Acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) classically presents as acute kidney injury most often induced by offending drugs. Less frequently it is secondary to infections, autoimmune disorders, or idiopathic conditions. Development of drug-related AIN is not dose dependent and a recurrence can occur with re-exposure to the drug. We present a 50-year-old male with treatment resistant schizoaffective disorder who developed clozapine-induced AIN, confirmed with kidney biopsy within 2 months of taking this medication. His kidney function improved with removal of the drug and treatment with steroids. However, his kidney function was again significantly impaired when rechallenged with even a lower dose of clozapine a year later. Kidney function returned to baseline after stopping clozapine. Monitoring of kidney function during clozapine therapy is essential to therapy. Prompt diagnosis is imperative as discontinuation of offending agent can prevent acute kidney injury.

Roseomonas species, a rare Gram-negative microorganism, has seldom been reported to cause peritonitis in end-stage renal disease patients on peritoneal dialysis. Only seven cases of peritonitis by this rare microorganism have been reported worldwide. Treatment options can be challenging if not detected early and can lead to significant morbidity and mortality along with the switching of the dialysis modality to hemodialysis which is highly undesirable. Our patient is a 65-year-old Caucasian female who needed to be changed to emergency hemodialysis due to inability to perform peritoneal dialysis from suspected peritonitis and was subsequently discovered to have peritonitis from Roseomonas mucosa. She recovered with a prolonged antibiotics course and returned to peritoneal dialysis in 3 months following her treatment completion. Prompt diagnosis and prolonged antibiotics are a cornerstone in the management of this rare microorganism to prevent mortality and morbidity from peritonitis.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are novel anticancer therapy approved in multiple tumors and their use is rapidly increasing. They are associated with various systemic side effects that are immune-mediated and clinically coined as “immune-related adverse effects” (irAE). Hyponatremia is a possible side effect in patients receiving ICIs. Fever is another side effect that is mostly non-infectious. There are different mechanisms leading to hyponatremia in patients on ICIs, which could be (1) hypovolemic hyponatremia due to hemodynamic disturbance secondary to volume depletion (eg, from irAE like colitis and enteritis) or hypervolemia due to congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, or nephrosis; (2) syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) secretion (especially from underlying lung cancer or neurological irAE like encephalitis and meningitis) with elevated urine sodium and urine osmolarity; and (3) irAE-related endocrinopathies such as hypophysitis, adrenal insufficiency, and hypothyroidism leading to euvolemic hyponatremia. We describe an interesting case of hyponatremia and fever in a patient receiving Ipilimumab and Nivolumab. The possible etiology of hyponatremia, in this case, was hypovolemia and volume depletion secondary to fever.

An evaluation of an advanced habitat system designed to transport crews between the Earth and Mars has been conducted. This new and innovative habitat concept is capable of placing crew members in inactive, torpor states during transit phases of a deep space mission. This substantially reduces the mass and size of the habitat, which ultimately leads to significant reductions in the overall architecture size. Additionally, numerous potential crew health impacts have been identified that may reduce the effects of common long-duration spaceflight challenges.

Although intravenous (IV) smart pumps with built-in dose-error reduction systems (DERS) can reduce IV medication administration error, most serious adverse events still occur during IV medication administration. Sources of error include overriding DERS and manually bypassing drug libraries and the DERS. Our purpose was to use the Regenstrief National Center for Medical Device Informatics data set to better understand IV smart pump drug library and DERS compliance. Our sample consisted of 12 months of data from 7 hospital systems, 44 individual hospitals, and descriptive data from the American Hospital Directory (AHD) for 2015. The aims of the study were (1) to determine whether there are differences in IV smart pump drug library compliance between hospital systems and (2) to provide a broad descriptive overview of relevant trends related to IV smart pump compliance. For aim 1, we found 3 significant relationships among the 7 hospital systems: systems 3 (P < 0.001), 6 (P = 0.003), and 7 (P = 0.002) had significantly higher IV smart compliance as compared with system 4. For aim 2, the number of drug library profiles was positively correlated (P = 0.029) with IV smart pump compliance and the IV smart pump type used was significantly correlated (P = 0.013) with IV smart pump compliance. Our findings support that there are differences in IV smart pump compliance both within and between hospital systems and that IV smart pump type and the number of drug library profiles may be influencing factors. Further research is required to more accurately identify the impact of these factors in this very important area of patient safety.

This chapter focuses on Latino students in grades seven through nine in Opportunity Class, an alternative school for students with disciplinary problems at their comprehensive school sites, who used the free software tool called Tagxedo to generate stronger thinking and writing. More specifically, this chapter focuses on a study of students' digital writing through Tagxedo, and how they used Tagxedo as a way to metaphorically and symbolically represent their thinking, and as a tool to support their writing and thinking. This study took place over two years with two different groups of 13 students, each studying different inquiry-based units of study. Located in critical multimodality as a theoretical frame, this chapter positions digital writing as a critical endeavor, one that understands that modes are not neutral, and every choice made by the designer/writer of a digital text has intention and purpose.

Critical event team training is significant to an obstetric unit. Research indicates that teamwork and perinatal safety during critical events is enhanced when multidisciplinary team training programs are implemented. The Joint Commission recommends that perinatal units implement team training and mock drills for critical obstetric events. The process for implementing a critical event team training program is presented.

In this paper, we use survey data from an international public policy and management program within a large private U. S. university to study sociocultural and academic adjustment of the students, how this is affected by the structure of the program, and its effects on their academic performance. We focus on factors that affect students’ ability to socially integrate successfully during their time in the United States for higher education and attempt to determine if this social integration translates into better academic outcomes.

ABSTRACTObjective: This study examined the association between chronic low back pain [CLBP] and the occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD].Methods: The experiences of 161 patients receiving treatment for CLBP were examined with self-report measures for perceived pain severity, traumatic experiences, and symptom levels of PTSD. Participants’ responses determined which of four groups they were placed in to further explore predictor variables.Results: Overall, 51 percent of the patients evidenced PTSD symptoms ranging between mild and severe. Within-group comparisons indicated that between 25 percent and 77 percent of patients reported some level [mild to severe] of PTSD symptoms. Patients who had reported a history of trauma evidenced the highest levels of PTSD symptoms in comparison with the other groups. There was a significant positive association between patients' levels of pain severity and their levels of PTSD symptoms.Conclusion: Findings of this study indicate that there is an increased...

This meta-analysis was conducted to systematically review the efficacy and safety of the H-Wave (Electronic Waveform Lab, Inc, Huntington Beach, CA, USA) device and programme as a non-pharmacological analgesic treatment in chronic soft tissue inflammation and neuropathic pain. Five studies related to pain relief, reduction in pain medication and increased functionality obtained with the H-Wave device were included in the analysis. Data were analysed using the random effects model, including adjustment to evaluate variability, size of study and bias in effect size. A total of 6535 participants were included in the meta-analysis; there were 8065 participants' outcomes measured due to multiple measurements per participant. The H-Wave device decreased pain ratings across various chronic soft tissue inflammation and neuropathic pain conditions. The mean weighted effect size was 0.59, and the estimated effect size variance was 0.00003 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.580, 0.600). The H-Wave device also decreased the intake of pain medication in patients with various chronic soft tissue inflammation and neuropathic pain conditions. The mean weighted effect size was 0.56, and the estimated effect size variance was 0.000013 (95% CI: 0.553, 0.567). Patient functionality was also improved with use of the H-Wave device. The mean weighted effect size was 0.70, and the estimated effect size variance was 0.00002 (95% CI: 0.691, 0.709). A chi-square test for homogeneous effect sizes found highly significant (P<0.00001) variability, indicating a robust significant effect size for increased functionality relative to both pain relief and reduction in pain medication. There was little to no evidence of any adverse effects associated with the use of the H-Wave device. The findings indicate a moderate to strong effect of the H-Wave device in providing pain relief, reducing the requirement for pain medication and increasing functionality. The most robust effect was observed for improved functionality, suggesting that the H-Wave device may facilitate a quicker return to work and other related daily activities.