Abstract In the last decades the reported incidence of preterm necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) has been declining in large part due to implementing comprehensive NEC prevention initiatives, including ...breast milk feeding, standardized feeding protocols, transfusion guidelines, and antibiotic stewardship and improving the rigor with which non-NEC cases are excluded from NEC data. However, after more than 60 years of NEC research in animal models, the promise of a “magic bullet” to prevent NEC has yet to materialize. There are also serious issues involving clinical NEC research. There is a lack of a common, comprehensive definition of NEC. National datasets have their own unique definition and staging definitions. Even within academia, randomized trials and single center studies have widely disparate definitions. This makes NEC metadata of very limited value. The world of neonatology needs a comprehensive, universal, consensus definition of NEC. It also needs a de-identified, international data warehouse.
ABO hemolytic disease occurs among neonates with blood groups A or B delivered to group O women. Extreme neonatal hyperbilirubinemia due to ABO disease has been reported, but its frequency is not ...well known. We sought to determine the odds of developing severe ABO hemolytic disease in the 13 years since adopting universal bilirubin screening/management in the Intermountain Healthcare system.
We conducted a retrospective analysis of neonates born between 2004 and 2016, defining "severe hemolytic disease" as; (1) total serum bilirubin (TSB) >25 mg/dL, or (2) hospital readmission for jaundice, or (3) bilirubin encephalopathy. Neonates born to group O (+) mothers were included and considered either; (1) Controls (not at risk for ABO disease because they were group O), (2) Study subjects (at risk for ABO disease because they were group A or B).
Of 400,531 live births, 47% were to group O women; 86% of whom were group O (+). Overall, 42,529 (27%) neonates born to group O (+) women had their blood group determined; 29,729 (68%) were O, 10,682 (25%) A, and 3109 (7%) B. Peak TSBs during the first 10 days were higher in group A (11.0 ± 4.2 mg/dL) and B (11.5 ± 4.3) than group O neonates (10.3 ± 4.1). However the relative risks of a TSB ≥25 mg/dL, readmission for jaundice, or kernicterus, were the same in the control vs. study groups.
In our health system, severe hemolytic disease in neonates born to group O (+) woman is not more likely in group A or B neonates than in controls (group O). We recognize that in other practices, particularly those who do not have a universal bilirubin screening/management program, ABO hemolytic disease severity might be different than in our system.
We report new measurements of the production cross sections of pairs of charged pions and kaons as a function of their fractional energies using various fractional-energy definitions. Two different ...fractional-energy definitions were used and compared to the conventional fractional-energy definition reported previously. The new variables aim at either identifying dihadron cross sections in terms of single-hadron fragmentation functions, or to provide a means of characterizing the transverse momentum created in the fragmentation process. The results were obtained applying the updated initial-state radiation correction used in other recent Belle publications on light-hadron production cross sections. In addition, production cross sections of single charged pions, kaons, and protons were also updated using this initial-state radiation correction. The cross sections are obtained from a 558 fb-1 data sample collected at the Υ(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider.
The immature platelet fraction (IPF) is a laboratory measurement analogous to the reticulocyte count, but reflecting the thrombopoietic state. Similar to a reticulocyte count, it can be expressed as ...a percent (IPF%=percent of platelets that are immature) or as an absolute number per μl blood; the immature platelet count (IPC=IPF% × platelets per μl of blood).
Using a retrospective analysis of de-identified data from non-thrombocytopenic neonates, we created reference intervals for IPF% and IPC. We then tested the value of these measurements for categorizing thrombocytopenic neonates.
New charts display reference intervals for IPF% and IPC on the day of birth according to gestational age, and during the first 90 days after birth. Neonates with hyporegenerative varieties of thrombocytopenias (syndromes, small for gestational age, birth asphyxia) had lower IPF% and IPC than did neonates with consumptive thrombocytopenias (immune-mediated, infection, disseminated intravascular coagulation, necrotizing enterocolitis; both P<0.0001).
The new reference interval charts can be used to recognize abnormal IPFs. The IPF parameters can help clarify the kinetic mechanism responsible for thrombocytopenias in neonates.
ABSTRACT
Background
Sodium glucose‐linked transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors promote glucose, and therefore calorie, excretion in the urine. Patients taking SGLT2 inhibitors typically experience mild ...weight loss, but the amount of weight loss falls short of what is expected based on caloric loss. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for this weight loss discrepancy is imperative, as strategies to improve weight loss could markedly improve type 2 diabetes management and overall metabolic health.
Methods
Two mouse models of diet‐induced obesity were administered the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin in the food for 3 months. Urine glucose excretion, body weight, food intake and activity levels were monitored. In addition, serum hormone measurements were taken, and gene expression analyses were conducted.
Results
In both mouse models, mice receiving empagliflozin gained the same amount of body weight as their diet‐matched controls despite marked glucose loss in the urine. No changes in food intake, serum ghrelin concentrations or activity levels were observed, but serum levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) decreased after treatment. A decrease in the levels of deiodinase 2 (Dio2) was also observed in the white adipose tissue, a primary target tissue of FGF21.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that compensatory metabolic adaptations, other than increased food intake or decreased physical activity, occur in response to SGLT2 inhibitor‐induced glycosuria that combats weight loss, and that reductions in FGF21, along with subsequent reductions in peripheral Dio2, may play a role.
Overweight mice that were chronically administered empagliflozin did not lose weight despite marked caloric loss in the urine. No changes in food intake nor activity levels were observed, but serum levels of the metabolic regulating hormone FGF21 were reduced in the empagliflozin group. These studies suggest that SGLT2 inhibitor therapy induces changes in the hormonal regulation of metabolism.
Schistocytes are circulating erythrocyte fragments. They can be identified microscopically from a blood smear; but automated systems evaluate more cells and avoid inconsistencies in microscopy. ...Studies using adult subjects indicate that automated quantification of schistocytes can be clinically useful. However, reference intervals for automated schistocyte counts of neonates have not been published, and the relevance of a high automated schistocyte count from neonates has not been reported.
Using retrospective automated neonatal complete blood count (CBC) data, we created reference intervals for fragmented red cells (FRCs) and sought to discover the clinical conditions of neonates with high FRCs (above the upper reference interval).
We created reference intervals based on 39,949 CBCs from 15,655 neonates 0-90 days old. The lower reference interval was 0 FRC/µL and the upper interval was 100,000/µL. The highest FRCs (96 CBCs from 44 neonates) were > 250,000/µL. These neonates clustered into the following groups: 37% had sepsis, 29% had disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), 17% had a genetic syndrome, 14% necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and 7% had iron deficiency (some had more than one diagnosis). Based on the reference intervals, we divided the 39,949 FRC values into 3 groups: (1) < 100,000/µL ("normal"), (2) 100,000-200,000/µL ("moderately elevated"), and (3) > 200,000/µL ("extremely elevated"). The odds that a microangiopathic condition (DIC, sepsis, NEC) or a microcytic disorder (iron deficiency) were present were significantly higher in the moderately elevated, and more so in the extremely elevated group.
Our study suggests that a high FRC could prompt investigation into, or inform follow-up of, a neonatal microangiopathic or extremely microcytic disorder.
Neonates with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) have higher calprotectin levels in stool than do healthy neonates. However, it is not known whether high stool calprotectin at the onset of bowel ...symptoms identifies neonates who truly have NEC vs other bowel disorders.
Neonates were eligible for this study when an x-ray was ordered to 'rule-out NEC'. Stool calprotectin was quantified at that time and in a follow-up stool. Each episode was later categorized as NEC or not NEC. The location of calprotectin in the bowel was determined by immunohistochemistry.
Neonates with NEC had higher initial and follow-up stool calprotectin levels than did neonates without NEC. Calprotectin in bowel from neonates with NEC was within neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs).
At the onset of signs concerning for NEC, fecal calprotectin is likely to be higher in neonates with NEC. Calprotectin in their stools is exported from neutrophils via NETs.
We present the first model-independent measurement of the CKM unitarity triangle angle ϕ3 using B±→ D(KS0\ {K}_{\mathrm{S}}^0 \π+π−π0) K± decays, where D indicates either a D0 or D¯\ \overline{D} \0 ...meson. Measurements of the strong-phase difference of the D →KS0\ {K}_{\mathrm{S}}^0 \π+π−π0 amplitude obtained from CLEO-c data are used as input. This analysis is based on the full Belle data set of 772 × 106BB¯\ \overline{B} \ events collected at the Υ(4S) resonance. We obtain ϕ3 = (5.7−8.8+10.2\ {5.7}_{-8.8}^{+10.2} \±3.5±5.7)° and the suppressed amplitude ratio rB = 0.323±0.147±0.023±0.051. Here the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is the experimental systematic, and the third is due to the precision of the strong-phase parameters measured from CLEO-c data. The 95% confidence interval on ϕ3 is (−29.7, 109.5)°, which is consistent with the current world average.
Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) neonates, infants of diabetic mothers (IDM) and very-low-birth weight premature neonates (VLBW) are reported to have increased risk for developing iron deficiency and ...possibly associated neurocognitive delays.
We conducted a pilot study to assess iron status at birth in at-risk neonates by measuring iron parameters in umbilical cord blood from SGA, IDM, VLBW and comparison neonates.
Six of the 50 infants studied had biochemical evidence of iron deficiency at birth. Laboratory findings consistent with iron deficiency were found in one SGA, one IDM, three VLBW, and one comparison infant. None of the infants had evidence of iron deficiency anemia.
Evidence of biochemical iron deficiency at birth was found in 17% of screened neonates. Studies are needed to determine whether these infants are at risk for developing iron-limited erythropoiesis, iron deficiency anemia or iron-deficient neurocognitive delay.
Automated monitoring of the QT interval is increasingly common in a variety of clinical settings. A better understanding of how the heart-rate-corrected QT interval (QTc) evolves in early postnatal ...life is needed before its clinical utility in neonates can be determined. This study aimed to use real-time bedside monitoring as a tool to describe the QTc evolution of premature neonates during the first week of life. All neonates born at a gestation age (GA) of 31 weeks or later and admitted to the level 2 intensive care nursery of the authors’ institution between December 2012 and March 2013 were included in this study. The authors prospectively collected QTc values at 15-min intervals during the first week of life, then used two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare these data among three GA cohorts: 31 to <34 weeks (cohort A), 34 to <37 weeks (cohort B), and ≥37 weeks (cohort C). All the cohorts demonstrated a statistically significant decline in the 24-h average QTc during the first 3–4 days of life before reaching a stable baseline. No diurnal variation in the QTc was identified in any of the study patients. Marked variability and a progressive decline in the QTc of premature neonates occur during the first 3–4 days of life. Understanding this phenomenon is imperative when screening programs for the early detection of QT prolongation are considered.
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