Prospects of Food Taxes for Planetary Health: A Systematic Review of Modeling Studies.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the modeling methodologies of fiscal policies on food with health or environmental outcomes.

Background: Evidence suggests that fiscal policies on food can contribute to addressing the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases and climate change. These policies should be modeled in advance to see the implications for the environment and health.

Verification of Death by Neurologic Criteria: A Survey of 12 Organ Procurement Organizations Across the United States.

Background: The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services requires Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) to verify and document that any potential organ donor has been pronounced dead per applicable legal requirements of local, state, and federal laws. However, OPO practices regarding death by neurologic criteria (DNC) verification are not standardized, and little is known about their DNC verification processes. This study aimed to explore OPO practices regarding DNC verification in the United States.

Ketamine for acute pain after trauma: A pragmatic, randomized clinical trial.

Background: Non-narcotic intravenous medications may be a beneficial adjunct to oral multimodal pain regimens (MMPRs) which reduce but do not eliminate opioid exposure and prescribing after trauma. We hypothesized that the addition of a subdissociative ketamine infusion (KI) to a standardized oral MMPR reduces inpatient opioid exposure.

Methods: Eligible adult trauma patients admitted to the intermediate or intensive care unit were randomized upon admission to our institutional MMPR per usual care (UC) or UC plus subdissociative KI for 24 hours to 72 hours after arrival.

Burden of Childhood Cancer and the Social and Economic Challenges in Adulthood: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Significant advancements in pediatric oncology have led to a continuously growing population of survivors. Although extensive research is being conducted on the short-, medium-, and long-term somatic effects, reports on psychosocial reintegration are often conflicting; therefore, there is an urgent need to synthesize the evidence to obtain the clearest understanding and the most comprehensive answer.

Objective: To provide a comprehensive review and analysis of the socioeconomic attainment of childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) compared with their unaffected peers.

Reduction of nitrous oxide emission by using stearic acid combined zinc coated urea in silty clay and sandy loam soils under bare and planted conditions.

Overuse of chemical fertilizers in agroecosystems leads to the increased economic burden, low crop production in terms of input and environmental pollution. Due to its improved nutrient management and degrading properties, synthetic slow release fertilizers have become a significant advancement in the fertilizer sector. In this study we evaluated the effect of slow release urea on nitrous oxide (NO) emission, crop growth and crop nutrient contents.

Detecting drought stress occurrence using synergies between Sun induced fluorescence and vegetation surface temperature spatial records.

Drought stress occurrence and recovery from drought can be detected using a single spatial set of simultaneous observations of SIF and canopy temperature records. Temporal and spatial responses to drought and heat stresses by plant stands of a drought-adapted diverse grassland ecosystem were studied using sun induced fluorescence (SIF,OA and OB bands) and further ecophysiological (canopy temperature (Tsurf), spatially modeled evapotranspiration, vegetation reflectance spectra) variables collected along spatial sampling grids while also utilizing eddy covariance measured carbon dioxide (net ecosystem exchange: NEE, gross primary production: GPP) and water flux (evapotranspiration: ET) data. The grids were of 0.

Recent COVID-19 infection is associated with increased mortality in the ambulatory surgery population.

Background: The effect of COVID-19 infection on post-operative mortality and the optimal timing to perform ambulatory surgery from diagnosis date remains unclear in this population. Our study was to determine whether a history of COVID-19 diagnosis leads to a higher risk of all-cause mortality following ambulatory surgery.

Methods: This cohort constitutes retrospective data obtained from the Optum dataset containing 44,976 US adults who were tested for COVID-19 up to 6 months before surgery and underwent ambulatory surgery between March 2020 to March 2021.

Risk Factors and Outcomes of Protein-Calorie Malnutrition in Chronic Heart Failure Patients Undergoing Elective Cardiac Surgery.

Introduction: Chronic heart failure (CHF) patients are often malnourished. Our aim was to determine the effect of protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) on in-hospital outcomes in CHF patients following elective cardiac surgery and to identify risk factors for PCM in this patient population.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database was conducted from 2016 to 2018.

Effect of tracheostomy timing on outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury.

Tracheostomy following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common, yet the outcomes associated with tracheostomy timing are unclear. The objective of this study was to assess hospital outcomes of tracheostomy timing in TBI patients. We retrospectively analyzed data from the National Inpatient Sample database of adult patients aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of TBI.

Ketamine for acute pain after trauma: the KAPT randomized controlled trial.

Background: Evidence for effective pain management and opioid minimization of intravenous ketamine in elective surgery has been extrapolated to acutely injured patients, despite limited supporting evidence in this population. This trial seeks to determine the effectiveness of the addition of sub-dissociative ketamine to a pill-based, opioid-minimizing multi-modal pain regimen (MMPR) for post traumatic pain.

Methods: This is a single-center, parallel-group, randomized, controlled comparative effectiveness trial comparing a MMPR to a MMPR plus a sub-dissociative ketamine infusion.

Evolution and Evaluation of a Structured Applied Physics Course for Radiation Oncology and Radiation Physics Trainees.

We sought to supplement medical physics textbook knowledge and clinical learning with case-based discussions. To our knowledge, this is the first report on a structured combined applied physics curriculum for radiation oncology (RO) and medical physics (MP) trainees. We reviewed our yearly applied physics course given from the years 2016-2021 inclusive.

Effect of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are common in the general population and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to assess hospital outcomes of patients with TBI with and without a pre-existing OSA diagnosis.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database of adult patients aged ≥ 18 years with a primary diagnosis of TBI.

Association of pre-admission opioid abuse and/or dependence on major complications in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients.

Setting: In the last few decades, an opioid related health crisis has been a challenging problem in many countries around the world, especially the United States. Better understanding of the association of pre-admission opioid abuse and/or dependence (POAD) on specific major complications in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients can aid the medical team in improving patient care management and outcomes.

Study Objective: Our goal is to assess and quantify the risk of POAD on in-hospital mortality and major complications in TBI patients.

The relative effects of pace of life-history and habitat characteristics on the evolution of sexual ornaments: A comparative assessment.

Selection may favor greater investment into sexual ornaments when opportunities for future reproduction are limited, for example, under high adult mortality. However, predation, a key driver of mortality, typically selects against elaborate sexual ornaments. Here, we examine the evolution of sexual ornaments in killifishes, which have marked contrasts in life-history strategy among species and inhabit environments that differ in accessibility to aquatic predators.

Determination of L-glutathione by spot test and spectrophotometric methods based on its interaction with phenazine.

This research paper presents simple and quick eco-friendly spot test and spectrophotometric methods for the determination of L-glutathione. The spot test assay is based on the formation of a color complex with phenazine methosulphate and L-glutathione on a thin-layer chromatography plate followed by image analysis using a scanner as a detector. For analysis, the image was converted into red, green, and blue (RGB) histograms.

Early Versus Late Tracheostomy in Patients With Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Acute traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCIs) often result in impairments in respiration that may lead to a sequelae of pulmonary dysfunction, increased risk of infection, and death. The optimal timing for tracheostomy in patients with acute SCI is currently unknown. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess the optimal timing of tracheostomy in SCI patients and evaluate the potential benefits of early versus late tracheostomy.

Quadratus Lumborum 2 Block as the Sole Anesthetic Technique for Open Hernia Repair in Multimorbid Patients.

Ultrasound-guided quadratus lumborum (QL, QL1-3) blocks have been used extensively for perioperative pain control for patients undergoing abdominal procedures. These blocks provide a more widespread and longer-lasting analgesic effect compared to the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block. While QL blocks have been used as an adjunct in multimodal postoperative pain control, they are rarely used as the sole anesthetic technique for abdominal surgeries.

Two potential equilibrium states in long-term soil respiration activity of dry grasslands are maintained by local topographic features.

Soil respiration of grasslands is spatio-temporally variable reflecting the changing biological activities of the soil. In our study we analysed how the long-term soil respiration activities of dry grasslands would perform in terms of resistance and resilience. We also investigated how terrain features are responsible for response stability.

Transcatheter and Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement Outcomes for Patients with Chronic Heart Failure.

Objectives: To determine in-hospital outcomes and assess high-risk groups among chronic heart failure (CHF) patients with aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR).

Design: A retrospective analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from January 2012 to September 2015 was performed.

Setting: Hospitals across the United States that offer TAVRs or SAVRs.

Separating the effects of temperature and carbon allocation on the diel pattern of soil respiration in the different phenological stages in dry grasslands.

Diel variability of soil respiration is influenced by several factors including temperature and carbon allocation as the most significant ones, co-varying on multiple time scales. In an attempt to disentangle their effects we analyzed the dynamics of soil respiration components using data from a three-year soil respiration study. We measured CO2 efflux in intact, root-excluded and root- and mycorrhizal fungi excluded plots and analyzed the diel variability in different phenological stages.

Outcomes of Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Beyond the University of California San Francisco Criteria: A Single-center Experience.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignant liver tumor. Currently, liver transplantation may be the optimal treatment for HCC in cirrhotic patients. Patient selection is currently based on tumor size.

A salting-out assisted liquid-liquid microextraction procedure for determination of cysteine followed by spectrophotometric detection.

A new analytical method for sensitive determination of cysteine based on its interaction with phenazine methosulfate was developed using salting-out liquid-liquid microextraction followed by spectrophotometric detection. The mechanism of the reaction was studied and confirmed by Fourier transform infrared and mass spectroscopy. Experimental parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated and under the optimal conditions, good linearity was observed in the range 0.