An analysis of the impact of policies and political affiliation on racial disparities in COVID-19 infections and deaths in the USA.

This research aimed to quantify the racial disparities of COVID-19 for primarily positive tests and deaths across the US and territories individually and collectively. The first research hypothesis investigated whether positive cases and death rates were higher for people of color (POC) than the White ethnic group. The second hypothesis examined whether there is a significant difference in confirmed positive cases and death rates between ethnic groups across the US and territories. The third hypothesis investigated if political party control and governmental policies affected the number of cases and death proportion rates across ethnic groups. The research findings suggest that POC positive cases and death rates were higher in some states. Black ethnic groups were dying at a high rate in the southeastern states, the District of Columbia, and in Maryland. Specifically, in the District of Columbia, the death rate is five times higher than the White ethnic group. For Latinx ethnic groups, the high cases and death rates have mostly occurred in western states, including Texas. The Latinx ethnic group accounted for half the total deaths in Texas and California. The Latinx ethnic group death rate is higher than the White ethnic group in four states: Texas, California, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia. The research findings also show that the rate of deaths and cases per ethnic group for policies and political factors were significant except for the mask mandate policy. Based on the analyzed data, mask mandates were not a factor in the cases or death rates of any ethnic group. Each state's policies for bars, curfews, public schools, and travel-along with legislative party control-had the most influences across ethnic groups. The research results for the death rates and number of cases due to these implemented policies varied between ethnic groups.

Bicc1 and Dicer regulate left-right patterning through post-transcriptional control of the Nodal inhibitor Dand5.

Rotating cilia at the vertebrate left-right organizer (LRO) generate an asymmetric leftward flow, which is sensed by cells at the left LRO margin. Ciliary activity of the calcium channel Pkd2 is crucial for flow sensing. How this flow signal is further processed and relayed to the laterality-determining Nodal cascade in the left lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) is largely unknown. We previously showed that flow down-regulates mRNA expression of the Nodal inhibitor Dand5 in left sensory cells. De-repression of the co-expressed Nodal, complexed with the TGFß growth factor Gdf3, drives LPM Nodal cascade induction. Here, we show that post-transcriptional repression of dand5 is a central process in symmetry breaking of Xenopus, zebrafish and mouse. The RNA binding protein Bicc1 was identified as a post-transcriptional regulator of dand5 and gdf3 via their 3'-UTRs. Two distinct Bicc1 functions on dand5 mRNA were observed at pre- and post-flow stages, affecting mRNA stability or flow induced translational inhibition, respectively. To repress dand5, Bicc1 co-operates with Dicer1, placing both proteins in the process of flow sensing. Intriguingly, Bicc1 mediated translational repression of a dand5 3'-UTR mRNA reporter was responsive to pkd2, suggesting that a flow induced Pkd2 signal triggers Bicc1 mediated dand5 inhibition during symmetry breakage.

Buffered lidocaine and bupivacaine mixture - the ideal local anesthetic solution?

The use of injectable local anesthetic solutions to facilitate pain-free surgery is an integral component of many procedures performed by the plastic surgeon. In many instances, a solution that has both rapid onset and prolonged duration of analgesia is optimal. A combination of lidocaine and bupivacaine, plain or with epinephrine, is readily available in most Canadian health care settings where such procedures are performed, and fulfills these criteria. However, commercially available solutions of both medications are acidic and cause a burning sensation on injection. Buffering to neutral pH with sodium bicarbonate is a practical method to mitigate the burning sensation, and has the added benefit of increasing the fraction of nonionized lipid soluble drug available. The authors report on the proportions of the three drugs to yield a neutral pH, and the results of an initial survey regarding the use of the combined solution with epinephrine in hand surgery.

L'injection d'anesthésiques injectables locaux pour favoriser une opération sans douleur fait partie intégrante des nombreuses interventions réalisées par le plasticien. Dans bien des cas, une solution analgésique à action longue et rapide est optimale. Une bithérapie de lidocaïne et de bupivacaïne, seule ou accompagnée d'adrénaline, disponible dans la plupart des milieux de santé canadiens où de telles interventions sont effectuées, respecte ce critère. Les solutions commerciales de ces deux médicaments sont toutefois acides et provoquent une sensation de brûlure à l'injection. L'utilisation d'un tampon de bicarbonate de sodium pour obtenir un pH neutre est pratique pour limiter la sensation de brûlure et a l'avantage supplémentaire d'accroître la fraction de médicament liposoluble non ionisé disponible. Les auteurs rendent compte des proportions des trois médicaments nécessaires pour obtenir un pH neutre et des résultats d'un sondage initial sur l'utilisation de la bithérapie combinée à l'adrénaline pour la chirurgie de la main.

Site-specific phosphorylation of the DNA damage response mediator rad9 by cyclin-dependent kinases regulates activation of checkpoint kinase 1.

The mediators of the DNA damage response (DDR) are highly phosphorylated by kinases that control cell proliferation, but little is known about the role of this regulation. Here we show that cell cycle phosphorylation of the prototypical DDR mediator Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad9 depends on cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) complexes. We find that a specific G2/M form of Cdc28 can phosphorylate in vitro the N-terminal region of Rad9 on nine consensus CDK phosphorylation sites. We show that the integrity of CDK consensus sites and the activity of Cdc28 are required for both the activation of the Chk1 checkpoint kinase and its interaction with Rad9. We have identified T125 and T143 as important residues in Rad9 for this Rad9/Chk1 interaction. Phosphorylation of T143 is the most important feature promoting Rad9/Chk1 interaction, while the much more abundant phosphorylation of the neighbouring T125 residue impedes the Rad9/Chk1 interaction. We suggest a novel model for Chk1 activation where Cdc28 regulates the constitutive interaction of Rad9 and Chk1. The Rad9/Chk1 complex is then recruited at sites of DNA damage where activation of Chk1 requires additional DDR-specific protein kinases.

Pterygium surgery with mitomycin and tarsorrhaphy.

PURPOSE: To determine if a pterygium surgical procedure consisting of minimal conjunctival removal, excision of the hypertrophic subconjunctival fibrovascular tissue, application of mitomycin 0.25 mg/mL for 1 minute combined with temporary nasal tarsorrhaphy, and use of postoperative dexamethasone/antibiotic drops achieves the following: safely simplifies pterygium removal, controls the early side effects of mitomycin, reduces the rate of recurrence, and lessens the need for conjunctival transplantation. METHODS: Twenty eyes in 19 patients underwent the procedure with use of mitomycin; 15 eyes had primary and 5 had recurrent pterygia. These were compared with a previous group of 28 eyes in 26 patients that underwent pterygium/tarsorrhaphy surgery without use of mitomycin; 20 eyes had primary and 8 had recurrent pterygia. Postoperatively, all eyes in both groups were treated with dexamethasone/antibiotic drops. RESULTS: In the mitomycin group, with an average follow-up of 12.1 months, 19 eyes healed uneventfully; there have been no recurrences. The nonmitomycin group, with an average follow-up of 42.6 months, has had nine recurrences (32%); four required a second procedure. Recurrence was significantly lower in the mitomycin group (P = .006). Conjunctival healing, as reflected in the time from surgery until tarsorrhaphy opening, was significantly delayed in the mitomycin group, 36.7 versus 17 days (P = .001). The delay in conjunctival healing may explain the complications associated with the use of mitomycin in pterygium surgery. CONCLUSION: Minimal conjunctival removal, extensive fibrovascular tissue excision, 1-minute application of mitomycin 0.25 mg/mL, temporary nasal tarsorrhaphy, and frequent application of dexamethasone/antibiotic drops postoperatively provided a safe and successful approach to pterygium management in this series.

Bacterial resistance after short-term exposure to antibiotics.

PURPOSE: To determine if there is a difference in antibiotic sensitivity to coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CNS) cultured from the host versus the donor cornea at the time of corneal transplantation. Then to apply this knowledge to preoperative preparation of patients undergoing eye surgery. METHOD: A total of 923 donor corneas stored in Optisol and 895 host corneas with no preoperative antibiotic exposure were cultured. Forty-two CNS positive cultures grew from the donor corneas and 40 from the host corneas (P = .5). RESULTS: There was an increase in resistance in the bacteria cultured from the donor compared with the host. The most striking changes occurred in host versus donor to: ciprofloxacin 27.5% (P = .0033); gentamicin 27% (P = .0113); tobramycin 31.6% (P = .059). The combination of polymixin, bacitracin, and neomycin (P/B/N) was significantly better than ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin or the combination of ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin (C/G/T) (P = .0007). CONCLUSION: The combination of C/G/T exhibited the highest change to resistant bacteria. P/B/N was the most effective commercially available preparation. These results should be considered when making the decision about which preoperative antibiotic to use, if any.