mHealth Engagement for Antiretroviral Medication Adherence Among People With HIV and Substance Use Disorders: Observational Study.

Background: Despite the increasing popularity of mobile health (mHealth) technologies, little is known about which types of mHealth system engagement might affect the maintenance of antiretroviral therapy among people with HIV and substance use disorders.

Objective: This study aimed to use longitudinal and detailed system logs and weekly survey data to test a mediation model, where mHealth engagement indicators were treated as predictors, substance use and confidence in HIV management were treated as joint mediators, and antiretroviral therapy adherence was treated as the outcome. We further distinguished the initiation and intensity of system engagement by mode (expression vs reception) and by communication levels (intraindividual vs dyadic vs network).

An eHealth Intervention to Improve Quality of Life, Socioemotional, and Health-Related Measures Among Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: In the United States, over 60% of adults aged 65 years or older have multiple chronic health conditions, with consequences that include reduced quality of life, increasingly complex but less person-centered treatment, and higher health care costs. A previous trial of ElderTree, an eHealth intervention for older adults, found socioemotional benefits for those with high rates of primary care use.

Objective: This study tested the effectiveness of an ElderTree intervention designed specifically for older patients with multiple chronic conditions to determine whether combining it with primary care improved socioemotional and physical outcomes.

The Effects of Numerical Evidence and Message Framing in Communicating Vaccine Efficacy.

To examine the effects of numerical evidence and message framing in communicating vaccine efficacy information about infectious diseases, an online experiment presented to U.S. adults different versions of a vaccination promotional message that vary by numerical vaccine efficacy evidence: (low efficacy rate: 60% vs.

Environmental and Genetic Risk Factors for Gastric Cancer.

Gastric cancer is a heterogeneous and prevalent disease. The traditional environmental exposures associated with elevated risk of gastric cancer are less prevalent in the USA today. Genetic risks and risks associated with inflammation remain.

Trametinib Potentiates Anti-PD-1 Efficacy in Tumors Established from Chemotherapy-Primed Pancreatic Cancer Cells.

Despite advances in immune checkpoint inhibitors, chemotherapy remains the standard therapy for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). As the combinations of chemotherapy, including the FOLFIRINOX [5-fluorouracil, F; irinotecan, I; and oxaliplatin, O (FIO)] regimen, and immune checkpoint inhibitors have failed to demonstrate clinical benefit in patients with metastatic PDAC tumors, there is increasing interest in identifying therapeutic approaches to potentiate ICI efficacy in patients with PDAC. In this study, we report that neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX-treated human PDAC tumors exhibit increased MEK/ERK activation.

Prospective Evaluation of Circulating Tumor DNA using Next Generation Sequencing as a Biomarker during Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Localized Pancreatic Cancer.

Objective: In this prospective study, we aim to characterize the prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) by next-generation-sequencing (NGS) in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Summary Background Data: Circulating tumor DNA is a promising blood-based biomarker that is prognostic in several malignancies. Detection of ctDNA by NGS may provide insights regarding the mutational profiles in PDAC to help guide clinical decisions for patients in a potentially curative setting.

Establishing the clinical relevance of grade A post-hepatectomy liver failure.

Introduction: The International Study Group of Liver Surgery's criteria stratifies post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) into grades A, B, and C. The clinical significance of these grades has not been fully established.

Methods: The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) hepatectomy-targeted database was analyzed.

Effects of Bundling Medication for Opioid Use Disorder With an mHealth Intervention Targeting Addiction: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objective: Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) improves treatment retention and reduces illicit opioid use. A-CHESS is an evidence-based smartphone intervention shown to improve addiction-related behaviors. The authors tested the efficacy of MOUD alone versus MOUD plus A-CHESS to determine whether the combination further improved outcomes.

Using Machine Learning of Online Expression to Explain Recovery Trajectories: Content Analytic Approach to Studying a Substance Use Disorder Forum.

Background: Smartphone-based apps are increasingly used to prevent relapse among those with substance use disorders (SUDs). These systems collect a wealth of data from participants, including the content of messages exchanged in peer-to-peer support forums. How individuals self-disclose and exchange social support in these forums may provide insight into their recovery course, but a manual review of a large corpus of text by human coders is inefficient.

The inaccuracies of gastric adenocarcinoma clinical staging and its predictive factors.

Introduction: Accurate clinical staging (CS) of gastric adenocarcinoma is important to guide treatment planning. Our objectives were to (1) assess clinical to pathologic stage migration patterns for patients with gastric adenocarcinoma, (2) identify factors associated with inaccurate CS, and (3) evaluate the association of understaging with survival.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried for patients who underwent upfront resection for stage I-III gastric adenocarcinoma.

The Effects of Vaccine Efficacy Information on Vaccination Intentions Through Perceived Response Efficacy and Hope.

Response efficacy information indicating the effectiveness of a recommended behavior in risk reduction is an important component of health communication. For example, many messages regarding COVID-19 vaccines featured numerical vaccine efficacy rates in preventing infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. While the relationship between disease risk perceptions and fear has been well established, we know less about the psychological factors involved in communicating vaccine efficacy information, such as response efficacy perceptions and hope.

Red Media vs. Blue Media: Social Distancing and Partisan News Media Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Political polarization surrounding the COVID-19 health crisis has been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic. We combine prior research on motivated reasoning, selective exposure, and news framing to understand the association between partisan media use and social distancing behavior related to COVID-19. To do so, we collected media content data and national survey data during the onset of the pandemic.

Patient-provider communication while using a clinical decision support tool: explaining satisfaction with shared decision making for mammography screening.

Background: Clinical decision aids may support shared decision-making for screening mammography. To inform shared decision-making between patients and their providers, this study examines how patterns of using an EHR-integrated decision aid and accompanying verbal patient-provider communication predict decision-making satisfaction.

Methods: For 51 patient visits during which a mammography decision aid was used, linguistic characteristics of patient-provider verbal communication were extracted from transcribed audio recordings and system logs automatically captured uses of the decision aid.

Ideology and COVID-19 Vaccination Intention: Perceptual Mediators and Communication Moderators.

Widespread COVID-19 vaccination is critical to slow the spread of the illness. This study investigates how political ideology is associated with COVID-19 vaccine intention via perceived effectiveness of the vaccine, perceived side effects, and perceived severity of the illness, three key aspects of the Health Belief Model (HBM). This study also examines how partisan information flow moderates the effects of ideology on these three HBM components.

Coaching older adults discharged home from the emergency department: The role of competence and emotion in following up with outpatient clinicians.

Objective: Motivating older adults to follow up with an outpatient clinician after discharge from emergency departments (ED) is beneficial yet challenging. We aimed to answer whether psychological needs for motivation and discrete emotions observed by care transition coaches would predict this behavioral outcome.

Methods: Community-dwelling older adults following ED discharge were recruited from three EDs in two U.

Vaccine discourse during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: Topical structure and source patterns informing efforts to combat vaccine hesitancy.

Background: Understanding public discourse about a COVID-19 vaccine in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic may provide key insights concerning vaccine hesitancy. However, few studies have investigated the communicative patterns in which Twitter users participate discursively in vaccine discussions.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate 1) the major topics that emerged from public conversation on Twitter concerning vaccines for COVID-19, 2) the topics that were emphasized in tweets with either positive or negative sentiment toward a COVID-19 vaccine, and 3) the type of online accounts in which tweets with either positive or negative sentiment were more likely to circulate.

Environmental and genetic risk factors for gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer is a heterogeneous and prevalent disease. The traditional environmental exposures associated with an elevated risk of gastric cancer are less prevalent in the United States today. Genetic risks and risks associated with inflammation remain.

Inhibition of MNKs promotes macrophage immunosuppressive phenotype to limit CD8+ T cell antitumor immunity.

To elicit effective antitumor responses, CD8+ T cells need to infiltrate tumors and sustain their effector function within the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, we evaluate the role of MNK activity in regulating CD8+ T cell infiltration and antitumor activity in pancreatic and thyroid tumors. We first show that human pancreatic and thyroid tumors with increased MNK activity are associated with decreased infiltration by CD8+ T cells.

The Relationship among COVID-19 Information Seeking, News Media Use, and Emotional Distress at the Onset of the Pandemic.

Although several theories posit that information seeking is related to better psychological health, this logic may not apply to a pandemic like COVID-19. Given uncertainty inherent to the novel virus, we expect that information seeking about COVID-19 will be positively associated with emotional distress. Additionally, we consider the type of news media from which individuals receive information-television, newspapers, and social media-when examining relationships with emotional distress.

Prospective Prediction of Lapses in Opioid Use Disorder: Protocol for a Personal Sensing Study.

Background: Successful long-term recovery from opioid use disorder (OUD) requires continuous lapse risk monitoring and appropriate use and adaptation of recovery-supportive behaviors as lapse risk changes. Available treatments often fail to support long-term recovery by failing to account for the dynamic nature of long-term recovery.

Objective: The aim of this protocol paper is to describe research that aims to develop a highly contextualized lapse risk prediction model that forecasts the ongoing probability of lapse.

Effect of an eHealth intervention on older adults' quality of life and health-related outcomes: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: By 2030, the number of US adults age ≥65 will exceed 70 million. Their quality of life has been declared a national priority by the US government.

Objective: Assess effects of an eHealth intervention for older adults on quality of life, independence, and related outcomes.