Publications by authors named "Karen Shmelev"

Purpose: Imposter phenomenon refers to feelings of inadequacy due to inability to internalize evident success. While high achievers such as physicians have been known to exhibit imposter phenomenon, there is limited literature specific to radiologists. Our purpose was to (1) investigate imposter phenomenon in radiologists and assess correlation with burnout, and (2) pilot an intervention aimed at addressing imposter phenomenon through improvisational theater techniques.

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Chronic venous insufficiency is a common and treatable medical condition which has a high morbidity if left untreated, progressing to lower extremity edema, skin changes of lipodermatosclerosis, and venous ulceration. Treatment options have significantly expanded over the last several decades, shifting away from the traditional surgical approach to more minimally invasive procedures such as endoluminal venous laser ablation or radiofrequency ablation. Even more recently, several techniques using nonthermal methods to ablate varicose veins have been developed, which offer the advantage of not requiring labor-intensive and painful tumescent anesthesia to protect the surrounding tissues.

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Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of prior unilateral chest wall radiotherapy on reconstructive outcomes among patients undergoing bilateral immediate breast reconstruction.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of patients with a history of unilateral chest wall radiotherapy was performed. In each patient, the previously irradiated and reconstructed breast was compared to the contralateral nonirradiated side, which served as an internal control.

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We present a simple and effective method to obtain refined control of the molecular structure of silk biomaterials through physical temperature-controlled water vapor annealing (TCWVA). The silk materials can be prepared with control of crystallinity, from a low content using conditions at 4 °C (α helix dominated silk I structure), to highest content of ∼60% crystallinity at 100 °C (β-sheet dominated silk II structure). This new physical approach covers the range of structures previously reported to govern crystallization during the fabrication of silk materials, yet offers a simpler, green chemistry, approach with tight control of reproducibility.

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