Potent Zika and dengue cross-neutralizing antibodies induced by Zika vaccination in a dengue-experienced donor.

Zika virus (ZIKV) has caused significant disease, with widespread cases of neurological pathology and congenital neurologic defects. Rapid vaccine development has led to a number of candidates capable of eliciting potent ZIKV-neutralizing antibodies (reviewed in refs. ).

Epithelial-adipocyte interactions are required for mammary gland development, but not for milk production or fertility.

To investigate the role of adipose tissue in reproductive function and mammary gland development and function, we have examined lipodystrophic (LD) mice. LD mice of both sexes are sterile, but fertility can be restored with leptin injections. Mammary glands from lipodystrophic mice were rudimentary and lacked terminal end buds.

Efficacy and Safety of Eluxadoline in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Diarrhea Who Report Inadequate Symptom Control With Loperamide: RELIEF Phase 4 Study.

Objectives: Irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder with limited effective treatment options. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of eluxadoline in patients with IBS-D who reported inadequate symptom control with prior loperamide.

Methods: Three hundred forty-six adults with IBS-D (Rome III criteria) were randomly assigned to placebo or eluxadoline 100 mg twice daily for 12 weeks.

VHA Practice Guideline Recommendations for Diffuse Gliomas.

Although histology still plays a critical role in diagnosing diffuse gliomas, additional ancillary testing is an essential tool for VA pathology laboratories.

New anthropometric classification scheme of preoperative nutritional status in children: a retrospective observational cohort study.

Objective: WHO uses anthropometric classification scheme of childhood acute and chronic malnutrition based on low body mass index (BMI) ('wasting') and height for age ('stunting'), respectively. The goal of this study was to describe a novel two-axis nutritional classification scheme to (1) characterise nutritional profiles in children undergoing abdominal surgery and (2) characterise relationships between preoperative nutritional status and postoperative morbidity.

Design: This was a retrospective observational cohort study.

Treatment of Advanced Prostate Cancer.

Advanced prostate cancer is a heterogenous disease with multiple treatment options. Patients with advanced disease are stratified based evidence of metastasis and sensitivity to hormone therapy. Men with hormone sensitive disease are treated with androgen deprivation therapy and possibly chemotherapy.

Bcl-x deamidation is regulated by multiple ion transporters and is intramolecularly catalyzed.

In susceptible tumor cells, DNA-damaging antineoplastic agents induce an increase in intracellular pH during the premitochondrial stage of apoptosis. The rate of nonenzymatic deamidation of two asparagines in the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-x is accelerated by this increase in pH. Deamidation of these asparagines is a signal for the degradation of Bcl-x, which is a component of the apoptotic response to DNA damage.

Assessment of Glomerular Filtration Rate and End-Stage Kidney Disease Risk in Living Kidney Donor Candidates: A Paradigm for Evaluation, Selection, and Counseling.

Living donor kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment option for ESRD. However, recent data suggest a small increase in the long-term risk of kidney failure in living kidney donors when compared to healthy nondonors. These data have led to a need for reconsideration of how donor candidates are evaluated and selected for donation.

Hospital variation in rates of concurrent fundoplication during gastrostomy enteral access procedures.

Background: This study aimed to determine whether (1) the propensity for concurrent fundoplication during gastrostomy varies among hospitals, and (2) postoperative morbidity differs among institutions performing fundoplication more or less frequently.

Methods: Children who underwent gastrostomy with or without concurrent fundoplication were identified in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric (ACS-NSQIP-P). A hierarchical multivariate regression modeled the excess effects that hospitals exerted over propensity for concurrent fundoplication adjusting for preoperative clinical variables.

Randomized clinical trial of a single versus a double dose of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in adults 55 through 74 years of age previously vaccinated with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.

Introduction: In older adults, prior administration of 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) blunts the opsonophagocytic antibody (OPA) response to subsequent administration of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). To determine whether a higher dose of PCV13 could mitigate this effect in adults 55 through 74 years of age, we compared OPA responses to a double dose of PCV13 in persons previously vaccinated with PPSV23 with responses to a single dose of PCV13 in previously vaccinated persons, and with a single dose in PPSV23 naïve persons.

Methods: Subjects previously vaccinated with PPSV23 were randomly assigned to receive either a single injection or two concurrent injections of 0.

Phenotypic and genotypic aspects of Townes-Brock syndrome: case report of patient in southern Brazil with a new SALL1 hotspot region nonsense mutation.

Background: Townes-Brocks syndrome (TBS) is a rare autosomal dominant condition characterized by renal, anal, limb, and auditory abnormalities. TBS diagnosis can be challenging in settings where genetic analysis is not readily available. TBS traits overlap with those of Goldenhar and VACTERL syndromes.

Impact of First Eye versus Second Eye Cataract Surgery on Visual Function and Quality of Life.

Purpose: To compare the impact of first eye versus second eye cataract surgery on visual function and quality of life.

Design: Cohort study.

Participants: A total of 328 patients undergoing separate first eye and second eye phacoemulsification cataract surgeries at 5 veterans affairs centers in the United States.

Optimizing veteran-centered prostate cancer survivorship care: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Although prostate cancer is the most common cancer among veterans receiving care in the Veterans Health Administration (VA), more needs to be done to understand and improve survivorship care for this large population. This study, funded by VA Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D), seeks to address the need to improve patient-centered survivorship care for veterans with prostate cancer.

Methods/design: This is a two-armed randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a target enrollment of up to 325 prostate cancer survivors per study arm (total anticipated n = 600).

Gout Self-Management in African American Veterans: A Qualitative Exploration of Challenges and Solutions From Patients' Perspectives.

Objective: To explore gout self-management and associated challenges and solutions in African Americans.

Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with 35 African American veterans with gout, who received health care at Birmingham or Philadelphia Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, had filled urate-lowering therapy (ULT; most commonly allopurinol) for at least 6 months, and had a ULT medication possession ratio ≥80%. The interview protocol was constructed to explore key concepts related to gout self-management, including initial diagnosis of gout, beginning medical care for gout, the course of the gout, ULT medication adherence, dietary strategies, comorbidity and side effects, and social support.

Use of Contraindicated Antiplatelet Medications in the Setting of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Insights From the Veterans Affairs Clinical Assessment, Reporting, and Tracking Program.

Background: Several antiplatelet medications used during and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are contraindicated for specific patient groups. A broad assessment of contraindicated medication use and associated clinical outcomes is not well described.

Methods And Results: Using national Veterans Affairs Clinical Assessment, Reporting, and Tracking Program data for all PCI between 2007 and 2013, we evaluated patients with contraindications to commonly used antiplatelet medications during and after PCI, defined in accordance with package inserts.

Variation in intraoperative and postoperative red blood cell transfusion in pediatric surgery.

Background: Intraoperative and postoperative red blood cell (RBC) transfusions are relatively frequent events tracked in the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric (ACS-NSQIP-P). This study sought to quantify variation in RBC transfusion practices among hospitals.

Study Design And Methods: This is an observational study of children older than 28 days who underwent a general, neurologic, urologic, otolaryngologic, plastic, or orthopedic operation at 50 hospitals in participating in the ACS-NSQIP-P during 2011 to 2012.

Temporal Trends and Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Interventions for Cardiogenic Shock in the Setting of Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Report From the CathPCI Registry.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the temporal trends in demographics, clinical characteristics, management strategies, and in-hospital outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock (CS-AMI) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from the Cath-PCI Registry (2005 to 2013).

Background: The authors examined contemporary use and outcomes of PCI in patients with CS-AMI.

Methods: The authors used the Cath-PCI Registry to evaluate 56,497 patients (January 2005 to December 2013) undergoing PCI for CS-AMI.

Racial differences in the association between nonmedical prescription opioid use, abuse/dependence, and major depression.

Background: African Americans (AAs) have lower rates of depressive disorders and are less likely to receive opioid analgesics for chronic pain than whites. Given the evidence that prescription opioid use is associated with depression, we hypothesized that the opioid abuse/dependence and depression comorbidity would be less common among AAs compared with whites.

Methods: A cross-sectional secondary analysis of the public use files for the 2012 (n = 55,268) and 2013 (n = 55,160) National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) was used to obtain past-year, DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition) criteria diagnoses of nonmedical prescription opioid use (NMPOU), abuse/dependence, and major depressive episode (MDE).

Estimating Adverse Events After Gastrostomy Tube Placement.

Objective: Gastrostomy feeding tube placement in children is associated with a high frequency of adverse events. This study sought to preoperatively estimate postoperative adverse events in children undergoing gastrostomy feeding tube placement.

Methods: This was an observational study of children who underwent gastrostomy with or without fundoplication at 1 of 50 participating hospitals, using 2011-2013 data from the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric.

Health Information Seeking and Technology Use Among Veterans With Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders.

Background: Access to health information is crucial to persons living with a spinal cord injury or disorder (SCI/D). Although previous research has provided insights on computer and Internet use among persons with SCI/D, as well as how and where persons with SCI/D gather health information, few studies have focused on U.S.

Using Merged Clinical and Claims Registry Data to Identify High Utilizers of Surgical Inpatient Care 1 Year after Colectomy.

Background: Under bundled payment initiatives, providers will be held financially responsible for patients' acute and post-acute care costs. Certain patients, termed high utilizers, use disproportionate shares of resources during 1 year. The aim of this study was to identify high utilizers, describe their costs, and determine whether preoperative characteristics predict high utilizer status.

A risk calculator predicting postoperative adverse events in neonates undergoing major abdominal or thoracic surgery.

Purpose: This study sought to demonstrate the feasibility of a risk calculator for neonates undergoing major abdominal or thoracic surgery with good discriminative ability.

Methods: The American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric (ACS-NSQIP-P) 2011-12 data were queried for neonates who underwent major abdominal or thoracic surgery. The outcome of interest was the occurrence of any adverse event, including mortality, within 30-days postoperatively.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is associated with broad impairments in executive function: A meta-analysis.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a serious and often chronically disabling condition. The current dominant model of OCD focuses on abnormalities in prefrontal-striatal circuits that support executive function (EF). While there is growing evidence for EF impairments associated with OCD, results have been inconsistent, making the nature and magnitude of these impairments controversial.

Extending the value of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program claims dataset to study long-term outcomes: Rate of repeat ventral hernia repair.

Background: Existing large clinical registries capture short-term follow-up. Yet, there are many important long-term outcomes in surgery, such as recurrence of a ventral hernia after ventral hernia repair. The goal of the current study was to conduct an exploratory analysis to determine whether the rates, timing, and risk factors for ventral hernia re-repair in claims data linked to registry data were consistent with the known clinical literature.