Publications by authors named "Asuncion M"

Article Synopsis
  • Researchers investigated how to improve serious illness conversations between clinicians and cancer patients at high risk of short-term mortality by using a machine learning model and trained care coaches.
  • In a study involving oncologists, patients with less than two years of predicted survival were prioritized for discussions, and automated reminders were sent to providers to document prognosis.
  • Results showed a significant increase in both prognosis and advance care planning documentation in visits where the intervention was applied compared to control visits, highlighting the effectiveness of the approach.
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Purpose: Financial toxicity is a source of significant distress for patients with urologic cancers, yet few studies have addressed financial burden in this patient population.

Methods: We developed a financial toxicity screening program using a lay health worker (LHW) and social worker (SW) to assess and mitigate financial toxicity in a single academic medical clinic. As part of a quality improvement project, the LHW screened all newly diagnosed patients with advanced stages of prostate, kidney, or urothelial cancer for financial burden using three COST tool questions and referred patients who had significant financial burden to an SW who provided personalized recommendations.

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Purpose: Patients with metastatic cancer benefit from advance care planning (ACP) conversations. We aimed to improve ACP using a computer model to select high-risk patients, with shorter predicted survival, for conversations with providers and lay care coaches. Outcomes included ACP documentation frequency and end-of-life quality measures.

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Model checking is a topic of special interest in statistics. When data are censored, the problem becomes more difficult. This paper employs the relative belief ratio and the beta-Stacy process to develop a method for model checking in the presence of right-censored data.

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Parenteral nutrition-associated cholestasis (PNAC) significantly limits the safety of intravenous parenteral nutrition (PN). Critically ill infants are highly vulnerable to PNAC-related morbidity and mortality, however the impact of hepatic immaturity on PNAC is poorly understood. We examined developmental differences between fetal/infant and adult livers, and used human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells (iHLC) to gain insights into the contribution of development to altered sterol metabolism and PNAC.

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Silicone resins are traditional thermoset polymers with an inorganic backbone, affording chemical inertness and high thermal stability, which also makes them inherently difficult to recycle by traditional methods. Here, we demonstrate that catalytic amounts of fluoride ion at room temperature solubilize highly cross-linked silicone resins initially cured up to 250 °C. After solubilization equilibria are achieved, solvent is removed to reform the polymer network.

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Background: Submental lymph node transfer has proved to be an effective approach for the treatment of lymphedema. This study was to investigate the anatomy and distribution of vascularized submental lymph node (VSLN) flap using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and their clinical outcome.

Methods: Fifteen patients who underwent 19 VSLN flap transfers for upper or lower limb lymphedema were retrospectively analyzed.

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Introduction: To present and discuss the results of five clinical cases treated using the revascularization protocol, showing clinical and radiographic monitoring. Necrotic immature teeth with periapical pathology present a challenge to dentists because the techniques used in apexification leave the tooth susceptible to fracture, since the root does not continue to grow in length and the canal walls are thin. Revascularization has emerged as an alternative to resolve these deficiencies, enabling apical closure, continued development of the roots, and thickening of the dentinal walls.

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Cell-sheet technology involves the recovery of cells with its secreted ECM and cell-cell junctions intact, and thereby harvesting them in a single contiguous layer. Temperature changes coupled with a thermoresponsive polymer grafted culture plate surface are typically used to induce detachment of this cell-matrix layer by controlling the hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity properties of the culture surface. This review article details the genesis and development of this technique as a critical tissue-engineering tool, with a comprehensive discussion on connective tissue applications.

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Recent studies have underlined the importance of matching scaffold properties to the biological milieu. Tissue, and thus scaffold, anisotropy is one such property that is important yet sometimes overlooked. Methods that have been used to achieve anisotropic scaffolds present challenges such as complicated fabrication steps, harsh processing conditions and toxic chemicals involved.

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Objective And Importance: Children with hearing loss (HL) are at increased risk of developing externalizing behavior problems (e.g., hyperactivity, attention problems).

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Polyphenylsilsesquioxane [PhSiO(1.5)](n) (PPS) and polyvinylsilsesquioxane [vinylSiO(1.5)](n) (PVS) are polymeric byproducts of the syntheses of the related T(8) octamers [PhSiO(1.

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The cubic symmetry of octafunctional octaphenylsilsesquioxanes [ROPS, (RC6H4SiO(1.5))8] coupled with a 1 nm diameter offers exceptional potential to assemble materials in three dimensions with perfect control of periodicity and the potential to tailor global properties at nanometer length scales. OPS itself is very inert and insoluble and can only be functionalized via electrophilic reactions with difficulty and with poor substitutional selectivity.

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Objectives: To compare the percentage of diabetics admitted to the hospital due to hypoglycemia in 1990-1993 (period 1) to that in 1997-2000 (period 2).

Methods: We analyzed data from the California Hospital Discharge Data Program. Eligibility included diabetic (ICD code 250) subjects aged > or =25 years old who were hospitalized due to hypoglycemia (ICD Codes 250.

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Objective: Inflammatory cytokines have been shown to play an important role in bone remodeling. We hypothesized that higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly females.

Design: Secondary data analysis of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

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Objectives: Minority women are less likely to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and the health characteristics associated with HRT use in this population are not well studied. We sought to examine the sociodemographic characteristics, health and preventive practices associated with HRT use among minority women.

Design: Survey

Setting: Inpatient and outpatient units of a teaching hospital.

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Maternal hypothyroxinemia in early pregnancy is often associated with irreversible effects on neuropsychomotor development. To evaluate fetal tissue exposure to maternal thyroid hormones up to midgestation, we measured total T(4) and free T(4) (FT(4)), T(3), rT(3), TSH, and possible binding proteins in first trimester coelomic and amniotic fluids and in amniotic fluid and fetal serum up to 17 wk. Samples were obtained before interruption of maternal-fetal connections.

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Methylaspartate ammonia-lyase (3-methylaspartase, MAL; EC ) catalyzes the reversible anti elimination of ammonia from L-threo-(2S,3S)-3-methylaspartic acid to give mesaconic acid. This reaction lies on the main catabolic pathway for glutamate in Clostridium tetanomorphum. MAL requires monovalent and divalent cation cofactors for full catalytic activity.

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Objective: We have used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to determine the diagnostic performance of several serum parameters, in order to evaluate their potential usefulness in establishing the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in epidemiological studies.

Design: Prospective study.

Methods: One hundred and fourteen women reporting spontaneously for blood donation were included in the study.

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Abstract Abnormalities in adrenal and/or ovarian steroidogenesis are found in most patients with hirsutism. The rate-limiting step in the synthesis of steroids in the ovary and the adrenal is the conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone by cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc), encoded by the gene CYP11A, after cholesterol is introduced into the mitochondria by the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR). DAX-1 is a repressor of StAR gene expression, and steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1) is a regulator of CYP11A, DAX-1, and StAR gene.

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The synthesis of deoxy-thymidine di-phosphate (dTDP)-L-rhamnose, an important component of the cell wall of many microorganisms, is a target for therapeutic intervention. The first enzyme in the dTDP-L-rhamnose biosynthetic pathway is glucose-1-phosphate thymidylyltransferase (RmlA). RmlA is inhibited by dTDP-L-rhamnose thereby regulating L-rhamnose production in bacteria.

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We prospectively estimated the prevalence of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), as defined by the NIH/NICHHD 1990 endocrine criteria, in a population of 154 Caucasian women of reproductive age reporting spontaneously for blood donation. Anthropometric data; the presence of hirsutism, acne, and androgenic alopecia; and the menstrual history were recorded by a single investigator. In 145 women, blood samples were also obtained for measurement of serum androgen levels.

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