APhA Foundation Incentive Grants: A Thirty-year descriptive review.

Objective: The objective of this project was to describe the breakdown of project topics and geographic reach of Incentive Grant funded projects from 1994-2024 and summarize the number of patients or survey respondents reached.

Methods: All available reports and supporting documents for the Incentive Grants program were reviewed using the APhA Foundation internal database. Projects were assigned a geographical region using US Census Bureau Divisions, and categorized using focus areas from grant calls-for-proposals.

Profound hypotonia in an infant with δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase deficient porphyria.

δ-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) dehydratase (ALAD) deficient porphyria (ADP) is an extremely rare form of porphyria, with only eight documented cases. Herein, we report the second known case of ADP in the Western hemisphere and third case with infantile onset of symptoms. A male neonate presented on day three of life with profound hypotonia, pinpoint pupils, absent deep tendon reflexes, and anemia.

Ethanol Lock for Prevention of CVC-Related Bloodstream Infection in Pediatric Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Ethanol lock therapy (ELT) can be used in patients with an indwelling central line to assist in the prevention of central venous catheter (CVC)-associated infections. However, its efficacy has not been consistently demonstrated in the pediatric population. The primary objective of this review and meta-analysis was to determine the efficacy and safety of ELT in prevention of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) in the pediatric population.

Molecular regulation of retinal regeneration is context specific.

Unlabelled: Many genes are known to regulate retinal regeneration following widespread tissue damage. Conversely, genes controlling regeneration following limited retinal cell loss, akin to disease conditions, are undefined. Combining a novel retinal ganglion cell (RGC) ablation-based glaucoma model, single cell omics, and rapid CRISPR/Cas9-based knockout methods to screen 100 genes, we identified 18 effectors of RGC regeneration kinetics.

Associations between endogenous sex hormone levels and adipokine levels in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Background: Differences in sex hormone levels contribute to differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Adipokines play a role in cardiometabolic pathways and have differing associations with CVD. Adipokine levels differ by sex; however, the association between sex hormone profiles and adipokines is not well established.

Serial cardiac biomarker assessment in adults with congenital heart disease hospitalized for decompensated heart failure.

Background: Biomarkers are increasingly part of assessing and managing heart failure (HF) in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Objectives: To understand the response of cardiac biomarkers with therapy for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and the relationship to prognosis after discharge in adults with CHD.

Design: A prospective, observational cohort study with serial blood biomarker measurements.

Recommendations for the introduction of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in clinical virology, part II: bioinformatic analysis and reporting.

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is an untargeted technique for determination of microbial DNA/RNA sequences in a variety of sample types from patients with infectious syndromes. mNGS is still in its early stages of broader translation into clinical applications. To further support the development, implementation, optimization and standardization of mNGS procedures for virus diagnostics, the European Society for Clinical Virology (ESCV) Network on Next-Generation Sequencing (ENNGS) has been established.

Six countries, six individuals: resourceful patients navigating medical records in Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Sweden and the USA.

In the absence of international standards, widely differing attitudes and laws, medical and social cultures strongly influence whether and how patients may access their medical records in various settings of care. Reviewing records, including the notes clinicians write, can help shape how people participate in their own care. Aided at times by new technologies, individual patients and care partners are repurposing existing tools and designing innovative, often 'low-tech' ways to collect, sort and interpret their own health information.

Hypothesizing Music Intervention Enhances Brain Functional Connectivity Involving Dopaminergic Recruitment: Common Neuro-correlates to Abusable Drugs.

The goal of this review is to explore the clinical significance of music listening on neuroplasticity and dopaminergic activation by understanding the role of music therapy in addictive behavior treatment. fMRI data has shown that music listening intensely modifies mesolimbic structural changes responsible for reward processing (e.g.

Andean and Tibetan patterns of adaptation to high altitude.

Objectives: High-altitude hypoxia, or decreased oxygen levels caused by low barometric pressure, challenges the ability of humans to live and reproduce. Despite these challenges, human populations have lived on the Andean Altiplano and the Tibetan Plateau for millennia and exhibit unique circulatory, respiratory, and hematological adaptations to life at high altitude. We and others have identified natural selection candidate genes and gene regions for these adaptations using dense genome scan data.

Laparoscopic treatment of duodenal obstruction: report on first experiences in Latin America.

Background: There are few reports in the literature on the use of a laparoscopic approach for duodenal obstruction, particularly for duodenal atresia. We report here the results of 4 cases treated laparoscopically, and discuss the safety, feasibility and long-term results of this approach.

Patients And Methods: Four pediatric patients presented with duodenal obstruction, one with duodenal atresia, one with annular pancreas, and two with duodenal obstruction due to Ladd's bands but without malrotation.

Gaseous bradykinin and its singly, doubly, and triply protonated forms: a first-principles study.

The conformers of gaseous bradykinin, BK, (Arg(1)-Pro(2)-Pro(3)-Gly(4)-Phe(5)-Ser(6)-Pro(7)-Phe(8)-Arg(9)) and its protonated forms, [BK + H](+), [BK + 2H](2+), and [BK + 3H](3+), were examined theoretically using a combination of the Merck molecular force field, Hartree-Fock, and density functional theory. Neutral BK, [BK + H](+), and [BK + 2H](2+) exist in zwitterionic forms that are stabilized by internal solvation and have compact structures; [BK + 3H](3+) differs by the absence of a salt bridge and adopts an elongated form. The common structural feature in all four BK species is a beta-turn in the Ser(6)-Pro(7)-Phe(8)-Arg(9) sequence.

Elucidation of fragmentation mechanisms of protonated Peptide ions and their products: a case study on glycylglycylglycine using density functional theory and threshold collision-induced dissociation.

The fragmentation mechanisms of protonated triglycine and its first-generation dissociation products have been investigated using a combination of density functional theory calculations and threshold collision-induced dissociation experiments. The activation barrier measured for the fragmentation of protonated triglycine to the b(2) ion and glycine is in good agreement with a calculated barrier at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory reported earlier [Rodriquez, C. F.

Formation of molecular radical cations of aliphatic tripeptides from their complexes with CuII(12-crown-4).

Molecular radical cations have proven to be difficult to generate from aliphatic peptides under electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) conditions. For a family of small aliphatic peptides GGX, where X = G, A, P, I, L and V, these cations have been generated by electrospraying a mixture of Cu.2+, 12-crown-4 and GGX in methanol/water.

No association between Helicobacter pylori and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections among gastrointestinal clinic attendees in Lima, Peru.

Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection can cause hypochlorhydria, a positive risk factor for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection. This study examined the association between HP and MTB infections among persons attending the Policlinico Peruano Japonés Gastrointestinal Clinic in Lima, Peru. From 23 June 2000 to 18 August 2000, consenting 18-55 year olds who attended the clinic for gastric biopsy gave blood for HP serologic testing, underwent tuberculin skin testing (TST) and completed a social and medical history.

Concordance of allelic imbalance profiles in synchronous and metachronous bilateral breast carcinomas.

Bilateral breast cancer (biBC) is a common form of breast cancer; however, it has not been subjected to systematic comparative genetic studies. We allelotyped 28 biBCs on 14 chromosomal arms, addressing 2 lines of questions: (i) does comparison of genetic profiles disclose contralateral metastases misdiagnosed as second primaries? and (ii) do shared environmental and host factors drive the development of true biBC along similar genetic routes? Allelotyping provided unambiguous proof for distinct clonality in 23 of 28 cases. In another 4 biBCs, the genotyping data did not exclude the hypothesis of metastatic spread, whereas clinical and histologic data were in favor of bilaterality.

Proton migration and tautomerism in protonated triglycine.

Proton migration in protonated glycylglycylglycine (GGG) has been investigated by using density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory. On the protonated GGG energy hypersurface 19 critical points have been characterized, 11 as minima and 8 as first-order saddle points. Transition state structures for interconversion between eight of these minima are reported, starting from a structure in which there is protonation at the amino nitrogen of the N-terminal glycyl residue following the migration of the proton until there is fragmentation into protonated 2-aminomethyl-5-oxazolone (the b(2) ion) and glycine.

Studies of 9-fluorenyl carbocations. intramolecular hydride migration in a substituted 9-fluorenyl carbocation.

The substituted fluorenyl cation, 9-(diphenylmethyl)fluoren-9-yl cation (4), is formed under stable ion conditions (low temperature/strong acid) from its corresponding alcohol 3. This ion is transformed to a substituted diphenyl methyl cation 8 at ambient temperature via an apparent 1,2-hydrogen shift. Irradiation of 9-(diphenylmethyl)fluoren-9-ol in methanol gives products derived from the corresponding cation along with radical-derived products from C-C and C-O homolysis processes.

Vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor urine levels as predictors of outcome in hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients: a cancer and leukemia group B study.

Better prognostic markers are needed for hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) patients. No single biochemical or clinical parameter can reliably predict patient response to therapy or rapidity of disease progression. Peptide factors involved in major cancer growth pathways, such as tumor angiogenesis, are attractive candidates as markers of low- and high-risk HRPC patients.

Characterization of the product ions from the collision-induced dissociation of argentinated peptides.

Tandem mass spectrometry performed on a pool of 18 oligopeptides shows that the product ion spectra of argentinated peptides, the [bn + OH + Ag]+ ions and the [yn - H + Ag]+ ions bearing identical sequences are virtually identical. These observations suggest strongly that these ions have identical structures in the gas phase. The structures of argentinated glycine, glycylglycine, and glycylglycylglycine were calculated using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/DZVP level of theory; they were independently confirmed using HF/LANL2DZ.

Formation of [M - nH] + mNA](m-n)+ and [M - nH + mK](m-n)+ ions in electrospray mass spectrometry of peptides and proteins.

The [M - nH + mNa](m-n)+ and [M - nH + mK](m-n)+ ions are common in the electrospray mass spectra of proteins and peptides. The feasibility of forming these ions in the gas phase via collision activation and/or ion-molecule reaction is investigated. Sodium and potassium affinities of the N-methylacetamide anion, the acetate anion, and the 1-propanamide anion have been calculated using density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-311+ +G(d,p) level of theory.

Perceptions of pregnant/parenting teens: reframing issues for an integrated approach to pregnancy problems.

Indisputably, unplanned teen pregnancies have myriad personal, family, and social consequences, but answers to questions surrounding this phenomenon are far less obvious. The purpose of this investigation was to determine correlations, if any, between personal, family, and educational background factors and unplanned teen pregnancy. An anonymous questionnaire was administered to 341 volunteer respondents in 14 Teenage Pregnancy/Parenting Programs (TAPPS).

[The ergonovine test: an episode of hallucinations].

The ergonovine maleate provocation test for the diagnosis of coronary spasm is widely used in patients with rest angina. A patient who developed an episode of psychotomimetic symptoms after the administration of intravenous ergonovine is presented. This side effect of ergonovine maleate had not been previously reported.