The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Smoking Among Vulnerable Populations.

Aim: While accumulating evidence suggests that people modified their smoking during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it remains unclear whether those most at risk for tobacco-related health disparities did so. The current study examined changes in smoking among several vulnerable smoker populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A web-based survey was distributed in 2020 to 709 adults with socioeconomic disadvantage, affective disorders, or opioid use disorder who participated in a previous study investigating the effects of very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes on smoking.

Neoadjuvant nivolumab for patients with resectable HPV-positive and HPV-negative squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck in the CheckMate 358 trial.

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) are common malignancies caused by carcinogens, including tobacco and alcohol, or infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) pathway are effective against unresectable recurrent/metastatic HNSCC. Here, we explored the safety and efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy in at-risk resectable HPV-positive and HPV-negative HNSCC in the neoadjuvant setting.

Global patterns for the spatial distribution of floating microfibers: Arctic Ocean as a potential accumulation zone.

Despite their representativeness, most studies to date have underestimated the amount of microfibers (MFs) in the marine environment. Therefore, further research is still necessary to identify key processes governing MF distribution. Here, the interaction among surface water temperature, salinity, currents and winds explained the patterns of MF accumulation.

Changes in Cigarette Consumption With Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes Among Smokers With Psychiatric Conditions or Socioeconomic Disadvantage: 3 Randomized Clinical Trials.

Importance: This study is part of a programmatic effort evaluating the effects of reducing nicotine content of cigarettes to minimally addictive levels.

Objective: To examine whether very low-nicotine-content (VLNC) cigarettes decrease smoking rates and dependence severity among smokers with psychiatric disorders or socioeconomic disadvantage.

Design, Setting, And Participants: These 3 randomized clinical trials were performed at the University of Vermont, Brown University, and Johns Hopkins University between October 2016 and September 2019.

Spreading Fear: The Announcement Of The Public Charge Rule Reduced Enrollment In Child Safety-Net Programs.

Safety-net programs improve health for low-income children over the short and long term. In September 2018 the Trump administration announced its intention to change the guidance on how to identify a potential "public charge," defined as a noncitizen primarily dependent on the government for subsistence. After this change, immigrants' applications for permanent residence could be denied for using a broader range of safety-net programs.

Comparing participant estimated demand intensity on the cigarette Purchase Task to consumption when usual-brand cigarettes were provided free.

Accumulating evidence suggests that the hypothetical Cigarette Purchase Task (CPT), especially its demand Intensity index (i.e., estimated cigarettes participants would smoke if free), is associated with individual differences in smoking risk.

Neoadjuvant Nivolumab for Patients With Resectable Merkel Cell Carcinoma in the CheckMate 358 Trial.

Purpose: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, aggressive skin cancer commonly driven by the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). The programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunosuppressive pathway is often upregulated in MCC, and advanced metastatic MCC frequently responds to PD-1 blockade. We report what we believe to be the first trial of anti-PD-1 in the neoadjuvant setting for resectable MCC.

Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes and Cannabis Use in Vulnerable Populations.

We estimated whether recent cannabis use moderates response to cigarettes varying in nicotine content (0.4, 2.4, 5.

A watershed-scale, citizen science approach to quantifying microplastic concentration in a mixed land-use river.

Microplastic (particles < 5 mm) pollution dynamics are well documented in oceans and increasingly studied in freshwater. We used a watershed-scale approach to examine spatial and temporal patterns in microplastic concentrations in the Gallatin River watershed (Montana, USA). At 72 sites, trained volunteers collected ∼1-L grab samples at 4 seasons per year over 2 years (n = 714 samples).

Marine environment microfiber contamination: Global patterns and the diversity of microparticle origins.

Microplastic and microfiber pollution has been documented in all major ocean basins. Microfibers are one of the most common microparticle pollutants along shorelines. Over 9 million tons of fibers are produced annually; 60% are synthetic and ∼25% are non-synthetic.

Mountains to the sea: River study of plastic and non-plastic microfiber pollution in the northeast USA.

Aquatic environments are sinks for anthropogenic contamination, whether chemical or solid pollutants. Microfibers shed from clothing and other textiles contribute to this problem. These can be plastic or non-plastic origin.

Recent progress and challenges of organometal halide perovskite solar cells.

We review recent progress in the development of organometal halide perovskite solar cells. We discuss different compounds used to construct perovskite photoactive layers, as well as the optoelectronic properties of this system. The factors that affect the morphology of the perovskite active layer are explored, e.

Trichobezoars Detected and Treated Based on Plain Radiography.

Bezoars are conglomerations of indigestible material that become trapped in the gastrointestinal tract. We present a case of an 8-year-old female child diagnosed with a gastric bezoar solely on plain radiography and treated with abdominal surgical exploration and removal. In addition, traditional characteristic radiographic findings and treatment options for bezoars found in the current literature are reviewed.

Malignant Vagal Paraganglioma.

Paragangliomas are rare, typically benign neuroendocrine tumors that represent a small portion of head and neck tumors. A small percentage of these are known to have malignant potential. They arise from the carotid body, jugular bulb or vagus nerves.

Population variables and life-history characteristics of the alligator pipefish Syngnathoides biaculeatus, in Papua New Guinea.

Population structure and life-history variables of the widely distributed alligator pipefish Syngnathoides biaculeatus were characterized in Bootless Bay, Papua New Guinea over the course of 11 months. There was little evidence of seasonality with four focal populations showing no significant change in abundance. Similarly, the sex ratio remained 1:1 for all but 1 month.

A founder mutation of the MSH2 gene and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer in the United States.

Context: Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), also known as Lynch syndrome, is caused by mutations in the mismatch repair genes and confers an extraordinarily high risk of colorectal, endometrial, and other cancers. However, while carriers of these mutations should be identified, counseled, and offered clinical surveillance, at present the mutations are not tested for in mutation analyses.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of a large genomic deletion encompassing exons 1 to 6 of the MSH2 gene that is widespread in the US population as a result of a founder effect.

Molecular analysis of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer in the United States: high mutation detection rate among clinically selected families and characterization of an American founder genomic deletion of the MSH2 gene.

The identification of germline mutations in families with HNPCC is hampered by genetic heterogeneity and clinical variability. In previous studies, MSH2 and MLH1 mutations were found in approximately two-thirds of the Amsterdam-criteria-positive families and in much lower percentages of the Amsterdam-criteria-negative families. Therefore, a considerable proportion of HNPCC seems not to be accounted for by the major mismatch repair (MMR) genes.

Multiple primary cancer, including transitional cell carcinoma of the upper uroepithelial tract in a multigeneration HNPCC family: molecular genetic, diagnostic, and management implications.

Objective: We report a multigeneration family where colorectal cancer and cancer of multiple diverse anatomic sites, inclusive of transitional cell carcinoma of the upper uroepithelial tract, were manifested in several relatives.

Methods: A specific pattern of cancer of the colorectum, endometrium, ovary, small bowel, and transitional cell carcinoma, with a vertical distribution of this cancer phenotype through multiple generations, was consonant with a diagnosis of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer.

Results: Germline mutation testing identified the MSH2 mutation, which segregated with the cancer phenotype.

A 10-Mb paracentric inversion of chromosome arm 2p inactivates MSH2 and is responsible for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer in a North-American kindred.

Genomic deletions of the MSH2 gene are a frequent cause of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), a common hereditary predisposition to the development of tumors in several organs including the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts and endometrium. The mutation spectrum at the MSH2 gene is extremely heterogeneous because it includes nonsense and missense point mutations, small insertions and deletions leading to frameshifts, and larger genomic deletions, the latter representing approximately 25% of the total mutation burden. Here, we report the identification and molecular characterization of the first paracentric inversion of the MSH2 locus known to cause HNPCC.

Airway hyperresponsiveness in allergic rhinitis. A risk factor for asthma.

In order to study whether the methacholine inhalation challenge could predict which patients with allergic rhinitis were at risk to develop asthma, we prospectively studied a group of ragweed-sensitive patients over a four to five year period. On the initial study, 16 of 40 patients (40 percent) were found to be hyperresponsive to methacholine. On the follow-up study, three of these 16 patients (19 percent) were found to have developed asthma from one and one-half to five years after the initial testing.

Gram-negative bacillary meningitis in the adult: review of 39 cases.

From 1976 through 1984, the period covered in this report, we reviewed our total experience with gram-negative meningitis in adult patients, looking especially at how treatment and mortality had changed. Thirty-nine adults had 45 episodes of gram-negative meningitis. Twenty-five patients had had a dura-arachnoid disruption, 12 a septic episode, and two a bacterial mastoiditis.

Fiberoptic bronchoscopy and pleural effusion of unknown origin.

We reviewed our experience with fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) in patients with pleural effusion of unknown origin. Seventy patients underwent FOB for the investigation of pleural effusion between 1978 and 1983. Those with a second reason for FOB, a mass on chest roentgenogram, or lobar atelectasis were excluded.

An evaluation of a procedure for the isolation of myelin basic protein (BP).

A detailed description and stepwise evaluation of a procedure that can be used to obtain myelin basic protein (BP) from whole brain is presented. The procedure involved the 0.001 MHC1 extraction of whole brain pre-treated in a sequential manner with chloroform-methanol (2:1 v/v), acetone, and deionized water.