Inhibition of Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase Overcomes Differentiation Blockade in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

While acute myeloid leukemia (AML) comprises many disparate genetic subtypes, one shared hallmark is the arrest of leukemic myeloblasts at an immature and self-renewing stage of development. Therapies that overcome differentiation arrest represent a powerful treatment strategy. We leveraged the observation that the majority of AML, despite their genetically heterogeneity, share in the expression of HoxA9, a gene normally downregulated during myeloid differentiation.

Diet during pregnancy: Women's knowledge of and adherence to food safety guidelines.

Background: As a precaution against acquiring food-borne illnesses, guidelines recommend women avoid some foods during pregnancy.

Aims: To examine among women receiving antenatal care: (i) level of knowledge and self-reported adherence to guidelines about foods that should be avoided during pregnancy; and (ii) associated socio-demographic characteristics.

Methods: Women attending a public outpatient clinic who were: pregnant or had recently given birth; 18 years or older; able to complete an English language survey with minimal assistance; and had at least one prior antenatal appointment for their current pregnancy, were asked to complete a cross-sectional survey.

Familial Adenomatous Polyposis.

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), caused by a germline mutation in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene on chromosome 5q21, is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by hundreds to thousands of adenomas throughout the gastrointestinal tract. A variety of extraintestinal manifestations, including thyroid, soft tissue, and brain tumors, may also be present. These patients inevitably develop colorectal carcinoma by the fourth decade of life.

Twenty-Year Outcome of a Longitudinal Prospective Evaluation of Isolated Endoscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Patellar Tendon or Hamstring Autograft.

Background: Long-term prospective studies of isolated endoscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction are limited and may include confounding factors.

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the outcomes of isolated ACL reconstruction using the patellar tendon (PT) autograft and the hamstring (HT) autograft in 180 patients over 20 years.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

Investigating the accuracy of parentally reported weights and lengths at 12 months of age as compared to measured weights and lengths in a longitudinal childhood genome study.

Background: Childhood obesity studies rely on parentally reported anthropometrics. However, the accuracy of such data has not been evaluated for 12-month-old children. Moreover, methods to improve the accuracy of reported data have not been assessed in prior studies.

Involvement of informal caregivers in supporting patients with COPD: a review of intervention studies.

Caregivers of individuals with COPD have a key role in maintaining patient adherence and optimizing patient function. However, no systematic review has examined how the caregiver role has been operationalized in interventions to improve outcomes of individuals with COPD or the quality or effectiveness of these interventions. The aims of this review were to 1) determine whether caregivers have been involved as part of interventions to improve outcomes of individuals with COPD; 2) determine the risk of bias within included intervention studies; and 3) examine the effectiveness of interventions that have involved caregivers in improving outcomes of individuals with COPD.

Women's perceptions of antenatal care: are we following guideline recommended care?

Background: Detection and management of antenatal risk factors is critical for improved maternal and infant outcomes. This study describes the proportion of pregnant women who self-reported being screened for and offered advice to manage antenatal risk factors in line with antenatal care recommendations; and the characteristics associated with rates of screening.

Methods: A survey was undertaken with 223 (64 % of eligible) pregnant women recruited from an outpatient obstetrics clinic at a public hospital.

Impact of Hospital Teaching Status on Mortality, Length of Stay and Cost Among Patients With Cardiac Arrest in the United States.

Limited data exist regarding the in-hospital outcomes in patients with cardiac arrest (CA) in teaching versus nonteaching hospital settings. Using the Nationwide (National) Inpatient Sample (2008 to 2012), 731,107 cases of CA were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition codes. Among these patients, 348,368 (47.

Anatomic structure-based deformable image registration of brachytherapy implants in the treatment of locally advanced cervix cancer.

Purpose: To examine the impact of anatomic structure-based image sets in deformable image registration (DIR) for cervical cancer patients.

Methods And Materials: CT examinations of 7 patients previously treated for locally advanced cervical cancer with external beam radiation therapy and from three to five fractions of high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) were used. Structure-based image sets were created from "free" structures already made for planning purposes, with each structure of interest assigned a unique, homogeneous Hounsfield number.

What is generated and what is used: a description of public health research output and citation.

The aim of this short report was to describe the output and citation rates of public health. Data-based publications and literature reviews from the year 2008, and their 5-year citation rates were extracted from 10 randomly selected public health journals. In total, 86.

Use of syndromic surveillance data to monitor poisonings and drug overdoses in state and local public health agencies.

Background: The incidence of poisoning and drug overdose has risen rapidly in the USA over the last 16 years. To inform local intervention approaches, local health departments (LHDs) in North Carolina (NC) are using a statewide syndromic surveillance system that provides timely, local emergency department (ED) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) data on medication and drug overdoses.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to describe the development and use of a variety of case definitions for poisoning and overdose implemented in NC's syndromic surveillance system and the impact of the system on local surveillance initiatives.

Health Implications of an Immigration Raid: Findings from a Latino Community in the Midwestern United States.

Immigration raids exemplify the reach of immigration law enforcement into the lives of Latino community members, yet little research characterizes the health effects of these raids. We examined the health implications of an immigration raid that resulted in multiple arrests and deportations and occurred midway through a community survey of a Latino population. We used linear regression following principal axis factoring to examine the influence of raid timing on immigration enforcement stress and self-rated health.

Burden and Unmet Needs of Caregivers of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients: A Systematic Review of the Volume and Focus of Research Output.

Caregivers of individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience significant burden. To develop effective interventions to support this vulnerable group, it is necessary to understand how this burden varies as a function of patient well-being and across the illness trajectory. This systematic review aimed to identify the number and type of data-based publications exploring the burden and unmet needs of caregivers of individuals with COPD.

The psychosocial outcomes of individuals with hematological cancers: Are we doing enough high quality research, and what is it telling us?

This systematic review assessed the quantity and quality of research examining the psychosocial outcomes among hematological cancer patients. Studies were categorised as either measurement, descriptive or intervention. Intervention studies were further assessed according to Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) methodological criteria.

Evaluation of Known or Suspected Cardiac Sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder of unknown cause, and cardiac sarcoidosis affects at least 25% of patients and accounts for substantial mortality and morbidity from this disease. Cardiac sarcoidosis may present with heart failure, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, AV block, atrial or ventricular arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. Cardiac involvement can be challenging to detect and diagnose because of the focal nature of the disease, as well as the fact that clinical criteria have limited diagnostic accuracy.

Use of diagnosis codes for detection of clinically significant opioid poisoning in the emergency department: A retrospective analysis of a surveillance case definition.

Background: Although fatal opioid poisonings tripled from 1999 to 2008, data describing nonfatal poisonings are rare. Public health authorities are in need of tools to track opioid poisonings in near real time.

Methods: We determined the utility of ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes for identifying clinically significant opioid poisonings in a state-wide emergency department (ED) surveillance system.

Transcriptional changes are involved in phenotype switching in Streptococcus equi subspecies equi.

Phenotypic heterogeneity within a population of bacteria, through genetic or transcriptional variation, enables survival and persistence in challenging and changing environments. We report here that a recent clinical isolate of S. equi, strain 1691 (Se1691), yielded a mixture of reduced capsule and mucoid colonies on primary isolation when grown on colistin-oxolinic acid blood agar (COBA) streptococcal selective plates.

Strangles: a pathogenic legacy of the war horse.

Strangles, characterised by pyrexia followed by abscessation of the lymph nodes of the head and neck, was first described in 1251 (Rufus 1251) and the causative agent, Streptococcus equi, was identified in 1888 (Schutz 1888). However, despite more than a century of research into this disease, strangles remains the most frequently diagnosed infection of horses with over 600 outbreaks being identified in the UK alone each year (Parkinson and others 2011). Here, Andrew Waller reviews some of the recent advances in the understanding of the evolution of S equi and puts this into the context of preventing and resolving outbreaks of infection.

Emergency Department Visits by Older Adults with Mental Illness in North Carolina.

Introduction: We analyzed emergency department (ED) visits by patients with mental health disorders (MHDs) in North Carolina from 2008-2010 to determine frequencies and characteristics of ED visits by older adults with MHDs.

Methods: We extracted ED visit data from the North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool (NC DETECT). We defined mental health visits as visits with a mental health ICD-9-CM diagnostic code, and organized MHDs into clinically similar groups for analysis.

Fifteen-Year Survival of Endoscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Patients Aged 18 Years and Younger.

Background: The current body of literature surrounding anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) survival and the variables contributing to further ACL injuries after primary ACL reconstruction in children and adolescents is limited, with no long-term evidence examining the incidence and contributing factors of further ACL injuries in this younger patient population.

Purpose: To determine the long-term survival of the ACL graft and the contralateral ACL (CACL) after primary reconstruction in patients aged ≤18 years and to identify the factors that increase the odds of subsequent ACL injuries.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

The first step in ensuring patient-centred quality of care: ask the patient.

Health providers may not be aware of their patients' needs or preferences, and patients reluctant to raise their concerns. Consequently, the first step in ensuring quality of care is to ask the patient about the care that they would like. A cross-sectional sample of 244 medical oncology outpatients were surveyed about provider-asking behaviours across six dimensions of patient-centred care defined by the Institute of Medicine.

Total knee arthroplasty with an oxidised zirconium femoral component: ten-year survivorship analysis.

Aims: Oxidised zirconium was introduced as a material for femoral components in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) as an attempt to reduce polyethylene wear. However, the long-term survival of this component is not known.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of a prospectively collected database to assess the ten year survival and clinical and radiological outcomes of an oxidised zirconium total knee arthroplasty with the Genesis II prosthesis.

The Perspectives of Haematological Cancer Patients on Tissue Banking.

Background: A high level of support for tissue banking has been identified amongst both the general public and patients. However, much debate remains about the regulatory framework of tissue banks.

Objective: This study explored the views of haematological cancer patients regarding tissue banking and how tissue banks should operate.

Pollen concentration and asthma exacerbations in Wake County, North Carolina, 2006-2012.

Pollen has been generally linked to an increased risk for asthma exacerbation. However, the delayed effect (lag), the length of effect duration, and the association heterogeneity by pollen types have not been well characterized. Short-term associations between ambient concentration of various pollen types (tree, grass, and weed) and emergency department (ED) visits for asthma were assessed using data in Wake County, North Carolina, during 2006-2012.