particulate exposures via fractional recirculation of vehicle cabin air.

Prior studies demonstrate that air recirculation can reduce exposure to nanoparticles in vehicle cabins. However when people occupy confined spaces, air recirculation can lead to carbon dioxide (CO) accumulation which can potentially lead to deleterious effects on cognitive function. This study proposes a fractional air recirculation system for reducing nanoparticle concentration while simultaneously suppressing CO levels in the cabin.

Minimally Symptomatic Infection in an Ebola 'Hotspot': A Cross-Sectional Serosurvey.

Introduction: Evidence for minimally symptomatic Ebola virus (EBOV) infection is limited. During the 2013-16 outbreak in West Africa, it was not considered epidemiologically relevant to published models or projections of intervention effects. In order to improve our understanding of the transmission dynamics of EBOV in humans, we investigated the occurrence of minimally symptomatic EBOV infection in quarantined contacts of reported Ebola virus disease cases in a recognized 'hotspot.

Strengthening Health Systems While Responding to a Health Crisis: Lessons Learned by a Nongovernmental Organization During the Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic in Sierra Leone.

An epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) beginning in 2013 has claimed an estimated 11 310 lives in West Africa. As the EVD epidemic subsides, it is important for all who participated in the emergency Ebola response to reflect on strengths and weaknesses of the response. Such reflections should take into account perspectives not usually included in peer-reviewed publications and after-action reports, including those from the public sector, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), survivors of Ebola, and Ebola-affected households and communities.

Modeling spin-forbidden monomer self-initiation reactions in spontaneous free-radical polymerization of acrylates and methacrylates.

A spin-forbidden reaction is a reaction in which the total electronic spin-state changes. The standard transition-state theory that assumes a reaction occurs on a single potential energy surface with spin-conservation cannot be applied to a spin-forbidden reaction directly. In this work, we derive the crossing coefficient based on the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) theory to quantify the effect of intersystem crossing on the kinetics of spin-forbidden reactions.

Theoretical study of chain transfer to solvent reactions of alkyl acrylates.

This computational and theoretical study deals with chain transfer to solvent (CTS) reactions of methyl acrylate (MA), ethyl acrylate (EA), and n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) self-initiated homopolymerization in solvents such as butanol (polar, protic), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) (polar, aprotic), and p-xylene (nonpolar). The results indicate that abstraction of a hydrogen atom from the methylene group next to the oxygen atom in n-butanol, from the methylene group in MEK, and from a methyl group in p-xylene by a live polymer chain are the most likely mechanisms of CTS reactions in MA, EA, and n-BA. Energy barriers and molecular geometries of reactants, products, and transition states are predicted.

How can medical schools contribute to bringing about health equity?

The role of medical schools is in a process of change. The World Health Organization has declared that they can no longer be ivory towers whose primary focus is the production of specialist physicians and cutting edge laboratory research. They must also be socially accountable and direct their activities towards meeting the priority health concerns of the areas they serve.

Improving policy and practice to promote equity and social justice - a qualitative comparative analysis building on key learnings from a twinning exchange between England and the US.

Community health promotion interventions, targeted at marginalised populations and focusing on addressing the social determinants of health (SDH) to reduce health inequalities and addressing the processes of exclusion, are an important strategy to prevent and control non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and promote the health of underprivileged and under-resourced groups. This article builds on key lessons learnt from a learning exchange between Communities for Health in England and the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health across the US (REACH US) communities that are tackling health inequities. It presents a qualitative analysis further capturing information about specific community interventions involved in the exchange and identifying lessons learnt.

Computational study of chain transfer to monomer reactions in high-temperature polymerization of alkyl acrylates.

This article presents a computational study of chain transfer to monomer (CTM) reactions in self-initiated high-temperature homopolymerization of alkyl acrylates (methyl, ethyl, and n-butyl acrylate). Several mechanisms of CTM are studied. The effects of the length of live polymer chains and the type of monoradical that initiated the live polymer chains on the energy barriers and rate constants of the involved reaction steps are investigated theoretically.

Computational study of cyclohexanone-monomer co-initiation mechanism in thermal homo-polymerization of methyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate.

This paper presents a systematic computational study of the mechanism of cyclohexanone-monomer co-initiation in high-temperature homopolymerization of methyl acrylate (MA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA). Previous experimental studies of spontaneous thermal homopolymerization of MA and MMA showed higher monomer conversion in the presence of cyclohexanone than xylene. However, these studies did not reveal the initiation mechanism(s) or the initiating species.

Computational evidence for self-initiation in spontaneous high-temperature polymerization of methyl methacrylate.

This paper presents computational evidence for the occurrence of diradical mechanism of self-initiation in thermal polymerization of methyl methacrylate. Two self-initiation mechanisms of interest were explored with first-principles density functional theory calculations. Singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces were constructed.

Self-initiation mechanism in spontaneous thermal polymerization of ethyl and n-butyl acrylate: a theoretical study.

In this study, the mechanism of self-initiation in spontaneous thermal polymerization of ethyl and n-butyl acrylate is explored using first-principles calculations. Density functional theory (with B3LYP functional and 6-31G* basis set) was used to study [4 + 2] and [2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions on the singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces. Diels-Alder (DA) dimers of ethyl acrylate [6-ethoxy-2-ethoxycarbonyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran (EDP)] and of n-butyl acrylate [6-butoxy-2-butoxycarbonyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran (BDP)] were found to form on the singlet surface via the concerted pathway proposed by Mayo.

Computational study of the self-initiation mechanism in thermal polymerization of methyl acrylate.

This computational study deals with the mechanism of spontaneous initiation in thermal polymerization of alkyl acrylates (e.g., methyl, ethyl, and n-butyl acrylate).

A macrophage gene expression signature defines a field effect in the lung tumor microenvironment.

One area of intensive investigation is to understand complex cellular and signaling interactions in the tumor microenvironment. Using a novel, although straightforward, microarray approach, we defined a gene expression signature from the lung tumor microenvironment in the murine A/J-urethane model of human lung adenocarcinoma. The tumor microenvironment is reflected by the composition of the cell types present and alterations in mRNA levels, resulting in a "Field Effect" around the tumor.

Genetic and epigenetic regulation of the human prostacyclin synthase promoter in lung cancer cell lines.

The importance of the arachidonic acid pathway has been established in colon and lung cancers, as well as in inflammatory diseases. In these diseases, prostacyclin I(2) (PGI2) and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE2) are thought to have antagonistic activities, with PGI2 exerting anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative activities, whereas PGE2 is proinflammatory and antiapoptotic. In human lung cancer, prostacyclin synthase (PGIS) and PGI2 are down-regulated, whereas PGE2 synthase (PGES) and PGE2 are up-regulated.

Expression of human proteins at the Southeast Collaboratory for Structural Genomics.

The human protein production group at the Southeast Collaboratory for Structural Genomics is charged with producing human proteins for both X-ray crystallography and NMR structural studies. Eukaryotic, and human proteins in particular, are notoriously difficult to express in bacterial systems. For various reasons, T7-based expression often results in protein expressed in an insoluble form.

Nurse anesthesia students' perceptions of the anesthesia patient simulator: a qualitative study.

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of nurse anesthesia students (NAS) who used a MedSim simulator (MedSim USA, Inc, Ft Lauderdale, Fla) as part of their educational training. A convenience sample of 12 NAS in their first year of clinical training was researched. The researcher analyzed data qualitatively from observations made during 4 different sessions.