Severe copper deficiency anemia caused by zinc supplement use.

Copper deficiency is an uncommon condition primarily affecting the hematologic and neurologic systems. We report a unique case of severe anemia in a patient with copper deficiency caused by zinc supplement use.

Major League Soccer Provides a Captive Audience for Promoting Bystander CPR and AED Use Among Hispanics.

OBJECTIVE: Rates of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use are lower in Hispanic compared to non-Hispanic white communities. Novel instructional methods that focus on population subgroups most likely to benefit must be explored. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility, efficiency, and participant demographics of 10-minute educational intervention on bystander CPR and AED use delivered at a pre-match festival for Major League Soccer (MLS) fans. METHODS: Results are reported with descriptive statistics. The primary outcomes included: (1) Training efficiency index for cardiac arrest (TEICA) defined as persons trained/volunteer hours; (2) cardiac arrest training yield (CATY) defined as percent participation by the target audience; and (3) percent of participants of Hispanic origin. Our secondary outcome was average post intervention knowledge survey score. RESULTS: CATY was 16% and TEICA was 3.81. Survey participation was 48.3% and 38.9% of survey participants were Hispanic. Average knowledge score post training was 87.5%. CONCLUSION: Soccer matches may be a suitable setting for provision of CPR and AED training to Hispanics. This intervention gives insight into a novel way of providing health education to Hispanics that can be applied to other behaviors.

Pay It Forward: High School Video-based Instruction Can Disseminate CPR Knowledge in Priority Neighborhoods.

INTRODUCTION: The implementation of creative new strategies to increase layperson cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation may improve resuscitation in priority populations. As more communities implement laws requiring CPR training in high schools, there is potential for a multiplier effect and reach into priority communities with low bystander-CPR rates. METHODS: We investigated the feasibility, knowledge acquisition, and dissemination of a high school-centered, CPR video self-instruction program with a "pay-it-forward" component in a low-income, urban, predominantly Black neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois with historically low bystander-CPR rates. Ninth and tenth graders followed a video self-instruction kit in a classroom setting to learn CPR. As homework, students were required to use the training kit to "pay it forward" and teach CPR to their friends and family. We administered pre- and post-intervention knowledge surveys to measure knowledge acquisition among classroom and "pay-it-forward" participants. RESULTS: Seventy-one classroom participants trained 347 of their friends and family, for an average of 4.9 additional persons trained per kit. Classroom CPR knowledge survey scores increased from 58% to 93% (p < 0.0001). The pay-it-forward cohort saw an increase from 58% to 82% (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: A high school-centered, CPR educational intervention with a "pay-it-forward" component can disseminate CPR knowledge beyond the classroom. Because schools are centrally-organized settings to which all children and their families have access, school-based interventions allow for a broad reach that encompasses all segments of the population and have potential to decrease disparities in bystander CPR provision.

Old mice lacking high-affinity nicotine receptors resist acoustic trauma.

There is presently no clearly effective preventative medication against noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). However, negative feedback systems that presumably evolved to modulate the sensitivity of the organ of Corti may incidentally confer protection. One feedback system implicated in protection from NIHL involves synaptic connections between the lateral olivocochlear efferent terminals and the afferent fibers of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs). These connections operate via high-affinity nicotinic acetylcholine receptors containing the ß2 subunit. We unexpectedly observed protection from NIHL in 9-month old knockout mice lacking the ß2 subunit (ß2(-/-)); however, the same protection was not observed in 2-month old ß2(-/-) mice. This enigmatic observation led to the discovery that protection from acoustic trauma in older ß2(-/-) mice is mainly mediated by an age-related increase of corticosterone, not disruption of efferent cholinergic transmission. Significant protection of inner hair cells after acoustic trauma in ß2(-/-) mice was linked to the activation of glucocorticoid signaling pathways. However, significant loss of SGNs was observed in animals with chronically high systemic levels of corticosterone. These results suggested a "double-edge sword" nature of glucocorticoid signaling in neuronal protection, and a need for caution regarding when to apply synthetic glucocorticoid drugs to treat neural injury such as accompanies acoustic trauma.