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The phenotypical manifestations of asthma among children are diverse and exhibit varying responses to therapeutic interventions. There is a need to develop objective biomarkers to improve the characterization of allergic and inflammatory responses relevant to asthma to predict therapeutic treatment responses. We have previously investigated histamine iontophoresis with laser Doppler flowmetry (HILD) as a potential surrogate biomarker that characterizes histamine response and may be utilized to guide the treatment of allergic and inflammatory disease. We have identified intra‐individual variability of HILD response type among children and adults with asthma and that HILD response type varied in association with racial classification. As laser Doppler flowimetry may be impacted by skin color, we aimed to further validate the HILD method by determining if skin color or tone is associated with observed HILD response type differences. We conducted an observational study utilizing quantification of skin color and tone obtained from photographs of the skin among participants during HILD assessments via the RGB color model. We compared RGB values across racial, ethnic, and HILD response type via the Kruskal‐Wallis test and calculated Kendall rank correlation coefficient to evaluate the relationship between RGB composite scores and HILD pharmacodynamic measures. We observed that RGB scores differed among racial groups and histamine response phenotypes (p < 0.05). However, there was a lack of correlation between the RGB composite score and HILD pharmacodynamic measures (r values 0.1, p > 0.05). These findings suggest that skin color may not impact HILD response variations, necessitating further research to understand previously observed differences across identified racial groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to compare three robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) approaches—Retzius sparing (RS), extraperitoneal (EP), and transperitoneal (TP)—performed at our institution using the da Vinci® single-port (SP) platform (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 101 patients who underwent SP-RARP at our institution and stratified them into three cohorts based on the RARP approach: RS (n = 32), EP (n = 30), and TP (n = 39). Data regarding preoperative patient characteristics, perioperative characteristics, oncologic outcomes, and early functional outcomes were collected. The Fisher's exact test and chi-square tests were utilized for categorical variables, and the Kruskal–Wallis test was utilized for numerical variables. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were utilized for pairwise comparisons. A two-tailed p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: All three cohorts were largely similar in terms of preoperative patient characteristics. Operative time was significantly different between cohorts (p < 0.001), with the RS approach having a faster mean operating time than the TP approach (208 ± 40 minutes vs 248 ± 36 minutes, p < 0.001). Clinically significant margin rates did not differ significantly between cohorts (p = 0.861). Postoperative continence differed significantly between cohorts (p < 0.001); higher continence rates were observed in RS vs EP—94% (30/32) vs 52% (15/29), respectively, p < 0.001. Return of erectile function also differed significantly between cohorts (p = <0.001); higher erectile function recovery rates were observed in RS vs EP—88% (28/32) vs 41% (11/27), respectively, p < 0.001—and in RS vs TP—88% (28/32) vs 60% (22/37), respectively, p = 0.014. Median (IQR) follow-up time was 150 (88–377) days. Conclusions: RS SP-RARP is associated with improved early functional outcomes when compared with both EP and TP approaches. These benefits are achieved while maintaining equivalent oncologic outcomes. Further research is needed to optimize the patient selection paradigm for the SP-RARP approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In treating lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), the risk of overtreatment with antibiotics must be reconciled with the risk of an untreated urinary tract infection (UTI) progressing to acute pyelonephritis (APN). Using Cerner HealthFacts, a longitudinal clinical informatics database, we aimed to determine risk factors associated with the development of APN from UTI in an effort to guide the initiation of empiric antibiotics. Methods: We queried the Cerner HealthFacts database for women over age 18 with a positive urine culture. Any patient with an International Classification of Disease (ICD) code indicating chronic pyelonephritis was excluded. Development of APN within 30 days of the positive culture, specified by ICD coding, was our primary outcome. Patient and facility factors were assessed as potential risk factors for the development of APN using multivariable regression. Results: Out of 58 344 women with a positive urine culture, 3.9% (2296) developed APN. Mean patient age was 54.4 ± 25.3 years. Overall, 12 variables were predictive for APN and 11 variables were protective against APN. Presence of obstructive and reflux uropathies (OR 4.58), presentation to an acute care facility (OR 3.19), urinary retention (OR 2.30), history of UTI (OR 2.19), and renal comorbidities (OR 2.07) conferred the highest odds of APN development. The most protective variable against APN development was cognitive impairment (OR 0.49). Conclusions: Identified risk factors associated with APN development may aid decisions regarding empiric antibiotic initiation for patients presenting with LUTS while awaiting urine culture results. The relationship between cognitive impairment and progression to APN deserves further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review summarizes the current state of polymer composites used as dielectric materials for energy storage. The particular focus is on materials: polymers serving as the matrix, inorganic fillers used to increase the effective dielectric constant, and various recent investigations of functionalization of metal oxide fillers to improve compatibility with polymers. We review the recent literature focused on the dielectric characterization of composites, specifically the measurement of dielectric permittivity and breakdown field strength. Special attention is given to the analysis of the energy density of polymer composite materials and how the functionalization of the inorganic filler affects the energy density of polymer composite dielectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenotypical manifestations of asthma among children are diverse and exhibit varying responses to therapeutic interventions. There is a need to develop objective biomarkers to improve the characterization of allergic and inflammatory responses relevant to asthma to predict therapeutic treatment responses. We have previously investigated histamine iontophoresis with laser Doppler flowmetry (HILD) as a potential surrogate biomarker that characterizes histamine response and may be utilized to guide the treatment of allergic and inflammatory disease. We have identified intra-individual variability of HILD response type among children and adults with asthma and that HILD response type varied in association with racial classification. As laser Doppler flowimetry may be impacted by skin color, we aimed to further validate the HILD method by determining if skin color or tone is associated with observed HILD response type differences. We conducted an observational study utilizing quantification of skin color and tone obtained from photographs of the skin among participants during HILD assessments via the RGB color model. We compared RGB values across racial, ethnic, and HILD response type via the Kruskal-Wallis test and calculated Kendall rank correlation coefficient to evaluate the relationship between RGB composite scores and HILD pharmacodynamic measures. We observed that RGB scores differed among racial groups and histamine response phenotypes (p < 0.05). However, there was a lack of correlation between the RGB composite score and HILD pharmacodynamic measures (r values 0.1, p > 0.05). These findings suggest that skin color may not impact HILD response variations, necessitating further research to understand previously observed differences across identified racial groups., (© 2024 The Authors. Clinical and Translational Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.)