Effect of pre-operative oral paracetamol on gastric residual volume and pH in young children in the context of a 1-hour clear fluid fast: a randomised controlled trial.

High gastric residual volume and low pH are associated with increased mortality following pulmonary aspiration in animal studies. The use of pre-operative oral paracetamol has not been investigated in younger children and infants in the context of a prescriptive 1-h clear fluid fast aimed at reducing the risk of pulmonary aspiration while improving patient experience. Children aged 1 month up to a weight of 25 kg and scheduled for elective surgery were randomly allocated to receive a prescribed 3.

Ancillary Findings on CT Pulmonary Angiograms that are Negative for Pulmonary Embolism.

Context: One advantage of computed tomographic pulmonary angiograms (CTPA) is that they often show pathology in patients in whom pulmonary embolism (PE) has been excluded. In this investigation, we identified the ancillary findings on CTPAs that were negative for PE to obtain an impression of the type of findings shown.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of findings on CTPAs that were negative for PE obtained in nine emergency departments between January 2016 - February 2018.

A 2-year-old with a hepatic abscess secondary to an ascending retrocecal appendicitis: case report and review of the literature.

Background: Diagnosing appendicitis within the pediatric population can be challenging, whether it be a neonate with irritability or a toddler with flank pain. Symptoms may mimic a viral illness, constipation, urinary tract infection, or intussusception, all of which are more common in this age group when compared with appendicitis. While a ruptured appendicitis can result in an intra-abdominal abscess, peritonitis, and/or shock, the development of a pyogenic hepatic abscess is extremely rare.

Agreement between lower esophageal and nasopharyngeal temperatures in children ventilated with an endotracheal tube with leak.

Background: A temperature probe placed in the lower third of the esophagus accurately reflects core temperature in anesthetized children. Temperature probes are commonly placed in the nasopharynx in children, but when utilizing an uncuffed endotracheal tube (ETT) with a softly audible leak, ventilated gases from the trachea can escape upwards toward the nasopharynx, thereby potentially causing a cooling effect in the nasopharynx.

Objectives: We sought to establish if nasopharyngeal and lower esophageal temperatures are in agreement in children undergoing general anesthesia, both in scenarios of ventilation with a cuffed ETT that has minimal or no leak (cuff up), as well as an ETT with leak (cuff down).

SANS study of highly resilient poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels.

Polymer networks are critically important for numerous applications including soft biomaterials, adhesives, coatings, elastomers, and gel-based materials for energy storage. One long-standing challenge these materials present lies in understanding the role of network defects, such as dangling ends and loops, developed during cross-linking. These defects can negatively impact the physical, mechanical, and transport properties of the gel.

Alginate/PEO-PPO-PEO composite hydrogels with thermally-active plasticity.

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels with high strength and toughness have received significant interest in recent years. Here, we report thermally active composite hydrogels comprising alginate and one of two poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) triblock copolymers. Temperature-sensitive structural and mechanical changes are probed using calorimetry, neutron scattering, shear rheology, unconfined compression, and fracture.

Genomic instability and telomere fusion of canine osteosarcoma cells.

Canine osteosarcoma (OSA) is known to present with highly variable and chaotic karyotypes, including hypodiploidy, hyperdiploidy, and increased numbers of metacentric chromosomes. The spectrum of genomic instabilities in canine OSA has significantly augmented the difficulty in clearly defining the biological and clinical significance of the observed cytogenetic abnormalities. In this study, eight canine OSA cell lines were used to investigate telomere fusions by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using a peptide nucleotide acid probe.

Synthetically simple, highly resilient hydrogels.

Highly resilient synthetic hydrogels were synthesized by using the efficient thiol-norbornene chemistry to cross-link hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer chains. The swelling and mechanical properties of the hydrogels were controlled by the relative amounts of PEG and PDMS. The fracture toughness (G(c)) was increased to 80 J/m(2) as the water content of the hydrogel decreased from 95% to 82%.

Poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymers: new directions in self-assembly and biomedical applications.

In this review, we focus on recent developments in biomaterials of poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(lactic acid) (PLA-PEO-PLA) triblock copolymers. This system has been widely explored for a number of applications in controlled and sustained release of drugs and in tissue engineering devices. New insights into self-assembly of these materials have resulted in new PLA-PEOPLA solutions and gels with novel structural, mechanical, and drug release properties.

Intrauterine tobacco exposure may alter auditory brainstem responses in newborns.

This study of tobacco exposure and auditory processes was conducted in a predominantly low-income population of 40 pregnant women and their newborns. Urinary cotinine concentrations and self-reported smoking status were obtained from the mother during the first prenatal care visit. Auditory brainstem-evoked responses (ABRs) were recorded in neonates to assess neuroelectrical activity of the auditory nerve following a sound stimulus.

Presence of a growth-stimulating factor in serum following primary tumor removal in mice.

The effect of removal of a primary tumor on the kinetics of cells in a metastasis was evaluated using six different tumors (C3H, MXTa, MXTb, MC54, CD8, and 3LL) which varied relative to their origin, histology, and the strain of mice in which they were carried. There was an increase in the labeling index (LI) of distant tumor focus ("metastasis") associated with the removal of each of the tumor types and unrelated to operative and anesthetic trauma. Information presented supports the presence of a serum growth factor as being responsible for the phenomenon.

Effect of local or systemic treatment prior to primary tumor removal on the production and response to a serum growth-stimulating factor in mice.

This report indicates that not only does the preoperative administration of cyclophosphamide or radiation prevent the kinetic changes observed in a distant tumor focus following tumor removal but that the preoperative administration of the antiestrogen tamoxifen and the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue Zoladex are equally effective in that regard. It also provides evidence indicating that serum obtained from mice treated with those therapies when transferred to a recipient bearing a tumor of a similar type to that in the donor fails to stimulate DNA synthesis in the tumor of the recipient. In contrast, an increase in labeling index occurs following transfer of serum obtained following tumor removal from untreated mice.

Influence of irradiation of a primary tumor on the labeling index and estrogen receptor index in a distant tumor focus.

The present investigation reaffirms our observation that removal of a C3H mouse mammary adenocarcinoma results in a perturbation of tumor cells in a metastatic focus. An increase occurs in the proportion of cells undergoing DNA synthesis (labeling index, LI), and a decrease occurs in the proportion demonstrating estrogen receptor (ER index; ERI). The changes are transient but of sufficient duration and magnitude to produce an increase in the size of a distant tumor.

Relation of estrogen and its receptor to rat liver growth and regeneration.

A variety of hormones have been implicated in the process of liver regeneration. Despite the demonstration of specific estrogen receptors (ER) in mammalian liver and the identification of responses to estrogen which occur in liver, there has been little or no investigation of the relation of that hormone or its receptor to liver regeneration or liver growth. This report provides information which indicates: (a) the effect of 17 beta-estradiol on the mass of both intact and regenerating rat liver; (b) the percentage of hepatocytes in neonatal and adult normal intact livers which contain ER, i.

Interrelation between tumor cell proliferation and 17-fluoresceinated estrone binding following primary tumor removal, radiation, cyclophosphamide, or tamoxifen.

The proportion of single intact viable mouse mammary tumor cells containing estrogen receptor (ER) as determined by 17-fluoresceinated estrone binding and the proportion labeled with [3H]thymidine (LI) have been assessed in the same cell population after either primary tumor removal, radiation, cyclophosphamide, or tamoxifen administration. Subsequent to tumor removal, the increase in LI occurring in a cell population from a residual tumor focus was associated with a concomitant decrease in the proportion of cells demonstrating 17-fluoresceinated estrone binding (fluorescence). As the level of LI in the tumor focus returned to that observed prior to tumor removal, the proportion of ER-containing cells simultaneously reverted to its original value.

Influence of the interval between primary tumor removal and chemotherapy on kinetics and growth of metastases.

In many animal models, primary tumor removal produces increased proliferation of cells in metastatic foci. The present investigations using a murine mammary tumor were carried out to determine how a variation in the time interval between primary tumor removal and administration of a single dose of cyclophosphamide (CY) affected labeling indices of residual tumor cells, their growth, and animal survival. The CY (240 mg/kg) had a more favorable effect when given on the day of tumor removal than 3 days after, a time when the labeling index (LI) of metastases was at a peak.

Cellular cytotoxicity in tumor-bearing mice after transfer of normal or tumor-sensitized lymphoid cells.

The present investigations are a continuation of those indicating that the administration to normal inbred C3HeB/-FeJ mice of syngeneic tumor-sensitized cells or cells from F344 Mai rats (xenogeneic) sensitized to mouse tumor imparted "information" that resulted in the production of tumor-specific cytotoxic cells by recipients. Current findings revealed that normal but not tumor-sensitized spleen cells when transferred to syngeneic tumor-bearing recipients enhanced the cytotoxicity ofrom F344 Mai rats (xenogeneic) sensitized to mouse tumor imparted "information" that resulted in the production of tumor-specific cytotoxic cells by recipients. Current findings revealed that normal but not tumor-sensitized spleen cells when transferred to syngeneic tumor-bearing recipients enhanced the cytotoxicity of lymphoid cells in the recipients.

Cellular cytotoxicity and serum inhibition in normal mice following transfer of syngeneic tumor-sensitized cells.

Investigations were performed to elucidate changes in normal syngeneic recipients after they received tumor-sensitized cells. Transfer of regional or nonregional lymph node cells or spleen cells from tumor-bearing inbred C3HeB/FeJ mice to normal syngeneic recipients caused the recipients to produced bone marrow, which mediated in vitro cytolysis of immunizing tumor target cells. This finding was not entirely limited to transfer of lymphoid cells.

Effect of surgical removal on the growth and kinetics of residual tumor.

Findings from this study using a transplantable C3H mammary tumor failed to indicate interaction relative to growth parameters between two foci present in the same host. Whether they were growing alone or in the presence of a second focus, tumor growth rates were similar until the combined mass of multiple tumors approached that which was incompatible with survival. Only then was a difference in growth observed.

Effect of Corynebacterium parvum in prevention and reversal of atrophy of the liver following portacaval shunt.

Since it has been demonstrated that the administration of Corynebacterium parvum is associated with increased hepatocyte proliferation in both normal and regenerating livers, it seemed appropriate to determine whether the use of this agent would affect the hepatic atrophy which occurs following end-to-side portacaval shunts. When administered at shunting, liver weight and liver deoxyribonucleic acid failed to decrease to the same extent as that occurring in untreated, shunted rats. An increase in liver deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis was observed following portacaval shunt only in treated rats.

Further observations on the inhibition of tumor growth by C. parvum with cyclophosphamide. VII. Effect of treatment prior to primary tumor removal on the growth of distant tumor.

The present investigations were directed toward determining whether primary tumor manipulation prior to its removal is advantageous for the control of metastases and survival. Studies were carried out to ascertain whether 1) there is justification for delaying surgical removal of a primary tumor to permit preoperative administration of cyclophosphamide (CY) and/or C. parvum (CP) and 2) there is an advantage to administering the immunotherapy directly into a primary tumor.