Mechanical and finite element evaluation of a bioprinted scaffold following recellularization in a rat subcutaneous model.

Tissue engineered heart valves (TEHV) provide several advantages over currently available aortic heart valve replacements. Bioprinting provides a patient-specific means of developing a TEHV scaffold from imaging data, and the capability to embed the patient's own cells within the scaffold. In this work we investigated the remodeling capacity of a collagen-based bio-ink by implanting bioprinted disks in a rat subcutaneous model for 2, 4 and 12 weeks and evaluating the mechanical response using biaxial testing and subsequent finite element (FE) modeling.

Medicare Annual Wellness Visit association with healthcare quality and costs.

Objectives: Although use of the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is increasing nationally, it remains unclear whether it can help contain healthcare costs and improve quality. In the context of 2 primary care physician-led accountable care organizations (ACOs), we tested the hypothesis that AWVs can improve healthcare costs and clinical quality.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort study using propensity score matching and quasi-experimental difference-in-differences regression models comparing the differential changes in cost, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations for those who received an AWV versus those who did not from before until after the AWV.

A novel surgical technique for a rat subcutaneous implantation of a tissue engineered scaffold.

Objectives: Subcutaneous implantations in small animal models are currently required for preclinical studies of acellular tissue to evaluate biocompatibility, including host recellularization and immunogenic reactivity.

Methods: Three rat subcutaneous implantation methods were evaluated in six Sprague Dawley rats. An acellular xenograft made from porcine pericardium was used as the tissue-scaffold.

Sugarcane Aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae): A New Pest on Sorghum in North America.

In 2013, the sugarcane aphid, (Zehntner) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a new invasive pest of sorghum species in North America, was confirmed on sorghum in 4 states and 38 counties in the United States. In 2015, the aphid was reported on sorghum in 17 states and over 400 counties as well as all sorghum-producing regions in Mexico. Ability to overwinter on living annual and perennial hosts in southern sorghum-producing areas and wind-aided movement of alate aphids appear to be the main factors in its impressive geographic spread in North America.