Perspectives on supporting Veterans' social needs during hospital to home health transitions: findings from the Transitions Nurse Program.

Background: Veterans who need post-acute home health care (HHC) are at risk for adverse outcomes and unmet social needs. Veterans' social needs could be identified and met by community-based HHC clinicians due to their unique perspective from the home environment, acuity of Veterans they serve, and access to Veterans receiving community care. To understand these needs, we explored clinician, Veteran, and care partner perspectives to understand Veterans' social needs during the transition from hospital to home with skilled HHC.

Cluster-randomized implementation trial of two facilitation strategies to implement a novel information and communications technology at the Veterans Health Administration.

Background: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) improve quality and efficiency of healthcare, but effective practices for implementing new ICTs are unknown. From 2019 to 2021, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented FLOW3, an ICT that facilitates prosthetic limb care. The goal of this study was to compare the impact of two facilitation strategies on FLOW3 adoption, implementation, and sustainment.

The risk of chronic psychedelic and MDMA microdosing for valvular heart disease.

Psychedelic microdosing is the practice of taking very low doses of psychedelic substances, typically over a longer period of time. The long-term safety of chronic microdosing is relatively uncharacterized, but valvular heart disease (VHD) has been proposed as a potential risk due to activation of the serotonin 5-HT receptor. However, this risk has not yet been comprehensively assessed.

Barriers and facilitators to implementing medications for opioid use disorder and naloxone distribution in Veterans Affairs emergency departments.

Objectives: Safer opioid prescribing patterns, naloxone distribution, and medications for opioid use disorder (M-OUD) are an important part of decreasing opioid-related adverse events. Veterans are more likely to experience these adverse events compared to the general population. Despite treatment guidelines and ED-based opioid safety programs implemented throughout Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers, many Veterans with OUD do not receive these harm reduction interventions.

Informing Use of Telehealth for Managing Chronic Conditions: Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Telehealth Use to Manage Heart Failure During COVID-19.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic forced Veterans Health Administration facilities to rapidly adopt and deploy telehealth alternatives to provide continuity of care to veterans while minimizing physical contact. The impact of moving to virtual visits on patients with congestive heart failure (HF) is unknown. The goal of this study was to understand how patients with HF and their providers experienced the shift to telehealth for managing a chronic condition, and to inform best practices for continued telehealth use.

Neuron-Specific IMP2 Overexpression by Synapsin Promoter-Driven AAV9: A Tool to Study Its Role in Axon Regeneration.

Insulin-like growth factor II mRNA-binding protein (IMP) 2 is one of the three homologues (IMP1-3) that belong to a conserved family of mRNA-binding proteins. Its alternative splice product is aberrantly expressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma, and it is therefore identified as HCC. Previous works have indicated that IMP1/ZBP1 (zipcode binding protein) is critical in axon guidance and regeneration by regulating localization and translation of specific mRNAs.

Associations of Air Pollution and Pediatric Asthma in Cleveland, Ohio.

Air pollution has been associated with poor health outcomes and continues to be a risk factor for respiratory health in children. While higher particulate matter (PM) levels are associated with increased frequency of symptoms, lower lung function, and increase airway inflammation from asthma, the precise composition of the particles that are more highly associated with poor health outcomes or healthcare utilization are not fully elucidated. PM is measured quantifiably by current air pollution monitoring systems.

Out-of-Hospital Management of Diabetic Emergencies in Germany: Structural and Process Quality.

Aims: To collect and analyse representative data of structural and process quality in the management of diabetic emergencies in Germany in 2020.

Methods: A standardised questionnaire comprising detailed items concerning clinically relevant parameters on the structural and process quality of out-of-hospital management of diabetic emergencies was sent nationwide to medical directors of emergency medical service districts (EMSDs). Results were compared with those from a similar study conducted in 2001.

Conversations and Reactions Around Severe Hypoglycaemia (CRASH): Results from the German Cohort of a Global Survey of People with Type 1 Diabetes or Insulin-Treated Type 2 Diabetes and Caregivers.

Background: A global cross-sectional survey (CRASH) was designed to provide information about the experiences of people with diabetes (PWD) and their caregivers in relation to severe hypoglycaemic events.

Methods: Adults with type 1 diabetes or insulin-treated type 2 diabetes who had experienced one or more severe hypoglycaemic events within the past 3 years, and adult caregivers for such people, were recruited from medical research panels using purposive sampling. We present here results from Germany.

A rare concurrence of Muir-Torre-associated sebaceous carcinoma in the setting of a lipedematous scalp.

Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS) a genetic disorder characterized by predisposition to cutaneous neoplasms. Lipedematous scalp is characterized by the presentation of a thick, sponge-like scalp due to the altered and increased deposition of adipose tissue. We present a case of Muir-Torre-associated sebaceous carcinoma of the scalp consistent with a lipedematous scalp.

High-dose and low-dose varenicline for smoking cessation in adolescents: a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Although cigarette smoking typically begins in adolescence, evidence for successful pharmacological smoking cessation interventions for this population is scarce. In adult smokers, varenicline is the most effective single pharmacotherapy. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of varenicline for smoking cessation in adolescents.

Image-based lung functional radiotherapy planning for non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: This simulation study assessed the feasibility and impact of incorporating additional information from lung perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) into intensity-modulated radiotherapy planning for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: In this simulation study, data of 13 patients with stage I-III NSCLC previously treated by radio(chemo)therapy were used. The SPECT was fused together with radiotherapy planning CT.

Regulatory T cells mediate specific suppression by depleting peptide-MHC class II from dendritic cells.

Regulatory T cells (T cells) can activate multiple suppressive mechanisms in vitro after activation via the T cell antigen receptor, resulting in antigen-independent suppression. However, it remains unclear whether similar pathways operate in vivo. Here we found that antigen-specific T cells activated by dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with two antigens suppressed conventional naive T cells (T cells) specific for both cognate antigens and non-cognate antigens in vitro but suppressed only T cells specific for cognate antigen in vivo.

Postmortem Analysis of Vitreous Humor For Detection of Antemortem Disorders in Glucose Metabolism. An Old Method Revisited.

It has been estimated that 15% up to one third of cases of deaths due to diabetic ketoacidosis occur in individuals with so far unknown diabetes. Moreover, cardiac arrhythmias that occur during nocturnal hypoglycaemia include bradycardia and ectopics that may provoke lethal arrhythmias. As postmortem capillary glucose concentrations have no diagnostic value, the postmortem forensic proof of hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia remains a challenge.

Talimogene Laherparepvec (TVEC) for the Treatment of Advanced Melanoma: A Single-Institution Experience.

Background: Talimogene laherparepvec (TVEC) is an oncolytic herpes virus used as intralesional therapy for patients with unresectable stage IIIB through IV melanoma. We reviewed the standard of care treatment of TVEC at a single institution.

Methods: All patients treated with TVEC for advanced melanoma were retrospectively evaluated from 2015 to 2018.

Resection Margins in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Is a 1-cm Margin Wide Enough?

Background: Guidelines regarding specific resection margins for primary Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) are not well established. The current National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommend 1- to 2-cm resection margins. This study aimed to determine the impact of margin width on local recurrence (LR), disease-specific survival (DSS), overall survival (OS), and type of wound closure.

Self-reported Hypoglycaemic Events in 2 430 Patients with Insulin-treated Diabetes in the German Sub-population of the HAT Study.

Data concerning true hypoglycaemic incidence in insulin-treated patients with diabetes in real-world clinical practice are lacking in Germany. The aim of this analysis was to determine the incidence of hypoglycaemia experienced by the German cohort of patients enrolled in the global Hypoglycaemia Assessment Tool (HAT) study. This was a non-interventional, 6-month retrospective and 4-week prospective study using self-assessment questionnaires and patient diaries assessing patients aged ≥18 years in Germany, with type 1 diabetes (T1D) (n=811) or type 2 diabetes (T2D) (n=1 619) treated with insulin for >12 months.