Readmission of late preterm and term neonates in the neonatal period

Objective: To determine the incidence of hospital readmissions in late preterm and term neonates, the most common reasons for readmission, and analyze the risk factors for readmission in the neonatal period. Methods: Newborn infants admitted to a well-baby nursery ≥ 36 weeks gestation were included in this retrospective cohort study. Data for all infants born in a 3-year period and readmitted in the first 28 days of life were analyzed. Indication for readmission was one diagnosed during initial workup in the pediatric emergency room visit before readmission. Results: The final cohort consisted of 5408 infants. The readmission rate was 4.0% (219/5408). Leading readmission causes were respiratory tract infection (29.58%), jaundice (13.70%), and urinary tract infection (9.59%). The mean ± SD age of readmitted infants was 13.3 ± 7.1 days. The mean ± SD treatment duration of treatment was 5.5 ± 3.0 days. In the multivariate regression analysis, infants that were during the initial hospitalization transferred to special care/NICU had a lower chance of readmission during the neonatal period (p = 0.04, OR = 0.23, 95% CI 0.06–0.93). Infants with mothers aged from 19–24 years had a higher risk of readmission (p = 0.005, OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.16–2.26). Conclusions: Finding that infants that were during the initial hospitalization transferred to special care or a NICU setting were less likely to require hospitalization in the neonatal period is an interesting one. Further research into how different approach in these settings reduce the risk of readmission is necessary

Nitrosoarene Dimerization on Two- and Three-dimensional Gold Surfaces

In the present study, we investigated nitrosoarene dimerization on an Au(111) and on the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). High-resolution STM images revealed that 8-thiocyanatoocty1-4-nitrosobenzoate (NCS(CH2)(8)OOCC6H4NO) forms well-ordered monolayer on an Au(111) surface displaying hexagonal 3 root 3 x 3 root 3 structure. AFM data indicated that this compound also dimerize on an Au(111) surface thus forming bilayers. On contrary, adsorption of 6-(4-nitrosophenoxy)hexane-l-thiol (HS(CH2)(6)OC6H4NO) on an Au(111) leads only to poorly organized.monolayer. Furthermore, it was found that nitrosoarene derivatives 8-thiocyanatooctyl-4-nitrosobenzoate (NCS(CH2)(8)OOCC6H4NO) and 3-thiocyanatopropyl-4-nitrosobenzoate (NCS(CH2)(3)OOCC6H4NO) are present as dimers on the surface of AuNPs. There is no appreciable quantity of dimeric species with free thiocyanate termini indicating interlinkage of AuNPs through azodioxide bonds. Besides the characteristic surface plasmon band, UV-vis spectra showed an additional red-shifted band that might have origin in aggregation of AuNPs. This was further supported by TEM revealing the appearence of larger aggregates in addition to smaller AuNPs

Photothermal Reactions of Nitrosobenzene and Halonitrosobenzenes in Solid-state

Photothermal reactions of nitrosobenzene, m-chloronitrosobenzene, and p-chloronitrosobenzene were studied in solid-state by IR spectroscopy at low temperatures and by X-ray powder diffraction. It was found for the first time that photothermal cycle (photolytic dissociation followed by thermal dimerization) could successively be performed also with Z-configured nitrosobenzene. Halonitrosobenzenes with E-configuration afforded different photo behavior depending on the position of halogen atom on the benzene ring: while m-halonitrosobenzenes do not dissociate under UV irradiation, p-chloronitrosobenzene, as well as previously studied p-bromonitrosobenzene photolyses very efficiently with recovering of the original crystal phase. Kinetics of thermal dimerization was measured in solid-state, and it was found that the reaction phase transformation occur as a two-dimensional growth through the crystal

Rapid Identification of Unknown Impurities in 3-Bromo-5-(trifluoromethyl)aniline by LC-SPE/NMR

Identification of unknown pharmaceutical impurities is an essential part in the drug development process. In the present study, we developed and applied liquid chromatography (LC) – solid-phase extraction (SPE) / nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methodology with cryoprobe for identification and structural characterization of unknown impurities in 3-bromo-5-(trifluoromethyl)aniline. The three main impurities were separated and isolated by LC-SPE system. After multiple trapping, isolated impurities were eluted from the SPE cartridges with deuterated acetonitrile and one- and two-dimensional homo- and heteronuclear NMR spectra were recorded. The structures of the unknown impurities were determined by detailed inspection of NMR spectra and by mass spectrometric (MS) analysis. The results of the present preliminary study demonstrated that LC-SPE/NMR can be used for rapid impurity profiling of 3-bromo-5-(trifluoromethyl)aniline. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Probing Early Misfolding Events in Prion Protein Mutants by NMR Spectroscopy

The post-translational conversion of the ubiquitously expressed cellular form of the prion protein, PrPC, into its misfolded and pathogenic isoform, known as prion or PrPSc, plays a key role in prion diseases. These maladies are denoted transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) and affect both humans and animals. A prerequisite for understanding TSEs is unraveling the molecular mechanism leading to the conversion process whereby most \u3b1-helical motifs are replaced by \u3b2-sheet secondary structures. Importantly, most point mutations linked to inherited prion diseases are clustered in the C-terminal domain region of PrPC and cause spontaneous conversion to PrPSc. Structural studies with PrP variants promise new clues regarding the proposed conversion mechanism and may help identify "hot spots" in PrPC involved in the pathogenic conversion. These investigations may also shed light on the early structural rearrangements occurring in some PrPC epitopes thought to be involved in modulating prion susceptibility. Here we present a detailed overview of our solution-state NMR studies on human prion protein carrying different pathological point mutations and the implications that such findings may have for the future of prion research

Aromatic C-Nitroso Compounds and Their Dimers: A Model for Probing the Reaction Mechanisms in Crystalline Molecular Solids

This review is focused on the dimerization and dissociation of aromatic C-nitroso compounds and their dimers, the reactions that could be used as a convenient model for studying the thermal organic solid-state reaction mechanisms. This molecular model is simple because it includes formation or breaking of only one covalent bond between two nitrogen atoms. The crystalline molecular solids of nitroso dimers (azodioxides) dissociate by photolysis under the cryogenic conditions, and re-dimerize by slow warming. The thermal re-dimerization reaction is examined under the different topotactic conditions in crystals: disordering, surface defects, and phase transformations. Depending on the conditions, and on the molecular structure, aromatic C-nitroso compounds can associate to form one-dimensional polymeric structures and are able to self-assemble on gold surfaces

Epidemiology of Dermatomycosis in the Eastern Croatia – Today and Yesterday

The aim of our investigation was to compare the distribution of dermatomycosis species in Eastern Croatia between two different periods: first period from 1997–2001 year, and second period from 1986–88 year. The outpatients from Department of Dermatovenerology University Hospital »Osijek« with confirmed diagnosis infection Tinea, were selected on the basis o age, gender, localization and dermatomycosis species. During the first period (1997–2001) among 75,691 outpatients Tinea infection was confirmed in 558 (0.73%), while in the second period among 47,832 outpatients there were 126 (0.26%) cases with Tinea, what showed significant increase of fungal infections among population this region. According the age and gender in both periods predominant population were under of the age 16 (40.14%: 41.26%), and female population was predominant (58.60% and 57.14%) in comparison to males (41.39% and 42.85%). The most frequent localization of lesions in period I were cutis glabrae (47.31%), palms and soles (31.36%), capitis (17.38%) and unguis (9.31%) and isolated species were as followed: Trichophyton (39.06%), Microsporum (31.72%) and Candida (28.13%) species. In period II the most frequent localization were palms and soles (40.47%), cutis glabrae (36.50%), capitis (12.69%) and unguis (10.31%). The isolated species in this period were: Trichophyton (80.15%), Candida (12.69%) and Microsporum (4.76%) species. From the data collected during two different periods we can observe 1) increase of fungal infection generally in our region; 2) significant changes in causative species (increase of Microsporum and Candida species infection, but Trichophyton spp still remain the first causative agent); and 3) changes in the localization of lesions