A modified lung ultrasound score to evaluate short-term clinical outcomes of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a useful tool for assessing the severity of lung disease, without radiation exposure. However, there is little data on the practicality of LUS in assessing the severity of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and evaluating short-term clinical outcomes. We adapted a LUS score to evaluate BPD severity and assess the reliability of mLUS score correlated with short-term clinical outcomes.

Characterization of lung ultrasound imaging in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Background: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a bedside technique that can be used on diagnosis and follow-up of neonatal respiratory diseases. However, there are rare reports on the ultrasound features of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) which is one of the most common chronic lung diseases in preterm infants.

Objective: To describe the ultrasound features of different BPD levels, and to investigate the value of ultrasound in evaluating moderate-to-severe BPD.

Early reoccurrence of traumatic posterior atlantoaxial dislocation without fracture: A case report.

Background: In general, atlantoaxial dislocation is rare due to the stability of the C1-C2 complex. Traumatic atlantoaxial dislocations are usually anterior and accompanied by odontoid fractures. Posterior atlantoaxial dislocations are rare, and complete posterior dislocation without associated fracture is even more rare.

Age-related Changes of Posterior Tibial Slope and Its Roles in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury.

Nearly all previous studies in posterior tibial slope (PTS) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries ignored age-related changes, and the published data are inconsistent. The objective of this study was to reveal age-related changes of PTS and its roles in ACL injury. Data for 2618 lower limbs were included initially based on the availability of lateral radiographs and a suitable femoro-tibial angle.

Exploratory analysis of the relationship between home health agency engagement in a national campaign and reduction in acute care hospitalization in US home care patients.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: To determine whether US home health agencies that intensively engaged with the 2010 Home Health Quality Improvement National Campaign were more likely to reduce acute care hospitalization (ACH) rates than less engaged agencies.

Method: We included all Medicare-certified agencies that accessed Campaign resources in the first month of the Campaign and also responded to an online survey of resource utilization at month two. We used the survey data and item response theory to estimate a latent construct we called engagement with the campaign.

Supramolecular micellar nanoaggregates based on a novel chitosan/vitamin E succinate copolymer for paclitaxel selective delivery.

Background: Nowadays, many cytotoxic anticancer drugs exhibit low solubility and poor tumor selectivity, which means that the drug formulation is very important. For example, in the case of paclitaxel (PTX), Cremophor EL(®) (BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany) needs to be used as a solubilizer in its clinical formulation (Taxol(®), Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York, NY), although it can cause serious side effects. Nanomicellar systems are promising carriers to resolve the above problems, and the polymer chosen is the key element.

Perfluoroalkyl acids including perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorohexane sulfonate in firefighters.

Objective: Firefighters were likely exposed to perfluorooctane sulfonate since it was a component of extinguishing foams and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), a surfactant coating carpet and other building materials, during firefighting. The objective of the study is to evaluate serum concentrations of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in firefighters.

Methods: A total of 8826 male adults, including 37 firefighters, were analyzed.

Mosaic HIV-1 vaccines expand the breadth and depth of cellular immune responses in rhesus monkeys.

The worldwide diversity of HIV-1 presents an unprecedented challenge for vaccine development. Antigens derived from natural HIV-1 sequences have elicited only a limited breadth of cellular immune responses in nonhuman primate studies and clinical trials to date. Polyvalent 'mosaic' antigens, in contrast, are designed to optimize cellular immunologic coverage of global HIV-1 sequence diversity.

First examples of extended structures based on {PMo(12)Sb(2)O(40)} polyoxoanions.

Three novel heteropolyanions [PMo(12)Sb(2)O(40)][Cu(enMe)(2)].4H(2)O (), [PMo(12)Sb(2)O(40)][Ni(enMe)(2)].4H(2)O (2) and [PMo(12)Sb(2)O(40)][Cu(en)(2)].

Adenovirus-specific immunity after immunization with an Ad5 HIV-1 vaccine candidate in humans.

The immunologic basis for the potential enhanced HIV-1 acquisition in adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5)-seropositive individuals who received the Merck recombinant Ad5 HIV-1 vaccine in the STEP study remains unclear. Here we show that baseline Ad5-specific neutralizing antibodies are not correlated with Ad5-specific T lymphocyte responses and that Ad5-seropositive subjects do not develop higher vector-specific cellular immune responses as compared with Ad5-seronegative subjects after vaccination. These findings challenge the hypothesis that activated Ad5-specific T lymphocytes were the cause of the potential enhanced HIV-1 susceptibility in the STEP study.

Nuclear import of influenza A viral ribonucleoprotein complexes is mediated by two nuclear localization sequences on viral nucleoprotein.

Background: The influenza A virus replicates in the nucleus of its host cell. Thus, entry of the influenza genome into the cell nucleus is necessary for establishing infection. The genome of the influenza A virus consists of eight single-stranded, negative-sense RNA molecules, individually packed with several copies of the viral nucleoprotein (NP) into ribonucleoprotein particles (vRNPs).

Impact of release characteristics of sinomenine hydrochloride dosage forms on its pharmacokinetics in beagle dogs.

Aim: To investigate the effect of release behavior of sustained-release dosage forms of sinomenine hydrochloride (SM.HCl) on its pharmacokinetics in beagle dogs.

Methods: The in vitro release behavior of two SM.