Publications by authors named "Sellers M"

Background: Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection that poses a serious risk when transmitted through organ transplantation. We analyzed cases reported to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network ad hoc Disease Transmission Advisory Committee from 2013 to 2022.

Methods: Donors and/or recipients who had positive Coccidioides immitis/posadasii serology, pathology, and/or culture were included in this study.

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Article Synopsis
  • The text discusses the challenges and potential of using organs from donors who die after cardiac arrest (DCD), highlighting that while there’s a significant need for donor organs, the outcomes for these organs have been historically poor.
  • Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) is introduced as a technique that can enhance the outcomes and increase the use of DCD organs, but there is inconsistency in how different US organ procurement organizations (OPOs) implement it.
  • A survey of 55 OPOs revealed variations in NRP practices, with 49 OPOs having conducted NRP cases; most respondents expressed a need for standardized guidelines to improve the consistency and effectiveness of NRP procedures.
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The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, an authoritative source of cancer statistics in the United States, has been funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) since 1973. The goals of SEER include measuring the cancer burden in the United States, making the results available, and supporting cancer research. These goals render products that serve as resources for different audiences, such as cancer registrars, researchers, and the public.

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Background: Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) has emerged as a vital technique in organ procurement, particularly in donation after circulatory death (DCD) cases, offering the potential to optimize organ utilization and improve posttransplant outcomes. Recognizing its significance, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) convened a work group to develop standardized recommendations for abdominal NRP in the United States.

Methods: The workgroup, comprising experts in NRP, DCD, and transplantation, formulated recommendations through a collaborative process involving revisions and approvals by relevant committees and the ASTS council.

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Background: Better access to direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy has broadened the utilization of hepatitis C virus (HCV) nucleic acid testing (NAT) positive organs with excellent outcomes. However, DAA therapy has been associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation.

Aim: To determine the risk of HBV transmission or reactivation with utilization of HBV core antibody positive (HBcAb+) and HCV NAT positive (HCV+) organs, which presumably required DAA therapy.

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  • The study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RF CA) for treating paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) using a real-world multi-center registry approach.
  • A total of 2,470 patients were assessed, with most procedures performed without fluoroscopy, achieving an 81.6% success rate in preventing all forms of atrial arrhythmias after one year.
  • The findings highlight that modern techniques and protocols in RF CA lead to positive clinical outcomes and a low complication rate of 1.9%.
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  • Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) is a promising method for recovering livers from controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) donors, potentially enhancing transplant outcomes and expanding the donor pool in the US, where only 11.4% of deceased donor liver transplants are from cDCD donors.
  • This study compared liver transplant outcomes from cDCD donors recovered using NRP versus standard super rapid recovery (SRR) across 17 US transplant centers, focusing on outcomes like ischemic cholangiopathy and post-transplant complications.
  • Results showed that livers recovered via NRP had shorter hospital stays (7 days vs. 10 days) and none experienced primary
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Whether initiation of statins could increase survival free of dementia and disability in adults aged ≥75 years is unknown. PREVENTABLE, a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized pragmatic clinical trial, will compare high-intensity statin therapy (atorvastatin 40 mg) with placebo in 20,000 community-dwelling adults aged ≥75 years without cardiovascular disease, disability, or dementia at baseline. Exclusion criteria include statin use in the prior year or for >5 years and inability to take a statin.

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Graphite is one of the most chemically inert materials. Its elementary constituent, monolayer graphene, is generally expected to inherit most of the parent material's properties including chemical inertness. Here, we show that, unlike graphite, defect-free monolayer graphene exhibits a strong activity with respect to splitting molecular hydrogen, which is comparable to that of metallic and other known catalysts for this reaction.

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Background: Decisions to transplant organs from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid test-positive (NAT+) donors must balance risk of donor-derived transmission events (DDTE) with the scarcity of available organs.

Methods: Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) data were used to compare organ utilization and recipient outcomes between SARS-CoV-2 NAT+ and NAT- donors. NAT+ was defined by either a positive upper or lower respiratory tract (LRT) sample within 21 days of procurement.

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Background: Timely trial start-up is a key determinant of trial success; however, delays during start-up are common and costly. Moreover, data on start-up metrics in pediatric clinical trials are sparse. To expedite trial start-up, the Trial Innovation Network piloted three novel mechanisms in the trial titled Dexmedetomidine Opioid Sparing Effect in Mechanically Ventilated Children (DOSE), a multi-site, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in the pediatric intensive care setting.

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 Ectopic deciduosis is a benign presence of endometrial tissue outside of the uterus during pregnancy that rarely presents with pleuropulmonary manifestations and recurrent pneumothorax.  We report a 35-year-old woman at 15 weeks' gestation with a history of recurrent intrapartum right pneumothorax found to have pleural, pulmonary, and diaphragmatic lesions and a middle lobe air leak. Wedge resection of the middle lobe and mechanical pleurodesis was performed.

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Introduction: Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is a rare liver cancer that predominantly affects younger patients without a history of liver disease. Surgical resection is the cornerstone of therapy and represents the best potentially curative treatment option. Modest objective responses with cytotoxic chemotherapy alone or combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been reported; however, there are no established systemic therapy regimens for unresectable or metastatic FLC.

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Mortality on the liver waitlist remains unacceptably high. Donation after circulatory determination of death (DCD) donors are considered marginal but are a potentially underutilized resource. Thoraco-abdominal normothermic perfusion (TA-NRP) in DCD donors might result in higher quality livers and offset waitlist mortality.

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The effect of fluid flow on crystal nucleation in supercooled liquids is not well understood. The variable density and temperature gradients in the liquid make it difficult to study this under terrestrial gravity conditions. Nucleation experiments were therefore made in a microgravity environment using the Electromagnetic Levitation Facility on the International Space Station on a bulk glass-forming ZrCuNiAlNb (Vit106), as well as CuZr and the quasicrystal-forming TiZrNi liquids.

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Purpose: Catheter ablation has become a mainstay therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) with rapid innovation over the past decade. Variability in ablation techniques may impact efficiency, safety, and efficacy; and the ideal strategy is unknown. Real-world evidence assessing the impact of procedural variations across multiple operators may provide insight into these questions.

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Background: Coronary sinus (CS) ostial atresia/abnormalities prevent access to the CS from the right atrium (RA) for left ventricular (LV) lead implantation. Some patients with CS ostial abnormalities also have a small persistent left superior vena cava (sPLSVC).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe CS ostial abnormalities and sPLSVC as an opportunity for LV lead implantation and unrecognized source of stroke.

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Elucidating the location of stabilized nanoclusters within their protein hosts is an existing challenge towards the optimized development of functional protein-nanoclusters. While nanoclusters of various metal compositions can be readily synthesized within a wide array of protein hosts and exhibit tailorable properties, the inability to identify the cluster stabilization region prevents controllable property manipulation of both metallic and protein components. Additionally, the ability to synthesize protein-nanoclusters in a consistent and high-throughput fashion is also highly desirable.

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Background: Sarcopenia and inflammation are independently associated with worse survival in cancer patients. This study aims to determine the impact of sarcopenia, body mass index (BMI), and inflammatory biomarkers on survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with anti-PD-1 antibody-based immunotherapy.

Methods: A retrospective review of advanced HCC patients treated with immunotherapy at Winship Cancer Institute between 2015 and 2019 was performed.

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Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Y90 radiation segmentectomy (RS) vs. percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) in patients with solitary HCC ≤ 4 cm.

Methods: From 2014 to 2017, 68 consecutive treatment naïve patients were included (34 per treatment arm).

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Background: Postoperative returns to acute care represent fragmented care, are costly, and often evolve into readmission. Reduction of postoperative readmissions and emergency department visits represents an opportunity to improve quality of care and decrease resource use. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of 2 failure modes and effects analysis-guided quality improvement interventions on return to acute care within 30 days postoperatively.

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Although a resistivity saturation (minimum conductivity) is often observed in disordered metallic solids, such phenomena in the corresponding liquids are not known. Here we report a saturation of the electrical resistivity in Zr_{64}Ni_{36} and Cu_{50}Zr_{50} liquids above a dynamical crossover temperature for the viscosity (T_{A}). The measurements were made for the levitated liquids under the microgravity conditions of the International Space Station.

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Purpose: The risk of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy-related GI adverse events in patients with cancer and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has not been well described. We characterized GI adverse events in patients with underlying IBD who received immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Patients And Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective study of patients with documented IBD who received immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy between January 2010 and February 2019.

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