Publications by authors named "Sydney Brown"

Background: Sugammadex was initially approved for reversal of neuromuscular blockade in adults in the United States in 2015. Limited data suggest sugammadex is widely used in pediatric anesthesia practice however the factors influencing use are not known. We explore patient, surgical, and institutional factors associated with the decision to use sugammadex versus neostigmine or no reversal, and the decision to use 2 mg/kg vs 4 mg/kg dosing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Limited data exist regarding recovery from surgery from the adolescent's perspective, or data regarding concordance between adolescent and caregiver symptom reports preventing appreciation of adolescent needs and hindering the provision of appropriate care.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with adolescents ages 12 to 17 and a parent caregiver 2 weeks following a variety of outpatient elective surgeries about recovery symptoms. We used latent manifest content analysis to analyze interview data.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study reports the first use of natural history museum ungulate specimens' (common fallow deer, bontebok, Arabian oryx, impala, Dall's sheep, water buffalo, and yak) hair as biomarkers for the determination of environmental trace element contamination and public exposure risk factor assessment. Morphological characteristics of the hair, like diameter and protein structure, were determined using optical microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy, respectively. The levels of thirty-nine (39) elements, sixteen (16) rare earth elements (REEs), and selected isotope ratios (Cr/Cr, Nd/Nd, Sm/Sm, Yb/Yb, Pb/Pb, and Pb/Pb) in the hair samples were determined by ICP-MS analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to validate and recalibrate two risk prediction scores (PRAm and intrinsic surgical risk score) for assessing 30-day in-hospital mortality in pediatric patients using a large database from multiple hospitals.
  • Results showed that while both scores had good discrimination (AUROC values), they produced many false positives and underperformed compared to original validations.
  • Ultimately, the intrinsic surgical risk score was more effective than PRAm, but the findings suggest that relying solely on these scores might not significantly enhance patient outcome predictions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Methods: Sugammadex vials were fractionated into 25, 50, or 100 mg aliquots, which would be distributed to anesthesia staff by pharmacy staff in approximate 2 mg/kg of actual body weight doses (±10%). We analyzed changes in sugammadex waste and dosing practices 1/1/2019 to 3/15/2023 pre/postintervention (4/1/2021). We gauged dose appropriateness using last train of four (TOF) prior to sugammadex administration.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Sugammadex is a neuromuscular blockade (NMB) reversal agent introduced in the United States in 2016, which allows the reversal of deep NMB, not possible with neostigmine. Few data describe associated practice changes, if any, in NMB medication use that may have resulted from its availability. We hypothesized that after institutional introduction, use of NMB agents increased.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Sugammadex is a pharmacologic agent that provides rapid reversal of neuromuscular blockade via encapsulation of the neuromuscular blocking agent (NMBA). The sugammadex-NMBA complex is primarily cleared through glomerular filtration from the kidney, raising the possibility that alterations in renal function could affect its elimination. In pediatric patients, the benefits of sugammadex have led to widespread utilization; however, there is limited information on its application in pediatric renal impairment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Observational studies of anesthetic neurotoxicity may be biased because children requiring anesthesia commonly have medical conditions associated with neurobehavioral problems. This study takes advantage of a natural experiment associated with appendicitis to determine whether anesthesia and surgery in childhood were specifically associated with subsequent neurobehavioral outcomes.

Methods: This study identified 134,388 healthy children with appendectomy and examined the incidence of subsequent externalizing or behavioral disorders (conduct, impulse control, oppositional defiant, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) or internalizing or mood or anxiety disorders (depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder) when compared to 671,940 matched healthy controls as identified in Medicaid data between 2001 and 2018.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Gomphonema parvulum is a widely found freshwater diatom used for assessing water quality, with two isolates from southeastern North America studied for their morphology and genetic makeup.
  • Although both strains match the characteristics of G. parvulum, one from South Carolina displayed smaller frustules compared to historic records and another strain from Virginia.
  • Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolates share high genetic similarity, with slight differences in their chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes, and they are closely related to other diatom species like Gomphoneis minuta and Didymosphenia geminata.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: All countries are required to implement International Health Regulations (IHR) through development and implementation of multi-year National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS). IHR implementation requires annual operational planning which involves several tools such as NAPHS, State Party Annual Report (SPAR), Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and WHO IHR Benchmarks tool. Sierra Leone has successfully improved IHR capacities across the years through successful annual operational planning using the above tools.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We characterized germline genetic test result understanding in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) (n = 21) with cancer 1-3.9 years post-disclosure using semistructured qualitative interviews. Most AYAs articulated their cancer risk; however, 5 did not remember results and a subset demonstrated misperceptions regarding risk or confusion regarding their medical care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biochar can directly hold cations in soil because of the negative charge that exists on its surfaces. Besides, improving soil cation exchange capacity, the negative charges on biochar surfaces can buffer acid soil by protonation and deprotonation mechanisms. Moreover, biochar ameliorates soil acidity due to the presence of oxides, carbonates, and hydroxides of its basic cations (Ca, Na, K, and Mg).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Neuromuscular/neurologic disease confers increased risk of perioperative mortality in children. Some patients require tracheostomy and/or feeding tubes to ameliorate upper airway obstruction or respiratory failure and reduce aspiration risk. Empiric differences between patients with and without these devices and their association with postoperative mortality have not been previously assessed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) measurement is a critical tool in the evaluation of patients with disordered phosphate homeostasis. Available laboratory reference ranges for blood FGF23 were developed using samples from normophosphatemic individuals. Reliance on such values can lead to misdiagnosis in patients with FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemia, such as X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) and tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO), in whom pathology-driving FGF23 levels can be in the "normal range.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bacteriophage Finkle is a temperate siphovirus isolated from soil on Gordonia terrae. The 47,895-bp genome has a GC content of 66.6% and encodes 84 protein-coding genes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To determine women's perception of the risk of food safety and how it relates to diet, health and decision making as part of formative research for a market-based intervention that aims to improve the safety of animal-source foods sold in informal markets.

Design: Qualitative study including in-depth personal interviews with 24 caregivers were conducted and complemented with a second follow-up PhotoVoice interview, which allowed the women to photograph their meals and perceptions of food safety and nutrition. Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis in MAXQDA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The recent success of monoclonal antibody checkpoint inhibitor therapies that enhance the ability of CD8 T cells to detect cancer-related antigenic peptides has refocused the need to fully understand the repertoire of peptides being presented to the immune system. Whilst the peptide ligandome presented by cell surface human leucocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) molecules on cancer cells has been studied extensively, the ligandome of extracellular vesicles (EVs) remains poorly defined. Here, we report the HLA-I ligandome of both the cell surface and EVs from eight breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-361, MDA-MB-415, MDA-MB-453, HCC 1806, HCC 1395, and HCC 1954), and additionally the melanoma cell line ESTDAB-056 and the multiple myeloma line RPMI 8226.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a key phosphate- and vitamin D-regulating hormone. FGF23 circulates as an intact 251 amino acid protein or N- and C-terminal degradation products. Hormone activity resides in the intact molecule, but it has been suggested that high levels of the C-terminal protein can interfere with intact FGF23 (iFGF23) activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study aims to examine factors related to emotional abuse, an understudied type of intimate partner violence (IPV), among a sample of college students. 601 undergraduates from one large public university in the Midwestern United States (Spring 2017) and 756 undergraduates from one large public university in the Southern United States (Fall 2019) participated in the study. Participants completed an online survey measuring demographic information, behavioral variables (viewing porn, alcohol consumption, and hooking up), and history of violence (witnessing a father abuse his spouse, emotional abuse history).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF