The knowledge and attitudes of radiologic technologists and allied health students regarding AIDS and AIDS patients

Two questionnaires on AIDS knowledge and attitudes were administered to allied health and radiologic technology students, and a group of radiologic technologists. Generally negative attitudes and poor knowledge prevailed. No correlation could be found between knowledge scores and attitudes. Implications for entry-level and continuing education are also discussed.     

Aspirin Therapy in Venous Malformation: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Benefits,Side Effects,and Patient Experiences

Venous malformations (VMs) are often painful and may enlarge over time. Chronic coagulopathy is common in VMs and may contribute to phleboliths and potentially to disease progression. Few studies have examined the effects of anticoagulation on VMs and to our knowledge none have examined the use of aspirin therapy. A survey was administered to patients and parents of patients with VMs who attended the University of California at San Francisco Vascular Anomalies Center over a 4‐year period (2008–2012) to whom aspirin had been recommended. They were surveyed regarding whether they were taking aspirin and, if yes, whether aspirin had resulted in any appreciable benefit. Sixty‐five letters were sent to potential subjects: 38 participated and 27 declined to participate or could not be contacted. Twenty‐eight of the 38 had begun aspirin and 22 reported current use. Seventeen reported some benefit, including less aching (n = 2), less shooting pain (n = 15), less fullness and swelling (n = 13), and shrinking of the VM (n = 1). Discontinuation of aspirin was associated with worsening VM symptoms in five of six patients. Side effects were reported in 6 of 28 patients, including five episodes of minor bleeding or excessive bruising and one of nausea and vomiting. This study suggests that aspirin may be a beneficial treatment for VM, with a reduction in pain and soft tissue swelling and an acceptable side‐effect profile, but the retrospective nature of the study and the small size of the cohort limited our conclusions. Larger prospective studies of aspirin for VM using clinical and laboratory outcome measures are needed to confirm these observations.     

Paracetamol treatment for patent ductus arteriosus: practice and attitudes in Australia and New Zealand

Aim: To describe the current clinical practices and attitudes of neonatologists towards paracetamol treatment of PDA in Australia (AU) and New Zealand (NZ).

Method: A web-based survey of all neonatologists registered under the 2017 Australia New Zealand Neonatal Network (ANZNN) was conducted.

Results: The response rate for the survey was 67%, (141/210). Of those respondents, 37% stated their unit had a written policy outlining how to treat patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Of the written policies, 53% mentioned paracetamol treatment. The majority of the respondents (70%) have prescribed paracetamol for PDA closure. When comparing between countries, 79% of AU respondents had compared with 44% of NZ respondents. Successful ductal closure in the infants who received paracetamol was anecdotally reported by 61% of respondents. The main reasons for clinicians not prescribing paracetamol were due to preferential NSAID use (61%) and lack of evidence to indicate efficacy (49%).

Conclusion: Many neonatologists in AU and NZ have prescribed paracetamol for PDA closure. However, considerable practice variations exist. The results from this study suggest there may be a role for paracetamol in the treatment of PDA, however, further research is required to clarify the optimal use and provide evidence of efficacy.     

Education and Levels of Salivary Cortisol Over the Day in US Adults

Background  

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is hypothesized to be an important pathway linking socioeconomic position and chronic disease.     

Postnatal maternal deprivation and pubertal stress have additive effects on dopamine D2 receptor and CaMKII beta expression in the striatum

The goal of this study was to determine whether two stressors commonly used to model aspects of neuropsychiatric disease in rats have an additive effect on striatal dopamine type 2 receptor (D2R) expression, a key player in the etiology of neuropsychiatric disease.     

The potential use of bacterial community succession in forensics as described by high throughput metagenomic sequencing

Decomposition studies of vertebrate remains primarily focus on data that can be seen with the naked eye, such as arthropod or vertebrate scavenger activity, with little regard for what might be occurring with the microorganism community. Here, we discuss the necrobiome, or community of organisms associated with the decomposition of remains, specifically, the “epinecrotic” bacterial community succession throughout decomposition of vertebrate carrion. Pyrosequencing was used to (1) detect and identify bacterial community abundance patterns that described discrete time points of the decomposition process and (2) identify bacterial taxa important for estimating physiological time, a time–temperature metric that is often commensurate with minimum post-mortem interval estimates, via thermal summation models. There were significant bacterial community structure differences in taxon richness and relative abundance patterns through the decomposition process at both phylum and family taxonomic classification levels. We found a significant negative linear relationship for overall phylum and family taxon richness as decomposition progressed. Additionally, we developed a statistical model using high throughput sequencing data of epinecrotic bacterial communities on vertebrate remains that explained 94.4 % of the time since placement of remains in the field, which was within 2–3 h of death. These bacteria taxa are potentially useful for estimating the minimum post-mortem interval. Lastly, we provide a new framework and standard operating procedure of how this novel approach of using high throughput metagenomic sequencing has remarkable potential as a new forensic tool. Documenting and identifying differences in bacterial communities is key to advancing knowledge of the carrion necrobiome and its applicability in forensic science.