Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation Litigation.

Objective: Medicolegal examination of an intervention as common as endotracheal intubation may be valuable to physicians in many specialties. Our objectives were to comprehensively detail the factors raised in litigation to better educate physicians on strategies for minimizing liability and augmenting patient safety.

Methods: Publicly available court records were searched for pertinent litigation.

ON THE TRACE OF A WISHART.

A derivation based on spectral decomposition allows specifying the characteristic function of the trace of a singular or nonsingular, central or noncentral, true or pseudo-Wishart. The trace equals a weighted sum of noncentral chi-squared random variables and constants. We describe computational methods.

Development and validation of LC-ESI-MS/MS method for analysis of moxifloxacin and levofloxacin in serum of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients: Potential application as therapeutic drug monitoring tool in medical diagnosis.

Moxifloxacin (MFX) and levofloxacin (LFX), class of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, are the two most prescribed drugs to multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients. A single, sensitive and reliable LC-ESI-MS/MS method was developed and validated to simultaneously quantitate the levels of these drugs in human serum where enrofloxacin (EFX) was used as internal standard (IS). Quantification was achieved by multiple reaction monitoring of selected mass transitions from precursor ions to product ions m/z 402.

Effect of core thickness differences on post-fatigue indentation fracture resistance of veneered zirconia crowns.

Purpose: Despite the excellent esthetics of veneered zirconia crowns, the incidence of chipping and fracture of veneer porcelain on zirconia crowns has been recognized to be higher than in metal ceramic crowns. The objective of this investigation was to study the effect of selected variations in core thickness on the post-fatigue fracture resistance of veneer porcelain on zirconia crowns.

Materials And Methods: Zirconia crowns for veneering were prepared with three thickness designs of (a) uniform 0.

Aspartoacylase supports oxidative energy metabolism during myelination.

The inherited leukodystrophy Canavan disease arises due to a loss of the ability to catabolize N-acetylaspartic acid (NAA) in the brain and constitutes a major point of focus for efforts to define NAA function. Accumulation of noncatabolized NAA is diagnostic for Canavan disease, but contrasts with the abnormally low NAA associated with compromised neuronal integrity in a broad spectrum of other clinical conditions. Experimental evidence for NAA function supports a role in white matter lipid synthesis, but does not explain how both elevated and lowered NAA can be associated with pathology in the brain.

Afterload assessment with or without central venous pressure: a preliminary clinical comparison.

A clinical comparison, of two methods of afterload assessment, has been made. The first method, systemic vascular resistance index (SVR(i)), is based upon the traditional formula for afterload which utilizes central venous pressure (CVP), as well as cardiac index (C(i)), and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP). The second method, total systemic vascular resistance index (TSVR(i)), also uses MAP and C(i).

Virtual reality and gaming systems to improve walking and mobility for people with musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions.

Improving walking for individuals with musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions is an important aspect of rehabilitation. The capabilities of clinicians who address these rehabilitation issues could be augmented with innovations such as virtual reality gaming based technologies. The chapter provides an overview of virtual reality gaming based technologies currently being developed and tested to improve motor and cognitive elements required for ambulation and mobility in different patient populations.

Spatial variation of volatile organic compounds in a "Hot Spot" for air pollution.

The spatial variations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were characterized in the Village of Waterfront South neighborhood (WFS), a "hot spot" for air toxics in Camden, NJ. This was accomplished by conducting "spatial saturation sampling" for 11 VOCs using 3500 OVM passive samplers at 22 sites in WFS and 16 sites in Copewood/Davis Streets (CDS) neighborhood, an urban reference area located ∼1000 m east of the WFS. Sampling durations were 24 and 48 h.

The impact of environmental risk factors on HIV-associated cognitive decline in children.

Both the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and environmental stress have been independently associated with decreased cognitive functioning in children. Given that they are also known to have a strong relationship with each other, the present study sought to test the hypothesis that children in conditions of high environmental risk would be at greater risk for the cognitive complications related to immunosuppression. A retrospective review was conducted to examine the records of 141 children treated at a large pediatric AIDS clinic from 1993 to 2000.

Computational analysis of adhesion of primer ligands to dentinal collagen: effect of spacer groups in ligand and amino Acid residue sequence differences in collagen.

This study sought to assess by computer modeling the interactions between dentinal collagen and primer monomer ligands used to promote bonding of restorations to tooth. Modeling was carried out both by direct and indirect methods to probe interaction mechanisms. Ligands studied in this investigation conformed chemically to methacrylate phosphates of alkane diol, with changes in the number of methylene spacer groups.

Approved drugs and their problems in patient care: routes of administration and dosing.

Problems in patient care with regard to route of administration and dosing of currently approved drugs are reviewed. Dose, frequency and route of administration can make a difference in efficacy, side effects, quality of life, antigenicity, cost, and compliance.

Leukotoxin confers beta-hemolytic activity to Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans.

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is the etiologic agent of localized aggressive periodontitis, a rapidly progressing oral disease that occurs in adolescents. A. actinomycetemcomitans can also cause systemic disease, including infective endocarditis.

Auditing concept categorizations in the UMLS.

The Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) integrates about 880,000 concepts from 100 biomedical terminologies. Each concept is categorized to at least one semantic type of the Semantic Network. During the integration, it is unavoidable that some categorization errors and inconsistencies will be introduced.

hSMUG1 can functionally compensate for Ung1 in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

There are at least four distinct families of enzymes that recognize and remove uracil from DNA. Family-3 (SMUG1) enzymes have recently been identified and have a preference for uracil in single-stranded DNA when assayed in vitro. Here we investigate the in vivo function of SMUG1 using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system.

Dietary fiber intake in patients with myofascial face pain.

Aims: To determine the impact of myofascial face pain (MFP) on dietary intake of selected nutrients.

Methods: Sixty-one MFP women meeting the criteria for the myofascial subtype of temporomandibular disorders completed a 4-day daily food intake diary, as well as self-report of pain severity, pain interference with eating, and depressive symptomatology. Nutrient intake for the MFP women was compared with a demographically-equivalent sample of community women participating in the federally-sponsored Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CFSII).

Developing a behavior rating scale for comparing teachers' ratings of children with and without craniofacial anomalies.

Objective: Published psychometric tools are often insensitive to the experience of children with craniofacial anomalies (CFAs). The purposes of this study were to develop a valid and reliable assessment of behavior among children with and without CFAs and to compare teacher ratings of these two groups of children.

Methods: Teachers were asked prospectively to assess social competence and peer acceptance among 99 consecutively evaluated school-aged patients with CFAs and 99 "controls" (classmates without CFA matched by race, gender, intellectual status, general socioeconomic status, and grade).

Parameters of lymphocyte Na+-Ca2+ regulation and blood pressure: the gender effect.

Alterations in cellular Ca2+ and Na+ regulation play a role in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. Using peripheral lymphocytes from 68 normal persons, we observed the following relationships for major cellular Ca2+ regulatory parameters. Among men and women, Na+-Ca2+ exchanger activity was positively correlated with the resting cytosolic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]c) (r=0.

Telomeres, hidden mosaicism, loss of heterozygosity, and complex genetic traits.

Telomeres appear to function as an endogenous timing mechanism in human beings. Telomere attrition not only provides a satisfactory explanation for some aspects of aging, it might also resolve enigmatic features of complex genetic traits that are age-dependent. If, with the passage of time, telomere attrition in human beings leads to genomic instability and particularly the loss of chromosomes, then the age dependency of phenotypic expressions of complex genetic traits might result from the temporal loss of heterozygosity and the consequent expression of disease-causing genes.

Vectors for a 'double-tagging' assay for protein-protein interactions: localization of the CDK2-binding domain of human p21.

We report the construction of three new vectors which can be used for the 'double-tagging' assay previously reported [Germino et al., Proc. Natl.

A collapsing form of glomerulopathy.

An unusual presentation of glomerular disease occurring in a 30 year old black female is described. The case was characterized by a rapid deterioration of renal function. Associated glomerular manifestations were diffuse collapse of the glomerular capillary lumina, extracapillary hypercellularity without obliteration of the urinary space and without proliferation of parietal epithelial cells, electron-dense deposits, and deposition of IgG and C3.

NMDA receptor involvement in toxicity to dopamine neurons in vitro caused by the succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor 3-nitropropionic acid.

Exposure of mesencephalic dopamine neurons to an irreversible inhibitor of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NPA), for 24 h on day 12 in vitro, produced a dose-dependent loss of high-affinity dopamine uptake when measured 48 h following 3-NPA removal. ATP concentrations in the cultures were reduced by 57% after 3 h of treatment with the highest concentration of 3-NPA tested (500 microM). To determine whether glutamate receptors mediated the dopamine toxicity by 3-NPA, cultures were examined for their sensitivity to excitatory amino acid-induced toxicity.

Aurintricarboxylic acid prevents NMDA-mediated excitotoxicity: evidence for its action as an NMDA receptor antagonist.

The effect of the endonuclease inhibitor aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) versus NMDA-mediated delayed cell death was examined in an ex vivo chick retinal preparation. Transient exposure to 100 microM NMDA for 60 min followed by a 24-h recovery period resulted in a sevenfold increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release into the medium. ATA at 100 microM significantly reduced NMDA-mediated LDH release by 60%.

Regulation of the cytosolic pH set point for activation of the Na+/H+ antiport in human platelets: the roles of the Na+/Ca2+ exchange, the Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- cotransport and cellular volume.

To explore further the mechanisms that regulate the Na+/H+ antiport in human platelets, we examined the effect of Na+ pump inhibition by ouabain and K+ removal from the extracellular medium on parameters of this transport system. Treatment with ouabain resulted in increased cytosolic free Ca2+ and Na+, coupled with an alkaline shift in the cytosolic pH set point for the Na+/H+ antiport. Inhibition of the Na+ pump by the removal of K+ from the medium increased the cytosolic Na+ but not the cytosolic Ca2+; yet this treatment also produced a substantial alkaline shift in the cytosolic pH set point for the Na+/H+ antiport.