Publications by authors named "Heron M"

Objective: To evaluate erosive pathological lesions on a skeleton from medieval Transylvania.

Materials: A skeleton from a Székely archaeological site in Transylvania was examined and radiocarbon dated to Cal 1300 CE - 1415 CE.

Methods: The skeletal remains were examined macroscopically and with radiographic imaging.

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Background: This study aims to evaluate the readability, quality, and reliability of online resources about peripheral nerve surgeries to determine if they meet recommended literacy standards.

Methods: We analyzed a total of 137 peripheral nerve surgery website by performing a Google search using the search terms "nerve transfer," "nerve repair," "nerve graft," "nerve decompression," "neurolysis," "targeted muscle reinnervation," "regenerative peripheral nerve interface," and "vascularized denervated muscle target." The reading level of the website text was assessed using Simple Measures of Gobbledygook, Flesch-Kincaid, and Gunning Fog.

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Objectives: Breathlessness affects a significant proportion of patients in palliative care. This Quality Improvement Project aimed to develop a patient self-management resource, Living with Breathlessness, and to assess its impact on healthcare professionals' confidence in non-pharmacological management of breathlessness.

Methods: Using a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, a multi-professional team developed the resource based on staff suggestions.

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Article Synopsis
  • Early management of craniosynostosis often requires surgical intervention, but there are limited three-dimensional (3D) educational tools available for caregivers.
  • This study evaluates the effectiveness of 3D animated videos in improving caregivers' understanding of craniosynostosis anatomy and surgical options.
  • Results showed that caregivers' self-rated understanding and knowledge scores significantly increased after watching the videos, suggesting that this method could enhance educational approaches for surgeons working with craniosynostosis cases.
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  • The study looked at different testing methods for diagnosing Lyme disease, focusing on two strategies: standard (STTT) and modified (MTTT).
  • Both testing strategies were used on patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) and Lyme arthritis (LA) to see how well they worked.
  • The results showed that the modified strategy was slightly better in finding Lyme disease without losing accuracy, making it a good choice for doctors to use.
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  • Fractional laser therapy is effective for improving skin texture and quality of life for patients with traumatic scars, but there are concerns about its declining insurance coverage.
  • A study examined policies from 60 major American health insurers and found only a minority (18.3%) covered scar revision with laser therapy, while 13.8% of claims from one institution were denied.
  • Over the study period from 2017 to 2022, there was a 14.5% annual decrease in the likelihood of getting reimbursement for this treatment, highlighting the need for better strategies to maintain patient access.
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Background: Immunotherapy has transformed breast cancer management. However, it can be challenging to remain familiar with the adverse events, contraindications, and perioperative recommendations for each agent.

Methods: We used FDALabel to identify all Food and Drug Administration-approved immunotherapies indicated for the treatment of breast cancer.

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Objective: This study evaluates the geospatial distribution of cleft lip and/or cleft palate (CL/P) care in the United States, assesses disparities between families with and without one-hour proximity to CL/P care, and recommends interventions for improving access.

Design: We identified American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association-approved CL/P teams and calculated a one-hour driving radius around each clinic. We then used census data to compare risk factors for developing cleft (i.

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Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients benefit from craniofacial reconstruction, but no clear guidance exists for rehabilitation timing. This meta-analysis aims to clarify the impact of oncologic treatment order on implant survival. An algorithm to guide placement sequence is also proposed in this paper.

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Background: Tissue expansion has been widely used to reconstruct soft tissue defects following burn injuries in pediatric patients, allowing for satisfactory cosmetic and functional outcomes. Factors impacting the success of tissue expander (TE)-based reconstruction in these patients are poorly understood. Herein, we aim to determine the risk factors for postoperative complications following TE-based reconstruction in pediatric burn patients.

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Objectives: This paper evaluates 16 year results of the Allergy EQA program shared by EQA organisers in Belgium, Finland, Portugal, and The Netherlands.

Methods: The performance of Thermo Fisher and Siemens user groups (in terms of concordance between both groups, between laboratory CV, prevalence of clinically significant errors) and suitability of samples (stability and validity of dilution of patient samples) are evaluated using data of 192 samples in the EQA programs from 2007 to 2022. Measurands covered are total IgE, screens and mixes, specific IgE extracts and allergen components.

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Background: Autologous fat grafting is a widely adopted approach to optimize outcomes in breast reconstruction and augmentation. Although fat necrosis is a well-known consequence of autologous fat grafting, it remains inconsistently defined in the literature. In late 2014, the Food and Drug Administration released a draft guidance to restrict future autologous fat grafting-a statement that was permissively modified in late 2017.

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Cellular immune responses are of pivotal importance to understand SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) interferon-γ release assay with wild-type spike, membrane and nucleocapsid peptide pools, we longitudinally characterized functional SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cell responses in a cohort of patients with mild, moderate and severe COVID-19. All patients were included before emergence of the Omicron (B.

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Therapeutic relaxations, as psycho-corporal practices, weave the body-mind links. The relaxation partnership, a structured and flexible approach, is inspired by the same principle, by specifically remodeling the relational positions and postures of professionals and users. It responds to precise indications and contraindications and is proposed to the patient in an individual or group approach.

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Infection with the novel pandemic SARS-CoV-2 virus has been shown to elicit a cross-reactive immune response that could lead to a back-boost of memory recall to previously encountered seasonal (endemic) coronaviruses (eCoVs). Whether this response is associated with a fatal clinical outcome in patients with severe COVID-19 remains unclear. In a cohort of hospitalized patients, we have previously shown that heterologous immune responses to eCoVs can be detected in severe COVID-19.

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Quantitative measures are available for adult videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) analysis but are yet to be seen routinely in clinical practice. This study explores agreement between traditional observational analysis and quantitative analysis, and the impact of analytical approaches on subsequent diagnosis and recommendations. One hundred adults referred for VFSSs with swallowing concerns were administered a standardised VFSS protocol.

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Background: The evolution of smoking rates according to migrant status has not been examined in France, despite a recent reduction in overall smoking rates.

Methods: DePICT is a two waves (2016: n = 4356; 2017: n = 4114) nationwide telephone survey, representative of the French adult population. We compared smoking-related behaviors before and after implementation of tobacco-control measures (2017), according to the geographical region of birth.

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Digestion with restriction enzymes is a classical approach for probing DNA accessibility in chromatin. It allows to monitor both the cut and the uncut fraction and thereby the determination of accessibility or occupancy (= 1 - accessibility) in absolute terms as the percentage of cut or uncut molecules, respectively, out of all molecules. The protocol presented here takes this classical approach to the genome-wide level.

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During maze navigation rats can rely on hippocampus-mediated place memory or striatum-mediated response memory. Ovarian hormones bias whether females use place or response memory to reach a reward. Here, we investigated the impact of the contraceptive hormones, ethinyl estradiol (EE) and levonorgestrel (LNG), on memory bias.

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Death rates in the United States are higher in rural than urban areas, and the difference has grown over the last 2 decades (1). Death rates for all of the 10 leading causes of death in 2019 were higher in rural than urban areas (1). In 2020, deaths due to COVID-19 became the third leading cause of death in the United States (2).

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Effective vaccination is a key element in the exit strategy from the current severe acute respiratory syndrome-CoV coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, and may also offer protection against severe disease from future variants of concern. Here, we prospectively monitored T-cell responses over time, using ELISpot interferon-γ (INF-y) release assays, and B-cell responses, using serological tests, after vaccination and booster with BioNTech/Pfizer mRNA (Pfizer) and Janssen vector (Janssen/Johnson & Johnson) vaccines in hospital health care workers. Vaccine recipients were divided into seropositive and seronegative individuals at baseline, in order to determine the effect of natural immunity on vaccine-induced immune kinetics.

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