Tongue-tie in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Compared to Healthy Newborns.

Objective: We sought to characterize the prevalence of ankyloglossia in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) population and to determine characteristics of this cohort compared to infants in the birth center (BC).

Methods: Prospective data were collected using a standardized flow sheet. Breastfeeding infants undergoing evaluation for tongue-tie in the BC and NICU were included.

The Effects of Fault-Zone Cementation on Groundwater Flow at the Field Scale.

Fault zones are an important control on fluid flow, affecting groundwater supply, contaminant migration, and carbon storage. However, most models of fault seal do not consider fault zone cementation, despite the recognition that it is common and can dramatically reduce permeability. In order to study the field-scale hydrogeologic effects of fault zone cementation, we conducted a series of aquifer pumping tests in wells installed within tens of meters of the variably cemented Loma Blanca Fault, a normal fault in the Rio Grande Rift.

Effects of Kainic Acid-Induced Auditory Nerve Damage on Envelope-Following Responses in the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus).

Sensorineural hearing loss is a prevalent problem that adversely impacts quality of life by compromising interpersonal communication. While hair cell damage is readily detectable with the clinical audiogram, this traditional diagnostic tool appears inadequate to detect lost afferent connections between inner hair cells and auditory nerve (AN) fibers, known as cochlear synaptopathy. The envelope-following response (EFR) is a scalp-recorded response to amplitude modulation, a critical acoustic feature of speech.

"They didn't give up on me": a women's transitions clinic from the perspective of re-entering women.

Background: Women recently released from incarceration have increased rates of co-occurring substance use, physical health, and mental health disorders. During re-entry, they face challenges navigating needed health services and social services stemming from these problems. Women's Initiative Supporting Health Transitions Clinic (WISH-TC) is a primary care program that facilitates treatment access for re-entering women.

Outcomes among pregnant recently incarcerated women attending a reentry transitions clinic.

This mixed methods retrospective case series and qualitative descriptive study describes pregnancy outcomes during the postincarceration period. A retrospective case series via electronic medical record chart review from a subset of women attending a postincarceration primary care clinic with a condition of interest (pregnancy) described demographics, substance use, diagnoses, and pregnancy outcomes. We compared 27 pregnant to 79 nonpregnant women and contextualized quantitative data with qualitative descriptive vignettes.

IDENTIFYING PREDICTORS OF SUBSTANCE USE AND RECIDIVISM OUTCOME TRAJECTORIES AMONG DRUG TREATMENT COURT CLIENTS.

Drug treatment court (DTC) is a diversion program for individuals with drug-related crimes. However, the DTC literature is conflicting with regard to substance use and recidivism outcomes. This study examines factors associated with improved client outcome trajectories among a multisite, national DTC sample.

Does a Primary Health Clinic for Formerly Incarcerated Women Increase Linkage to Care?

Objective: This study examined a primary care-based program to address the health needs of women recently released from incarceration by facilitating access to primary medical, mental health, and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.

Study Design: Peer community health workers recruited women released from incarceration within the past 9 months into the Women's Initiative Supporting Health Transitions Clinic (WISH-TC). Located within an urban academic medical center, WISH-TC uses cultural, gender, and trauma-specific strategies grounded in the self-determination theory of motivation.

"Our commonality is our past:" a qualitative analysis of re-entry community health workers' meaningful experiences.

Background: Re-entry community health workers (CHWs) are individuals who connect diverse community residents at risk for chronic health issues such as Hepatitis C virus and cardiovascular disease with post-prison healthcare and re-entry services. While the utilization of CHWs has been documented in other marginalized populations, there is little knowledge surrounding the work of re-entry CHWs with individuals released from incarceration. Specifically, CHWs' experiences and perceptions of the uniqueness of their efforts to link individuals to healthcare have not been documented systematically.

Meeting health and psychological needs of women in drug treatment court.

We explored healthcare-related experiences of women drug court participants through combining context from the socio-ecological model with motivation needs for health behavior as indicated by self-determination theory. Five focus groups with 8 women drug court participants, 8 court staff, and 9 community service providers were examined using qualitative framework analysis. Themes emerged across the socio-ecological model and were cross-mapped with self-determination theory-defined motivation needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence.

Institutional variation in the surgical treatment of breast cancer: a study of the NCCN.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between supply of subspecialty care and type of procedure preferentially performed for early stage breast cancer.

Background: Three surgical options exist for early stage breast cancer: (1) breast conserving surgery (BCS), (2) mastectomy with reconstruction (RECON), and (3) mastectomy alone. Current guidelines recommend that surgical treatment decisions should be based on patient preference if a patient is eligible for all 3.

Concordance with NCCN Colorectal Cancer Guidelines and ASCO/NCCN Quality Measures: an NCCN institutional analysis.

Background: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Outcomes Database was created to assess concordance to evidence- and consensus-based guidelines and to measure adherence to quality measures on an ongoing basis. The Colorectal Cancer Database began in 2005 as a collaboration among 8 NCCN centers.

Methods: Newly diagnosed colon and rectal cancer patients presenting to 1 of 8 NCCN centers between September 1, 2005, and May 21, 2008, were eligible for analysis of concordance with NCCN treatment guidelines for colorectal cancer and with a set of quality metrics jointly developed by ASCO and NCCN in 2007.

Factors associated with guideline-concordant use of radiotherapy after mastectomy in the national comprehensive cancer network.

Purpose: We examined the rates and determinants of appropriate and inappropriate use of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT), as defined by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) practice guidelines, among women with Stage I-II breast cancer (American Joint Committee on Cancer, 5th edition).

Methods And Materials: Using clinical characteristics, 1,620 consecutive patients at eight NCCN institutions who had undergone mastectomy between July 1997 and June 2002 were classified into three cohorts according to whether the guidelines (1) recommended PMRT, (2) recommended against PMRT, or (3) made no definitive PMRT recommendation. We defined the absence of PMRT in the first cohort as underuse and receipt of PMRT in the second cohort as overuse.

Comparing outcomes of cataract surgery: challenges and opportunities.

Background: There is an increasing demand for routine assessment of surgical outcomes. However, for assessments to be valid, it is essential to understand the influence of patient characteristics on outcomes. The VF-14 visual function instrument offers a possible means of monitoring outcomes of cataract surgery.

Trends in breast cancer presentation and care according to age in a single institution.

Background: This study sought to determine the differences in presentation and treatment of young women (< or =40 years of age) with breast cancer.

Methods: A prospective database was analyzed for differences in presentation and care in breast cancer patients < or =40 and >40 years of age.

Results: The study group consisted of 1685 women.

Numerical implementation of a backward probabilistic model of ground water contamination.

Backward location and travel time probabilities can be used to characterize known and unknown sources or prior positions of ground water contamination. Backward location probability describes the position of the observed contamination at some time in the past; backward travel time probability describes the amount of time prior to observation that the contamination was released from its source or was at a particular upgradient location. The governing equation for backward probabilities is the adjoint of the governing equation for contaminant transport, but with new load terms.

Backward location and travel time probabilities for a decaying contaminant in an aquifer.

Backward location and travel time probabilities can be used to determine the prior position of contamination in an aquifer. These probabilities, which are related to adjoint states of concentration, can be used to improve characterization of known sources of groundwater contamination, to identify previously unknown contamination sources, and to delineate capture zones. The first contribution of this paper is to extend the adjoint model to the case of a decaying solute (first-order decay), and to describe two different interpretations of backward probabilities.