Publications by authors named "Sepulveda K"

Insulin-secreting allogeneic cell therapies are a promising treatment for type 1 diabetes, with the potential to eliminate hypoglycemia and long-term complications of the disease. However, chronic systemic immunosuppression is necessary to prevent graft rejection, and the acute risks associated with immunosuppression limit the number of patients who can be treated with allogeneic cell therapies. Islet macroencapsulation in a hydrogel biomaterial is one proposed method to reduce or eliminate immune suppression; however, macroencapsulation devices suffer from poor oxygen transport and limited efficacy as they scale to large animal model preclinical studies and clinical trials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Twiddler's syndrome is a rare condition associated with cardiac pacemakers, characterized by the twisting and retraction of the device lead within the implantation site.
  • A 54-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department due to chest pain and involuntary muscle contractions in her left side.
  • A cardiology specialist confirmed the diagnosis of Twiddler's syndrome after evaluating the patient's symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Accurate information about locoregional treatments in breast cancer neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) trials is vital to support surgical decision-making and allow meaningful interpretation of long-term oncological outcomes. This systematic review (PROSPERO registration CRD42023470891) aimed to describe the current practice of outcome reporting in NST studies. A systematic search identified primary research studies published 01/01/2018-08/09/2023 reporting outcomes in patients receiving NST for breast cancer followed by locoregional treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Neoadjuvant systemic anticancer therapy (neoSACT) is increasingly used in the treatment of early breast cancer. Response to therapy is prognostic and allows locoregional and adjuvant systemic treatments to be tailored to minimise morbidity and optimise oncological outcomes and quality of life. Accurate information about locoregional treatments following neoSACT is vital to allow the translation of downstaging benefits into practice and facilitate meaningful interpretation of oncological outcomes, particularly locoregional recurrence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The STEEP 2.0 criteria, updated in 2021, established standardized definitions for adjuvant breast cancer end points and emphasized the importance of defining neoadjuvant clinical trial end points separately.
  • A specialized working group, NeoSTEEP, focused on neoadjuvant systemic therapy end points, considering various factors like cancer subtypes, imaging, and FDA regulations.
  • The group recommended defining pathologic complete response (pCR) as no residual invasive cancer present and suggested additional methodologies for evaluating treatment efficacy, including unique end points for hormone receptor-positive cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Health care workforce diversity is vital in combating health disparities. Despite much recent attention to downstream strategies to improve diversity in radiology, such as increased recruitment efforts and holistic application review, workforce diversity has not tangibly improved in recent decades. Yet, little discussion has been devoted to defining the obstacles that might delay, complicate, or altogether prevent persons from groups that have been traditionally marginalized and minoritized from a career in radiology.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Co-regulation is a relatively new theoretical framework for interventions that connects developmental science to adolescent needs and provides strategies that can be applied across contexts. It also has value in shifting the focus of interventions to the role of relationships and interactions with caring adults, as well as supportive environments. This framework may be particularly salient for older youth with foster care experience whose relationships with adults and availability of developmental supports are disrupted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare progressive inflammatory process temporally associated with exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in patients 20 years of age and younger. At this time, much of MIS-C is not well understood, including the pathogenesis, long-term implications, and how each variant of the COVID-19 virus affects the progression and severity. We present the unusual case of a 19-year-old man with a history of homozygous sickle cell disease who developed a vaso-occlusive pain crisis and cerebral fat embolism syndrome as a complication of MIS-C secondary to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hydrogel injection molding is a biofabrication method that is useful for the rapid generation of complex cell-laden hydrogel geometries, with potential utility in biomanufacturing products for tissue engineering applications. Hydrogel injection molding requires that hydrogel polymers have sufficiently delayed crosslinking times to enable injection and molding prior to gelation. In this work, we explore the feasibility of injection molding synthetic poly(ethylene) glycol (PEG)-based hydrogels functionalized with strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition click chemistry functional groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A healthy 12-month-old female presented with relapsing and remitting urticaria since birth that was resistant to treatment with antihistamines. A thorough history revealed extensive rheumatic disease on the father's side of the family, and subsequent genetic testing was positive for a missense variant of NLRP3, indicating cryopyrin-associated periodic fever syndrome (CAPS). CAPS encompasses a spectrum of diseases, all related to a defect in the same gene; manifestations vary in severity and presentation, but most are associated with recurrent rash and fever.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phil. (Asteraceae) (known as copa-copa) is a native species of Chile used as an infusion in traditional medicine by Atacameños people in the Altiplano, highlands of northern Chile. In this research, we have investigated for the first time the cholinesterase inhibition potential against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and the chemical profiling of the infusions prepared from the aerial parts of by high resolution spectrometry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: After encouraging results from a single-institution pilot, a novel case-based education portal using integrated clinical decision support at the simulated point of order entry was implemented at multiple institutions to evaluate whether the program is scalable and results transferable. The program was designed to fill key health systems' science gaps in traditional medical education curricula, ultimately aiding the transition from volume to value in health care. The module described uses commonly encountered medical vignettes to provide learners with a low-stakes educational environment to improve their awareness and apply curricular content regarding appropriate resource utilization, patient safety, and cost.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The integration of monitoring technologies in the last decades has been a key factor in the development of new ways to track air pollutants and supplementing the network of traditional monitoring systems. In this regard, the appearance of affordable and accurate sensor devices to monitor air quality has made possible to obtain relevant data about the state of the air, and moreover, eminent institutions are interested in promoting the use of novel and more affordable tools for air pollution, such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency and European institutions, within a new approach to environmental surveillance, known as Next Generation Compliance and Enforcement technologies. On other hand, in order to get more reliable measurements, the use of machine learning to support adjustment or calibration process has been used in some studies to improve the performance of monitoring devices.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify potential barriers to building a diverse workforce in radiology and radiation oncology by conducting a national survey of physicians in these fields and studying their reported career experiences.

Methods: An electronic survey of ACR members (February 27, 2018, to April 26, 2018) was conducted in which physicians' attitudes about their work environment, relationships, and culture were queried. The aim was to determine if responses differed by gender or race/ethnicity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: The objective of this study was to elicit feedback on consensus methodology used for core outcome set (COS) development.

Study Design And Setting: An online survey of international Delphi panelists participating in a recent COS for clinical research studies evaluating acute respiratory failure (ARF) survivors was conducted. Panelists represented 14 countries (56% outside the United States).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: To evaluate participant-related variables associated with missing assessment(s) at follow-up visits during a longitudinal research study.

Methods: This is a prospective, longitudinal, multi-site study of 196 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) survivors. More than 30 relevant sociodemographic, physical status, and mental health variables (representing participant characteristics prior to ARDS, at hospital discharge, and at the immediately preceding follow-up visit) were evaluated for association with missed assessments at 3, 6, 12, and 24-month follow-up visits (89-95% retention rates), using binomial logistic regression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gender diversity remains a challenge for radiology. As we aspire to embrace Diversity 3.0 and the goal of making diversity core to our organizations' mission, there must be increasing awareness of the barriers to achieving inclusion and to best practices for making diversity integral to achieving excellence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: We aimed to characterize anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms over 5-year follow-up after acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and determine risk factors for prolonged psychiatric morbidity.

Methods: This prospective cohort study enrolled patients from 13 medical and surgical intensive care units in four hospitals, with follow-up at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months post-ARDS. Trained research staff administered the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (scores ≥ 8 on anxiety and depression subscales indicating substantial symptoms) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R, scores ≥ 1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the impact of a simulation-based ultrasound-guided (USG) breast biopsy training session on radiology trainee procedural knowledge, comfort levels, and overall procedural confidence and anxiety.

Methods: Twenty-one diagnostic radiology residents from a single academic institution were recruited to participate in an USG breast biopsy training session. The residents filled out a questionnaire before and after the training session.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To determine if breast MRI is useful for detecting additional or invasive sites of disease in patients initially diagnosed with pure DCIS.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of women diagnosed with pure DCIS who underwent a breast MRI for evaluation of extent of disease was performed at a single institution from January 2013 to April 2015. Data analysis included imaging (mammography, ultrasound and MRI) and pathology characteristics (histology and biomarker status) of the primary DCIS as well as descriptors for the additional sites of disease incidentally found by breast MRI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Delayed return to work is common after acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but has undergone little detailed evaluation. We examined factors associated with the timing of return to work after ARDS, along with lost earnings and shifts in healthcare coverage.

Methods: Five-year, multisite prospective, longitudinal cohort study of 138 2-year ARDS survivors hospitalised between 2004 and 2007.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Spindle cell lesions of the breast comprise a wide-range of entities including reactive, benign and malignant proliferations. They can be pathologically challenging to differentiate as there is often immunohistochemical and morphologic similarities with characteristic spindle shaped cellular patterns. Radiological and pathological correlation is essential.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF