End-to-End Sample Tracking in the Laboratory Using a Custom Internet of Things Device.

We describe a custom Internet of Things (IoT) device used for tracking barcoded containers end to end in a high-throughput analysis and purification laboratory. Our IoT device fills an important gap that previously prevented us from fully tracking barcoded sample containers through manual steps in a multistep workflow, such as when samples are "parked" for temporary storage, or when using instrumentation not otherwise equipped with barcode scanners, a common occurrence found with specific centrifugal evaporation instruments. The custom device reads container barcodes and sends a small amount of data to our back-end data systems.

Mail order pharmacy use and adherence to secondary prevention drugs among stroke patients.

Background And Purpose: Mail order pharmacies (MOP) are increasingly being used to deliver medications for chronic disease management. Their use is linked to similar or even greater medication adherence than local pharmacy (LP) use. We are unaware of any studies that have evaluated the association of mail order pharmacy use with drug adherence among stroke patients.

Safe and Effective Implementation of Telestroke in a US Community Hospital Setting.

Context: There is substantial hospital-level variation in use of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Telestroke services can bring neurologic expertise to hospitals with fewer resources.

Objective: To determine whether implementation of a telestroke intervention in a large integrated health system would lead to increased tPA utilization and would change rates of hemorrhagic complications.

Emergency Care of Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Integrated Health System.

Context: Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is underutilized for treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

Objective: To determine whether the probability of tPA administration for patients with ischemic stroke in an integrated health care system improved from 2009 to 2013, and to identify predictors of tPA administration.

Design: Retrospective analysis of all ischemic stroke presentations to 14 Emergency Departments between 2009 and 2013.

Validity of the Polar V800 heart rate monitor to measure RR intervals at rest.

Purpose: To assess the validity of RR intervals and short-term heart rate variability (HRV) data obtained from the Polar V800 heart rate monitor, in comparison to an electrocardiograph (ECG).

Method: Twenty participants completed an active orthostatic test using the V800 and ECG. An improved method for the identification and correction of RR intervals was employed prior to HRV analysis.

Association of Hispanic ethnicity with acute ischemic stroke care processes and outcomes.

Background: Few studies have examined the actual hospital arrival mode, emergency department (ED) care processes, and early outcomes in Hispanic vs non-Hispanic acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. We evaluated processes and prognosis by Hispanic ethnicity among AIS patients encountered in urban setting.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed prospectively-collected data on 1,117 AIS patients presenting within 12 hours of ictus to five hospitals in a tertiary-level stroke center network in San Diego, California.

A computational method for planning complex compound distributions under container, liquid handler, and assay constraints.

A systematic method for assembling and solving complex compound distribution problems is presented in detail. The method is based on a model problem that enumerates the mathematical equations and constraints describing a source container, liquid handler, and three types of destination containers involved in a set of compound distributions. One source container and one liquid handler are permitted in any given problem formulation, although any number of compound distributions may be specified.

Clinical use of computed tomographic perfusion for the diagnosis and prediction of lesion growth in acute ischemic stroke.

Background: Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) mapping in research centers correlates well with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesions and may accurately differentiate the infarct core from ischemic penumbra. The value of CTP in real-world clinical practice has not been fully established. We investigated the yield of CTP-derived cerebral blood volume (CBV) and mean transient time (MTT) for the detection of cerebral ischemia and ischemic penumbra in a sample of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients.

Intravenous thrombolysis in ischemic stroke patients with intracranial neoplasms: two cases and a literature review.

Based on exclusion criteria in the landmark NINDS-rtPA trial, current expert consensus guidelines preclude the use of intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (IV rtPA) in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with intracranial neoplasm. There are only 3 published cases of administration of IV rtPA to AIS patients with intracranial neoplasms in the literature. Two of these published cases involved malignant brain parenchymal lesions discovered only after rtPA was inadvertently given, and one of these cases was associated with hemorrhage within the tumor.

Medico-legal aspects of using tissue plasminogen activator in acute ischemic stroke.

Intravenous alteplase or tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) has been the standard of care with proven efficacy for acute ischemic stroke for over a decade. Despite this, only a small fraction of potentially eligible stroke patients receive this medication. There seems to be a fear among practitioners of legal repercussions as a result of an increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage due to tPA.

High-field magnetic resonance imaging of brain iron in Alzheimer disease.

Objectives: Increased iron deposition in the brain may occur in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease (AD). Iron deposits shorten T2 relaxation times on T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images. Iron-dependent contrast increases with magnetic field strength.