Publications by authors named "Puttock E"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examines whether patients aged 50 and older with incidentally discovered covert cerebrovascular diseases (id-CCD) are prescribed statins, despite being at risk for future strokes.
  • Out of over 241,000 patients evaluated, 31.1% were found to have id-CCD, and more than half of them (53.5%) were not on statins prior to diagnosis.
  • Even after diagnosis, there was only a minor increase in statin prescription, suggesting that identifying id-CCD does not significantly impact statin treatment decisions in clinical practice.
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  • Indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM) is the most common form of systemic mastocytosis, and its diagnostic challenges and impact on patients' lives need more examination.
  • A survey of 40 adults with ISM revealed a lengthy diagnosis process, averaging over two years, with many patients experiencing severe symptoms that negatively affected their quality of life and work ability.
  • The study found a strong correlation between symptom severity and physical/mental health scores, highlighting that those with moderate to severe symptoms suffered significantly more from skin and gastrointestinal issues compared to those with mild symptoms.
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Article Synopsis
  • Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a rare disease affecting about 32,000 people in the U.S., often misdiagnosed due to vague symptoms and the necessity for invasive tests.
  • A study of 116 patients revealed that the majority had indolent SM, with a significant average delay of 58.3 months for diagnosis, and some patients progressed to more advanced forms.
  • The findings emphasize the need for better awareness and understanding of SM to improve diagnosis and treatment, suggesting that further studies are necessary to establish effective follow-up care for patients.
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Background: Social determinants of health have a significant impact on asthma outcomes, and factors such as income level and neighborhood environment have crucial roles.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the impact of the Neighborhood Deprivation Index (NDI) and Total Crime Index (TCI) on acute asthma exacerbation (AAE) and asthma-related emergency department and urgent care (ED/UC) visits in adults with mild asthma.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used administrative data from Kaiser Permanente Southern California among 198,873 adult patients with mild asthma between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2018.

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Background: Although individuals with mild asthma account for 30% to 40% of acute asthma exacerbations (AAEs), relatively little attention has been paid to risk factors for AAEs in this population.

Objective: To identify risk factors associated with AAEs in patients with mild asthma.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study.

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Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging has been recommended as a primary imaging modality among high-risk individuals undergoing screening for pancreatic cancer. We aimed to delineate potential precursor lesions for pancreatic cancer on MR imaging.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study at Kaiser Permanente Southern California (2008-2018) among patients that developed pancreatic cancer who had pre-diagnostic MRI examinations obtained 2-36 months prior to cancer diagnosis (cases) matched 1:2 by age, gender, race/ethnicity, contrast status and year of scan (controls).

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There is considerable controversy as to whether a healthy diet is affordable given recent inflation. In order to determine whether a healthy, climate-friendly sustainable diet can be obtained within the allotments of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), we created and purchased 26 weeks of meal plans designed to meet the EAT-Lancet sustainability guidelines and > 90% of the RDAs for 23 macro/micronutrients for households with at least 2 adults and 1-3 children. We compared the food quantities and cost of a healthy sustainable diet purchased in Los Angeles, 2023, to the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021.

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Covert cerebrovascular disease (CCD) is frequently reported on neuroimaging and associates with increased dementia and stroke risk. We aimed to determine how incidentally-discovered CCD during clinical neuroimaging in a large population associates with mortality. We screened CT and MRI reports of adults aged ≥50 in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system who underwent neuroimaging for a non-stroke clinical indication from 2009-2019.

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Background: Covert cerebrovascular disease (CCD) includes white matter disease (WMD) and covert brain infarction (CBI). Incidentally discovered CCD is associated with an increased risk of subsequent symptomatic stroke. However, it is unknown whether the severity of WMD or the location of CBI predicts risk.

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  • The study investigates different endoscopic biopsy methods for identifying precursor lesions of noncardia gastric cancer, specifically gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) and gastric dysplasia (GD).
  • A case-control design involving 20,938 GIM and 455 GD pairs reveals that the 2+2 method and the Sydney protocol significantly improve detection rates compared to other methods.
  • Findings suggest demographic factors, like gender and ethnicity, influence the choice of biopsy methods used by endoscopists, with the Sydney protocol showing increased usage and effectiveness over time.
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Recent studies have shown that the tumor extracellular matrix (ECM) associates with immunosuppression, and that targeting the ECM can improve immune infiltration and responsiveness to immunotherapy. A question that remains unresolved is whether the ECM directly educates the immune phenotypes seen in tumors. Here, we identify a tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) population associated with poor prognosis, interruption of the cancer immunity cycle, and tumor ECM composition.

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The preparation of the first enantiopure cycloplatinated complexes bearing a bidentate, helicenic N-heterocyclic carbene and a diketonate ancillary ligand is presented, along with their structural and spectroscopic characterization based on both experimental and computational studies. The systems exhibit long-lived circularly polarized phosphorescence in solution and in doped films at room temperature, and also in a frozen glass at 77 K, with dissymmetry factor values ≥10 in the former and around 10 in the latter.

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A family of first-generation dendrimers containing 3,5-bis(carbazolyl)phenyl dendrons attached to a green emissive -tris(2-phenylpyridyl)iridium(III) core were prepared. The solubility of the dendrimers was imparted by the attachment of -butyl surface groups to the carbazole moieties. The dendrimers differed in the number of dendrons attached to each ligand (one or two dendrons) as well as the degree of rotational restriction within the dendrons.

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The placenta is a fundamental organ throughout the pregnancy and the fetus' health is closely related to its proper function. Because of the importance of the placenta, any suspicious placental conditions require ultrasound image investigation. We propose an automated method for processing fetal ultrasonography images to identify placental abruption using machine learning methods in this paper.

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Background Covert cerebrovascular disease (CCD) has been shown to be associated with dementia in population-based studies with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening, but dementia risk associated with incidentally discovered CCD is not known. Methods and Results Individuals aged ≥50 years enrolled in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system receiving head computed tomography (CT) or MRI for nonstroke indications from 2009 to 2019, without prior ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack, dementia/Alzheimer disease, or visit reason/scan indication suggestive of cognitive decline or stroke were included. Natural language processing identified incidentally discovered covert brain infarction (id-CBI) and white matter disease (id-WMD) on the neuroimage report; white matter disease was characterized as mild, moderate, severe, or undetermined.

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Accurately modeling tumor biology and testing novel therapies on patient-derived cells is critically important to developing therapeutic regimens personalized to a patient's specific disease. The vascularized microtumor (VMT), or "tumor-on-a-chip," is a physiologic preclinical cancer model that incorporates key features of the native human tumor microenvironment within a transparent microfluidic platform, allowing rapid drug screening in vitro. Herein we optimize methods for generating patient-derived VMT (pVMT) using fresh colorectal cancer (CRC) biopsies and surgical resections to test drug sensitivities at the individual patient level.

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Introduction: Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women in the United States. We aimed to detect early changes on computed tomography (CT) images associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) based on quantitative imaging features (QIFs) for patients with and without chronic pancreatitis (CP).

Methods: Adults 18 years and older diagnosed with PDAC in 2008-2018 were identified.

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Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between covert cerebrovascular disease, comprised of covert brain infarction and white matter disease, discovered incidentally in routine care, and subsequent Parkinson disease.

Methods: Patients were ≥50 years and received neuroimaging for non-stroke indications in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California system from 2009 to 2019. Natural language processing identified incidentally discovered covert brain infarction and white matter disease and classified white matter disease severity.

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Article Synopsis
  • Covert cerebrovascular disease (CCD) encompasses white matter disease (WMD) and covert brain infarction (CBI), which are linked to an increased risk of future strokes when discovered incidentally.
  • This study aimed to assess the relationship between the severity of WMD and the location of CBI with the likelihood of subsequent strokes in patients aged 50 and older from a large health system.
  • Results showed that higher severity of incidental WMD correlates with a greater stroke risk, and most CBI cases are subcortical, pointing out that both CBI types carry similar risks for future strokes regardless of imaging method.
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Background: Quantification of the impact of local masking policies may help guide future policy interventions to reduce SARS-COV-2 disease transmission. This study's objective was to identify factors associated with adherence to masking and social distancing guidelines.

Methods: Faculty from 16 U.

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The synthesis and photophysical properties of a set of iridium(iii) complexes featuring tridentate N^N^O-coordinating ligands are described, of generic structure [Ir(N^C^N-dpyx)(N^N^O-L)] (n = 1 to 4) (dpyx = 1,3-dipyridyl-4,6-dimethylbenzene). The proligands HL are Schiff bases synthesised by condensation of salicylaldehydes with N-methyl-hydrazinopyridines: they are able to coordinate to the Ir(iii) via lateral pyridine-N and phenolate-O atoms and a central hydrazone-N atom; the four examples differ in the substitution pattern within the phenolate ring. The bis-tridentate coordination is confirmed by X-ray diffraction.

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The synthesis and photophysical properties of 22 platinum(ii) complexes featuring N^N^O-coordinating ligands are described. The complexes have the form Pt(N^N^O-Ln)Cl (n = 1 to 20). The tridentate ligands comprise lateral pyridine and phenolate rings, offering the metal N and O coordination respectively, linked via an imine or hydrazone unit that provides a further, central N atom for coordination.

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Cell-intrinsic metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer that provides anabolic support to cell proliferation. How reprogramming influences tumor heterogeneity or drug sensitivities is not well understood. Here, we report a self-organizing spatial pattern of glycolysis in xenograft colon tumors where pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK1), a negative regulator of oxidative phosphorylation, is highly active in clusters of cells arranged in a spotted array.

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The synthesis and characterization of a series of cobalt compounds, coordinated by the redox-active macrocyclic biquinazoline ligand, Mabiq [2-4:6-8-bis(3,3,4,4-tetramethyldihydropyrrolo)-10-15-(2,2'-biquinazolino)-[15]-1,3,5,8,10,14-hexaene-1,3,7,9,11,14-N6], is presented. The series includes the monometallic Co(Mabiq)Cl2 (1), Co(Mabiq)Cl (2), and Co(Mabiq) (4), with formal metal oxidation states of 3+ → 1+. A binuclear cobaltous compound, Co2(Mabiq)Cl3 (3), also was obtained, providing the first evidence for the ability of the Mabiq ligand to coordinate two metal ions.

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