Clinical Characteristics and Prognostic Value of Ro52/SSA Antibodies in Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies.

Background/purpose: Anti-Ro52 are myositis-associated antibodies found in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs). This chart review aims to evaluate the frequency, significance, and associated clinical characteristics of Ro52/SSA positivity in IIM patients.

Methods: We performed a chart review of IIM patients diagnosed between January 2006 and December 2020.

Treatment of idiopathic anaphylaxis with dupilumab: a case report.

Background: Anaphylaxis is an acute, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that typically occurs after exposure to a trigger, while idiopathic anaphylaxis (IA) occurs in the absence of a trigger. Acute management of both triggered anaphylaxis and IA relies on the use of epinephrine. In some patients with recurrent IA, glucocorticoid prophylaxis with prednisone can be effective.

Consensus statement for the management of incidentally found brain white matter hyperintensities in general medical practice.

Introduction: There is a paradigm shift in our understanding of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) found on brain imaging. They were once thought to be a normal phenomenon of ageing and, therefore, warranted no further investigation. However, evidence now suggests these lesions are markers of poor brain and cardiovascular health, portending an increased risk of stroke, cognitive decline, depression and death.

Improving a Leadership Scale: Applying Rasch Analysis to Student Pharmacists' Attitudes and Beliefs About Leadership.

Objective: Leadership development is necessary for student pharmacists to become pharmacist leaders, but no readily usable standard measurement of student attitudes toward and beliefs about leadership exists. To assess the reliability and validity evidence for using the Leadership Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (LABS-III), originally developed and validated in Malaysia, for use with student pharmacists in the United States.

Methods: The 2-unit leadership course was piloted among second- and third-year students in a public college of pharmacy with a 4-year doctor of pharmacy curriculum.

Telestroke Assessment With Perfusion CT Improves the Diagnostic Accuracy of Stroke vs. Mimic.

CT perfusion (CTP) has been implemented widely in regional areas of Australia for telestroke assessment. The aim of this study was to determine if, as part of telestroke assessment, CTP provided added benefit to clinical features in distinguishing between strokes and mimic and between transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and mimic. We retrospectively analysed 1,513 consecutively recruited patients referred to the Northern New South Wales Telestroke service, where CTP is performed as a part of telestroke assessment.

Associations between risk factors for schizophrenia and concordance in four monozygotic twin samples.

Concordance for schizophrenia is high in monozygotic twins but the extent to which concordance varies according to the presence of other schizophrenia risk factors is not well established. We aimed to investigate this in systematically ascertained twin samples. DSM-III-R/DSM-IV diagnoses were made from original data or published case histories from four systematically ascertained monozygotic twin samples.

Description of an establishment event by the invasive Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) in a suburban landscape in the northeastern United States.

The establishment of non-native species is commonly described as occurring in three phases: arrival, establishment, and dispersal. Both arrival and dispersal by the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky), a xylophagous Cerambycid native to China and the Korean peninsula, has been documented for multiple locations in both North America and Europe, however the transitional phase, establishment, is not well understood for this species due to the need to rapidly remove populations to prevent dispersal and assist eradication, and the evident variation in the behavior of populations. Here we describe the dynamics of an establishment event for the Asian longhorned beetle in a small, isolated population within the regulated quarantine zone near Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.

Stroke in Older Survivors of Ischemic Stroke: Standard Care or Something Different?

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability and it is more likely to occur in those who are older. Because people are living longer, the definition of "old" continues to evolve. Age alone should not influence the healthcare that a patient receives, however, evidence indicates that this does occur, especially in older patients.

Antiglycation effects of carnosine and other compounds on the long-term survival of Escherichia coli.

Glycation, or nonenzymatic glycosylation, is a chemical reaction between reactive carbonyl-containing compounds and biomolecules containing free amino groups. Carbonyl-containing compounds include reducing sugars such as glucose or fructose, carbohydrate-derived compounds such as methylglyoxal and glyoxal, and nonsugars such as polyunsaturated fatty acids. The latter group includes molecules such as proteins, DNA, and amino lipids.

Educational intervention for obstetrical nurses: introducing intravenous fentanyl to the labour floor.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of an educational intervention in changing nurses' satisfaction and comfort with and their knowledge and use of a newly introduced analgesic agent, fentanyl, to manage pain during labour.

Methods: A written survey was completed by 19 labour and delivery nurses before and after the educational intervention in a small Northern Canadian city.

Results: Prior to the educational intervention, respondents rated their knowledge of and comfort with use of morphine and meperidine as significantly greater than their knowledge of and comfort with use of fentanyl (P<0.

Job variation in Australian advanced training in neurology.

Background: Like training posts in other medical specialties, many of the 38 Australian core training posts in neurology have been criticized over a variety of issues relating to the quality of training provided. These issues include excessive hours of work (often related to understaffing), high inpatient workload and inadequate exposure to outpatients and/or specialist procedures. To examine these issues, we conducted an audit of Australian advanced training posts in neurology to obtain baseline data.

Identification of the penumbra and infarct core on hyperacute noncontrast and perfusion CT.

Objectives: To correlate the two types of early ischemic change on noncontrast CT (NCCT) (parenchymal hypoattenuation [PH] and isolated focal swelling [IFS]) with concurrent assessment of cerebral perfusion and to compare their rates of progression to infarction.

Methods: We assessed cortical regions on NCCT for early ischemic change. Quantitative perfusion values were calculated for cortical regions from acute CT perfusion (CTP) maps of cerebral blood volume (CBV), blood flow (CBF), and mean transit time (MTT).

Role of penicillin-binding protein 1b in competitive stationary-phase survival of Escherichia coli.

The penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) catalyze the synthesis and modification of bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan. Although the biochemical activities of these proteins have been determined in Escherichia coli, the physiological roles of many PBPs remain enigmatic. Previous studies have cast doubt on the individual importance of the majority of PBPs during log phase growth.

CT perfusion source images improve identification of early ischaemic change in hyperacute stroke.

CT perfusion scanning produces dynamic contrast-enhanced brain images, but to generate and interpret the colour maps of cerebral perfusion from these source images requires specialist neuroimaging knowledge. We hypothesized that physicians without such training might still utilise the CT perfusion source images (CTPSI) to diagnose early ischaemic change. Fifteen patients had cerebral non-contrast CT (NCCT) and perfusion CT within 6 hours of hemispheric stroke onset.

Perfusion computed tomography: prediction of final infarct extent and stroke outcome.

The Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS) has not been previously applied to perfusion CT (CTP). Five raters assigned ASPECTS to baseline noncontrast CT (NCCT), CT angiography source images (CTA-SI), CTP source images (CTP-SI), and CTP maps of cerebral blood volume (CBV), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and mean transit time (MTT) from 37 consecutive patients with less than 6-hour anterior circulation ischemic stroke. Major reperfusion was identified on follow-up imaging.

SOS-induced DNA polymerases enhance long-term survival and evolutionary fitness.

Escherichia coli encodes three SOS-induced DNA polymerases: pol II, pol IV, and pol V. We show here that each of these polymerases confers a competitive fitness advantage during the stationary phase of the bacterial life cycle, in the absence of external DNA-damaging agents known to induce the SOS response. When grown individually, wild-type and SOS pol mutants exhibit indistinguishable temporal growth and death patterns.

Topical minoxidil therapy for hereditary male pattern alopecia.

Minoxidil solution 2.8 percent applied topically produced new hair growth in patients with male pattern alopecia. An open trial involving 777 male patients was conducted over thirty-two months.

The histamine H2 receptor agonist impromidine: synthesis and structure-activity considerations.

Impromidine (1) is a potent and selective histamine H2 receptor agonist and its structure comprises a strongly basic guanidine group containing two different imidazole-containing side chains. In this paper we report the synthesis of analogues in which both of the side chains and the guanidine group are modified and tested as agonists or antagonists at histamine H2 receptors on guinea pig atrium. A protonated amidine group linked by a chain of three carbon atoms to a tautomeric imidazole ring appears to be an essential feature for agonist activity and it is suggested that the second imidazole-containing side chain in impromidine mainly contributes toward affinity for histamine H2 receptors.

Dermabrasion for the treatment of a giant seborrheic keratosis.

A man presented for removal of a giant seborrheic keratosis. Dermabrasion removal of this lesion provided technical ease with good cosmetic results.