The Relationship Between Per Capita Income, Uninsured Rates, and Cardiovascular Mortality in Georgia Between 1994 – 2016

Background: The association between cardiovascular mortality, per capita income and uninsured rates in Georgia have not been well described. Methods: Cardiovascular mortality rates, per capita income and uninsured rates were obtained for the years 1994-2016, and their relationships were analyzed using univariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Results: In bivariate analysis, a strong inverse relationship between cardiovascular mortality and per capita income (r = -0.917, p \u3c 0.0001) was detected, while bivariate analysis detected no relationship between cardiovascular mortality and uninsured rates. Both per capita income and uninsured rates were negative predictors of cardiovascular mortality in multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Per capita income increases in Georgia were strongly correlated with reductions in cardiovascular mortality. While there was not a linear correlation of healthcare coverage status and cardiovascular mortality, it demonstrated a protective effect in multivariate analysis

Elective cardiovascular care in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic: managing tragic choices

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant morbidity and mortality globally. As health systems grapple with caring for patients affected with COVID-19, cardiovascular procedures that are deemed 'elective' have been postponed. Guidelines concerning which cardiac procedures should be performed during the pandemic vary by specialty and geography in the USA. We propose a clinical heuristic to guide individual physicians and governing bodies in their decision making regarding which cardiac procedures should be performed during the COVID-19 pandemic using the behavioural economics concept of heuristics and ecological rationality

Liver Resection for Primary Hepatic Neoplasms.

Subtotal hepatic resection was performed in 356 patients; 87 had primary hepatic malignancies, 108 had metastatic tumors, and 161 had benign lesions including 8 traumatic injuries. The global mortality was 4.2%. The experience has elucidated the role of subtotal hepatic resection both for benign and malignant neoplasms

Novel actions of next-generation taxanes benefit advanced stages of prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: To improve the outcomes of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), there is an urgent need for more effective therapies and approaches that individualize specific treatments for patients with CRPC. These studies compared the novel taxane cabazitaxel with the previous generation docetaxel, and aimed to determine which tumors are most likely to respond. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Cabazitaxel and docetaxel were compared via in vitro modeling to determine the molecular mechanism, biochemical and cell biologic impact, and cell proliferation, which was further assessed ex vivo in human tumor explants. Isogenic pairs of RB knockdown and control cells were interrogated in vitro and in xenograft tumors for cabazitaxel response. RESULTS: The data herein show that (i) cabazitaxel exerts stronger cytostatic and cytotoxic response compared with docetaxel, especially in CRPC; (ii) cabazitaxel induces aberrant mitosis, leading to pyknotic and multinucleated cells; (iii) taxanes do not act through the androgen receptor (AR); (iv) gene-expression profiling reveals distinct molecular actions for cabazitaxel; and (v) tumors that have progressed to castration resistance via loss of RB show enhanced sensitivity to cabazitaxel. CONCLUSIONS: Cabazitaxel not only induces improved cytostatic and cytotoxic effects, but also affects distinct molecular pathways, compared with docetaxel, which could underlie its efficacy after docetaxel treatment has failed in patients with CRPC. Finally, RB is identified as the first potential biomarker that could define the therapeutic response to taxanes in metastatic CRPC. This would suggest that loss of RB function induces sensitization to taxanes, which could benefit up to 50% of CRPC cases

GUCY2C lysosomotropic endocytosis delivers immunotoxin therapy to metastatic colorectal cancer.

The emergence of targeted cancer therapy has been limited by the paucity of determinants which are tumor-specific and generally associated with disease, and have cell dynamics which effectively deploy cytotoxic payloads. Guanylyl cyclase C (GUCY2C) may be ideal for targeting because it is normally expressed only in insulated barrier compartments, including intestine and brain, but over-expressed by systemic metastatic colorectal tumors. Here, we reveal that GUCY2C rapidly internalizes from the cell surface to lysosomes in intestinal and colorectal cancer cells. Endocytosis is independent of ligand binding and receptor activation, and is mediated by clathrin. This mechanism suggests a design for immunotoxins comprising a GUCY2C-directed monoclonal antibody conjugated through a reducible disulfide linkage to ricin A chain, which is activated to a potent cytotoxin in lysosomes. Indeed, this immunotoxin specifically killed GUCY2C-expressing colorectal cancer cells in a lysosomal- and clathrin-dependent fashion. Moreover, this immunotoxin reduced pulmonary tumors \u3e80% (

Consumers’ Preferences for Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Product Features: A Structured Content Analysis

To inform potential governmental regulations, we aimed to develop a list of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) product features important to U.S. consumers by age and gender. We employed qualitative data methods. Participants were eligible if they had used an ENDS at least once. Groups were selected by age and gender (young adult group aged 18–25, n = 11; middle-age group aged 26–64, n = 9; and women’s group aged 26–64, n = 9). We conducted five individual older adult interviews (aged 68–80). Participants discussed important ENDS features. We conducted a structured content analysis of the group and interview responses. Of 34 participants, 68% were white and 56% were female. Participants mentioned 12 important ENDS features, including: (1) user experience; (2) social acceptability; (3) cost; (4) health risks/benefits; (5) ease of use; (6) flavors; (7) smoking cessation aid; (8) nicotine content; (9) modifiability; (10) ENDS regulation; (11) bridge between tobacco cigarettes; (12) collectability. The most frequently mentioned ENDS feature was modifiability for young adults, user experience for middle-age and older adults, and flavor for the women’s group. This study identified multiple features important to ENDS consumers. Groups differed in how they viewed various features by age and gender. These results can inform ongoing regulatory efforts

Heteroresistance to the model antimicrobial peptide polymyxin B in the emerging Neisseria meningitidis lineage 11.2 urethritis clade: mutations in the pilMNOPQ operon

Clusters of Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) urethritis among primarily heterosexual males in multiple US cities have been attributed to a unique non‐encapsulated meningococcal clade (the US Nm urethritis clade, US_NmUC) within the hypervirulent clonal complex 11. Resistance to antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a key feature of urogenital pathogenesis of the closely related species, Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The US_NmUC isolates were found to be highly resistant to the model AMP, polymyxin B (PmB, MICs 64–256 µg ml–1). The isolates also demonstrated stable subpopulations of heteroresistant colonies that showed near total resistant to PmB (MICs 384–1024 µg ml–1) and colistin (MIC 256 µg ml–1) as well as enhanced LL‐37 resistance. This is the first observation of heteroresistance in N. meningitidis. Consistent with previous findings, overall PmB resistance in US_NmUC isolates was due to active Mtr efflux and LptA‐mediated lipid A modification. However, whole genome sequencing, variant analyses and directed mutagenesis revealed that the heteroresistance phenotypes and very high‐level AMP resistance were the result of point mutations and IS1655 element movement in the pilMNOPQ operon, encoding the type IV pilin biogenesis apparatus. Cross‐resistance to other classes of antibiotics was also observed in the heteroresistant colonies. High‐level resistance to AMPs may contribute to the pathogenesis of US_NmUC

Another exact inflationary solution

A new closed-form inflationary solution is given for a hyperbolic interaction potential. The method used to arrive at this solution is outlined as it appears possible to generate additional sets of equations which satisfy the model. In addition a new form of decaying cosmological constant is presented.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figure

The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

This paper describes the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), marking the completion of the original goals of the SDSS and the end of the phase known as SDSS-II. It includes 11663 deg^2 of imaging data, with most of the roughly 2000 deg^2 increment over the previous data release lying in regions of low Galactic latitude. The catalog contains five-band photometry for 357 million distinct objects. The survey also includes repeat photometry over 250 deg^2 along the Celestial Equator in the Southern Galactic Cap. A coaddition of these data goes roughly two magnitudes fainter than the main survey. The spectroscopy is now complete over a contiguous area of 7500 deg^2 in the Northern Galactic Cap, closing the gap that was present in previous data releases. There are over 1.6 million spectra in total, including 930,000 galaxies, 120,000 quasars, and 460,000 stars. The data release includes improved stellar photometry at low Galactic latitude. The astrometry has all been recalibrated with the second version of the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC-2), reducing the rms statistical errors at the bright end to 45 milli-arcseconds per coordinate. A systematic error in bright galaxy photometr is less severe than previously reported for the majority of galaxies. Finally, we describe a series of improvements to the spectroscopic reductions, including better flat-fielding and improved wavelength calibration at the blue end, better processing of objects with extremely strong narrow emission lines, and an improved determination of stellar metallicities. (Abridged)Comment: 20 pages, 10 embedded figures. Accepted to ApJS after minor correction