- The lower respiratory tract is subject to infection by a wide variety of infectious agents. Pathologists should be familiar with common organisms, including their general clinical characteristics, cytomorphologic features, differential diagnoses, and ancillary methods of detection. Above all, correlation with microbiologic and clinical information is necessary to make a confident diagnosis of infection.

The addition of a 2nd generation EC to outpatient tobacco treatment among tobacco smokers is feasible. Among those who quit smoking, half were still using the EC at 6-month follow-up. Appeal of the EC among smokers was variable, and those who had quit smoking tended to switch to lower strength nicotine solutions. Further research is needed to determine whether ECs can reduce harm and be an effective adjunct to existing tobacco treatment interventions.

Approximately 6 million fractures occur each year in the United States, with an estimated medical and loss of productivity cost of $99 billion. As our population ages, it can only be expected that these numbers will continue to rise. While there have been recent advances in available treatments for fractures, assessment of the healing process remains a subjective process. This study aims to demonstrate the use of micro-computed tomography (μCT)-based structural rigidity analysis to accurately and quantitatively assess the progression of fracture healing over time in a rat model. The femora of rats with simulated lytic defects were injected with human BMP-2 cDNA at various time points postinjury (t = 0, 1, 5, 10 days) to accelerate fracture healing, harvested 56 days from time of injury, and subjected to μCT imaging to obtain cross-sectional data that were used to compute torsional rigidity. The specimens then underwent torsional testing to failure using a previously described pure torsional testing system. Strong correlations were found between measured torsional rigidity and computed torsional rigidity as calculated from both average (R2 = 0.63) and minimum (R2 = 0.81) structural rigidity data. While both methods were well correlated across the entire data range, minimum torsional rigidity was a better descriptor of bone strength, as seen by a higher Pearson coefficient and smaller y-intercept. These findings suggest considerable promise in the use of structural rigidity analysis of μCT data to accurately and quantitatively measure fracture-healing progression.

This article explores how physical and psychiatric conditions may interact in the treatment of tobacco dependence, and discusses the need for smoking cessation as a critical component of comorbid condition management. Five common comorbid domains-psychiatric, cancer, pulmonary, cardiovascular, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-are highlighted to illustrate how these different conditions might interact with smoking with respect to prevalence and harm, motivation to quit, and cessation treatment utilization and success.

This is the first study to directly determine the neurologic effects of electronic cigarettes on human brain beta-2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors using PET neuroimaging with (-)-[18F]Flubatine, a novel radiotracer. Our findings suggest that the e-cigarettes studied here have abuse liability and may provide an adequate alternative nicotine delivery system for cigarette smokers.