Tissue Engineering Nasal Cartilage Grafts with Three-Dimensional Printing: A Comprehensive Review.

Nasal cartilage serves a crucial structural function for the nose, where rebuilding the cartilaginous framework is an essential aspect of nasal reconstruction. Conventional methods of nasal reconstruction rely on autologous cartilage harvested from patients, which contributes to donor site pain and the potential for site-specific complications. Some patients are not ideal candidates for this procedure due to a lack of adequate substitute cartilage due to age-related calcification, differences in tissue quality, or due to prior surgeries.

Moral preference reversals: Violations of procedure invariance in moral judgments of sacrificial dilemmas.

In this research, we examine whether moral judgments sometimes violate the normative principle of procedure invariance - that is, whether normatively equivalent elicitation tasks can result in different judgment patterns. Specifically, we show that the relative morality of two actions can reverse across evaluation modes and elicitation tasks, mirroring preference reversals in consumer behavior. Across six studies (five preregistered, total N = 719), we provide evidence of three reversals of moral judgments of sacrificial dilemmas.

Forming Evaluations of Moral Character: How Are Multiple Pieces of Information Prioritized and Integrated?

Evaluating other people's moral character is a crucial social cognitive task. However, the cognitive processes by which people seek out, prioritize, and integrate multiple pieces of character-relevant information have not been studied empirically. The first aim of this research was to examine which character traits are considered most important when forming an impression of a person's overall moral character.

A Predictive Model to Identify Complicated Infection.

Background: infection (CDI) is a leading cause of health care-associated infection and may result in organ dysfunction, colectomy, and death. Published risk scores to predict severe complications from CDI demonstrate poor performance upon external validation. We hypothesized that building and validating a model using geographically and temporally distinct cohorts would more accurately predict risk for complications from CDI.

Proximal Row Carpectomy Modifications for Capitate Arthritis: A Systematic Review.

 Proximal row carpectomy (PRC) is a motion-sparing procedure for radiocarpal arthritis with reliable results. Traditionally, proximal capitate arthritis is a contraindication to PRC; however, PRC with modifications are proposed to circumvent this contraindication. PRC modifications can be broadly grouped into capitate resurfacing (CR) and capsular interposition (CI) procedures which could expand PRC indications.

External Validation and Comparison of Clostridioides difficile Severity Scoring Systems.

Background: Many models have been developed to predict severe outcomes from Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). These models are usually developed at a single institution and largely are not externally validated. Our aim in this study was to validate previously published risk scores in a multicenter cohort of patients with CDI.

A Soft Robot for Peripheral Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy.

Lung cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancers and is often diagnosed by performing biopsies with the use of a bronchoscope. However, this diagnostic procedure is limited in ability to explore deep into the periphery of the lung where cancer can remain undetected. In this study, we present design, modeling, fabrication, and testing of a one degree of freedom soft robot with integrated diagnostic and interventional capabilities as well as vision sensing.

The Clinical Impact of Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Endocarditis Team.

Background: Infectious endocarditis is associated with substantial in-hospital mortality of 15%-20%. Effective management requires coordination between multiple medical and surgical subspecialties, which can often lead to disjointed care. Previous European studies have identified multidisciplinary endocarditis teams as a tool for reducing endocarditis mortality.

Feasibility of three-dimensional facial imaging and printing for producing customised nasal masks for continuous positive airway pressure.

Rationale: Delivery of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea in children and adults. Treatment adherence is a major challenge, as many patients find the CPAP mask uncomfortable. The study aim was to demonstrate the feasibility of delivered CPAP through customised nasal masks by assessing mask leak and comfort of customised masks compared to commercially available CPAP masks.

Comparison of Neutron Organ and Effective Dose Coefficients for PIMAL Stylized Phantoms in Bent Postures in Cranial and Caudal Irradiation Geometries.

Radiation dose estimations in the human body are performed using computational reference phantoms, which are anatomical representations of the human body. In previous studies, dose reconstructions have been performed focusing primarily on phantoms in an upright posture, which limits the accuracy of the dose estimations for postures observed in realistic work settings. In this work, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 103 recommendations for monoenergetic neutron plane sources directed downward from above the head (cranial) and upward from below the feet (caudal) for adult female and male reference phantoms were used to calculate organ absorbed and effective dose coefficients.

Systemic Inflammatory Mediators Are Effective Biomarkers for Predicting Adverse Outcomes in Clostridioides difficile Infection.

infection (CDI) can result in severe disease and death, with no accurate models that allow for early prediction of adverse outcomes. To address this need, we sought to develop serum-based biomarker models to predict CDI outcomes. We prospectively collected sera ≤48 h after diagnosis of CDI in two cohorts.

Landscape of Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Carcinosarcoma (MMMT): Analysis of IDO-1, PD-L1 and PD-1.

Carcinosarcoma (CS) or malignant mixed Müllerian tumor (MMMT), is a rare malignant biphasic tumor, which contains both a malignant epithelial and mesenchymal component. That being said, they have an aggressive clinical course. Given that immune checkpoint inhibitors have mustered significant excitement in the oncology world - immunotherapy could offer significant promise to this poor prognostic cancer subtype.

The Role of Coronary Catheterization with Angiography in Surgically Managed Infectious Endocarditis.

Background: Coronary catheterization with angiography is often performed prior to surgical valve replacement in infectious endocarditis. There are no existing data as to whether this intervention is clinically necessary or leads to a change in surgical management. In order to determine the frequency with which coronary angiography impacts surgical management in infectious endocarditis, we conducted a retrospective review of surgically managed endocarditis cases at a tertiary care medical center.

Physiological and pharmacological characterization of a molluscan neuronal efflux transporter; evidence for age-related transporter impairment.

Plasma membrane efflux transporters play crucial roles in the removal and release of both harmful and beneficial substances from the interior of cells and tissue types in virtually every extant species. They contribute to the clearance of a broad spectrum of exogenous and endogenous toxicants and harmful metabolites, including the reactive lipid aldehyde byproducts of lipid peroxidation that are a hallmark of cellular ageing. Here, we tested whether declining transporter functionality may contribute to functional decline in a snail model of neuronal ageing.

Physician perceptions of a multidisciplinary endocarditis team.

Infectious endocarditis is a highly morbid infection that requires coordination of care across medical and surgical specialties, often through the use of a multidisciplinary team model. Multiple studies have demonstrated that such conferences can improve clinical outcomes. However, little is known about physicians' impressions of these groups.

A Resident-Led Initiative to Increase Documentation of Surrogate Decision Makers for Hospitalized Patients.

Background: Identification of surrogate decision makers (SDMs) is an important part of advance care planning for hospitalized patients. Despite its importance, the best methods for engaging residents to sustainably improve SDM documentation have not been identified.

Objective: We implemented a hospital-wide quality improvement initiative to increase identification and documentation of SDMs in the electronic health record (EHR) for hospitalized patients, utilizing a Housestaff Quality and Safety Council (HQSC).

Positioning Performance of Power and Manual Drivers in Posterior Spinal Fusion Procedures.

This work presents an analysis and comparison of the efficacy of two methods for pedicle screw placement during posterior spinal fusion surgery. A total of 100 screws (64 manual and 36 power driven), all placed utilizing a surgical navigation system, were analyzed and compared. Final screw placement was compared to initial surgical plans using the navigation system, and the final screw locations were analyzed on the basis of angular deviation from these planned trajectories as well as screw translation within a critical reference plane.

Influenza assessment centres: a case study of pandemic preparedness to alleviate excess emergency department volume.

Objectives: Influenza assessment centres (IACs) were deployed to reduce emergency department (ED) volumes during the pH1N1 influenza outbreak in the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) public health region of Ontario, Canada, in the fall of 2009. We present a case study for the deployment of IACs to reduce ED visit volume during both periods of pandemic and seasonal communicable disease outbreak.

Methods: An emergency department syndromic surveillance system was used to trigger the deployment of eight geographically distributed IACs and to time their staggered closure 3 weeks later.

Optical map of the genotype A1 WB C6 Giardia lamblia genome isolate.

The Giardia lamblia genome consists of 12 Mb divided among 5 chromosomes ranging in size from approximately 1 to 4 Mb. The assembled contigs of the genotype A1 isolate, WB, were previously mapped along the 5 chromosomes on the basis of hybridization of plasmid clones representing the contigs to chromosomes separated by PFGE. In the current report, we have generated an MluI optical map of the WB genome to improve the accuracy of the physical map.

Modeling and syndromic surveillance for estimating weather-induced heat-related illness.

This paper compares syndromic surveillance and predictive weather-based models for estimating emergency department (ED) visits for Heat-Related Illness (HRI). A retrospective time-series analysis of weather station observations and ICD-coded HRI ED visits to ten hospitals in south eastern Ontario, Canada, was performed from April 2003 to December 2008 using hospital data from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) database, ED patient chief complaint data collected by a syndromic surveillance system, and weather data from Environment Canada. Poisson regression and Fast Orthogonal Search (FOS), a nonlinear time series modeling technique, were used to construct models for the expected number of HRI ED visits using weather predictor variables (temperature, humidity, and wind speed).

A comparison of methods for forecasting emergency department visits for respiratory illness using telehealth Ontario calls.

Objectives: Anticipating increases in hospital emergency department (ED) visits for respiratory illness could help time interventions such as opening flu clinics to reduce surges in ED visits. Five different methods for estimating ED visits for respiratory illness from Telehealth Ontario calls are compared, including two non-linear modeling methods. Daily visit estimates up to 14 days in advance were made at the health unit level for all 36 Ontario health units.