Investigating Risk Factors for Racial Disparity in E-Cigarette Use with PATH Study.

Background: Previous research has identified differences in e-cigarette use and socioeconomic factors between different racial groups However, there is little research examining specific risk factors contributing to the racial differences.

Objective: This study sought to identify racial disparities in e-cigarette use and to determine risk factors that help explain these differences.

Methods: We used Wave 5 (2018-2019) of the Adult Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.

Reverse engineering of Onivyde® - Irinotecan liposome injection.

Onivyde® is an intravenous irinotecan liposomal injection approved by the FDA for the treatment of gemcitabine-refractory metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas in combination with fluorouracil and leucovorin. In the Onivyde® formulation, irinotecan is encapsulated in the inner compartment of the liposome using sucrose octasulfate as a trapping agent, and stabilized by a pegylated lipid membrane, resulting in prolonged circulation in the body. Due to its complex formulation design, there is limited information available regarding the critical quality attributes (CQAs) of Onivyde® and suitable methods for evaluating these attributes.

Controlling the fold: proprioceptive feedback in a soft origami robot.

We demonstrate proprioceptive feedback control of a one degree of freedom soft, pneumatically actuated origami robot and an assembly of two robots into a two degree of freedom system. The base unit of the robot is a 41 mm long, 3-D printed Kresling-inspired structure with six sets of sidewall folds and one degree of freedom. Pneumatic actuation, provided by negative fluidic pressure, causes the robot to contract.

The Tenacious Treponema: A Retrospective Examination of Syphilis Treatment Disparities in Washington, DC.

Background: Since 2000, there have been rising rates of syphilis infections nationally with higher incidence among minorities and persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH). The purpose of this study was to determine syphilis treatment adequacy and factors associated with treatment delay.

Methods: This was a retrospective academic-public health collaboration with the District of Columbia Department of Public Health reviewing surveillance data of all primary, secondary, and early latent syphilis cases diagnosed between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019.

Enhancement of Anti-inflammatory Effects of Synthetic High-Density Lipoproteins by Incorporation of Anionic Lipids.

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is an anionic phospholipid component in endogenous high-density lipoprotein (HDL). With the intrinsic anti-inflammatory effects of PS and the correlation between PS content and HDL functions, it was hypothesized that incorporating PS would enhance the therapeutic effects of HDL mimetic particles. To test this hypothesis, a series of synthetic high-density lipoproteins (sHDLs) were prepared with an apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-1) mimetic peptide, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl--3-phosphocholine (POPC), and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl--3-phospho-l-serine (POPS).

Apolipoprotein-mimetic nanodiscs reduce lipid accumulation and improve liver function in acid sphingomyelinase deficiency.

Acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD) is a severe lipid storage disorder caused by the diminished activity of the acid sphingomyelinase enzyme. ASMD is characterized by the accumulation of sphingomyelin in late endosomes and lysosomes leading to progressive neurological dysfunction and hepatosplenomegaly. Our objective was to investigate the utility of synthetic apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) mimetics designed to act as lipid scavengers for the treatment of ASMD.

Risk Factors for Human Papillomavirus-Associated Cancers Among People Living with HIV in Washington, District of Columbia.

District of Columbia (DC) has high rates of HIV infection and human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers. People living with HIV (PLWH) are at risk for developing HPV-associated cancers. Previous studies identified factors that may further increase the risk of HPV-associated cancer among PLWH such as age, race/ethnicity, sex, risk factor for HIV transmission, stage of HIV infection, and age at HIV diagnosis.

Design considerations for photovoltaic energy harvesting in wearable devices.

Wearable technology is emerging as a solution for various bio-mechanic and health-metric applications. Solar photovoltaic energy is a viable supplemental power source that can reduce battery size requirements in wearables. This study outlines the considerations for a wearable sleeve device and its associated power converter system using commercially-available flexible photovoltaic panels located on the forearm.

The role of community-level characteristics in comparing United States hospital performance by magnet designation: A propensity score matched study.

Aims: To assess the impact of community-level characteristics on the role of magnet designation in relation to hospital value-based purchasing quality scores, as health disparities associated with geographical location could confound hospitals' ability to meet outcome metrics.

Design: This cross-sectional study was carried out between October 2021 and March 2022 using data from 2016 to 2021.

Methods: Propensity score analysis was used to match hospital and community-level characteristics, implementing nearest neighbour matching to adjust for pre-treatment differences between magnet and non-magnet hospitals to account for multi-level differences.

Selecting an Optimal Faraday Cage To Minimize Noise in Electrochemical Experiments.

The ubiquitous Faraday cage, an experimental component particularly essential for nanoelectrochemical measurements, is responsible for neutralizing noise introduced by electromagnetic interference (EMI). Faraday cage designs abound in the literature, often exhibiting varying thicknesses, mesh sizes, and base materials. The fact that the Faraday cage composition most often goes unreported underscores the fact that many electrochemical researchers assume a 100% EMI reduction for any given design.

Electronics-free soft robot has a nice ring to it.

A fluidic ring oscillator provides timing to soft robots, thus enabling complex locomotion and load carrying.

Incorporating Present-on-Admission Indicators in Medicare Claims to Inform Hospital Quality Measure Risk Adjustment Models.

Importance: Present-on-admission (POA) indicators in administrative claims data allow researchers to distinguish between preexisting conditions and those acquired during a hospital stay. The impact of adding POA information to claims-based measures of hospital quality has not yet been investigated to better understand patient underlying risk factors in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision setting.

Objective: To assess POA indicator use on Medicare claims and to assess the hospital- and patient-level outcomes associated with incorporating POA indicators in identifying risk factors for publicly reported outcome measures used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Measuring Unmet Needs among Persons Living with HIV at Different Stages of the Care Continuum.

Unmet needs can impede optimal care engagement, impacting the health and well-being of people living with HIV (PLWH); yet, whether unmet needs differ by care engagement status is not well understood. Using surveys and qualitative interviews, we examined and compared unmet needs for PLWH (n = 172) at different levels of care engagement. Unmet needs varied only slightly by care status.

Examining Retention in HIV Care and HIV Suppression on Housing Services Intake at a Washington, DC Community Based Organization.

In Washington, DC, 2% of residents are living with HIV, with 15.3% of them experiencing homelessness. Additionally, over half of DC-area renters are paying over 30% of their income for housing.

Dissemination of a telehealth cardiovascular risk service: The CVRS live protocol.

Background: Medical clinics are increasingly hiring clinical pharmacists to improve management of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the limited number of clinical pharmacists employed in a clinic may not impact the large number of complex patients needing the services. We have developed a remote telehealth service provided by clinical pharmacists to complement CVD services provided by on-site clinical pharmacists and aid sites without a clinical pharmacist.

Ultra-sensitive and resilient compliant strain gauges for soft machines.

Soft machines are a promising design paradigm for human-centric devices and systems required to interact gently with their environment. To enable soft machines to respond intelligently to their surroundings, compliant sensory feedback mechanisms are needed. Specifically, soft alternatives to strain gauges-with high resolution at low strain (less than 5 per cent)-could unlock promising new capabilities in soft systems.

Electronically integrated, mass-manufactured, microscopic robots.

Fifty years of Moore's law scaling in microelectronics have brought remarkable opportunities for the rapidly evolving field of microscopic robotics. Electronic, magnetic and optical systems now offer an unprecedented combination of complexity, small size and low cost, and could be readily appropriated for robots that are smaller than the resolution limit of human vision (less than a hundred micrometres). However, a major roadblock exists: there is no micrometre-scale actuator system that seamlessly integrates with semiconductor processing and responds to standard electronic control signals.

Development and Testing of Improved Models to Predict Payment Using Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Claims Data.

Importance: Predicting payments for particular conditions or populations is essential for research, benchmarking, public reporting, and calculations for population-based programs. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) models often group codes into disease categories, but using single, rather than grouped, diagnostic codes and leveraging present on admission (POA) codes may enhance these models.

Objective: To determine whether changes to the candidate variables in CMS models would improve risk models predicting patient total payment within 30 days of hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and pneumonia.

Comparative Effectiveness of New Approaches to Improve Mortality Risk Models From Medicare Claims Data.

Importance: Risk adjustment models using claims-based data are central in evaluating health care performance. Although US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) models apply well-vetted statistical approaches, recent changes in the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) coding system and advances in computational capabilities may provide an opportunity for enhancement.

Objective: To examine whether changes using already available data would enhance risk models and yield greater discrimination in hospital-level performance measures.

Atomic Layer Deposition for Membranes, Metamaterials, and Mechanisms.

Bending and folding techniques such as origami and kirigami enable the scale-invariant design of 3D structures, metamaterials, and robots from 2D starting materials. These design principles are especially valuable for small systems because most micro- and nanofabrication involves lithographic patterning of planar materials. Ultrathin films of inorganic materials serve as an ideal substrate for the fabrication of flexible microsystems because they possess high intrinsic strength, are not susceptible to plasticity, and are easily integrated into microfabrication processes.

Earlier diagnoses and faster treatment of HIV in the District of Columbia: HIV surveillance analysis, 2006-2016.

To address high HIV prevalence, the District of Columbia (DC) Department of Health has implemented multiple strategies to increase routine HIV testing since 2006. Examination of delayed HIV diagnosis over time can demonstrate population-level impact of public health strategies to promote HIV testing. Using HIV surveillance data, we examined delayed HIV diagnosis in DC (stage 3 within 90 days of diagnosis), CD4 count at HIV diagnosis, linkage to HIV care, and time to viral suppression among DC residents age 13 and above who were diagnosed from 2006 to 2016.