Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

Purpose Of Review: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a leading cause of death in patients with epilepsy. This review highlights the recent literature regarding epidemiology on a global scale, putative mechanisms and thoughts towards intervention and prevention.

Recent Findings: Recently, numerous population-based studies have examined the incidence of SUDEP in many countries.

Diarrhea prevalence in a randomized, controlled prospective trial of point-of-use water filters in homes and schools in the Dominican Republic.

Background: Lack of sustainable access to clean drinking water continues to be an issue of paramount global importance, leading to millions of preventable deaths annually. Best practices for providing sustainable access to clean drinking water, however, remain unclear. Widespread installation of low-cost, in-home, point of use water filtration systems is a promising strategy.

A long-term maternal diet transition from high-fat diet to normal fat diet during pre-pregnancy avoids adipose tissue inflammation in next generation.

Recent studies have suggested that maternal high-fat (HF) diet caused inflammation changes in adipose tissue; however, it remains unclear if maternal diet intervention before pregnancy rescues such effects in offspring. To address this question, female mice were continued on a normal-fat (NF group), or a HF diet (HF group) or transitioned from a HF diet to a NF diet at 1 (H1N group), 5 (H5N group) or 9 weeks (H9N group) prior to pregnancy. Among the three intervention groups, the H9N offspring displayed less and steady body weight gain, and maintained glucose tolerance, whereas the H1N and H5N offspring showed exacerbate these phenotypes.

Composing Effective and Efficient E-mails: A Primer for Pharmacy Practitioners.

This primer describes the purpose and importance of e-mail as a key communication medium in the workplace. It emphasizes clarity as a primary modality to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Finally, the primer reviews elements of grammar, punctuation, and style that contribute to each e-mail's ability to meet language standards, enhance the writer's image, and successfully transmit information.

Acute visual changes in the elderly.

Changes in vision are common complaints among the geriatric population. Causes range from cataracts and glaucoma to cerebral strokes or other systemic diseases. Loss of vision may be the turning point from independence to dependence in an elderly person's life.

Challenges to establishing nationwide diabetic retinopathy screening programs.

Purpose Of Review: To review the results of recently published studies on diabetic retinopathy screening.

Recent Findings: Despite numerous public health campaigns and the existence of guidelines designed to promote annual retinal exams for diabetes patients, an unacceptably high number of patients are not screened for diabetic retinopathy. Current findings suggest the need for novel methods to improve compliance with retinal screening exams among diabetes patients to preserve vision functionality in this population.

Use of pharmacy delivery robots in intensive care units.

Purpose: The use of pharmacy delivery robots in an institution's intensive care units was evaluated.

Summary: In 2003, the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) began a pilot program to determine the logistic capability and functional utility of robotic technology in the delivery of medications from satellite pharmacies to patient care units. Three satellite pharmacies currently used the robotic system.

Manganese-enhanced MRI of the rat visual pathway: acute neural toxicity, contrast enhancement, axon resolution, axonal transport, and clearance of Mn(2+).

Purpose: To provide dose-response data for the safe and effective use of MnCl(2) for manganese (Mn(2+)) -enhanced MRI (MEMRI) of the visual pathway.

Materials And Methods: Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) toxicity, CNR in MEMRI, axon density resolution for MEMRI, mode of axonal transport and clearance of Mn(2+) from the vitreous after ivit were investigated. After 0, 30, 150, 300, 1500, and 3000 nmol ivit MnCl(2), neural toxicity was measured by counting surviving RGC back-filled with FluroGold (FG), CNR of the vitreous body and visual pathway by three-dimensional (3D) MEMRI, resolution of ON axon density by correlating CNR with axon density, and axonal transport of Mn(2+) by studying CNR in 3D MEMRI of the ON after ion of 200 nmol MnCl(2).

Nonablative skin therapies.

This article describes the nonablative laser and light source technologies that are currently available for the rejuvenation of photodamaged skin. A brief overview of the etiology of solar skin damage is followed by an explanation of how nonablative technologies induce repair of photoaged skin. An overview of the various light sources is provided, with particular attention to their mechanism of action and clinical use.

Evaluation of a stroke family support organiser: a randomized controlled trial.

Background And Purpose: There is inconclusive evidence of the effectiveness of the Stroke Family Support Organiser (FSO) service. We report the results from a randomized controlled trial of the service.

Methods: Stroke patients admitted to hospital and their informal caregivers were randomly allocated to receive the FSO service (n=126) or standard care (n=124).

Prolactin receptors in the brain during pregnancy and lactation: implications for behavior.

Numerous studies have documented prolactin regulation of a variety of brain functions, including maternal behavior, regulation of oxytocin neurons, regulation of feeding and appetite, suppression of ACTH secretion in response to stress, and suppression of fertility. We have observed marked changes in expression of prolactin receptors in specific hypothalamic nuclei during pregnancy and lactation. This has important implications for neuronal functions regulated by prolactin.

The relationship between personality and attainment in 16-19-year-old students in a sixth form college: II: Self-perception, gender and attainment.

Background: A related paper (Summerfield & Youngman, 1999) has described the development of a scale, the Student Self-Perception Scale (SSPS) designed to explore the relationship between academic self-concept, attainment and personality in sixth form college students.

Aims: The study aimed to identify groups of students exhibiting varying patterns of relationship using a range of measures including the SSPS. Issues of gender and also examined.

The relationship between personality and attainment in 16-19-year-old students in a sixth form college. I: Construction of the Student Self-Perception Scale.

Background: Of the research that has been undertaken into the relationship between personality and attainment, relatively little exists relating to the 16-19 age range. In a substantive study examining the relationship between academic self-concept, attainment and personality in sixth form students, a first requirement was to design a self-perception instrument.

Aims: The psychometric element of the study aimed to construct a Student Self-Perception Scale (SSPS) that would be effective for students in the FE (further education) context.

Mesial temporal spikes interfere with working memory.

The hippocampus and other mesial temporal structures support long-term memory and also are common foci for epilepsy. Recently it was shown that these brain structures may subserve the short-term storage and rehearsal processes called working memory in humans. We determined the accuracy of verbal and visuospatial working memory in the presence and in the absence of mesial temporal spikes in eight patients who had bilateral depth electrodes implanted to evaluate intractable epilepsy.

Antiepileptic medication and oral contraceptive interactions: a national survey of neurologists and obstetricians.

Hepatic enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) lower oral contraceptive (OC) sex hormone levels approximately 40% and increase the risk of unplanned pregnancies in women with epilepsy. AEDs also increase the risk of birth defects in offspring of women with epilepsy. We performed a national survey to determine obstetricians' and neurologists' knowledge of OC and AED interactions and the risk of birth defects for women with epilepsy taking AEDs.

Ventilation tube insertion using topical anaesthesia in children.

Topical anaesthesia using EMLA cream is an established anaesthetic technique for ventilation tube insertion in adults. We report its use in 103 children (age range 3-12 years). Failure occurred in seven patients (6.

Implementation and analysis of a non-floor stock controlled substance unit dose system in a pediatric hospital.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a modified unit dose dispensing system for schedule II controlled substances. Each dose is signed out of stock for the intended patient. Changes in the system required revision of dispensing records and procedures in pharmacy and nursing.

Establishing a pharmacy department for a large pediatric hospital: managerial problems, opportunities, and lessons.

The process of planning and establishing a pharmacy department in a pediatric hospital is described, and lessons learned from the experience are summarized. Since its founding in 1954, Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) had shared pharmacy services with St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital.

Evaluation of N-acetylcysteine and methylprednisolone as therapies for oxygen and acrolein-induced lung damage.

Reactive oxidizing species are implicated in the etiology of a range of inhalational pulmonary injuries. Consequently, various free radical scavengers have been tested as potential prophylactic agents. The sulfydryl compound, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is the only such compound clinically available for use in realistic dosages, and it is well established as an effective antidote for the hepatic and renal toxicity of paracetamol.