Relational and interactional dynamic network data from Czech lower-secondary school students.

This article introduces a network data set on the friendships and group work interactions among a convenience sample of 276 Czech Grade 6 students from twelve classrooms, supported by student-level demographic, literacy, motivation, and classroom communication data. Gathered longitudinally at the beginning and end of the 2021/2022 school year, the data provide a relational insight into the nature and evolution of early adolescents' friendships. Moreover, the data provide a unique relational and temporal insight into the verbal interaction of students during classroom group work. This dataset constitutes a valuable resource for educational researchers interested in studying classroom group work as well as for social network scientists studying dynamic social networks.

The dietary supplement chitosan lowers serum phosphorus in a hemodialysis patient not tolerating prescription medications.

Chitosan is a widely available, nontoxic, biodegradable biopolymer that binds negatively charged molecules. Its use as a dietary supplement for weight loss derives from its purported ability to bind negatively charged lipids and bile acids and prevent their gastrointestinal absorption. Here, we report the case of a dialysis patient who did not tolerate prescription phosphorus binders and who has been able to control her serum phosphorus levels for a year by taking 3.5 g of chitosan a day with meals. A quantitative analysis shows that chitosan may bind between 16 and 41 mg of phosphorus per gram, comparable to prescription binders. Chitosan may provide an over-the-counter alternative as non-calcium phosphorus binder for patients not tolerating prescription phosphorus binders because of side effects, cost, or efforts to limit their medication burden.

Complete remission of tip lesion variant focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) with the Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor tofacitinib.

A 67-year-old woman with transverse myelitis and seizure disorder secondary to suspected central nervous system (CNS) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis had two episodes of severe nephrotic syndrome 15 years apart. She underwent a renal biopsy in both episodes, showing tip lesion variant focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). The patient responded both times to prednisone treatment, achieving a complete remission within 2 months in the first episode and remission 4 months in the second episode. A year after her second episode, the patient had a third episode of severe nephrotic syndrome. She achieved an equally rapid complete remission in 3 months without steroid treatment, as she was concomitantly treated with the Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor tofacitinib for a flare of rheumatoid arthritis. This case report suggests that JAK inhibitors may have therapeutic use in FSGS, which is supported by experimental data in the medical literature.

Renal Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: A Retrospective Study.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is an adjunctive treatment for patients with diabetic foot ulcers. The prolonged high oxygen level used in HBOT can produce oxidative stress, which may be harmful to the kidney. Animal experiments suggest HBOT does not harm renal function and may have an antiproteinuric effect, but little is known on the effect of HBOT in humans. We performed a retrospective chart review of 94 patients with diabetes mellitus who underwent HBOT at our institution over an eight-year period. Thirty-two patients had serum creatinine levels within 60 days of the start and the end of treatment. Creatinine levels were 1.41 ± 0.89 mg/dl before and 1.52 ± 1.17 mg/dl after hyperbaric treatments with no statistically significant difference (mean (postcreatinine + precreatinine/2) = 0.10 mg/dl, SE = 0.11, t = 0.89). Twenty-three patients had proteinuria measurements before and after HBOT mainly by urine dipstick analysis. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed less proteinuria after HBOT than before (N = 23, p=0.002). Proteinuria was absent in 7 of 23 patients (30%) before HBOT and 13 of 23 patients (57%) after HBOT, a reduction by almost 50%. This observation is remarkable because oxidative stress might be expected to increase rather than decrease proteinuria.

Mucormycosis peritonitis: more than 2 years of disease-free follow-up after posaconazole salvage therapy after failure of liposomal amphotericin B.

A 57-year-old woman with end-stage kidney disease secondary to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease developed peritoneal dialysis-related Mucor peritonitis after her pet cockatoo bit through her transfer set. The infection persisted despite more than 8 weeks of treatment with liposomal amphotericin B. On a compassionate basis, she then received oral posaconazole, 800 mg/d, in divided doses for 6 months. She experienced complete remission and has remained disease free since then, for more than 2 years. We review the medical literature about mucormycosis peritonitis which, albeit rare, carries very high mortality. The treatment of choice is liposomal amphotericin B, which failed in our patient. Our case report suggests that posaconazole is an attractive treatment option in patients with peritoneal dialysis-related Mucor peritonitis.

Aspirin treatment is associated with a significantly decreased risk of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in hemodialysis patients with tunneled catheters.

BACKGROUND: Hemodialysis patients with tunneled catheters are at increased risk of bacteremic Staphylococcus aureus infections. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that aspirin has direct antistaphylococcal effects by inhibiting expression of alpha-toxin and matrix adhesion genes through activation of sigma factor B stress-induced operon. We hypothesized that long-term treatment with aspirin may decrease the frequency of S aureus bacteremia in such patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed electronic medical records for a variety of clinical parameters, including catheter dwell times, blood culture results, and aspirin use in our dialysis population. RESULTS: A total of 4,722 blood cultures were performed in 872 patients during more than 476 patient-catheter-years. There was a lower rate of catheter-associated S aureus bacteremia in patients treated with aspirin versus those not treated with aspirin (0.17 versus 0.34 events/patient-catheter-year, P = 0.003), whereas no such difference was observed for other bacteria. This association was dose dependent, seen mostly with the 325-mg aspirin dose. Using the Cox proportional hazard method, risk to develop a first episode of S aureus bacteremia decreased by 54% in patients using aspirin (confidence interval, 24 to 72; P = 0.002). Aspirin was associated with decreased risk of: (1) a first episode of methicillin-resistant S aureus bacteremia and (2) metastatic complications during the first episode of catheter-related S aureus bacteremia. CONCLUSION: These data are consistent with our clinical hypothesis that aspirin has a clinically useful antistaphylococcal effect in the dialysis population.

Acid-base disturbances in the intensive care unit: metabolic acidosis.

This article will discuss metabolic acidosis and, to a lesser extent, metabolic alkalosis in the ICU setting. A classification and clinical approach will be the focus.

Electrolyte disturbances in the intensive care unit.

The development of many electrolyte disturbances in the ICU can be prevented by attention to the use of intravenous fluids and nutrition. Hyponatremia is a relative contraindication to the use of hypotonic intravenous fluids and hypernatremia calls for the administration of water. Formulae have been devised to guide the therapy of severe hyponatremia and hypernatremia. All formulae regard the patient as a closed system, and none takes into account ongoing fluid losses that are highly variable between patients. Thus, therapy of severe hyponatremia and hypernatremia must be closely monitored with serial electrolyte measurements. The significance of hypocalcemia in the critically ill is controversial. Hypokalemia, hypophosphatemia, and hypomagnesemia should be corrected.

Venous access: women are equal.

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous fistulae (AVFs) are the preferred method of vascular access for hemodialysis patients; however, the current rate of AVF placement is only 25% to 30% in the United States. This prevalence is even smaller among women and attributed to their perceived inadequate vasculature. This commonly held view that women have less adequate vasculature for AVF placement than men has not been shown objectively in the literature. METHODS: To determine a difference in vasculature between the sexes, we retrospectively analyzed data on preoperative vascular mapping in 192 patients. During a 2-year period, vascular mapping of the upper extremities was routinely performed using duplex ultrasound in all patients requiring vascular access in our institution. RESULTS: One hundred six of these 192 patients were women, and 86 were men. There was no significant difference in vein size between men and women at any of the sites measured. A total of 87 fistulae were placed in 140 patients, 49% in women and 51% in men (P = 0.16). Prevalences of AVFs were 57% and 68% (P = 0.2) in women and men, respectively. Percentages of fistulae used at the initiation of hemodialysis therapy were 72% in women and 77% in men (P = 0.57). CONCLUSION: These data support the view that women have adequate vasculature for the placement of AVFs compared with men. We cannot explain the different outcomes found in other studies; however, we suggest that the differences are caused by physician practice patterns, not anatomic differences between men and women.

Impact of the surgeon on the prevalence of arteriovenous fistulas.

Decreased use of native arteriovenous fistulas and an increased reliance on synthetic grafts as permanent dialysis access have accompanied the growth of the dialysis population in the United States, but not at our institution. Possible reasons for this difference were studied in a cross-sectional analysis in August of 2000. There were 51 chronic dialysis patients, all of whom had their access placed by the same surgeon; 75% of them were dialyzed through an arteriovenous fistula, which compares well with the 23% prevalence at the national level. Among our patients, 57% were diabetic, 98% had a history of hypertension, 35% had amputations or arterial bypass surgery, 37% had coronary artery disease, 12% had suffered a stroke, 35% were active smokers, and 22% had a history of intravenous drug use. The high prevalence of arteriovenous fistulas, despite so many comorbid conditions, suggests that the presence of a skilled and experienced surgeon may be more predictive of better dialysis access than other factors.