The Impact of Prior Authorization on Clinical Practice and Patient Care Outcomes: A Work Group Report of the AAAAI Prior Authorization Task Force.

The Prior Authorization Task Force of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), a presidential initiative of David Khan, MD, FAAAI, was established to develop an AAAAI position statement outlining ways to improve health care for our patients, to support legislation that advocates for prior authorization (PA) reform and identify the impact PA has on its membership using a questionnaire survey. This article describes the results of this survey. An electronic anonymous survey questionnaire was developed to assess the impact and burden of PA on AAAAI members and their staff and patients.

Machine learning seizure prediction: one problematic but accepted practice.

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders and can have a devastating effect on a person's quality of life. As such, the search for markers which indicate an upcoming seizure is a critically important area of research which would allow either on-demand treatment or early warning for people suffering with these disorders. There is a growing body of work which uses machine learning methods to detect pre-seizure biomarkers from electroencephalography (EEG), however the high prediction rates published do not translate into the clinical setting.

Hybrid Synthetic and Computational Study of an Optimized, Solvent-Free Approach to Curcuminoids.

A green and optimized protocol has been developed for the preparation of symmetric 1,7-bis(aryl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-diones and asymmetric 2-aryl-6-arylidenecyclohexanones with modified substrate scope and good functional group tolerance. Syntheses proceed smoothly under solvent-free conditions, providing moderate to excellent product yields with a minimal workup procedure. Control experiments, spectroscopic, and computational studies support a mechanism involving the boron-assisted in situ generation of imine intermediates.

Preventive Treatment of Hereditary Angioedema: A Review of Phase III Clinical Trial Data for Subcutaneous C1 Inhibitor and Relevance for Patient Management.

Purpose: Hereditary angioedema (HAE), most often caused by a genetically mediated deficiency in the activity of C1 inhibitor (C1INH) protein, is characterized clinically by recurrent episodes of localized swelling without wheals. HAE attacks can be painful, debilitating, and even fatal, resulting in physical discomfort, emotional stress, and interruptions of work, school, and/or social activities, all of which can affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Subcutaneous C1INH (C1INH[SC]) is recommended as a first-line option for long-term prophylaxis (LTP) in HAE.

Assessment of Disparities Associated With a Crisis Standards of Care Resource Allocation Algorithm for Patients in 2 US Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: Significant concern has been raised that crisis standards of care policies aimed at guiding resource allocation may be biased against people based on race/ethnicity.

Objective: To evaluate whether unanticipated disparities by race or ethnicity arise from a single institution's resource allocation policy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study included adults (aged ≥18 years) who were cared for on a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ward or in a monitored unit requiring invasive or noninvasive ventilation or high-flow nasal cannula between May 26 and July 14, 2020, at 2 academic hospitals in Miami, Florida.

Dental visits in Medicaid-enrolled youth with mental illness: an analysis of administrative claims data.

Background: State Medicaid plans across the United States provide dental insurance coverage to millions of young persons with mental illness (MI), including those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. There are significant oral health challenges associated with MI, and providing dental care to persons with MI while they are young provides a foundation for future oral health. However, little is known about the factors associated with the receipt of dental care in young Medicaid enrollees with MI.

Evaluation of electrical properties of ex vivo human hepatic tissue with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Objective: To probe the distribution of electrical properties in tumor-bearing human hepatic tissues with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Approach: Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and a non-contact electromagnetic probe were used for distinguishing spatial heterogeneities in fresh, unfixed human hepatic tissues ex vivo from patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC).

Main Results: Point-wise EIS measurements reported over a frequency range of 100 Hz-1 MHz showed that the interface tissue between visible tumor and normal tissue exhibits an electrically different domain (p < 0.

Academic and Community Partnerships: Increasing Access Through Collaborative Care.

Access to quality dental care for many adults and children remains a serious concern. Many communities throughout the U.S.

Reactions of Germylenes and Stannylenes with Halo(hydrocarbyl)- and Chloro(amino)phosphines: Oxidative Addition versus Ligand Transfer.

Oxidative addition (OA) is an important elementary step in chemistry, but it has been studied mainly in the context of transition-metal-catalyzed reactions and mainly with carbon-X substrates (X = halogen, H). Reports of main-group metal compounds undergoing OA are rare by comparison, and those involving phosphorus-halogen substrates are rarer still. Acyclic and cyclic diazagermylenes and -stannylenes react with chloro(hydrocarbyl)phosphines with the intermediacy of oxidative addition products.

Effects of Omalizumab on Rhinovirus Infections, Illnesses, and Exacerbations of Asthma.

Rationale: Allergic inflammation has been linked to increased susceptibility to viral illnesses, but it is unclear whether this association is causal.

Objectives: To test whether omalizumab treatment to reduce IgE would shorten the frequency and duration of rhinovirus (RV) illnesses in children with allergic asthma.

Methods: In the PROSE (Preventative Omalizumab or Step-up Therapy for Severe Fall Exacerbations) study, we examined children with allergic asthma (aged 6-17 yr; n = 478) from low-income census tracts in eight U.

Can we predict fall asthma exacerbations? Validation of the seasonal asthma exacerbation index.

Background: A Seasonal Asthma Exacerbation Predictive Index (saEPI) was previously reported based on 2 prior National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Inner City Asthma Consortium trials.

Objective: This study sought to validate the saEPI in a separate trial designed to prevent fall exacerbations with omalizumab therapy.

Methods: The saEPI and its components were analyzed to characterize those who had an asthma exacerbation during the Preventative Omalizumab or Step-Up Therapy for Fall Exacerbations (PROSE) study.

Non-contact method for directing electrotaxis.

We present a method to induce electric fields and drive electrotaxis (galvanotaxis) without the need for electrodes to be in contact with the media containing the cell cultures. We report experimental results using a modification of the transmembrane assay, demonstrating the hindrance of migration of breast cancer cells (SCP2) when an induced a.c.

Discrepancies between direct catheter and echocardiography-based values in aortic stenosis.

Objectives: The goal of this article is to examine the correlation of catheter (cath) based and echocardiographic assessment of aortic stenosis (AS) in a community-based academic hospital setting, particularly in the degree that decision to refer for surgery is altered.

Background: Current guidelines discourage AS evaluation by invasive pressure measurement if echocardiography (echo) is adequate, but several studies show sizable differences between echo and cardiac catheterization lab (CCL) measurements. We examine this correlation using high quality CCL techniques.

Racial disparities in diabetes mortality in the 50 most populous US cities.

While studies have consistently shown that in the USA, non-Hispanic Blacks (Blacks) have higher diabetes prevalence, complication and death rates than non-Hispanic Whites (Whites), there are no studies that compare disparities in diabetes mortality across the largest US cities. This study presents and compares Black/White age-adjusted diabetes mortality rate ratios (RRs), calculated using national death files and census data, for the 50 most populous US cities. Relationships between city-level diabetes mortality RRs and 12 ecological variables were explored using bivariate correlation analyses.

Public health program planning logic model for community engaged type 2 diabetes management and prevention.

Diabetes remains a growing epidemic with widening health inequity gaps in disease management, self-management knowledge, access to care and outcomes. Yet there is a paucity of evaluation tools for community engaged interventions aimed at closing the gaps and improving health. The Guide to Community Preventive Services (the Community Guide) developed by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services (the Task Force) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends two healthcare system level interventions, case management interventions and disease management programs, to improve glycemic control.

Heavier carbene analogues and their derivatives as κ-El, κ2-El,N, and κ2-N,N' ligands: different reactivity patterns for acyclic and cyclic diamidogermylenes and -stannylenes.

Because of the increasing importance of N-heterocyclic carbenes in organometallic chemistry we investigated the ligand properties of structurally-related acyclic and cyclic heavier carbene analogues with transition metal chlorides. Acyclic {(Me(3)Si)(2)N}(2)El, El = Ge and Sn, react with CuCl with transfer of one (Me(3)Si)(2)N ligand to yield the known copper tetramer {(Me(3)Si)(2)NCu}(4). The cyclic Me(2)Si(μ-N(t)Bu)(2)Ge, by contrast, binds copper through germanium only, furnishing a tetranuclear ladder structure with both terminal and bridging germylenes.

To fight bad suga', or diabetes, my neighborhood needs more health educators.

A health researcher who's seen the devastation in his poor Chicago community calls for national prevention programs that place these workers at the core.

Minority dental faculty development: responsibility and challenge.

Over at least the last twenty years, the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) has given attention and priority to increasing the number of underrepresented minority (URM) dental school applicants, enrollees, and faculty members and to meeting the challenges of achieving diversity in the oral health workforce of the future as racial and ethnic minorities continue to grow and are expected to comprise more than 50 percent of the U.S. population by the middle of the twenty-first century.

Once-weekly oral alendronate 70 mg in patients with glucocorticoid-induced bone loss: a 12-month randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Objective: Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis is the most common iatrogenic form of osteoporosis. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of once-weekly bisphosphonate therapy for prevention and treatment of bone loss in patients on glucocorticoid therapy.

Methods: We conducted a 12-month, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 114 and 59 patients in the treatment and placebo arms, respectively.

Alendronate/vitamin D3 70 mg/2800 IU with and without additional 2800 IU vitamin D3 for osteoporosis: results from the 24-week extension of a 15-week randomized, controlled trial.

Although vitamin D supplementation is a fundamental part of osteoporosis treatment, many patients do not regularly take adequate amounts. A once-weekly (OW) alendronate (ALN) preparation that includes 2800 IU of vitamin D3 in a single combination tablet (ALN+D2800) is available for treating patients and ensuring intake of vitamin D that is consistent with existing guidelines. This randomized, double-blind study extension was conducted to evaluate the safety and tolerability of ALN+D2800 and ALN+D2800 plus an additional 2800 IU vitamin D3 single tablet supplement (ALN+D5600) administered for 24 weeks in men and postmenopausal women with osteoporosis previously treated OW for 15 weeks with either ALN or ALN+D2800.

Safety and tolerability of ertapenem versus ceftriaxone in a double-blind study performed in children with complicated urinary tract infection, community-acquired pneumonia or skin and soft-tissue infection.

The carbapenem antibiotic ertapenem has been shown to be safe, well tolerated and effective in treating adults with complicated urinary tract infection, skin and soft-tissue infection and community-acquired pneumonia. In this study, we evaluated ertapenem for treating these infections in children in a randomised, double-blind, active-controlled clinical trial. The primary outcome was the incidence of clinical and laboratory drug-related serious adverse events (AEs).

Spontaneous coronary dissection in late pregnancy: a multidisciplinary approach to management.

Spontaneous coronary dissection is a rare but potentially life-threatening condition. It often occurs in late pregnancy and may pose significant risks for the patient and the fetus. Its cause remains uncertain, and established guidelines for management have not been developed.

Ertapenem or ticarcillin/clavulanate for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections or acute pelvic infections in pediatric patients.

Background: Ertapenem, a group I carbapenem antibiotic, has been shown to be safe and effective in treating adults with complicated intra-abdominal (cIAI) or acute pelvic infection (API). This study evaluated ertapenem for treating these infections in children.

Methods: In an open-label study, children aged 2 to 17 years with cIAI or API were randomized 3:1 to receive ertapenem or ticarcillin/clavulanate.