Thermoneutral Environment for Neonates: Back to the Basics.

Thermoregulation is an essential component to the stability and long-term outcomes of newborns and critically-ill neonates. A thermoneutral environment (TNE) is an environment in which a neonate maintains a normal body temperature while minimizing energy expenditure and oxygen consumption. Neonates who experience thermal stability within a TNE demonstrate enhanced growth, decreased respiratory support, decreased oxygen requirements, increased glucose stability, reduced mortality, and reduced morbidities associated with hyperthermia and hypothermia.

Clinical and demographic features associated with infections with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing in a health system in Maine, 2017.

In this case-case control study, we identified receipt of β-lactam antibiotics and older age as independently associated with increased infection risk with ESBL-producing among residents aged 20-88 years in a rural Maine hospital system where the infection prevalence of antibiotic-resistant is low.

Interlaboratory assessment of a novel colony-forming unit assay: a multicenter study by the cellular team of Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) collaborative.

Background: Interlaboratory scoring performances were determined using a traditional 14-day colony-forming unit (CFU) assay and a new 7-day CFU assay.

Study Design And Methods: Digital images of colonies were utilized to train personnel at each site. A central laboratory inoculated methylcellulose with progenitors and sent the samples by overnight courier to participating labs for plating.

Groundwater uranium and cancer incidence in South Carolina.

Objective: This ecologic study tested the hypothesis that census tracts with elevated groundwater uranium and more frequent groundwater use have increased cancer incidence.

Methods: Data sources included: incident total, leukemia, prostate, breast, colorectal, lung, kidney, and bladder cancers (1996-2005, SC Central Cancer Registry); demographic and groundwater use (1990 US Census); and groundwater uranium concentrations (n = 4,600, from existing federal and state databases). Kriging was used to predict average uranium concentrations within tracts.

Soil zinc content, groundwater usage, and prostate cancer incidence in South Carolina.

Background: Prostate cancer (PrCA) incidence in South Carolina (SC) exceeds the national average, particularly among African Americans (AAs). Though data are limited, low environmental zinc exposures and down-regulation of prostatic zinc transporter proteins among AAs may explain, in part, the racial PrCA disparity.

Methods: Age-adjusted PrCA rates were calculated by census tract.