Matching Into Integrated Plastic Surgery: The Impact of USMLE Step 1 Transition to Pass/Fail: Did the 2019 Predictions Come True in 2024?

Background: The first class of integrated plastic surgery residency applicants with pass/fail (P/F) step 1 assessments occurred during the 2023-2024 Match cycle. This study analyzes the results of a 2024 postmatch survey to program directors (PDs) regarding the impact of the conversion to P/F step 1 scoring and compares the results to the 2019 survey that attempted to predict how this conversion would influence decision-making when it was initially announced.

Methods: A 26-item survey evaluating PDs' perspectives on applicant characteristics and the application process following P/F step 1 scoring was distributed March 2024.

Intensive care unit nurses' redeployment experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

Background: The pandemic response required the large-scale redeployment of nurses to support the care of patients with COVID-19. Surveys of staff and analysis of staff feedback indicated that the frequent redeployment of intensive care unit (ICU) registered nurses (RNs) led to dissatisfaction and contributed to voluntary reductions in hours and increased intentions to resign. Whilst much is understood about the redeployment of non-ICU RNs into ICUs to support patient care during periods of high demand, less is known about ICU RNs' experiences of being redeployed to general wards.

Effort-reward imbalance among dental and dental hygiene faculty and turnover intention.

Purpose: The impact of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) on the decision to leave academia among dental and dental hygiene faculty in the United States (US) has yet to be explored. This study examined the effect of effort, reward, and overcommitment on turnover intention to leave academia in dental and dental hygiene faculty in the US.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey research design was conducted with a convenience sample of dental hygiene and dental faculty (n = 273) currently teaching in the US.

Larger perivascular space volume fraction is associated with worse post-stroke sensorimotor outcomes: An ENIGMA analysis.

Background: Perivascular Spaces (PVS) are a marker of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) that are visible on brain imaging. Larger PVS has been associated with poor quality of life and cognitive impairment post-stroke. However, the association between PVS and post-stroke sensorimotor outcomes has not been investigated.

Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Follow-up for Neonates Requiring Neurocritical Care.

Objective:  This study aimed exploration of associations of social determinants of health (SDH) with attrition rates of neurocritical care graduates at follow-up.

Study Design:  An observational retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the attrition rates of an infant's first appointment scheduled with the NeuroNICU follow-up clinic in correlation with SDH.

Results:  The "No Show" group was more likely to have unemployed ( = 0.

Oculomotor functional connectivity associated with motor sequence learning.

Acquisition of learned motor sequences involves saccades directed toward the goal to gather visual information prior to reaching. While goal-directed actions involve both eye and hand movements, the role of brain areas controlling saccades during motor sequence learning is still unclear. This study aimed to determine whether resting-state functional connectivity of oculomotor regions is associated with behavioral changes resulting from motor sequence learning.

Movement Strategy Moderates the Effect of Spatially Congruent Cues on the Stability of Rhythmic Bimanual Finger Movements.

Spatially congruent cues increase the speed of bimanual reach decisions compared with abstract symbolic cues, particularly for asymmetric reaches. Asymmetric rhythmic bimanual movements are less stable than symmetric rhythmic movements, but it is not well understood if spatially congruent cues similarly increase the stability of asymmetric rhythmic bimanual movements. To address this question, in Experiment 1, participants performed symmetric and asymmetric bimanual rhythmic finger tapping movements at different movement frequencies in time with flickering spatially congruent and abstract symbolic stimuli.

Irrational acts: Maternal death, women's agency, and the obligation to care in Uganda.

Following the recommendation of the WHO in the mid-2000s, the Ugandan government banned traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and encouraged all women to give birth in biomedical clinics. Yet in rural Luuka district, about half of women still give birth at home or with the assistance of lay providers. This article examines women's healthcare behavior to better understand decisions that are characterized as irrational by officials, in particular women's choices to delay care, move between providers, and defer health decisions to others.

An Introductory Guide to Survey Research.

In the dental hygiene discipline, evidence-based practice serves as a cornerstone for delivering high quality patient care and moving professional standards forward. As practitioners delve deeper into research to inform clinical decision making, the integration of robust survey methodologies becomes imperative. However, the complexities of survey design, implementation, and analysis pose notable challenges, particularly in ensuring the reliability and validity of research outcomes.

Early-career and fellow gynecologic oncologists perceive underpreparedness for the business of medicine: A Society of gynecologic oncology survey study.

Objective: There is a research gap on the impact of payment, reimbursement, and academic productivity in career decision-making for early-career (EC) attendings in gynecologic oncology. We sought to assess gynecologic oncology fellows and EC attendings on their knowledge and perceptions regarding the business of medicine.

Methods: An anonymous survey was electronically disseminated to fellow and EC SGO members.

Musical Sophistication and Multilingualism: Effects on Arcuate Fasciculus Characteristics.

The processing of auditory stimuli which are structured in time is thought to involve the arcuate fasciculus, the white matter tract which connects the temporal cortex and the inferior frontal gyrus. Research has indicated effects of both musical and language experience on the structural characteristics of the arcuate fasciculus. Here, we investigated in a sample of n = 84 young adults whether continuous conceptualizations of musical and multilingual experience related to structural characteristics of the arcuate fasciculus, measured using diffusion tensor imaging.

Gamified Practice Improves Paretic Arm Motor Behavior in Individuals With Stroke.

Background: Stroke is a heterogeneous condition, making choice of treatment, and determination of how to structure rehabilitation outcomes difficult. Individualized goal-directed and repetitive physical practice is an important determinant of motor learning. Yet, many investigations of motor learning after stroke deliver task practice without consideration of individual capability of the learner.

A brain-body feedback loop driving HPA-axis dysfunction in breast cancer.

Breast cancer patients often exhibit disrupted circadian rhythms in circulating glucocorticoids (GCs), such as cortisol. This disruption correlates with reduced quality of life and higher cancer mortality . The exact cause of this phenomenon - whether due to treatments, stress, age, co-morbidities, lifestyle factors, or the cancer itself remains unclear.

Utility of a digital app to enhance patient-nurse communications and patient involvement in bedside handover: patient and nurse perceptions.

Objective This study aimed to explore patient and nurse perceptions of using a prototype co-designed app to support patient-nurse communication and patient engagement in bedside handover. Methods This qualitative descriptive study evaluated usability of the app with a convenience sample of patient-nurse dyads in a 22-bed medical/oncology ward, during morning shifts. Participants were nurses, and patients proficient in English but without cognitive impairment or physical or mental distress.

Preoperative stereotactic radiosurgery for patients with 1-4 brain metastases: A single-arm phase 2 trial outcome analysis (NCT03398694).

Background: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) following surgical resection is the standard of care for patients with symptomatic oligo brain metastasis (BM), however, it is associated with 10-15% local failure. Targeting a resection cavity is imprecise, thus preoperative radiosurgery where the target is well-defined may be superior, however, the efficacy of preoperative SRS has not yet been tested in a clinical trial.

Methods: We conducted a phase 2, single-arm trial of preoperative SRS followed by surgical resection in patients with 1-4 symptomatic oligo BMs (NCT03398694) with the primary objective of measuring 6-month local control (LC).

Sex differences in patterns of white matter neuroplasticity after balance training in young adults.

Introduction: In past work we demonstrated different patterns of white matter (WM) plasticity in females versus males associated with learning a lab-based unilateral motor skill. However, this work was completed in neurologically intact older adults. The current manuscript sought to replicate and expand upon these WM findings in two ways: (1) we investigated biological sex differences in neurologically intact young adults, and (2) participants learned a dynamic full-body balance task.

A phase 2 feasibility study of nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin in epithelial carcinoma of the uterus.

Background: We evaluated the feasibility of completing 6 cycles of nab-paclitaxel (nab-P) and carboplatin (C) in a single arm prospective clinical trial for advanced/recurrent EC and safety and efficacy of day (D) 1, 8 nab-P in combination with D1 C q3weeks.

Methods: Patients with early-stage, high-risk, advanced primary/recurrent EC without prior platinum/taxane exposure were enrolled in an open-label, single-institution trial (NCT02744898). Patients received 6 cycles of D1 nab-P 100 mg/m IV with C AUC 6 IV and D8 nab-P 100 mg/m IV q21D.

Fine-Grained Food Image Recognition: A Study on Optimising Convolutional Neural Networks for Improved Performance.

Addressing the pressing issue of food waste is vital for environmental sustainability and resource conservation. While computer vision has been widely used in food waste reduction research, existing food image datasets are typically aggregated into broad categories (e.g.

Assessing the Diagnostic Performance and Clinical Utility of Nasal Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus PCR Testing in Pediatric Orbital Cellulitis.

Data are limited on the clinical impact of nasal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) polymerase chain reaction testing for orbital cellulitis. This 2-center, retrospective study demonstrated a negative predictive value of 98.0% and an overall lower use of anti-MRSA antibiotics, without a concomitant increase in hospital readmission.