Change in frailty status in the 12 months following solid organ transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To investigate if frailty status alters following solid organ transplantation (lung, liver, kidney and heart) without rehabilitation intervention.

Research Design And Methods: Studies published between 1 January 2000 and 30 May 2023 were searched across five databases. Studies measuring frailty, using a validated or established frailty measure, pre- and post-transplant were included.

Preconception care interventions among adolescents and young adults to prevent adverse maternal, perinatal and child health outcomes: An evidence gap map.

Objective: To identify gaps in existing evidence on preconception health interventions to improve the health outcomes of adolescents, young adults, and their offspring.

Study Design: Evidence gap map (EGM) METHODS: Following the Campbell guidelines, we included reviews and interventional studies identified through searches on Medline and other electronic databases from 2010 to July 18th, 2023. Dual screening of titles/abstracts and full texts was conducted on Covidence software, followed by quality assessment and development of 2D-EGM using the EPPI-Reviewer and Mapper software.

It is time to address fear of cancer recurrence in family caregivers: protocol for the feasibility and acceptability of a randomized pilot study of the online version of the Family Caregiver-Fear Of Recurrence Therapy (FC-FORT).

Background: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is common, persistent, and is associated with lower quality of life, impaired functioning, and psychological distress in cancer patients. Studies suggest that family caregivers of cancer patients experience equal or greater levels of FCR than patients themselves. In the past 5 years, several interventions have demonstrated their ability to reduce FCR among cancer patients and in patient-caregiver dyads.

Hemispheric divergence of interoceptive processing across psychiatric disorders.

Interactions between top-down attention and bottom-up visceral inputs are assumed to produce conscious perceptions of interoceptive states, and while each process has been independently associated with aberrant interoceptive symptomatology in psychiatric disorders, the neural substrates of this interface are unknown. We conducted a preregistered functional neuroimaging study of 46 individuals with anxiety, depression, and/or eating disorders (ADE) and 46 propensity-matched healthy comparisons (HC), comparing their neural activity across two interoceptive tasks differentially recruiting top-down or bottom-up processing within the same scan session. During an interoceptive attention task, top-down attention was voluntarily directed towards cardiorespiratory or visual signals.

Discovery of Electrochemical Indicators upon Sarcoplasmic Meat Discoloration.

Meat discoloration is one of the challenges facing the food industry, which affects both quality and shelf life. In this report, we present our groundbreaking discovery of electrochemically probing specific redox peaks associated with meat discoloration and successfully monitor its delay when controlled biochemically with added antioxidants. We have validated the redox features by spectrophotometry measurements of the relative levels of oxymyoglobin, which gives meat its cherry red color, and metmyoglobin, which causes the meat to turn brown in relation to discoloration.

Hypothermically Stored Amnion Is Robust and Provides a Scaffold for Supporting Wound Healing by Retaining the Characteristics of Native Tissue.

Placental-derived products have been used since the early 1900s for wound applications and have shown clinical utility in supporting wound healing. A hypothermically stored amniotic membrane (HSAM) was developed using a proprietary process to allow for the retention of the extracellular matrix (ECM), viable cells, and key proteins. To evaluate its utility, we characterized the HSAM and compared it to a native unprocessed amniotic membrane (uAM) and a dehydrated amniotic membrane (dAM), as well as assessing the functionality of the HSAM as a scaffold to promote cell growth.

Tissue palpation in endoscopy using EIT and soft actuators.

The integration of soft robots in medical procedures has significantly improved diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, addressing safety concerns and enhancing surgeon dexterity. In conjunction with artificial intelligence, these soft robots hold the potential to expedite autonomous interventions, such as tissue palpation for cancer detection. While cameras are prevalent in surgical instruments, situations with obscured views necessitate palpation.

Effectiveness and Safety of an Emergency Department Code Sepsis Protocol: A Pragmatic Clinical Trial.

Sepsis care delivery-including the initiation of prompt, appropriate antimicrobials-remains suboptimal. This study was conducted to determine direct and off-target effects of emergency department (ED) sepsis care reorganization. This pragmatic pilot trial enrolled adult patients who presented from November 2019 to February 2021 to an ED in Utah before and after implementation of a multimodal, team-based "Code Sepsis" protocol.

A Tension Sensor Array for Cable-Driven Surgical Robots.

Tendon-sheath structures are commonly utilized to drive surgical robots due to their compact size, flexibility, and straightforward controllability. However, long-distance cable tension estimation poses a significant challenge due to its frictional characteristics affected by complicated factors. This paper proposes a miniature tension sensor array for an endoscopic cable-driven parallel robot, aiming to integrate sensors into the distal end of long and flexible surgical instruments to sense cable tension and alleviate friction between the tendon and sheath.

Preconception Care Interventions for Adolescents and Young Adults to Prevent Adverse Maternal and Child Health Outcomes: Protocol for an Evidence Gap Map.

Background: Preconception is the period before a young woman or woman conceives, which draws attention to understanding how her health condition and certain risk factors affect her and her baby's health once she becomes pregnant. Adolescence and youth represent a life-course continuum between childhood and adulthood, in which the prepregnancy phase lacks sufficient research.

Objective: The aim of the study is to identify, map, and describe existing empirical evidence on preconception interventions that enhance health outcomes for adolescents, young adults, and their offspring.

Total mercury concentrations in Steller sea lion bone: Variability among locations and elements.

Mercury is a global contaminant that bioaccumulates in a tissue-specific manner in long-lived predators such as Steller sea lions (SSL). Bone is a well-preserved material amenable for studying millennial scale trends; however, little is known about the distribution and variability of total mercury concentrations ([THg]) within individual bones and among bone elements in SSL. We assessed SSL bone [THg] variability with respect to physiologic age, bone type, longitudinally within a bone, and among bone elements.

Perspectives and Recommendations from Hospitalized Patients with Substance Use Disorders: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) are hospitalized in growing numbers. Stigma is pervasive among their hospital providers, and SUD management during medical admissions is often inadequate. However, little is known about how these patients perceive their care quality.

Association between Gene Polymorphisms with Obesity: Findings from the Research Program.

Unlabelled: Obesity is a public health crisis, and its prevalence disproportionately affects African Americans in the United States. Dysregulation of organelle calcium homeostasis is associated with obesity. The mitochondrial calcium uniporter () complex is primarily responsible for mitochondrial calcium homeostasis.

Exploring preconception health in adolescents and young adults: Identifying risk factors and interventions to prevent adverse maternal, perinatal, and child health outcomes-A scoping review.

Background: Preconception health provides an opportunity to examine a woman's health status and address modifiable risk factors that can impact both a woman's and her child's health once pregnant. In this review, we aimed to investigate the preconception risk factors and interventions of early pregnancy and its impact on adverse maternal, perinatal and child health outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines to include relevant literature identified from electronic databases.

Decision-making and autonomy among participants in early-phase cancer immunotherapy trials: a qualitative study.

Background: Participants considering early-phase cancer clinical trials (CTs) need to understand the unique risks and benefits prior to providing informed consent. This qualitative study explored the factors that influence patients' decisions about participating in early-phase cancer immunotherapy CTs through the ethical lens of relational autonomy.

Methods: Using an interpretive descriptive design, interviews were conducted with 21 adult patients with advanced cancer who had enrolled in an early-phase CT.

Unveiling silenced narratives: a scoping review on sexual function challenges in migrant and refugee women.

Introduction: Of the approximately 281 million international migrants and 35.3 million refugees around the world, almost half are women. These individuals experience significant stress due to language barriers, financial difficulties, poor living and working conditions, and discrimination.

Omission and Commission in Morally Injurious Experiences Among COVID-19 Health Care Professionals.

To produce a qualitative description of the impact of moral injury on medical providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A convergent mixed-methods study design was used to explore experiences of health care workers during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants completed the Moral Injury Symptom Scale-HP (MISS-HP) and a 60-minute interview, in which they described their work experiences from March 2020 through January 2021.

Artificial intelligence as a teaching tool for gynaecological ultrasound: A systematic search and scoping review.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the current application of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the teaching of ultrasound skills as they pertain to gynaecological ultrasound.

Methods: A scoping review was performed. Eight databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, EMCARE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore and ACM digital library) were searched in December 2022 using predefined keywords.

Transcutaneous fluorescence spectroscopy: development and characterization of a compact, portable, and fiber-optic sensor.

Significance: The integrity of the intestinal barrier is gaining recognition as a significant contributor to various pathophysiological conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), and malnutrition. EED, for example, manifests as complex structural and functional changes in the small intestine leading to increased intestinal permeability, inflammation, and reduced absorption of nutrients. Despite the importance of gut function, current techniques to assess intestinal permeability (such as endoscopic biopsies or dual sugar assays) are either highly invasive, unreliable, and/or difficult to perform in certain patient populations (e.

Naturalistic food categories are driven by subjective estimates rather than objective measures of food qualities.

Food-related studies often categorize foods using criteria such as fat and sugar content (e.g., high-fat, high-sugar foods; low-fat, low-sugar foods), and use these categorizations for further analyses.

Noninvasive diagnostic imaging for endometriosis part 2: a systematic review of recent developments in magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine and computed tomography.

Endometriosis affects 1 in 9 women, taking 6.4 years to diagnose using conventional laparoscopy. Non-invasive imaging enables timelier diagnosis, reducing diagnostic delay, risk and expense of surgery.

Hemispheric divergence of interoceptive processing across psychiatric disorders.

Interactions between top-down attention and bottom-up visceral inputs are assumed to produce conscious perceptions of interoceptive states, and while each process has been independently associated with aberrant interoceptive symptomatology in psychiatric disorders, the neural substrates of this interface are unknown. We conducted a preregistered functional neuroimaging study of 46 individuals with anxiety, depression, and/or eating disorders (ADE) and 46 propensity-matched healthy comparisons (HC), comparing their neural activity across two interoceptive tasks differentially recruiting top-down or bottom-up processing within the same scan session. During an interoceptive attention task, top-down attention was voluntarily directed towards cardiorespiratory or visual signals, whereas during an interoceptive perturbation task, intravenous infusions of isoproterenol (a peripherally-acting beta-adrenergic receptor agonist) were administered in a double-blinded and placebo-controlled fashion to drive bottom-up cardiorespiratory sensations.