Coil Embolization as a Life-Saving Treatment for Pulmonary Artery Perforation Secondary to Large-Bore Catheterization.

We present a case of left pulmonary artery perforation during mechanical thrombectomy for treatment of pulmonary embolism. The patient's condition became hemodynamically unstable, with massive hemoptysis requiring intubation and multiple vasopressor agents. Prompt balloon tamponade and 0.

Perspectives on the evaluation and adoption of complex in vitro models in drug development: Workshop with the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry (IQ MPS Affiliate).

Complex in vitro models (CIVM) offer the potential to improve pharmaceutical clinical drug attrition due to safety and/ or efficacy concerns. For this technology to have an impact, the establishment of robust characterization and qualifi­cation plans constructed around specific contexts of use (COU) is required. This article covers the output from a workshop between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Innovation and Quality Microphysiological Systems (IQ MPS) Affiliate.

Racial Disparities in School Lunch Program Participation and Cigarette Use: Evidence from Arizona Youth Survey Data.

Cigarette and other tobacco product use among youth has become a serious public health issue in the United States. Thus, it is important to understand the social and contextural factors of cigarette use, especially for the young population. This study explores the relationship between participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and youth cigarettes use.

Teaching Youth to Resist Abuse: Evaluation of a Strengths-Based Child Maltreatment Curriculum for High School Students.

Child maltreatment (CM) is a serious and prevalent public health problem in the United States (U.S.) yet programming to combat the issue often overlooks high school aged youth (those aged 14-17).

Introduction to a manuscript series on the characterization and use of microphysiological systems (MPS) in pharmaceutical safety and ADME applications.

Safety related drug failures continue to be a challenge for pharmaceutical companies despite the numerous complex and lengthy in vitro assays and in vivo studies that make up the typical safety screening funnel. A lack of complete translation of animal data to humans can explain some of those shortcomings. Differences in sensitivity and drug disposition between animals and humans may also play a role.

Microphysiological lung models to evaluate the safety of new pharmaceutical modalities: a biopharmaceutical perspective.

The lung is a complex organ; it is both the initial barrier for inhaled agents and the site of metabolism and therapeutic effect for a subset of systemically administered drugs. Comprised of more than 40 cell types that are responsible for various important functions, the lung's complexity contributes to the subsequent challenges in developing complex in vitro co-culture models (also called microphysiological systems (MPS), complex in vitro models or organs-on-a-chip). Although there are multiple considerations and limitations in the development and qualification of such in vitro systems, MPS exhibit great promise in the fields of pharmacology and toxicology.

Assessment of soot particle vaporization effects during laser-induced incandescence with time-resolved light scattering.

Although laser-induced incandescence (LII) has been successfully used for soot volume fraction and particle size measurements, uncertainties remain regarding issues of soot vaporization leading to mass loss and morphological changes occurring in soot due to intense heating. Prompt LII detection schemes are often based on the assumption that the associated time scale is shorter than the time scale of soot vaporization or sublimation. The validity of such assumptions is the focus of the current study.

Lichtenstein vs anterior preperitoneal prosthetic mesh placement in open inguinal hernia repair: a prospective, randomized trial.

Male veterans with unilateral primary inguinal hernia, classified intraoperatively as Gilbert Type III or IV, were randomized to subaponeurotic (Lichtenstein, n=126) or preperitoneal (Read-Rives, n=121) repair under general or spinal anesthesia. The two groups of patients were comparable in age, body weight index, comorbidities, and size and type of hernia. Of the 247 patients enrolled, 224 were followed for at least 2 years (median 82 months, range 24-110 months), 16 were lost to follow-up, and seven died from causes unrelated to the surgery.

Vibrational circular dichroism spectroscopy of selected oligopeptide conformations.

Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) has been shown to be a useful technique for characterization of the qualitative secondary structure type for linear polypeptides and oligopeptides. A brief review of characteristic spectral responses and applications is given. Since VCD is dependent on relatively short range interactions, it detects residual structure in such oligomers even if long range order is lost.

Characterization of alanine-rich peptides, Ac-(AAKAA)n-GY-NH2 (n = 1-4), using vibrational circular dichroism and Fourier transform infrared. Conformational determination and thermal unfolding.

Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and Fourier transform IR (FTIR) were measured for a series of short alanine-based peptides having the general formula Ac-(AAKAA)n-GY-NH2 (n = 1-4) from 5 to 50 degrees C in D2O and at room temperature in both TFE and H2O. In both of these latter solvents, the dominant structural form at the lowest temperature for the longest oligomers is alpha-helical. The same is true for the n = 4 peptide in D2O, but under these more dilute aqueous conditions, the shorter (n = 3) peptides have mixed helix-coil structures and the n = 1 and 2 peptides are random coils.

Protein structural segments and their interconnections derived from optical spectra. Thermal unfolding of ribonuclease T1 as an example.

A novel descriptor for protein structure is examined here that goes beyond predictions of the average fractional components (FC) of a few conformational types and represents the number and interconnection of segments of continuous, well-defined secondary structural elements such as alpha-helices and beta-sheets. This matrix descriptor can be predicted from optical spectra using neural network methods. The new matrix plus traditional FC descriptors can be quickly and generally obtained to provide a level of detail not previously derived from optical spectra and a discrimination between proteins that might otherwise be viewed as being very similar using just the FC descriptor.

Conformational study of linear alternating and mixed D- and L-proline oligomers using electronic and vibrational CD and Fourier transform IR.

Vibrational CD (VCD) spectra of a series of blocked linear, alternating D- and L-proline containing oligopeptides, dissolved in D2O and in CDCl3, are reported. For the Boc-LDL-Pro3 to Boc-DLDLDLDL-Pro8 oligomers, the VCD spectra in the amide I band is a positive couplet, opposite in sense to that obtained for (L-Pro)n oligomers. While this admits the possibility of their favoring a right-handed helical chain conformation, the amide I ir spectra for these DL oligomers in D2O indicate a mixed, apparently alternate, cis-trans conformation that prevents a simple conclusion.

Characterization of beta-bend ribbon spiral forming peptides using electronic and vibrational CD.

Terminally blocked (L-Pro-Aib)n and Aib-(L-Pro-Aib)n sequential oligopeptides are known to form right-handed beta-bend ribbon spirals under a variety of experimental conditions. Here we describe the results of a complete CD and ir characterization of this subtype of 3(10)-helical structure. The electronic CD spectra were obtained in solvents of different polarity in the 260-180 nm region.

Properitoneal prosthetic placement through the groin. The anterior (Mahorner-Goss, Rives-Stoppa) approach.

The operative technique presented here, placement of polypropylene mesh in the properitoneal (deep) position through an inguinal approach, has yielded very satisfactory results with few recurrences and with postoperative morbidity rates comparable to those of standard techniques that do not involve prosthetic material. The main advantage of this method over other operations that utilize prosthetic material lies in the combination of the greater flexibility in the choice of operative technique afforded by the inguinal approach and the potential benefit of low recurrence rates after properitoneal placement of the mesh. There is an urgent need for a controlled randomized trial addressing the potential benefit (or lack thereof) of hernia repairs with prosthetic material in general, as well as the issue of optimal placement of the prosthesis.

Ozone in the urban southeastern United States.

Ozone measurements (daily maximum values) from the Aerometric Information Retrieval System database are analyzed for selected sites, during 1980 to 1988, in southeastern USA. Frequency distributions, for most sites during most years, show a typical bell-shaped curve with the higher frequency around the yearly daily maximum ozone mean of about 100 to about 110 microg m(-3) (50-55 ppbv). Abnormal years in ozone concentration may skew the distribution as the mean shifts.

Survival after conservative resection for T1 N0 M0 non-small cell lung cancer.

Two hundred forty-four veterans, with a mean age of 62.4 years, mainly asymptomatic (pulmonary), were admitted generally for other disease or pension evaluation and underwent lobectomy (131), segmentectomy (107), or wedge resection (6) for T1 N0 M0 lung cancer between 1966 and 1988. Conservative resection was preferred during the past decade.

Management of nonsmall cell lung carcinoma with solitary brain metastasis.

Cushing's group, operating on metastatic brain tumors in the 1920s, was the first to point out that lung cancer (usually adenocarcinoma in an upper lobe) was the most common primary tumor. Excision of a solitary metastasis could result in long-term survival. Magilligan and coworkers (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1976;72:690) introduced the modern era of large series of combined lung-brain resection with low mortality (3%) and a 5-year outcome of 21%.

Recent trends in the management of incisional herniation.

There is a high incidence of risk factors for incisional herniation in hospitalized veterans. Almost half the defects appear more than 12 months after celiotomy. "Buttonholing" of the rectus sheath by a sawing motion of the continuous nonabsorbable suture may be responsible for this later herniation.