External evaluation of intravenous vancomycin population pharmacokinetic models in adults receiving high-flux intermittent haemodialysis.

Aims: Patients undergoing haemodialysis (HD) are at greater risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections requiring intravenous vancomycin. Close vancomycin therapeutic drug monitoring is warranted in HD patients as renal clearance is the primary elimination pathway. Clinically, population pharmacokinetics (popPK) model-informed dosing is commonly used.

Mid to long-term survivorship of hip arthroplasty in patients 40 years and younger.

Background: Etiology of hip osteoarthritis (OA) and survival of hip arthroplasty in the young (below 40-years-old) remains poorly described. Furthermore, joint survivorship mid to long-term and PROMs according to the etiology are unclear. The study aims were to 1) identify the indications for arthroplasty in the below 40-years-old cohort; 2) define hip arthroplasty outcomes in the young and 3) test whether patients with sequelae of pediatrics hip disease have inferior outcome compared to other patients.

The relationship of pain catastrophizing with postoperative patient-reported outcome measures in adults with pre-arthritic hip disease.

The association between preoperative pain catastrophizing and postoperative patient-reported outcome measures of patients with pre-arthritic hip disease was evaluated. All patients scheduled for joint-preserving surgeries of the hip (JPSH) at our institution were approached. Patient demographics (age, sex, body mass index (BMI)), pain intensity (Numeric Pain Scale (NPS)) and pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)) were collected preoperatively.

Feline lung-digit syndrome: A differential diagnosis for shifting, waxing and waning lameness in a cat.

The clinical presentation, cytologic findings, radiographic findings, and postmortem assessment of a cat with primary pulmonary adenocarcinoma with multiple digital metastasis are described. An unusual shifting, waxing and waning pattern of lameness, suspected to be an early manifestation of digital metastasis before any gross lesions were visible, was documented. Initial cytologic finding of a lung nodule was equivocal for diagnosis of neoplasia despite being strongly suspicious.

DCS blood flow index underestimates skeletal muscle perfusion : rationale and early evidence for the NIRS-DCS perfusion index.

Significance: Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) permits non-invasive assessment of skeletal muscle blood flow but may misestimate changes in muscle perfusion.

Aim: We aimed to highlight recent evidence that DCS blood flow index (BFI) misestimates changes in muscle blood flow during physiological perturbation and to introduce a novel approach that adjusts BFI for estimated changes in vasodilation.

Approach: We measured changes in muscle BFI during quadriceps and forearm exercises using DCS, the latter of which were adjusted for estimated changes in microvascular flow area and then compared to Doppler ultrasound in the brachial artery.

Outcome of hip resurfacing revision through the Hueter-anterior approach.

Background: The Hueter-Anterior Approach (HAA) with its limited soft tissue and internervous dissection has been shown to be an effective approach for primary total hip and hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical outcome of patients requiring revision of HRA to total hip replacement using the HAA, assessing function and complications.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained research database.

Breast cancer risk among thyroid cancer survivors and the role of I-131 treatment.

Background: Female thyroid cancer survivors are more likely to have a higher risk of breast cancer compared to the general population, and the underlying causes are yet to be understood. The potential role of I-131 treatment on this association remains controversial.

Methods: We pooled individual data of women who were treated for differentiated thyroid cancer from 1934 to 2005 in France, Italy and Sweden.

The impact of beef and soybean protein demand on carbon emissions in Argentina during the first two decades of the twenty-first century.

We quantified and analyzed the effect that the domestic and international demand for beef and soybean proteins had on carbon emissions in Argentina during the first two decades of the twenty-first century. We also analyzed the influence of both factors on the national deforestation rates. Principal component analysis and simple regression analyses were in turn used to detect components that maximize data variance, and to quantify relevant relationships.

Reliability and validity of an equanimity questionnaire: the two-factor equanimity scale (EQUA-S).

Background: Many studies have revealed the positive impact of mindfulness training on mental health and proposed equanimity as a general outcome in contemplative research. Despite recent interest, relatively few studies have empirically examined equanimity and measurement instruments are still lacking. The main goal of this study was to develop an Equanimity Scale (the EQUA-S) in a Western population with or without meditation experience, based on previous definitions of equanimity, in order to investigate its relations with the relevant psychological constructs and health outcomes.

Radiographic, Functional, and Oncologic Outcomes of Cemented Modular Proximal Femur Replacement Using the "French Paradox" Technique.

Background: Endoprostheses are frequently used in the management of tumors involving the proximal femur. Aseptic loosening is a common complication that has been linked to the cementing technique. The "French paradox" is well-known cementing technique in the arthroplasty literature.

Improving carbon sequestration estimation through accounting carbon stored in grassland soil.

Based on international guidelines, the elaboration of national carbon (C) budgets in many countries has tended to set aside the capacity of grazing lands to sequester C as soil organic carbon (SOC). A widely applied simple method assumes a steady state for SOC stocks in grasslands and a long-term equilibrium between annual C gains and losses. This article presents a theoretical method based on the annual conversion of belowground biomass into SOC to include the capacity of grazing-land soils to sequester C in greenhouse gases (GHG) calculations.

Redifferentiation of a -Mutated Poorly Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Patient with Dabrafenib and Trametinib Treatment.

A 59-year-old woman with locally invasive poorly differentiated thyroid cancer with synchronous lung, mediastinal, and bone metastases and a somatic mutation with contraindication for antiangiogenic drugs was treated with dabrafenib and trametinib. During treatment, serum levels of thyroglobulin increased as early as day 7 up to 10-fold over baseline at week 4. Concurrently, clinical hyperthyroidism occurred, with free triiodothyronine and free thyroxine levels increasing to 6.

Reassessing the role of grazing lands in carbon-balance estimations: Meta-analysis and review.

Assuming a steady state between carbon (C) gains and losses, greenhouse gases (GHG) inventories that follow a widely used simplified procedure (IPCC Tier 1) tend to underestimate the capacity of soils in grazing-land to sequester C. In this study we compared the C balance reported by (i) national inventories that followed the simplified method (Tier 1) of IPCC (1996/2006), with (ii) an alternative estimation derived from the meta-analysis of science-based, peer-reviewed data. We used the global databases (i) EDGAR 4.

Differential effects of non-dual and focused attention meditations on the formation of automatic perceptual habits in expert practitioners.

Non-dual meditation aims to undo maladaptive cognitive and affective patterns by recognizing their constructed and transient nature. We previously found high-amplitude spontaneous gamma (25-40 Hz) oscillatory activity during such practice. Nonetheless, it is unclear how this meditation state differs from other practices, in terms of perceptual information processing.

Strength and Stability Analysis of Rehabilitated Anterior Cruciate Ligament Individuals.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) serves as a vital stabilizer for the human knee, yet it is one of the most injured ligaments in the body. Function of the knee is restored through reconstruction and physical therapy, but long term functional deficits persist in some individuals. To better understand the influence of post rehabilitation outcomes on dynamic balance performance, this study evaluated bilateral differences in strength and stability in 11 participants who have rehabilitated from an ACL reconstruction or repair.

Publication Rates and Author Characteristics From 3 Plastic Surgery Journals in 2006 and 2016.

Background: Areas of surgical care in which, traditionally, plastic surgeons were exclusively involved are now routinely offered by other surgical specialists. Whether this shift in clinical responsibilities influenced publication rates of plastic surgeons remains unknown. The current article investigates the proportion of contributions in plastic surgery journals originating from authors with a plastic surgery background as well as publication rates and author demographics.

Northern protected areas will become important refuges for biodiversity tracking suitable climates.

The Northern Biodiversity Paradox predicts that, despite its globally negative effects on biodiversity, climate change will increase biodiversity in northern regions where many species are limited by low temperatures. We assessed the potential impacts of climate change on the biodiversity of a northern network of 1,749 protected areas spread over >600,000 km in Quebec, Canada. Using ecological niche modeling, we calculated potential changes in the probability of occurrence of 529 species to evaluate the potential impacts of climate change on (1) species gain, loss, turnover, and richness in protected areas, (2) representativity of protected areas, and (3) extent of species ranges located in protected areas.

Reduced age-associated brain changes in expert meditators: a multimodal neuroimaging pilot study.

Aging is associated with progressive cerebral volume and glucose metabolism decreases. Conditions such as stress and sleep difficulties exacerbate these changes and are risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. Meditation practice, aiming towards stress reduction and emotion regulation, can downregulate these adverse factors.

Structural changes in socio-affective networks: Multi-modal MRI findings in long-term meditation practitioners.

Our goal was to assess the effects of long-term mental training in socio-affective skills on structural brain networks. We studied a group of long-term meditation practitioners (LTMs) who have focused on cultivating socio-affective skills using loving-kindness and compassion meditation for an average of 40k h, comparing these to meditation-naïve controls. To maximize homogeneity of prior practice, LTMs were included only if they had undergone extensive full-time meditation retreats in the same center.

The intensity of 18FDG uptake does not predict tumor growth in patients with metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer.

Purpose: In patients with metastatic differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC), fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake as well as age, tumor size and radioactive iodine (RAI) uptake are prognostic factors for survival. High FDG uptake is a poor prognostic factor and lesions with high FDG uptake are often considered aggressive, but the predictive value of FDG uptake for morphological progression is unknown. The principal aim of this retrospective single center study was to determine whether the intensity of FDG uptake was correlated on a per lesion analysis with tumor growth rate (TGR) expressed as the percentage of increase in tumor size during 1 year (1-year TGR).

Partition of some key regulating services in terrestrial ecosystems: Meta-analysis and review.

Our knowledge about the functional foundations of ecosystem service (ES) provision is still limited and more research is needed to elucidate key functional mechanisms. Using a simplified eco-hydrological scheme, in this work we analyzed how land-use decisions modify the partition of some essential regulatory ES by altering basic relationships between biomass stocks and water flows. A comprehensive meta-analysis and review was conducted based on global, regional and local data from peer-reviewed publications.

Children with developmental coordination disorder demonstrate a spatial mismatch when estimating coincident-timing ability with tools.

Coincident timing or interception ability can be defined as the capacity to precisely time sensory input and motor output. This study compared accuracy of typically developing (TD) children and those with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) on a task involving estimation of coincident timing with their arm and various tool lengths. Forty-eight (48) participants performed two experiments where they imagined intercepting a target moving toward (Experiment 1) and target moving away (Experiment 2) from them in 5 conditions with their arm and tool lengths: arm, 10, 20, 30, and 40 cm.