John Dart

BACKGROUND: Older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) face difficult decisions about managing kidney failure, frequently experiencing decisional conflict, regret, and treatment misaligned with preferences. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a decision aid about kidney replacement therapy improved decisional quality compared with usual care. DESIGN: Multicenter, randomized, controlled trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03522740). SETTING: 8 outpatient nephrology clinics associated with 4 U...

BACKGROUND: Despite numerous therapeutic options, safe and curative therapy is unavailable for most patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A drawback of current therapies such as the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb) rituximab is the elimination of all healthy B cells, resulting in impaired humoral immunity. We previously reported the identification of a patient-derived, CLL-binding mAb, JML-1, and identified sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-6 (Siglec-6) as the target of JML-1...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

In the agricultural sector, companies involved in the production of plastic greenhouses are currently searching for a suitable covering adapted for every climate in the world. For this purpose, this research work has determined the chemical, radiometric and mechanical properties of 53 polymeric films samples from Europe and South America. The chemical tests carried out with these samples were elemental analysis (C, H and N) and FT-IR spectrometry. The radiometric properties here studied were the transmission, absorption and reflection coefficients along the spectrum between 300 and 1100 nm...

PURPOSE: This study was designed to establish risk factors for the development of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) for daily disposable (DD) contact lens (CL) users compared with daily wear (DW) reusable lens users and for risks unique to DD users. This is important because, in many major economies, CL use is the principal cause of microbial keratitis, of which AK accounts for approximately 50% of cases with sight loss. Determining these AK risks informs practitioner advice and consumer behavior...

Many wildlife species are live captured, sampled, and released; for polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) capture often requires chemical immobilization via helicopter darting. Polar bears reduce their activity for approximately 4 days after capture, likely reflecting stress recovery. To better understand this stress, we quantified polar bear activity (via collar-mounted accelerometers) and body temperature (via loggers in the body core [Tabd ] and periphery [Tper ]) during 2-6 months of natural behavior, and during helicopter recapture and immobilization...

Mungbean is an important but understudied food legume compared with other major grain crops. Genetic studies through development of high-through put markers, linkage map construction and QTL analysis can accelerate and improve the efficiency of mining for genes for breeding in this crop. This study used four mungbean F5 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from crosses of two wild types (ACC 1, ACC 87) and two cultivars (Berken, Kiloga) and DArT markers to construct individual and consensus linkage maps and to identify QTLs associated with 54 traits in mungbean...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disrupted medical care across health care settings for older patients with advanced CKD. Understanding how shared decision making for kidney treatment decisions was influenced by the uncertainty of an evolving pandemic can provide insights for supporting shared decision making through the current and future public health crises. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: We performed thematic and narrative analyses of semistructured interviews with patients (CKD stages 4 and 5, age 70+), care partners, and clinicians from Boston, Portland (Maine), San Diego, and Chicago from August to December 2020...

Empirical data regarding dynamic alterations in illicit drug supply markets in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the potential for introduction of novel drug substances and/or increased poly-drug combination use at the 'street' level, i.e., directly proximal to the point of consumption, is currently lacking. Here, a high-throughput strategy employing ambient ionization-mass spectrometry is described for the trace residue identification, characterization and longitudinal monitoring of illicit drug substances found within >6,600 discarded drug paraphernalia (DDP) samples collected during a pilot study of an early warning system for illicit drug use in Melbourne, Australia from August 2020-February 2021, while significant COVID-19 lockdown conditions were imposed...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate receipt fidelity of communication training content included in a multifaceted intervention known to reduce antibiotic over-prescribing for pediatric acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), by examining the degree to which clinicians implemented the intended communication behavior changes. METHODS: Parents were surveyed regarding clinician communication behaviors immediately after attending 1026 visits by children 6 months to < 11 years old diagnosed with ARTIs by 53 clinicians in 18 pediatric practices...

INTRODUCTION: In the event of decompression using an isobaric differential cockpit pressurization system, oxygen concentration breathed pre-decompression must be greater than required for the given cockpit altitude in order to prevent hypoxia. The model for determining oxygen concentration requirements advanced by Dr. John Ernsting, when graphed against cockpit altitude, creates a hypoxia safety "notch" which has become a standard requirement for aircraft oxygen systems. Although variables in the Ernsting notch model are not fixed, they are often presented as such...

AIMS: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) and culture for microbial keratitis (MK) diagnosis. METHODS: Retrospective review of PCR, IVCM and culture results for MK diagnosis at Moorfields Eye Hospital between August 2013 and December 2014. RESULTS: PCR results were available for 259 MK patients with concurrent culture for 203/259 and IVCM for 149/259. Sensitivities and specificities with 95% confidence intervals [95% CI] were calculated for Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) and fungal keratitis (FK), by comparison with culture, for both IVCM and PCR...

INTRODUCTION: Quaternary ammonium compounds (QUATs) are commonly found in cleaning products, disinfectants, hand sanitizers, and personal care products. They have been used for >50 years and are considered safe when used according to directions. Recent papers report reduced fertility and neural tube defects in rodents after low-level exposures. To determine if QUATs interfere with mammalian reproduction and development, we conducted a methodical assessment of all available data. METHODS: A systematic literature search identified 789 potential articles...

Cicatricial conjunctival diseases (CCDs), are a diverse group of ocular surface diseases characterized by chronic scarring of the conjunctiva. These diseases can cause significant ocular morbidity. They are life-long once acquired and can be debilitating, painful diseases leading to visual loss. A recent international consensus of ocular surface disease experts have placed emphasis on the need of validated clinical disease scoring systems for CCDs, important for the objective evaluation of disease severity, outcomes of therapies, and longitudinal monitoring of disease...

The Western United States is dominated by natural lands that play a critical role for carbon balance, water quality, and timber reserves. This region is also particularly vulnerable to forest mortality from drought, insect attack, and wildfires, thus requiring constant monitoring to assess ecosystem health. Carbon monitoring techniques are challenged by the complex mountainous terrain, thus there is an opportunity for data assimilation systems that combine land surface models and satellite-derived observations to provide improved carbon monitoring...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Archeologists commonly suppose that among complex projectile weapons humans use as subsistence aids, the spearthrower-and-dart preceded bow-and-arrow use. And yet, neither ethnographic nor archeological records furnish any robust evidence for spearthrower-and-dart use in Africa. Instead, evidence grows apace for ever-more ancient bow-and-arrow use. Here we explore these findings and their implications for models of early Homo sapiens behavior.

A better understanding of the genetics of salinity tolerance in chickpea would enable breeding of salt tolerant varieties, offering potential to expand chickpea production to marginal, salinity-affected areas. A Recombinant Inbred Line population was developed using accelerated-Single Seed Descent of progeny from a cross between two chickpea varieties, Rupali (salt-sensitive) and Genesis836 (salt-tolerant). The population was screened for salinity tolerance using high-throughput image-based phenotyping in the glasshouse, in hydroponics, and across 2 years of field trials at Merredin, Western Australia...

PURPOSE: Understanding potential bias due to rarity of the outcome is important when monitoring newly approved drugs and drugs with low availability to the general public. Although there is an increasing use of online surveys to investigate health outcomes, the limits of inference due to drug availability have not been studied. The goal of this study was to quantify the relationship between dispensing of prescription drugs and estimates of use in an online general population survey. METHODS: An online repeated, cross-sectional survey from 2018 to 2020 was used to estimate the number of adults in the United States who used prescription drugs in the general population and compared to estimated number of prescriptions dispensed over an equivalent time period...

Sewage overflows (SOs) and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) significantly contribute to the bacterial contamination of coastal waters, which is of especial concern for aquaculture, a growing industry worldwide. Hydrodynamic and water quality models were used to investigate impacts of CSO discharge frequency and duration, river discharge and tides on Escherichia coli levels at shellfish farming sites in the Dart Estuary (UK), being the employed methodology generally applicable. High E. coli contamination occurred during neap tides and high river discharges due to higher retention and lower bacterial decay...