Effects of dexamethasone on opioid consumption in pediatric tonsillectomy: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Purpose: Tonsillectomy is one of the most common ambulatory procedures performed in children worldwide, with around 40,000 procedures performed in Canada every year. Although a prior systematic review indicated a clear role for dexamethasone as an analgesic adjunct, the quantity effect on opioid consumption is unknown. In the current systematic review with meta-analysis, we hypothesized that the use of dexamethasone reduces perioperative opioid consumption in pediatric tonsillectomy but does not increase rates of postoperative hemorrhage.

Outcomes in organ transplants from donors with melanoma: a systematic review.

Melanoma transmitted through organ transplantation is an increasingly reported event. Immunosuppression increases the risk of melanoma; however, transmission of malignancy from transplanted organs is a distinct etiology of melanoma occurrence. The risk of transmission of melanoma from an organ donor with melanoma has yet to be determined.

Laser-Assisted Drug Delivery: A Systematic Review of Safety and Adverse Events.

Laser-assisted drug delivery (LADD) is an increasingly studied and applied methodology for drug delivery. It has been used in a wide variety of clinical applications. Given the relatively low barrier to entry for clinicians as well as ongoing research in this area, the authors aimed to review outcomes relating to safety in laser-assisted drug delivery.

Hidradenitis suppurativa and association with stroke: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by painful nodules, abscesses, sinus tract formation and scarring. The relationship between HS and strokes is not well established. To assess this potential association, a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed according to PRISMA guidelines.

Development, manufacturing, and preliminary validation of a reusable half-face respirator during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread shortages of N95 respirators and other personal protective equipment (PPE). An effective, reusable, locally-manufactured respirator can mitigate this problem. We describe the development, manufacture, and preliminary testing of an open-hardware-licensed device, the "simple silicone mask" (SSM).

Subject validation of reusable N95 stop-gap filtering facepiece respirators in COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has unveiled widespread shortages of personal protective equipment including N95 respirators. Several centers are developing reusable stop-gap respirators as alternatives to disposable N95 respirators during public health emergencies, using techniques such as 3D-printing, silicone moulding and plastic extrusion. Effective sealing of the mask, combined with respiratory filters should achieve 95% or greater filtration of particles less than 1um.

Personalized Ventilation to Multiple Patients Using a Single Ventilator: Description and Proof of Concept.

Objectives: To design and test a ventilator circuit that can be used for ventilation of two or more patients with a single ventilator, while allowing individualization of tidal volume, fractional concentration of oxygen, and positive end-expiratory pressure to each patient, irrespective of the other patient's respiratory system mechanics.

Design: Description and proof of concept studies.

Settings: Respiratory therapy laboratory.

A Method for Rapid Selection of Randomly Induced Mutations in a Gene of Interest Using CRISPR/Cas9 Mediated Activation of Gene Expression.

We have developed a CRISPR/Cas9 based method for isolating randomly induced recessive lethal mutations in a gene of interest (GOI) by selection within the F1 progeny of a single genetic cross. Our method takes advantage of the ability to overexpress a GOI using CRISPR/Cas9 mediated activation of gene expression. In essence, the screening strategy is based upon the idea that if overexpression of a wild type allele can generate a phenotype, then overexpression of a newly induced loss-of-function allele will lack this phenotype.

Success of rechallenging dabrafenib and trametinib combination therapy after trametinib-induced rhabdomyolysis: a case report.

The mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway regulates cell growth and differentiation and is activated by BRAF mutations. BRAF mutations are present in about 40-50% of cutaneous melanomas. More than 90% of BRAF mutations are the V600E type.

Population analysis of predictors of difficult intubation with direct laryngoscopy in pediatric patients with and without thyroid disease.

Purpose: There are no data on the prevalence and predictors of difficult intubation (DI) in pediatric patients with thyroid disease. This study (1) assesses the prevalence of DI in patients with thyroid disease undergoing elective operations, (2) identifies other predictors of DI in children, and (3) evaluates the effect of DI on postoperative care and length-of-stay.

Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort analysis of procedures in patients assigned with an ICD-9 code for thyroid disease between June 2012 and February 2016.

High-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in a Japanese allogeneic bone marrow transplant recipient on long-term voriconazole.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas arise as secondary cancers in hematopoietic stem cell transplant survivors. They have been documented primarily in Western cohorts and relatively little is known about their occurrence in Asian hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, with no reports of squamous cell carcinomas with high-risk features in Asian patients. We describe a case of a cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma with high-risk features on the scalp of a Japanese bone marrow transplant recipient approximately 6.

Tranexamic acid: a clinical review.

Blood loss and subsequent transfusions are associated with major morbidity and mortality. The use of antifibrinolytics can reduce blood loss in cardiac surgery, trauma, orthopedic surgery, liver surgery and solid organ transplantation, obstetrics and gynecology, neurosurgery and non-surgical diseases. The evidence of their efficacy has been mounting for years.

Induction of a stringent metabolic response in intracellular stages of Leishmania mexicana leads to increased dependence on mitochondrial metabolism.

Leishmania parasites alternate between extracellular promastigote stages in the insect vector and an obligate intracellular amastigote stage that proliferates within the phagolysosomal compartment of macrophages in the mammalian host. Most enzymes involved in Leishmania central carbon metabolism are constitutively expressed and stage-specific changes in energy metabolism remain poorly defined. Using (13)C-stable isotope resolved metabolomics and (2)H2O labelling, we show that amastigote differentiation is associated with reduction in growth rate and induction of a distinct stringent metabolic state.

Impact of stenting technique and bifurcation anatomy on long-term outcomes of PCI for distal unprotected left main coronary disease.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the associations of stenting strategy and bifurcation anatomy with outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for distal unprotected left main (ULM) coronary disease.

Background: There are limited and conflicting data regarding long-term outcomes associated with stenting strategies for PCI of distal ULM coronary disease.

Methods: Patients undergoing non-emergent PCI for distal ULM coronary disease comprised the study cohort.

Effective bias removal for fringe projection profilometry using the dual-tree complex wavelet transform.

When reconstructing the three-dimensional (3D) object height profile using the fringe projection profilometry (FPP) technique, the light intensity reflected from the object surface can yield abruptly changing bias in the captured fringe image, which leads to severe reconstruction error. The traditional approach tries to remove the bias by suppressing the zero spectrum of the fringe image. It is based on the assumption that the aliasing between the frequency spectrum of the bias, which is around the zero frequency, and the frequency spectrum of the fringe is negligible.

Use of sun-protective items by Japanese pedestrians: a cross-sectional observational study.

Objective: To document the prevalence and characteristics of the use of sun-protective items by Japanese pedestrians during the midday hours of summer weekends.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Observations were undertaken at 5 locales in central Tokyo on weekends between 11 am and 2 pm from August 7 through 22, 2010.

Surgical candidacy and selection biases in nonemergent left main stenting: implications for observational studies.

Objectives: This study sought to characterize reasons for surgical ineligibility in patients undergoing nonemergent unprotected left main (ULM) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and to assess the potential for these reasons to confound comparative effectiveness studies of coronary revascularization.

Background: Although both PCI and coronary artery bypass graft surgery are treatments for ULM disease, some patients are not eligible for both treatments, which may result in treatment selection biases.

Methods: In 101 consecutive patients undergoing nonemergent ULM PCI, mixed methods were used to determine the prevalence of treatment selection dictated by surgical ineligibility and to identify the reasons cited for avoiding coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Efficient fringe image enhancement based on dual-tree complex wavelet transform.

In optical phase shift profilometry (PSP), parallel fringe patterns are projected onto an object and the deformed fringes are captured using a digital camera. It is of particular interest in real time three-dimensional (3D) modeling applications because it enables 3D reconstruction using just a few image captures. When using this approach in a real life environment, however, the noise in the captured images can greatly affect the quality of the reconstructed 3D model.

Isotopomer profiling of Leishmania mexicana promastigotes reveals important roles for succinate fermentation and aspartate uptake in tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) anaplerosis, glutamate synthesis, and growth.

Leishmania parasites proliferate within nutritionally complex niches in their sandfly vector and mammalian hosts. However, the extent to which these parasites utilize different carbon sources remains poorly defined. In this study, we have followed the incorporation of various (13)C-labeled carbon sources into the intracellular and secreted metabolites of Leishmania mexicana promastigotes using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and (13)C NMR.

Standardized, defined serum-free culture of a human skin equivalent on fibroblast-populated collagen scaffold.

The defined, serum-free media used in the cultivation of skin equivalents are liable to inter-laboratory variations, require the preparation of multiple additives, and are potentially difficult to replicate. In this study, we assessed the use of standardized, serum-free and bovine pituitary extract-free keratinocyte culture media in the development of a human skin equivalent. After culture at the air-liquid interface for 3 weeks on a fibroblast-populated collagen lattice, an orthokeratinized, pluristratified epithelium was produced which expressed cytokeratins, cornified cell envelope precursors (involucrin, transglutaminase 1, filaggrin) and desmosomal components (desmoglein and desmocollin 1 and 3, plakophilin 1) in a differentiation-specific manner.

In vitro studies of DNA damage caused by tricyclic antidepressants: a role of peroxidase in the side effects of the drugs.

Studies show that tricyclic antidepressants prescribed for migraines, anxiety, and child enuresis have numerous adverse effects in living cells. One of the undesired outcomes observed under treatment with these drugs is DNA damage. However, the mechanisms underlying damage have yet to be elucidated.