RDS

The efficacy of surfactant preparations used in the prevention and treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a well known fact; however, many controversies remain. The debate over which surfactant to be used, when and what is the best mode of delivery is still raging.
Currently, animal-derived surfactants are preferred and clearly recommended by various practice guidelines, but new synthetic surfactants containing peptides that mimic the action of surfactant proteins are emerging and they seem to have a comparable efficacy profile to the natural surfactants. It is hoped that with further improvements, they will outperform their natural counterparts in terms of reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Early surfactant administration was shown to further reduce the risk of RDS and its complications. However, as nasal continuous positive airway pressure(nCPAP) is becoming increasingly the preferred first line therapy for RDS, the less invasive approaches of respiratory support along with early selective surfactant administration (e.g. INSURE) appears to provide a better option.
Although neonatal RDS is still the main indication of surfactant therapy, other pathological processes received considerable attention and major research has been dedicated to explore the role of surfactant in their management, Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) and congenital pneumonia are two worthy examples.
The most updated practice guidelines do recommend the use of endotracheal instillation as the preferred mode of surfactant delivery. However, aerosolization and other non-invasive methods are being investigated with some success; nonetheless, further improvements are very much in need.

Travestis are highly vulnerable to HIV infection in Brazil. We conducted a survey among 304 travestis using Respondent-Driven Sampling from August to December 2008. Travestis are young (49% <24 years), poorly educated (55% just elementary school), low social class (62% Class C-E), reside with families (49%) or friends/madam (22%), are victims of homophobia (91%) and violence (61%). They report early sexual debut (75% <14), many sexual partners, drug use during sex (43%), and unprotected sex (male partner, 47%, both male and female partners, 50%). Sex work is common (82%, 59% >10 partners last six months) and relatively low cost (median=US$24). A majority report testing for HIV (69%), and report high prevalence (12% disclosed a positive result). Almost all the respondents refused to test in the study. Interventions, targeted to both travestis and to the general community about sexual discrimination, are necessary.

Efforts to reduce peak electrical demand has led to the introduction of demand response programs for residences. Demand response programs allow customers to reduce or shift their electrical consumption from peak periods in response to dynamic prices of electricity. Utility companies broadcasts the prices to the customers who then respond by reducing consumption during peak periods or shift the consumption to off-peak periods. Similarly, direct load control programs entice consumers with special rates or other incentives for allowing the utility to control load (typically air conditioning) for a number of days per year. Both uses require a ubiqituous and cost-effective communication network to allow utilities to communicate with users and appliances. The Radio Data System (RDS) has been identified as one strong candidate technology. However, security concerns arise due to the wireless nature of the communication channel. Source authentication is crucial in demand response to ensure t...

Celiac disease (CD) is a lifelong inherited autoimmune disease triggered by gluten, a component of many foods and household items, which affects 1% of the population. Despite numerous symptoms of CD including serious psychological, developmental, and behavioral issues, CD is not only often undiagnosed but is also underrepresented in medical literature and virtually ignored with family counseling literature. The impact of CD on individuals, couples, and families, however, requires a call to the counseling profession to develop skills to understand CD’s effects. As such, an overview of the medical aspects of CD, gender and cultural factors, prognosis, and individual, couple, and family dynamics as well as treatment considerations of CD are presented.

Objective and study design: Successful adaptation to air breathing at birth depends on rapid absorption of fetal lung liquid that is mediated by activation of amiloride-sensitive sodium ion channels. To test the relationship between respiratory epithelial Na+transport and development of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), we measured nasal transepithelial potential difference (PD) in 31 very premature (≤30 weeks of gestation) newborn

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a widely-used variant of snowball sampling. Respondents are selected not from a sampling frame, but from a social network of existing members of the sample. Incentives are provided for participation and for the recruitment of others. Ethical and methodological criticisms have been raised about RDS. In this study RDS was used to recruit male household heads in rural Uganda. We investigated community members' understanding and experience of the method, and explored how these may have affected the quality of the RDS survey data. Our findings suggest that because participants recruit participants, the use of RDS in medical research may result in increased difficulties in gaining informed consent, and data collected using RDS may be particularly susceptible to bias due to differences in the understanding of key concepts between researchers and members of the community.

Extensive mutational heterogeneity presents a significant barrier to the development of therapeutics for RDS-peripherin-linked autosomal-dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RP), for which more than 50 disease-related mutations have been identified to date. Mutation-independent suppression, using RNA interference (RNAi), together with simultaneous expression of a replacement rds gene (r-rds, which has been altered to escape suppression but nevertheless encodes wild-type protein) has been explored in COS-7 cells and mouse retinal explants. The efficacy of small interfering and short hairpin RNAs (si/shRNAs) silencing mouse rds, and the function of r-rds (containing degenerate substitutions in the RNAi target sequence) were analyzed at transcript (RT-PCR) and protein (ELISA) levels in COS-7 cells. “Dual-” and “triple-expression” constructs carrying the shRNA suppressor and the marker EGFP with or without the r-rds cassette were electroporated in vitro into retinal explants from 1-day-old pups. The retinae were dissociated at day 14, and transduced cells were FACS-sorted using the coexpressed EGFP marker and analyzed by RT-PCR. si/shRNAs decreased rds mRNA and protein expression by up to 82%, while r-rds was protected from suppression in COS-7 cells. Similarly, efficient RNAi-mediated suppression of endogenous rds was detected in retinal explants, while concomitant rescue of r-rds was also achieved. These data validate the concept of RNAi-based suppression coupled with replacement technology for the development of therapies targeting RDS-linked autosomal-dominant RP, and suggest that such approaches could potentially be used for other autosomal-dominant diseases with similarly extensive intragenic heterogeneity. Hum Mutat 27(3), 260–268, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

To assess whether the duration and magnitude of the shunt with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) are related to a higher incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) or death. A total of 242 infants ≤28 weeks gestational age were evaluated retrospectively between 2007 and 2012; 105 (43.3%) developed BPD or died (group 1) and 137 (56.6%) did not (group 2). A review of all echocardiographic evaluations performed from birth up to 36 weeks of postconceptional age or final ductal closure was carried out, to detect the presence of PDA, and estimate the severity of ductal shunt through the &quot;PDA staging system&quot; proposed by McNamara and Sehgal. Group 1 presented with a hemodynamically significant ductus arteriosus (DA) (E3 and/or E4-PDA) for a longer period of time vs group 2: 4.8 vs 2.3 days, respectively (P &lt; .001). Persistence of a nonsignificant DA (E2) was not associated with development of BPD (P = .16). Each week of a hemodynamically significant DA represented an added risk...