Atrazine, a common water contaminant in the U.S., has been associated with adverse birth outcomes in previous studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an effective procedure for late-stage osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee; however, up to 20% of patients remain dissatisfied. In some patients, this may be due to residual inflammation of the synovium. Our aim was to perform the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) of synovectomy during TKA for patients with macroscopically inflamed synovium.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol
April 2019
Objectives: To compare Misoprostol Vaginal Insert (MVI), a vaginal insert containing 200 μg of misoprostol) versus Dinoprostone Vaginal Insert (DVI), a vaginal insert containing 10 mg of dinoprostone), in the induction of labour.
Study Design: We performed a retrospective analysis of the data between February 2016 and September 2017 of women induced with MVI (n = 100) and DVI in UK (n = 100) at NHS Fife. MVI was used for the same indications as DVI, but specifically indicated in women with a Modified Bishops score ≤ 4.
J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs
September 2018
Objective: Primary: to identify the potential relationship between duration of tube feeding and success of oral feeding in preterm infants; secondary: to identify the potential relationships among duration of tube feeding and alert behavioral states, orally directed behaviors, and nutritive sucking.
Design: A descriptive correlational study.
Setting: A Level III NICU at an inner-city hospital.
Background: The term "oral feeding success" (OFS) is frequently used in clinical practice and research. However, OFS is inconsistently defined, which impacts the ability to adequately evaluate OFS, identify risk factors, and implement interventions in clinical practice and research.
Purpose: To develop the defining attributes, antecedents, and consequences for the concept of OFS in preterm infants during their initial hospitalization.
Perceiving another person's emotional expression often sparks a corresponding signal in the observer. Shared conversational laughter is a familiar example. Prior studies of shared laughter have made use of task-based functional neuroimaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives To determine whether affluent-born White mother's descending neighborhood income is associated with infant mortality rates (< 365 day, IMR). Methods Stratified and multilevel logistic regression analyses were completed on the Illinois transgenerational dataset of singleton births (1989-1991) to non-Latina White mothers (1956-1976) with an early-life residence in affluent neighborhoods (defined as the fourth quartile of income distribution). The breadth of descending neighborhood income was defined by mother's neighborhood income at the time of delivery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Individuals with congenital heart disease (CHD) may be at higher risk of acquired cardiovascular disease than the general population due to their underlying physiology and/or surgical sequelae. We sought to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors in youth and adults with CHD.
Methods: We assessed cardiovascular health as per the Cardiovascular Health in Ambulatory Care Research Team (CANHEART) health index in patients with CHD aged 15+ years who attended cardiology outpatient clinics.
Matern Child Health J
November 2018
Objectives The postpartum period is a high-risk time for unintended pregnancy, and additional opportunities to provide contraception are needed. Our objective was to evaluate the acceptability of providing postpartum contraceptive counseling at a pediatric well baby visit, and compare it to counseling at the routine postpartum visit. Methods Postpartum women (100 per group) were recruited for this cohort study at pediatric well baby visits and obstetric postpartum visits at an academic medical center.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by profound changes in emotions and empathy. Although most patients with bvFTD become less sensitive to negative emotional cues, some patients become more sensitive to positive emotional stimuli. We investigated whether dysregulated positive emotions in bvFTD undermine empathy by making it difficult for patients to share (emotional empathy), recognize (cognitive empathy), and respond (real-world empathy) to emotions in others.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFew studies have examined contributions of paternal factors to birth outcomes. Weathering is a pattern of increasing rates of adverse birth outcome with increasing maternal age. This study evaluates for an association between paternal involvement and weathering in the context of preterm birth (PTB, <37 weeks) among non-Hispanic African-American and non-Hispanic White women with and without lifelong exposure to neighborhood poverty.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The application of prior learning within medical curricula to real patient care is challenging. Clinical assistantships support UK medical students making the transition to postgraduate practice as doctors. This paper describes a method of teaching clinical referrals: the process of clinicians contacting colleagues for advice or services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: Caring for women with multiple sclerosis (MS), whose first symptoms typically begin during the childbearing years, requires a comprehensive approach to management across a range of reproductive exposures, and beyond through menopause.
Recent Findings: This article summarizes what is known about the disease course in women with MS, how it differs from men, and the current state of knowledge regarding effects of reproductive exposures (menarche, childbearing, menopause) on MS-related inflammation and neurodegeneration. Recent findings regarding pregnancy-associated relapses in the treatment era, protective effects of breastfeeding, and care for women during the menopausal transition are reviewed.
Understanding how safety net programs adapt to systemic health care changes is pivotal for creating feasible recommendations for policy implementation. This study characterizes perspectives of Lead Agency (LA) coordinators of the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (IBCCP) in response to sociopolitical changes at state and national levels. Our cross-sectional study included 29 semistructured telephone interviews between December 2015 and January 2016.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater
February 2019
Poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK), having shown favorable biocompatibility in spinal applications is being considered as an alternative biomaterial in orthopaedics, either as part of an all-polymer bearing couple, or a replacement for the metallic component in hard-on-soft bearings. Throughout the literature ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene exhibits a range of wear behavior dependent upon the amount of cross shear (CS) present in the bearing motion; in comparison, the behavior of PEEK bearing combinations subject to cross shear conditions is less understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cross shear on PEEK-on-PEEK and PEEK-on-Metal bearing couples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The quality of mother-preterm infant interaction has been identified as a key factor in influencing the infant's later development and language acquisition. The relationship between mother-infant responsiveness and later development may be evident early in infancy, a time period which has been understudied.
Aim: Describe the relationship between mother-infant mutual dyadic responsiveness and premature infant development.
Background: There is little evidence regarding the efficacy of interventions to prepare adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) to enter adult care.
Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of a nurse-led transition intervention on lapses between pediatric and adult care.
Methods: A cluster randomized clinical trial was conducted of a nurse-led transition intervention for 16- to 17-year-olds with moderate or complex CHD versus usual care.
Connectivity in intrinsically connected networks (ICNs) may predict individual differences in cognition and behavior. The drastic alterations in socioemotional awareness of patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) are presumed to arise from changes in one such ICN, the salience network (SN). We examined how individual differences in SN connectivity are reflected in overt social behavior in healthy individuals and patients, both to provide neuroscientific insight into this key brain-behavior relationship, and to provide a practical tool to diagnose patients with early bvFTD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 2011, the National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Association created separate diagnostic recommendations for the preclinical, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia stages of Alzheimer's disease. Scientific progress in the interim led to an initiative by the National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Association to update and unify the 2011 guidelines. This unifying update is labeled a "research framework" because its intended use is for observational and interventional research, not routine clinical care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Transfer of adolescents with congenital heart disease from paediatric cardiology providers to specialized adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) care providers is becoming a standard practice. However, some paediatric cardiologists continue to provide care for their patients into adult life. Little is known about the perspectives of young adult patients who have been transferred to ACHD clinics versus those who continue to receive their cardiology care in paediatric settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRates of short-interval pregnancies that result in unintended pregnancies remain high in the United States and contribute to adverse reproductive health outcomes. Long-acting reversible contraception methods have annual failure rates of <1%, compared with 9% for oral contraceptive pills, and are an effective strategy to reduce unintended pregnancies. To increase access to long-acting reversible contraception in the immediate postpartum period, several State Medicaid programs, which include those in Iowa and Louisiana, recently established reimbursement policies to remove the barriers to reimbursement of immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraception insertion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground The relationship between African-American women's upward economic mobility and small for gestational age (weight for gestational < 10th percentile, SGA) rates is incompletely understood. Objective To ascertain the extent to which African-American women's upward economic mobility from early-life impoverishment is coupled with reduced SGA rates. Methods Stratified and multilevel logistic regression analyses were completed on the Illinois transgenerational dataset of African-American infants (1989-1991) and their Chicago-born mothers (1956-1976) with linked U.
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