Severe maternal morbidity contributed by obstetric hemorrhage: Maryland, 2020-2022.

Background: Obstetric hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in Maryland and nationally. Currently, through a quality collaborative, the state is implementing the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) patient safety bundle on obstetric hemorrhage.

Objective: To describe SMM events contributed by obstetric hemorrhage and their preventability in Maryland.

Pleomorphic dermal sarcoma of the auricular helix.

Cutaneous malignancies of the head and neck are common; however, superficial sarcomas of the head and neck are relatively rare. We present a 71-year-old unhoused gentleman with challenging access to medical care and poor health literacy who presented with a large, isolated, pedunculated mass of the left auricular helix. Preoperative biopsy was compatible with pleomorphic dermal sarcoma (PDS).

Dark continuous noise from visual pigment as a major mechanism underlying rod-cone difference in light sensitivity.

Retinal rods and cones underlie scotopic and photopic vision, respectively. Their pigments exhibit spontaneous isomerizations (quantal noise) in darkness due to intrinsic thermal energy. This quantal noise, albeit exceedingly low in rods, dictates the light threshold for scotopic vision.