Statin use for cardiovascular disease prevention: perceptions among people living with HIV in the United States.

Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) may be at heightened risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Statin use and lifestyle changes reduce the risk of CVD but remain under-prescribed among PLWH. The objective of this study was to characterize knowledge of CVD and statin use, current usage, barriers to taking statins, and information desired by PLWH to improve statin uptake among PLWH in Los Angeles, CA.

Implementation, Maintenance, and Outcomes of an Electronic Referral to a Tobacco Quitline Across Five Health Systems.

Introduction: Electronic referral (e-referral) to quitlines helps connect tobacco-using patients to free, evidence-based cessation counseling. Little has been published about the real-world implementation of e-referrals across U.S.

Under the radar: co-introduced monogeneans (Polyopisthocotylea: Gastrocotylinea) of the invasive fish Scomberomorus commerson in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Levant Basin is in many ways the world's most invaded marine ecosystem owing to the existence of the man-made Suez Canal. The invasion of free-living organisms through this pathway is increasingly documented and monitored in the past two decades, and their ecological impact recognized. Nonetheless, while tremendous scientific effort is invested in documenting introduced fishes, co-introduction events of these fishes and their parasites have drawn relatively little interest.

Dynamic multistage scheduling for patient-centered care plans.

We investigate the scheduling practices of multistage outpatient health programs that offer care plans customized to the needs of their patients. We formulate the scheduling problem as a Markov decision process (MDP) where patients can reschedule their appointment, may fail to show up, and may become ineligible. The MDP has an exponentially large state space and thus, we introduce a linear approximation to the value function.

Prediction of personal protective equipment use in hospitals during COVID-19.

Demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as surgical masks, gloves, and gowns has increased significantly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In hospital settings, both medical staff and patients are required to wear PPE. As these facilities resume regular operations, staff will be required to wear PPE at all times while additional PPE will be mandated during medical procedures.

Rapid onsets of warming events trigger mass mortality of coral reef fish.

Our study reveals a hitherto overlooked ecological threat of climate change. Studies of warming events in the ocean have typically focused on the events' maximum temperature and duration as the cause of devastating disturbances in coral reefs, kelp forests, and rocky shores. In this study, however, we found that the rate of onset (R), rather than the peak, was the likely trigger of mass mortality of coral reef fishes in the Red Sea.

Genetic Variation and Hot Flashes: A Systematic Review.

Context: Approximately 70% of women report experiencing vasomotor symptoms (VMS, hot flashes and/or night sweats). The etiology of VMS is not clearly understood but may include genetic factors.

Evidence Acquisition: We searched PubMed and Embase in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidance.

Large-scale dosimetric assessment of Monte Carlo recalculated doses for lung robotic stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Owing to its short computation time and simplicity, the Ray-Tracing algorithm (RAT) has long been used to calculate dose distributions for the CyberKnife system. However, it is known that RAT fails to fully account for tissue heterogeneity and is therefore inaccurate in the lung. The aim of this study is to make a dosimetric assessment of 219 non-small cell lung cancer CyberKnife plans by recalculating their dose distributions using an independent Monte Carlo (MC) method.

Indigenous versus Lessepsian Hosts: Nervous Necrosis Virus (NNV) in Eastern Mediterranean Sea Fish.

Viruses are among the most abundant and diverse biological components in the marine environment. In finfish, viruses are key drivers of host diversity and population dynamics, and therefore, their effect on the marine environment is far-reaching. Viral encephalopathy and retinopathy (VER) is a disease caused by the marine nervous necrosis virus (NNV), which is recognized as one of the main infectious threats for marine aquaculture worldwide.

The importance of evaluating the complete automated knowledge-based planning pipeline.

We determine how prediction methods combine with optimization methods in two-stage knowledge-based planning (KBP) pipelines to produce radiation therapy treatment plans. We trained two dose prediction methods, a generative adversarial network (GAN) and a random forest (RF) with the same 130 treatment plans. The models were applied to 87 out-of-sample patients to create two sets of predicted dose distributions that were used as input to two optimization models.

Comparing local control and distant metastasis in NSCLC patients between CyberKnife and conventional SBRT.

Background And Purpose: Previous literature suggests that the dose proximally outside the PTV could have an impact on the incidence of distant metastasis (DM) after SBRT in stage I NSCLC patients. We investigated this observation (along with local failure) in deliveries made by different treatment modalities: robotic mounted linac SBRT (CyberKnife) vs conventional SBRT (VMAT/CRT).

Materials And Methods: This study included 422 stage I NSCLC patients from 2 institutions who received SBRT: 217 treated conventionally and 205 with CyberKnife.

Safety of vaginal estrogens: a systematic review.

Objective: This systematic review included clinical trials of Food and Drug Administration-approved vaginal estrogens. The primary objective of this systematic review was to examine the comparative safety of the Food and Drug Administration-approved vaginal estrogen preparations among postmenopausal women.

Methods: We performed a PubMed search of the primary literature from January 1, 1966 to July 16, 2019 for English-language clinical trials.

Experts' Views on the Gaps in Public Health Emergency Preparedness in Israel: A Qualitative Case Study.

Background: Despite the significant improvement in all components of preparedness in the past decade, there are still gaps between the guidelines and the reality on the ground. The purpose of this study is to explore how Israeli public health and emergency medicine experts perceive the demands for health organization emergency preparedness and the actual practice.

Methods: Qualitative phenomenological research.

Knowledge-based automated planning with three-dimensional generative adversarial networks.

Purpose: To develop a knowledge-based automated planning pipeline that generates treatment plans without feature engineering, using deep neural network architectures for predicting three-dimensional (3D) dose.

Methods: Our knowledge-based automated planning (KBAP) pipeline consisted of a knowledge-based planning (KBP) method that predicts dose for a contoured computed tomography (CT) image followed by two optimization models that learn objective function weights and generate fluence-based plans, respectively. We developed a novel generative adversarial network (GAN)-based KBP approach, a 3D GAN model, which predicts dose for the full 3D CT image at once and accounts for correlations between adjacent CT slices.

Ethics of organ procurement from the unrepresented patient population.

The shortage of organs for transplantation by its nature prompts ethical dilemmas. For example, although there is an imperative to save human life and reduce suffering by maximising the supply of vital organs, there is an equally important obligation to ensure that the process by which we increase the supply respects the rights of all stakeholders. In a relatively unexamined practice in the USA, organs are procured from unrepresented decedents without their express consent.

Effectiveness of care in acute dizziness presentations.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate whether a management algorithm has improved the effectiveness of care for dizzy patients at Umeå University Hospital.

Methods: This was an interventional study using medical records to collect data for acute dizziness presentations before (period 1, 2012-2014) and after (period 2, 2016-2017) the implementation of a management algorithm. Outcomes were changes in a set of pre-defined effectiveness markers and health economic effects.

Deep learning in head & neck cancer outcome prediction.

Traditional radiomics involves the extraction of quantitative texture features from medical images in an attempt to determine correlations with clinical endpoints. We hypothesize that convolutional neural networks (CNNs) could enhance the performance of traditional radiomics, by detecting image patterns that may not be covered by a traditional radiomic framework. We test this hypothesis by training a CNN to predict treatment outcomes of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, based solely on their pre-treatment computed tomography image.

Correcting misinformation by health organizations during measles outbreaks: A controlled experiment.

Background: During epidemic crises, some of the information the public receives on social media is misinformation. Health organizations are required to respond and correct the information to gain the public's trust and influence it to follow the recommended instructions.

Objectives: (1) To examine ways for health organizations to correct misinformation concerning the measles vaccination on social networks for two groups: pro-vaccination and hesitant; (2) To examine the types of reactions of two subgroups (pro-vaccination, hesitant) to misinformation correction; and (3) To examine the effect of misinformation correction on these two subgroups regarding reliability, satisfaction, self-efficacy and intentions.

Co-existence of Myxobolus spp. (Myxozoa) in gray mullet (Mugil cephalus) juveniles from the Mediterranean Sea.

Gray mullet (Mugilidae) occur in all seas and are farmed widely around the world, and thus, the risk of their parasites spreading through transport of aquaculture seed is a serious concern. Among others, gray mullets typically host a diversity of myxosporeans, a group in which spore morphometrics of genera has been consistently shown to be inadequate for determination of species. In this study, we investigated Myxobolus Bütschli 1882 (Myxosporea) species found in two fingerling stocks of Mugil cephalus caught in the wild off the coasts of the eastern (Israel) and western (Spain) Mediterranean.

Disparities in Health Care Access and Health Among Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals in California.

This policy brief examines differences in health care access, health behaviors, and health outcomes by sexual orientation among California adults. Using data from the California Health Interview Survey, the study finds that although lesbian, gay, and bisexual women and men have similar or better rates of insurance coverage compared to straight women and men, they are more likely to experience delays in getting needed health care. Lesbians, bisexual women, and bisexual men have higher rates of smoking and binge drinking than straight women and men; however, gay men are less likely to consume sugary beverages and to be physically inactive.

Protecting the gains: What changes are needed to prevent a reversal of the downward cardiovascular disease mortality trend?

Aims: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality has decreased over 60% over the past 50 years in the United States; however, emerging data indicate CVD incidence may be rising because of shifting demographics, increasing risk factor prevalence, and competing needs for limited resources. We projected CVD mortality from 2015 to 2040 given varying informed assumptions regarding changes in risk factor prevalence, uptake of current therapeutic options, and future innovations.

Methods: A microsimulation model was used to project US CVD mortality trends.

Few California Children and Adolescents Meet Physical Activity Guidelines.

This policy brief describes physical activity among California children and adolescents. Using data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the study found that only 31 percent of children ages 5-11 and 18 percent of adolescents ages 12-17 meet the physical activity guidelines of engaging in at least one hour of physical activity every day. Neighborhood characteristics, including safety and proximity to parks, are related to physical activity levels among youth.

Walking Among California Adults.

This policy brief describes two types of walking among California adults: walking for transportation and walking for leisure. Using data from the 2013-14 California Health Interview Survey, the study found that the prevalence of both types of walking has increased since 2003. The prevalence of walking for both transportation and leisure varies with age, income, race/ethnicity, and neighborhood safety and cohesion.

Healthcare Experiences of Underrepresented Lesbian and Bisexual Women: A Focus Group Qualitative Study.

To understand the complex healthcare experiences of women identifying as lesbian or bisexual. who are also women of color, veterans, and/or 65 years of age and older. Inclusion criteria were age 25 or older, Los Angeles County resident, self-identification as a lesbian or bisexual woman, and as an African American, Latina, Asian-Pacific Islander, and/or a veteran.