Radiologic myosteatosis predicts major complication risk following esophagectomy for cancer: a multicenter experience.

Background: Myosteatosis is a measure of skeletal muscle quality that is readily identifiable on computed tomography (CT). The effect of preoperative myosteatosis on outcomes after radical esophagectomy remains unclear. This study aimed to correlate the presence of myosteatosis on CT scan with perioperative morbidity, mortality, and survival outcomes after esophagectomy in an Australian population across 3 esophageal cancer centers.

Sarcopenia impacts perioperative and survival outcomes after esophagectomy for cancer: a multicenter study.

Background: The impact of sarcopenia on outcomes after esophagectomy is controversial. Most data are currently derived from Asian populations. This study aimed to correlate sarcopenia to short-term perioperative complication rates and long-term survival and recurrence outcomes.

Unpacking the root causes of gambling in the Asian community: Contesting the myth of the Asian gambling culture.

Introduction: Problem gambling is a public health issue both in the United States and internationally and can lead to mental health and socioeconomic concerns for individuals, families, and communities. Large epidemiological studies on problem gambling have neglected to include working-class, immigrant Asian Americans, who are at higher risk for problem gambling. The lack of data on Asian American gambling may explain a subsequent lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate treatment and prevention services.

The use of bacteriophage MS2 for the development and application of a virucide decontamination test method for porous and heavily soiled surfaces.

Aims: (i) To develop an analytical method for recovery and quantification of bacteriophage MS2-as a surrogate for foot-and-mouth disease virus-from complex porous surfaces, with and without the presence of laboratory-developed agricultural grime; (ii) to evaluate, with a 4-log dynamic range, the virucidal activity of common biocides for their ability to decontaminate surfaces and hence remediate facilities, following a foreign animal disease contamination incident.

Methods And Results: An analytical method was developed and optimized for MS2 recovery from simulated agricultural surfaces. The addition of Dey-Engley neutralizing broth to an extraction buffer improved MS2 viability in liquid extracts, with optimal analytical holding times determined as <8 to ≤24 h, depending on matrix.

The Impact of Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansions on Applications to Federal Disability Programs.

In this paper, we estimate the impact of Medicaid expansions via the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on applications to federal disability programs in 14 states that expanded Medicaid in January 2014. We use a difference-in-differences regression model to compare disability application rates in geographic areas within states that expanded Medicaid to rates in areas of non-expansion states that were carefully selected using a matching approach that accounts for state Medicaid policies pre-ACA as well as demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that might influence disability application rates. We find a slower decrease in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) application rates after Medicaid expansions in expansion states relative to non-expansion states, with application rates declining in both state groups from 2014 through 2016.

The Convergence of High-Consequence Livestock and Human Pathogen Research and Development: A Paradox of Zoonotic Disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that zoonotic diseases transmitted from animals to humans account for 75 percent of new and emerging infectious diseases. Globally, high-consequence pathogens that impact livestock and have the potential for human transmission create research paradoxes and operational challenges for the high-containment laboratories that conduct work with them. These specialized facilities are required for conducting all phases of research on high-consequence pathogens (basic, applied, and translational) with an emphasis on both the generation of fundamental knowledge and product development.

How much is enough in rehabilitation? High running workloads following lower limb muscle injury delay return to play but protect against subsequent injury.

Objectives: Examine the influence of rehabilitation training loads on return to play (RTP) time and subsequent injury in elite Australian footballers.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Internal (sessional rating of perceived exertion: sRPE) and external (distance, sprint distance) workload and lower limb non-contact muscle injury data was collected from 58 players over 5 seasons.

Improvement of Prediction of Noncontact Injury in Elite Australian Footballers With Repeated Exposure to Established High-Risk Workload Scenarios.

Objectives: To assess the effect of multiple high-risk-scenario (HRS) exposures on noncontact injury prediction in elite Australian footballers.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: Sessional workload data (session rating of perceived exertion, global positioning system-derived distance, sprint distance, and maximum velocity) from 1 club (N = 60 players) over 3 seasons were collated; several established HRSs were also defined.

Safety profile of a replication-deficient human adenovirus-vectored foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype A24 subunit vaccine in cattle.

The safety of a replication-deficient, human adenovirus-vectored foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotype A24 Cruzeiro capsid-based subunit vaccine (AdtA24) was evaluated in five independent safety studies. The target animal safety studies were designed in compliance with United States (U.S.

Preseason Workload Volume and High-Risk Periods for Noncontact Injury Across Multiple Australian Football League Seasons.

Colby, MJ, Dawson, B, Heasman, J, Rogalski, B, Rosenberg, M, Lester, L, and Peeling, P. Preseason workload volume and high-risk periods for noncontact injury across multiple Australian Football League seasons. J Strength Cond Res 31(7): 1821-1829, 2017-The purpose of this study was to assess the association between preseason workloads and noncontact injury risk in Australian football players.

Identifying high risk loading conditions for in-season injury in elite Australian football players.

Objectives: To examine different timeframes for calculating acute to chronic workload ratio (ACWR) and whether this variable is associated with intrinsic injury risk in elite Australian football players.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Internal (session rating of perceived exertion: sRPE) and external (GPS distance and sprint distance) workload and injury data were collected from 70 players from one AFL club over 4 seasons.

Multivariate modelling of subjective and objective monitoring data improve the detection of non-contact injury risk in elite Australian footballers.

Objectives: To assess the association between workload, subjective wellness, musculoskeletal screening measures and non-contact injury risk in elite Australian footballers.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Across 4 seasons in 70 players from one club, cumulative weekly workloads (acute; 1 week, chronic; 2-, 3-, 4-week) and acute:chronic workload ratio's (ACWR: 1-week load/average 4-weekly load) for session-Rating of Perceived Exertion (sRPE) and GPS-derived distance and sprint distance were calculated.

The effect of extremity strength training on fibromyalgia symptoms and disease impact in an existing multidisciplinary treatment program.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of upper and lower body extremity strengthening exercise in patients with Fibromyalgia (FM) within an existing multidisciplinary treatment program.

Participants: Patients between the ages of 18-65 with the medical diagnosis of FM.

Methods: Comparative study design.

Improving Animal Disease Detection Through an Enhanced Passive Surveillance Platform.

The ability to rapidly detect and report infectious diseases of domestic animals and wildlife is paramount to reducing the size and duration of an outbreak. There is currently a need in the United States livestock industry for a centralized animal disease surveillance platform, capable of collecting, integrating, and analyzing multiple data streams with dissemination to end-users. Such a system would be disease agnostic and establish baseline information on animal health and disease prevalence; it would alert health officials to anomalies potentially indicative of emerging and/or transboundary disease outbreaks, changes in the status of endemic disease, or detection of other causative agents (eg, toxins).

Health Care Utilization among Children Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP via Express Lane Eligibility.

Objective: To assess health care utilization among children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP via Express Lane Eligibility (ELE).

Data Sources/study Setting: Enrollment, claims, and encounter data for children enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, and New Jersey during 2009-2012.

Study Design: We compared health care utilization among children enrolled via ELE and nondisabled children who enrolled through standard pathways in each state.

One health security: an important component of the global health security agenda.

The objectives of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) will require not only a "One Health" approach to counter natural disease threats against humans, animals, and the environment, but also a security focus to counter deliberate threats to human, animal, and agricultural health and to nations' economies. We have termed this merged approach "One Health Security." It will require the integration of professionals with expertise in security, law enforcement, and intelligence to join the veterinary, agricultural, environmental, and human health experts essential to One Health and the GHSA.

Accelerometer and GPS-derived running loads and injury risk in elite Australian footballers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between overall physical workload (global positioning systems [GPS]/accelerometer) measures and injury risk in elite Australian football players (n = 46) during a season. Workload data and (intrinsic) injury incidence were monitored across preseason and in-season (18 matches) phases. Multiple regression was used to compare cumulative (1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-weekly loads) and absolute change (from previous-to-current week) in workloads between injured and uninjured players for all GPS/accelerometer-derived variables: total distance, V1 distance (total distance above individual's aerobic threshold speed), sprint distance, force load, velocity load, and relative velocity change.

The role of the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate in the development of vaccines and diagnostics for Transboundary Animal Diseases.

The development of countermeasures to support an effective response to Transboundary Animal Diseases (TAD) poses a challenge on a global scale and necessitates the coordinated involvement of scientists from government, industry and academia, as well as regulatory entities. The Agricultural Defense Branch under the Chemical and Biological Defense Division (CBD) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) supports this important mission within the United States. This article provides an overview of the Agricultural Defense Branch's vaccine and diagnostic TAD project.

Cueing and gait improvement among people with Parkinson's disease: a meta-analysis.

Objective: To compare the relative efficacy of visual versus auditory cueing on gait among individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Data Sources: A systematic search was completed up to September 2011, using the following databases: EMBASE, Scopus, Medline, CINAHL, and PubMed.

Study Selection: Four authors searched the databases using the following terms: Parkinson's disease (including abbreviations), gait, cadence, step, pace, cueing, cues, and prompt.

Adapting school-based substance use prevention curriculum through cultural grounding: a review and exemplar of adaptation processes for rural schools.

A central challenge facing twenty-first century community-based researchers and prevention scientists is curriculum adaptation processes. While early prevention efforts sought to develop effective programs, taking programs to scale implies that they will be adapted, especially as programs are implemented with populations other than those with whom they were developed or tested. The principle of cultural grounding, which argues that health message adaptation should be informed by knowledge of the target population and by cultural insiders, provides a theoretical rational for cultural regrounding and presents an illustrative case of methods used to reground the keepin' it REAL substance use prevention curriculum for a rural adolescent population.

Value for the money spent? Exploring the relationship between expenditures, insurance adequacy, and access to care for publicly insured children.

This study examines the relationship between total state Medicaid spending per child and measures of insurance adequacy and access to care for publicly insured children. Using the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, seven measures of insurance adequacy and health care access were examined for publicly insured children (n = 19,715). Aggregate state-level measures were constructed, adjusting for differences in demographic, health status, and household characteristics.

Laboratory evaluation of large-scale decontamination approaches.

Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of two spray-based decontamination methods for surface contamination reduction and to determine the potential for contamination spread by these methods.

Methods And Results: Material coupons (treated plywood and concrete) were contaminated with c. 1 × 10(7) spores of Bacillus atrophaeus by aerosol deposition.

Patient mix in outpatient surgery settings and implications for Medicare payment policy.

In 2008, Medicare implemented a new payment policy for ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), which aligns the ASC payment system with that used for hospital outpatient departments and reimburses ASCs approximately 65% of what hospitals receive for the same outpatient surgery. The authors assess patient selection across ASCs and hospital outpatient departments for four common surgeries (colonoscopy, hernia repair, knee arthroscopy, cataract repair), using data on procedures performed in Florida from 2004 to 2008. The authors construct measures of patient illness severity and cost risk and find that ASCs benefit from positive selection.

Out-of-pocket drug costs and drug utilization patterns of postmenopausal Medicare beneficiaries with osteoporosis.

Background: The Medicare Part D coverage gap has been associated with lower adherence and drug utilization and higher discontinuation. Because osteoporosis has a relatively high prevalence among Medicare-eligible postmenopausal women, we examined changes in utilization of osteoporosis medications during this coverage gap.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in out-of-pocket (OOP) drug costs and utilization associated with the Medicare Part D coverage gap among postmenopausal beneficiaries with osteoporosis.