Tinnitus prevalence and associations with leisure noise exposure among Canadians, aged 6 to 79 years.

Objective: To examine the association between individual, cumulative leisure noise exposure (CLNE), acceptable yearly exposure (AYE) and tinnitus among a nationally representative sample of Canadians.

Design: In-person household questionnaires were used to evaluate leisure noise exposure across age, sex, household income and tinnitus: ever experienced, previous year, frequent, bothersome. High (≥85 dBA, LEX), low (<85 dBA, LEX) CLNE and AYEs were defined according to occupational limits.

Impact of pandemic-induced service disruptions and behavioral changes on HCV and HIV transmission amongst people who inject drugs: a modeling study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic may have disproportionally impacted vulnerable groups such as people who inject drugs (PWID) through reduced healthcare services as well as social changes from pandemic mitigation measures. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic and associated mitigation strategies subsequently changed the trajectory of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV transmission is critical to estimating disease burdens, identifying outbreak risk, and developing informed intervention strategies.

Methods: Using behavioral data from the AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) study, an ongoing community-based cohort of PWID in Baltimore, USA, and an individual-based network model, we explored the impacts of service disruptions combined with changes in social networks and injecting behaviors of PWID on HCV and HIV transmission.

Polygenic Risk for Substance Use Disorders as Predictors of Substance Use Initiation Among African American Youth.

Objective: Despite adverse health consequences associated with early substance use initiation, less is known about the influence of genetic risk on initiation and environmental characteristics that may moderate these associations, particularly among African Americans. We examined whether genetic risk for alcohol and cannabis use disorder, and nicotine dependence, is associated with age of initiation of these substances, and whether community disadvantage and parental monitoring moderate these associations in a sample of African American youth.

Method: Participants (n=1,017; 56% female) were initially recruited for an elementary school-based universal prevention intervention trial.

Client and program-level factors associated with planned use of medications for opioid use disorder in specialty substance use treatment programs: Evidence from linked administrative data and survey data.

Background: Most patients in specialty drug treatment programs that are not federally licensed Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) programs do not receive medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

Methods: We linked results from a survey of non-OTP treatment program directors in New Jersey (n = 81) to statewide administrative records of admissions for opioid use to those programs between July 2021-June 2022. Using multi-level regression, we examined the association of three types of factors with planned MOUD use: program survey responses, client-level factors, and program-level client characteristic mix.

Association of primary care engagement with initiation and continuation of medication treatment for opioid use disorder among persons with a history of injection drug use.

Background: For patients with opioid use disorder (OUD), primary care can serve as a pathway to medication for OUD (MOUD). No community-based studies have examined whether people with OUD engaged in primary care are more likely to a) initiate or b) continue MOUD.

Methods: Data were collected 2014-2020 from two subsamples of the AIDS Linked to the Intravenous Experience (ALIVE) cohort, a community-recruited cohort of people from Baltimore who have injected drugs: 1) people who reported past-six-month illicit opioid use and no MOUD (360 participants, 789 study visits), and 2) people who reported MOUD and no illicit opioid use in the past six months (561 participants, 2027 visits).

Trainees' perspectives on sickle cell education: a qualitative needs assessment.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) exemplifies many of the social, racial, and healthcare equity issues in the United States. Despite its high morbidity, mortality, and cost of care, SCD has not been prioritized in research and clinical teaching, resulting in under-trained clinicians and a poor evidence base for managing complications of the disease. This study aimed to perform a needs assessment, examining the perspectives of medical trainees pursuing hematology/oncology subspecialty training regarding SCD-focused education and clinical care.

Barriers and facilitators to use of buprenorphine in state-licensed specialty substance use treatment programs: A survey of program leadership.

Introduction: Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine, reduce overdose risk and improve outcomes for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). However, historically, most non-opioid treatment program (non-OTP) specialty substance use treatment programs have not offered buprenorphine. Understanding barriers to offering buprenorphine in specialty substance use treatment settings is critical for expanding access to buprenorphine.

Time-to-completion of COVID-19 vaccination primary series varies by HIV viral load status among people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland.

People who inject drugs (PWID) may have diminished access to essential preventive services like COVID-19 vaccination given structural and substance use barriers. We aimed to assess the role of HIV on COVID-19 vaccination uptake among adult PWID participating in the ALIVE cohort study in Baltimore, Maryland who were alive as of April 2021. We abstracted COVID-19 vaccination data from electronic medical records via the regional health information exchange.

Beliefs and Attitudes about Vermont's Buprenorphine Decriminalization Law among Clinicians Who Prescribe Buprenorphine.

Background: On June 1, 2021, Vermont repealed all criminal penalties for possessing 224 milligrams or less of buprenorphine. We examined the potential impact of decriminalization with a survey of Vermont clinicians who prescribed buprenorphine within the past year.

Methods: All 638 Vermont clinicians with a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine were emailed the survey by Vermont Department of Health; 117 responded.

Trends in self-reported non-fatal overdose and patterns of substance use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a prospective cohort of adults who have injected drugs - Baltimore, Maryland, 2014-2022.

Background: Overdose deaths increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Less is known about drug use behavior changes during the same time period. We examined differences in non-fatal overdose and drug use behaviors before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in a community-recruited cohort of adults who have injected drugs.

Attitudes and beliefs about Vermont's 2021 buprenorphine decriminalization law among residents who use illicit opioids.

Background: In July 2021, Vermont removed all criminal penalties for possessing 224mg or less of buprenorphine.

Methods: Vermont residents (N=474) who used illicit opioid drugs or received treatment for opioid use disorder in the past 90 days were recruited for a mixed-methods survey on the health and criminal legal effects of decriminalization. Topics assessed included: motivations for using non-prescribed buprenorphine, awareness of and support for decriminalization, and criminal legal system experiences involving buprenorphine.

A noncanonical enzymatic function of PIWIL4 maintains genomic integrity and leukemic growth in AML.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) form a large and diverse class of factors, many members of which are overexpressed in hematologic malignancies. RBPs participate in various processes of messenger RNA (mRNA) metabolism and prevent harmful DNA:RNA hybrids or R-loops. Here, we report that PIWIL4, a germ stem cell-associated RBP belonging to the RNase H-like superfamily, is overexpressed in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is essential for leukemic stem cell function and AML growth, but dispensable for healthy human hematopoietic stem cells.

Association Between Hospital Adoption of an Emergency Department Treatment Pathway for Opioid Use Disorder and Patient Initiation of Buprenorphine After Discharge.

Importance: Emergency department (ED)-based initiation of buprenorphine has been shown to increase engagement in outpatient treatment and reduce the risk of subsequent opioid overdose; however, rates of buprenorphine treatment in the ED and follow-up care for opioid use disorder (OUD) remain low in the US. The Opioid Hospital Quality Improvement Program (O-HQIP), a statewide financial incentive program designed to increase engagement in OUD treatment for Medicaid-enrolled patients who have ED encounters, has the potential to increase ED-initiated buprenorphine treatment.

Objective: To evaluate the association between hospitals attesting to an ED buprenorphine treatment O-HQIP pathway and patients' subsequent initiation of buprenorphine treatment.

Simultaneous interrogation of multiple cores in a shape sensor fiber with a graded index fiber micro-turnaround.

A critical limitation for optical fiber sensor technology is the complexity of the interrogators used in such measurements, which has driven continued interest in enhanced optical fibers and fiber assemblies that will simplify interrogator design. In this work, we report on a novel multicore fiber shape sensor utilizing a distal graded index (GRIN) fiber micro-turnaround. We show that four offset cores of this fiber can be interrogated simultaneously with a single high performance optical frequency domain reflectometry measurement.

Mortality by cause of death during year 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic in a cohort of older adults from Baltimore Maryland who have injected drugs.

Background: In 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, overdose deaths increased. However, no studies have characterized changes in mortality during the pandemic in a well-characterized cohort of people who use drugs in active follow-up at the time of pandemic onset.

Design: We compared all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the first year of the pandemic (Mar-Dec 2020) to the five years preceding (Jan 2015-Feb 2020), among participants in the AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) study: a community-recruited cohort of adults from Baltimore who have injected drugs.

Leisure noise exposure and hearing outcomes among Canadians aged 6 to 79 years.

Objective: To examine the association between individual and cumulative leisure noise exposure in addition to acceptable yearly exposure (AYE) and hearing outcomes among a nationally representative sample of Canadians.

Design: Audiometry, distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) and in-person questionnaires were used to evaluate hearing and leisure noise exposure across age, sex, and household income/education level. High-risk cumulative leisure noise exposure was defined as 85 dBA or greater for 40 h or more per week, with AYE calculations also based on this occupational limit.

Effectiveness of an expert assessment and individualised treatment compared with a minimal home-based exercise program in women with late-term shoulder impairments after primary breast cancer surgery: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: In breast cancer patients, late-term upper limb sequelae, such as shoulder pain and impaired shoulder function, remain common after primary breast cancer surgery. The aim of this trial is to evaluate whether an expert assessment of shoulder impairments, followed by an individualised treatment plan, is superior to a minimal physiotherapeutic rehabilitation program in reducing shoulder symptoms, among women with late-term shoulder impairments after primary breast cancer.

Methods/design: The study is designed as a stratified, parallel-group, assessor-blinded, randomised, controlled trial conducted in Denmark; 130 participants with late-term shoulder impairments 3-7 years after primary surgery for breast cancer will be recruited.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Vaccination Status in a Community-Based Cohort of People Who Inject Drugs in Baltimore, Maryland, March-June 2021.

Objective: People who inject drugs are a population who are often unengaged with health care services. The objective of this study was to characterize COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake in a community-based sample of people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland.

Methods: The ALIVE study (AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience) in Baltimore is a community-based cohort study of people with a history of injection drug use.

Factors associated with self-reported avoidance of harm reduction services during the COVID-19 pandemic by people who use drugs in five cities in the United States and Canada.

Background: This study examines individual-level factors associated with avoiding two important health services for people who use drugs-medications for treatment of opioid use disorder and syringe service programs-during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Data come from two subsamples of people who use drugs who were active participants in one of nine cohort studies in Vancouver, British Columbia; Baltimore, Maryland; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; and Miami, Florida. Participants were interviewed remotely about COVID-19-associated disruptions to healthcare.

Adverse childhood experiences and comorbidity in a cohort of people who have injected drugs.

Background: Childhood adversity is associated with the onset of harmful adult substance use and related health problems, but most research on adversity has been conducted in general population samples. This study describes the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in a cohort of people who have injected drugs and examines the association of these adverse experiences with medical comorbidities in adulthood.

Methods: Six hundred fifty three adults were recruited from a 30-year cohort study on the health of people who have injected drugs living in and around Baltimore, Maryland (Median age = 47.

Effects of Family Nurture Intervention in the NICU on Theory of Mind Abilities in Children Born Very Preterm: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Preterm infants are at risk for socioemotional deficits, neurodevelopmental disorders, and potentially theory of mind (ToM) deficits. Preterm infants enrolled in a randomized controlled trial in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) received Standard Care (SC) or Family Nurture Intervention (FNI). Children (N = 72; median age 61.

Association of E484K Spike Protein Mutation With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection in Vaccinated Persons: Maryland, January-May 2021.

Among 9048 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 between January and May 2021 in Maryland, in regression-adjusted analysis, SARS-CoV-2 viruses carrying the spike protein mutation E484K were disproportionately prevalent among persons infected after full vaccination against COVID-19 compared with infected persons who were not fully vaccinated (aOR, 1.96; 95% CI: 1.36-2.