Biomarkers.

Background: Brain MRI segmentation is required for quantitative PET analysis, in order to derive regional uptake and calculate uptake ratio relative to reference regions. FreeSurfer has been a popular method but is being supplanted by faster and more robust AI-driven methods. The objective of this work is to confirm that the use of Clario's novel AI segmentation method, whose impact was assessed towards various MRI endpoints, is also valid in the context of PET quantification.

Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium.

Background: Brain MRI segmentation is required for quantitative PET analysis, in order to derive regional uptake and calculate uptake ratio relative to reference regions. FreeSurfer has been a popular method but is being supplanted by faster and more robust AI-driven methods. The objective of this work is to confirm that the use of Clario's novel AI segmentation method, whose impact was assessed towards various MRI endpoints, is also valid in the context of PET quantification.

Development of a Maternal Equity Safety Bundle to Eliminate Racial Inequities in Massachusetts.

Objective: The PNQIN (Perinatal-Neonatal Quality Improvement Network of Massachusetts) sought to adapt the Reduction of Peripartum Racial and Ethnic Disparities Conceptual Framework and Maternal Safety Consensus Bundle by selecting and defining measures to create a bundle to address maternal health inequities in Massachusetts. This study describes the process of developing consensus-based measures to implement the PNQIN Maternal Equity Bundle across Massachusetts hospitals participating in the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Initiative.

Methods: Our team used a mixed-methods approach to create the PNQIN Maternal Equity Bundle through consensus including a literature review, expert interviews, and a modified Delphi process to compile, define, and select measures to drive maternal equity-focused action.

Management of Isolated Thoracic Lymphadenopathy of Unclear Etiology: A Survey of Physicians and Literature Review.

Background After identifying incidental mediastinal lymph nodes, decisions need to be made regarding the required follow-up imaging, the intervals at which this imaging should be performed, the types of imaging and procedures needed, and when to discontinue the follow-up. The purpose of this study is to determine the majority opinion on the management of these findings and provide recommendations for future management of incidental mediastinal lymphadenopathy.  Methodology Sixty-two healthcare providers from a variety of specializations were surveyed on their preference for diagnostic workup and subsequent follow-up following the finding of incidental mediastinal lymphadenopathy on computed tomography (CT) of the chest.

Unit Collective Medical Training in the 75th Ranger Regiment.

The 75th Ranger Regiment's success with eliminating preventable death on the battlefield is innate to the execution of a continuous operational readiness training cycle that integrates individual and unit collective medical training. This is a tactical solution to a tactical problem that is solved by the entire unit, not just by medics. When a casualty occurs, the unit must immediately respond as a team to extract, treat, and evacuate the casualty while simultaneously completing the tactical mission.

Smokers' Self-Report and Behavioral Reactivity to Combined Personal Smoking Cues (Proximal + Environment + People): A Pilot Study.

Cue reactivity (CR) among smokers exposed to smoking-related stimuli, both proximal (e.g., cigarettes, lighter) and distal (environments, people), has been well-demonstrated.

Quantitative and Qualitative Changes in Peripheral Chemoreceptor Activity in Preterm Infants.

Preterm infants are at risk for ventilatory control instability that may be due to aberrant peripheral chemoreceptor activity. Although term infants have increasing peripheral chemoreceptor contribution to overall ventilatory drive with increasing postnatal age, how peripheral chemoreceptor contribution changes in preterm infants with increasing postmenstrual age is not known. To evaluate peripheral chemoreceptor activity between 32 and 52 weeks postmenstrual age in preterm infants, using both quantitative and qualitative measures.

Procedural-based Specialties Benefit from a Formal Informed Consent and Disclosures Educational Program.

Objective: At our tertiary academic center, residents undergo formalized training in obtaining informed consent and disclosing a complication. The informed consent portion has previously been shown to benefit a group of surgical and emergency medicine residents. We aimed to determine if the benefits from training persist across a larger number of procedural-based specialties and to ascertain the benefit of training in disclosing complications.

Correlations of diffusion tensor imaging and clinical measures with spinal cord cross-sectional area measurements in pediatric spinal cord injury patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to employ a semi-automatic method for measuring spinal cord cross-sectional area (SCCSA) and investigate the correlations between diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics and SCCSA for the cervical and thoracic spinal cord for typically developing pediatric subjects and pediatric subject with spinal cord injury.

Methods: Ten typically developing (TD) pediatric subjects and ten pediatric subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI) were imaged using a Siemens Verio 3 T MR scanner to acquire DTI and high-resolution anatomic scans covering the cervical and thoracic spinal cord (C1-T12). SCCSA was measured using a semi-automated edge detection algorithm for the entire spinal cord.

Neuroimaging of situational urgency and incontinence provoked by personal urgency cues.

Introduction: Situational triggers for urinary urgency and incontinence (UUI) such as "latchkey incontinence" and running water are often reported clinically, but no current clinical tools exist to directly address symptoms of UUI provoked by environmental stimuli. Previously we have shown that urgency and leakage can be reproduced during urodynamic studies with exposure to personal urgency-related images. Here we investigate the neural signatures associated with such situational triggers to inform potential therapies for reducing reactivity to these personal urgency-related cues among women with situational UUI.

Inoculum Preparation Conditions Influence Adherence of Salmonella enterica Serovars to Red Leaf Lettuce (Lactuca sativa).

Abstract: Salmonella enterica has been increasingly linked to outbreaks involving consumption of fresh produce. Although researchers have identified genes whose products are involved in mediating S. enterica-plant interactions, the use of various experimental approaches, serovars, and plant types has generated variable and conflicting data.

Life and Limb In-Flight Surgical Intervention: Fifteen Years of Experience by Joint Medical Augmentation Unit Surgical Resuscitation Teams.

Background: Expedient resuscitation and emergent damage control interventions remain critical tools of modern combat casualty care. Although fortunately rare, the requirement for life and limb salvaging surgical intervention prior to arrival at traditional deployed medical treatment facilities may be required for the care of select casualties. The optimal employment of a surgical resuscitation team (SRT) may afford life and limb salvage in these unique situations.

Can exercise alleviate sleep disturbances during acute nicotine withdrawal in cigarette smokers?

Sleep disturbances, including insomnia (difficulty falling or staying asleep), are common nicotine withdrawal symptoms particularly during the initial stage of nicotine abstinence, and increase the likelihood of relapse within the first 4 weeks of quitting. Although clinically recognized as a key symptom of nicotine withdrawal, sleep disturbances are not addressed in the clinical guidelines for nicotine dependence treatment. Unfortunately, Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and other pharmacologic interventions do not attenuate withdrawal-provoked sleep disturbances, with several even exacerbating sleep disruption.

Reproducing situationally triggered urgency incontinence in a controlled environment.

Introduction: Patients with lower urinary tract symptoms often report urgency and incontinence episodes which are triggered by environmental scenarios, for example, "latch-key incontinence." To better understand the extent of this phenomenon, and how best to reduce its impact, we tested ways to recreate these situational cues in a controlled environment and obtain cue reactivity measures.

Methods: We developed a standardized set of urgency cue scenarios from interviews with sufferers of situational urgency urinary incontinence (UUI), personalized urgency, and safe cue sets consisting of photographs of specific locations, and measurements of cue reactivity during computer-based presentation and urodynamic monitoring.

Differences in brain activity patterns during creative idea generation between eminent and non-eminent thinkers.

An influential model of the neural mechanisms of creative thought suggests that creativity is manifested in the joint contributions of the Default Mode Network (DMN; a set of regions in the medial PFC, lateral and medial parietal cortex, and the medial temporal lobes) and the executive networks within the dorsolateral PFC. Several empirical reports have offered support for this model by showing that complex interactions between these brain systems account for individual differences in creative performance. The present study examined whether the engagement of these regions in idea generation is modulated by one's eminence in a creativity-related field.

An fMRI Study of the Effects of Vibroacoustic Stimulation on Functional Connectivity in Patients with Insomnia.

Background: It is well known that vibratory and auditory stimuli from vehicles such as cars and trains can help induce sleep. More recent literature suggests that specific types of vibratory and acoustic stimulation might help promote sleep, but this has not been tested with neuroimaging. Thus, the purpose of this study was to observe the effects of vibroacoustic stimulation (providing both vibratory and auditory stimuli) on functional connectivity changes in the brain using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and compare these changes to improvements in sleep in patients with insomnia.

Metastatic Gallbladder Adenocarcinoma to the Endometrium: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) metastasis to the uterine cervix is very rare, accounting for less than 10 reported cases. GBC is an uncommon neoplasm with a poor prognosis. Many patients remain asymptomatic until it reaches an advanced stage or discovered incidentally.

Randomized Trial of Low-Nicotine Cigarettes and Transdermal Nicotine.

Introduction: A mandated reduction in the nicotine content of cigarettes may decrease smoking, but also increase demand for other nicotine products. The present study tested the impact of smoking cigarettes with very low nicotine content and concurrent use of a transdermal nicotine patch.

Study Design: A balanced 2 × 2 factorial randomized clinical trial investigating the impact of cigarette nicotine content (double-blind, very low nicotine content versus normal nicotine content) and use of a transdermal nicotine patch (open label, patch versus no patch).

Fundamentals of Preoperative Task Functional Brain Mapping.

Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) imaging is gaining traction in the clinical realm as a measure for quantifying changes in regional blood flow in response to external stimuli. Through the evoked signal changes that are a consequence of hemoglobin's intrinsic paramagnetic properties, this technique allows for the statistical mapping of brain regions associated with a given task, which has broad applications in preneurosurgical planning for tumor resection. From an acquisition perspective, collection of BOLD data most commonly requires the use of echo planar imaging readout schemes.

Identifying Smoking Environments From Images of Daily Life With Deep Learning.

Importance: Environments associated with smoking increase a smoker's craving to smoke and may provoke lapses during a quit attempt. Identifying smoking risk environments from images of a smoker's daily life provides a basis for environment-based interventions.

Objective: To apply a deep learning approach to the clinically relevant identification of smoking environments among settings that smokers encounter in daily life.

Exposure to attachment figure cue reduces cigarette craving.

Cue-induced craving among smokers is a well-documented phenomenon. Conditioning theory is used to explain how stimuli elicit cravings. Attachment theory may explain additional influences on cue-induced craving.

Loss of the Na/H Exchange Regulatory Factor 1 Increases Susceptibility to Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury.

Na/H exchange regulatory cofactor (NHERF)-1, a scaffolding protein, anchors multiple membrane proteins in renal proximal tubules. Cultured proximal tubule cells deficient in Nherf1 and proximal tubules from Nherf1-deficient mice exhibit aberrant trafficking. Nherf1-deficient cells also exhibit an altered transcription pattern and worse survival.