Prevalence and characteristics of group standardized letters of evaluation in emergency medicine: A cross-sectional observational study.

Background: The standardized letter of evaluation (SLOE) for emergency medicine (EM) is a well-established tool for residency selection. While previous work characterizes the utility and outcomes related to SLOE use, less is known about SLOE authorship patterns and trends.

Objective: The objective was to measure the prevalence of group SLOEs in EM over time, characterize the role groups represented in group SLOEs, and compare the rating practices of groups of authors versus single authors.

Decoding competitiveness: Exploring how emergency medicine faculty interpret standardized letters of evaluation.

Background: Given the importance of the standardized letter of evaluation (SLOE) for application to emergency medicine (EM) residency, it is important that SLOE developers and authors understand how reviewers determine SLOE competitiveness. To inform SLOE design and authorship, the authors set out to build a novel theory to explain how faculty holistically interpret SLOE competitiveness.

Methods: The authors used constructivist grounded theory to explore how EM faculty determine SLOE competitiveness.

Decoding Early Psychoses: Unraveling Stable Microstructural Features Associated With Psychopathology Across Independent Cohorts.

Background: Patients with early psychosis (EP) (within 3 years after psychosis onset) show significant variability, which makes predicting outcomes challenging. Currently, little evidence exists for stable relationships between neural microstructural properties and symptom profiles across EP diagnoses, which limits the development of early interventions.

Methods: A data-driven approach, partial least squares correlation, was used across 2 independent datasets to examine multivariate relationships between white matter properties and symptomatology and to identify stable and generalizable signatures in EP.

Hawks and Doves in Standardized Letters of Evaluation: 6 Years of Rating Distributions and Trends in Emergency Medicine.

Standardized Letters of Evaluation (SLOEs) are an important part of resident selection in many specialties. Often written by a group, such letters may ask writers to rate applicants in different domains. Prior studies have noted inflated ratings; however, the degree to which individual institutions are "doves" (higher rating) or "hawks" (lower rating) is unclear.

Decoding Early Psychoses: Unraveling Stable Microstructural Features Associated with Psychopathology Across Independent Cohorts.

Background: Early Psychosis patients (EP, within 3 years after psychosis onset) show significant variability, making outcome predictions challenging. Currently, little evidence exists for stable relationships between neural microstructural properties and symptom profiles across EP diagnoses, limiting the development of early interventions.

Methods: A data-driven approach, Partial Least Squares (PLS) correlation, was used across two independent datasets to examine multivariate relationships between white matter (WM) properties and symptomatology, to identify stable and generalizable signatures in EP.

Prognostic Value of BAP1 Protein Expression in Uveal Melanoma.

The prognostic value of the traditional pathologic parameters that form part of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system and genetic classifications using monosomy chromosome 3 and structural alterations in chromosome 8 are well established and are part of the diagnostic workup of uveal melanoma (UM). However, it has not been fully clarified whether nuclear protein expression of the tumor suppressor gene BAP1 (nBAP1) by immunohistochemistry alone is as powerful a predictor of overall survival (OS) and/or disease-specific survival (DSS) as chromosome analysis. The protein expression of nBAP1 was evaluated in a retrospective cohort study of 308 consecutive patients treated by primary enucleation between January 1974 and December 2022.

PET-measured human dopamine synthesis capacity and receptor availability predict trading rewards and time-costs during foraging.

Foraging behavior requires weighing costs of time to decide when to leave one reward patch to search for another. Computational and animal studies suggest that striatal dopamine is key to this process; however, the specific role of dopamine in foraging behavior in humans is not well characterized. We use positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to directly measure dopamine synthesis capacity and D and D receptor availability in 57 healthy adults who complete a computerized foraging task.

Computational approaches in rheumatic diseases - Deciphering complex spatio-temporal cell interactions.

Inflammatory arthritis, including rheumatoid (RA), and psoriatic (PsA) arthritis, are clinically and immunologically heterogeneous diseases with no identified cure. Chronic inflammation of the synovial tissue ushers loss of function of the joint that severely impacts the patient's quality of life, eventually leading to disability and life-threatening comorbidities. The pathogenesis of synovial inflammation is the consequence of compounded immune and stromal cell interactions influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

In vivo white matter microstructure in adolescents with early-onset psychosis: a multi-site mega-analysis.

Emerging evidence suggests brain white matter alterations in adolescents with early-onset psychosis (EOP; age of onset <18 years). However, as neuroimaging methods vary and sample sizes are modest, results remain inconclusive. Using harmonized data processing protocols and a mega-analytic approach, we compared white matter microstructure in EOP and healthy controls using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

The prevalence of undiagnosed postoperative lower limb lymphedema among gynecological oncology patients.

Objective: Lower limb lymphedema (LLL) is a common postoperative complication among gynecological oncology patients following lymph node resection. In the absence of a screening strategy, LLL is frequently diagnosed only through patient's self-reported symptoms. This study investigated the prevalence of undiagnosed postoperative LLL among gynecological oncology patients and identified the associated risk factors.

Clinical correlation but no elevation of striatal dopamine synthesis capacity in two independent cohorts of medication-free individuals with schizophrenia.

Dysregulation of dopamine systems has been considered a foundational driver of pathophysiological processes in schizophrenia, an illness characterized by diverse domains of symptomatology. Prior work observing elevated presynaptic dopamine synthesis capacity in some patient groups has not always identified consistent symptom correlates, and studies of affected individuals in medication-free states have been challenging to obtain. Here we report on two separate cohorts of individuals with schizophrenia spectrum illness who underwent blinded medication withdrawal and medication-free neuroimaging with [F]-FDOPA PET to assess striatal dopamine synthesis capacity.

Assessment of baseline rates of functional and absolute iron deficiency in bariatric surgery candidates: a retrospective study.

Background: Preoperative optimization of iron status is a priority in candidates for bariatric surgery. Inflammation is strongly associated with obesity, and as a consequence, functional iron deficiency (ID) is potentially an underreported issue in surgical candidates.

Objectives: In light of updated practice guidelines, to retrospectively review preoperative iron status in an Irish cohort of bariatric surgery candidates, taking account of the relative incidence rate of functional ID.

Polymorphism in the ZNF804A Gene and Variation in D and D/D Dopamine Receptor Availability in the Healthy Human Brain: A Dual Positron Emission Tomography Study.

Background: The rs1344706 single nucleotide polymorphism in the ZNF804A gene has been associated with risk for psychosis in multiple genome-wide association studies, yet mechanisms underlying this association are not known. Given preclinical work suggesting an impact of ZNF804A on dopamine receptor gene transcription and clinical studies establishing dopaminergic dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia, we hypothesized that the ZNF804A risk single nucleotide polymorphism would be associated with variation in dopamine receptor availability in the human brain.

Methods: In this study, 72 healthy individuals genotyped for rs1344706 completed both [F]fallypride and [C]NNC-112 positron emission tomography scans to measure D/D and D receptor availability, respectively.

Heritability of Functional Connectivity in Resting State: Assessment of the Dynamic Mean, Dynamic Variance, and Static Connectivity across Networks.

Recent efforts to evaluate the heritability of the brain's functional connectome have predominantly focused on static connectivity. However, evaluating connectivity changes across time can provide valuable insight about the inherent dynamic nature of brain function. Here, the heritability of Human Connectome Project resting-state fMRI data was examined to determine whether there is a genetic basis for dynamic fluctuations in functional connectivity.

Minimising Blood Stream Infection: Developing New Materials for Intravascular Catheters.

Catheter related blood stream infection is an ever present hazard for those patients requiring venous access and particularly for those requiring long term medication. The implementation of more rigorous care bundles and greater adherence to aseptic techniques have yielded substantial reductions in infection rates but the latter is still far from acceptable and continues to place a heavy burden on patients and healthcare providers. While advances in engineering design and the arrival of functional materials hold considerable promise for the development of a new generation of catheters, many challenges remain.

Relationships between intrinsic functional connectivity, cognitive control, and reading achievement across development.

There are vast individual differences in reading achievement between students. Besides structural and functional variability in domain-specific brain regions, these differences may partially be explained by the organization of domain-general functional brain networks. In the current study we used resting-state functional MRI data from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (PNC; N = 553; ages 8-22) to examine the relation between performance on a well-validated reading assessment task, the Wide Range Achievement Word Reading Test (WRAT-Reading) and patterns of functional connectivity.

The Emergency Medicine Group Standardized Letter of Evaluation as a Workplace-based Assessment: The Validity Is in the Detail.

Introduction: Interest is growing in specialty-specific assessments of student candidates based on clinical clerkship performance to assist in the selection process for postgraduate training. The most established and extensively used is the emergency medicine (EM) Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE), serving as a substitute for the letter of recommendation. Typically developed by a program's leadership, the group SLOE strives to provide a unified institutional perspective on performance.

When the Learner Is the Expert: A Simulation-Based Curriculum for Emergency Medicine Faculty.

Emergency physicians supervise residents performing rare clinical procedures, but they infrequently perform those procedures independently. Simulation offers a forum to practice procedural skills, but simulation labs often target resident learners, and barriers exist to faculty as learners in simulation-based training. Simulation-based curricula focused on improving emergency medicine (EM) faculty's rare procedure skills were not discovered on review of published literature.

Electrochemically Controlled Dissolution of Nanocarbon-Cellulose Acetate Phthalate Microneedle Arrays.

Transdermal microneedles have captured the attention of researchers in relation to a variety of applications, and silicone-based molds required to produce these systems are now widely available and can be readily manufactured on the lab bench. The production of nanocomposite microneedle arrays through micromolding techniques is described. The formulation of nanoparticulate carbon along with pH sensitive cellulose acetate phthalate as a polymeric binder is shown to produce conductive microneedles whose swelling/dissolution properties can be controlled electrochemically.

State-Dependent Functional Dysconnectivity in Youth With Psychosis Spectrum Symptoms.

Psychosis spectrum disorders are conceptualized as neurodevelopmental disorders accompanied by disruption of large-scale functional brain networks. Dynamic functional dysconnectivity has been described in patients with schizophrenia and in help-seeking individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. Less is known, about developmental aspects of dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) associated with psychotic symptoms (PS) in the general population.

Emergency Medicine Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE): Findings From the New Electronic SLOE Format.

Background: Emergency medicine (EM) uses a standardized template for residency application letters of recommendations. In 1997, the Standardized Letter of Recommendation was developed with categories for applicant comparison. Now named the Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE), it is a universal requirement in the EM residency application process.

genotype influences the gut microbiome structure and function in humans and mice: relevance for Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology.

Apolipoprotein E () genotype is the strongest prevalent genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Numerous studies have provided insights into the pathologic mechanisms. However, a comprehensive understanding of the impact of genotype on microflora speciation and metabolism is completely lacking.