Publications by authors named "Katherine Liu"

Due to much of medical training being inpatient centered, medical trainees generally do more pre-rounding on a per-patient basis than they do complete histories and physical exams (H&Ps). However, formal training often overlooks pre-rounding as a critical aspect of medical education and patient care, with at least 10 times more publications on H&Ps than on any other aspect of rounding over the past half-century. To address this critical gap in medical education, we introduce the "Lesss PAINFUL" pre-rounding mnemonic, emphasizing the importance of efficient pre-rounding for medical students or other trainees.

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Although rare, internal hernias have an increased incidence of development in patients who have undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. They are difficult to diagnose given their non-specific presentation and lack of externally visible findings, and most cases develop within a few months of the original procedure. In this case report, we present a patient with recent weight loss who developed an internal hernia decades post-bariatric surgery with computed tomography findings showing the classic "mesenteric swirl" sign.

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Background: CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T therapy) has revolutionized the treatment of hematologic malignancies. As these cells target CD19 receptors on B cells, there is the potential for B-cell aplasia and hypogammaglobulinemia. Data on the degree and clinical significance of hypogammaglobulinemia are sparse.

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Transcriptional effectors are protein domains known to activate or repress gene expression; however, a systematic understanding of which effector domains regulate transcription across genomic, cell type and DNA-binding domain (DBD) contexts is lacking. Here we develop dCas9-mediated high-throughput recruitment (HT-recruit), a pooled screening method for quantifying effector function at endogenous target genes and test effector function for a library containing 5,092 nuclear protein Pfam domains across varied contexts. We also map context dependencies of effectors drawn from unannotated protein regions using a larger library tiling chromatin regulators and transcription factors.

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Ammonia is a ubiquitous, toxic by-product of cell metabolism. Its high membrane permeability and proton affinity cause ammonia to accumulate inside acidic lysosomes in its poorly membrane-permeant form: ammonium (NH). Ammonium buildup compromises lysosomal function, suggesting the existence of mechanisms that protect cells from ammonium toxicity.

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Although scar outcomes in rhytidectomy are crucial to patients and surgeons alike, there is a lack of consensus on incision techniques for optimizing rhytidectomy scars. A comprehensive scoping review of the literature was performed on rhytidectomy incision techniques and associated scar outcomes.The PRISMA protocol was utilized to conduct a scoping review of the literature through MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Science Citation Index databases to identify articles discussing rhytidectomy incision techniques and scar outcomes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Breast cancer becomes invasive when carcinoma cells break through the basement membrane (BM), a barrier that separates the tumor from surrounding tissue.
  • Researchers created a 3D model to study how multiple cancer cells invade the BM collectively, finding that they use a combination of proteases and mechanical forces without relying on invadopodia.
  • The study reveals that the invasion process involves both the expansion of cell volume, which stretches the BM, and local forces that help breach it, highlighting a key mechanism in cancer metastasis.
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Background: The link between post-operative narcotic prescription and opioid misuse has spurred a nationwide effort to reduce perioperative opioid use. Previous work has suggested that perioperative gabapentin may reduce post-operative pain and opioid consumption across different procedures, although the optimal regimen remains to be defined.

Methods: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) with or without septoplasty were randomized to receive a 7-day pre- and post-operative course of placebo or gabapentin, starting at 300 mg daily and titrated to 300 mg three times daily, in a double-blind fashion.

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Objectives: To determine the utility of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) fluorescence for resection of head and neck carcinoma.

Methods: In this prospective pilot trial, 5-ALA was administered as an oral suspension 3-5 h prior to induction of anesthesia for resection of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Following resection, 405 nm blue light was applied, and fluorescence of the tumor as well as the surgical bed was recorded.

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Ammonia is a ubiquitous, toxic by-product of cell metabolism. Its high membrane permeability and proton affinity causes ammonia to accumulate inside acidic lysosomes in its poorly membrane-permeant form: ammonium (NH ). Ammonium buildup compromises lysosomal function, suggesting the existence of mechanisms that protect cells from ammonium toxicity.

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Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid (O3FA) supplementation in the treatment of COVID-related olfactory dysfunction (OD).

Methods: Patients with laboratory-confirmed or clinically-suspected COVID-19 infection and new-onset OD from August 2020 to November 2021 were prospectively recruited. Patients with quantitative OD, defined as a brief smell identification test (BSIT) score of 9 or less, were eligible for study inclusion.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the early stages of tumor formation, focusing on the genetic inactivation of TP53 in gastric organoids, which mimics human pre-cancerous conditions.
  • Researchers used experimental evolution over two years to observe how TP53 loss led to genetic changes and aneuploidy, common in gastric cancers.
  • Findings suggest that the initial stages of tumor development show predictable patterns, indicating potential strategies for early detection and prevention of aggressive tumors.
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Background: Environmental health represents the concept that a stable climate and clean environment are fundamental prerequisites for good human health. Despite growing awareness of the impact of climate change more broadly, knowledge of environmental health has not fully entered mainstream medicine in the United States.

Objective: To understand practicing hospitalists' perspectives regarding the current and future roles of environmental health within the practice of hospital medicine, as well as existing barriers and potential motivators to its further inclusion.

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Background: Preoperative corticosteroids have been shown to improve surgical visibility and intraoperative blood loss for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). However, there is no consensus on the optimal dosing regimen.

Methods: A randomized, controlled trial was conducted to compare low, medium, and high dose corticosteroids prior to ESS.

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Purpose: Postoperative monitoring of respiratory status on general care wards typically consists of intermittent checks of oxyhemoglobin saturation and respiratory rate, allowing substantial unmonitored time for severe opioid induced respiratory depression (RD) to develop unnoticed. Oxygen desaturation index (ODI) can be computed solely by continuous pulse oximetry monitoring. In this post-hoc analysis, we evaluate whether nocturnal ODI correlates with RD.

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Background: Opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD) is common on the medical and surgical wards and is associated with increased morbidity and health care costs. While previous studies have investigated risk factors for OIRD, the role of race remains unclear. We aim to investigate the association between race and OIRD occurrence on the medical/surgical ward.

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Influenza A virus (IAV) binds to sialylated glycans on the cell membrane before endocytosis and fusion. Cell-surface glycans are highly heterogeneous in length and glycosylation density, which leads to variations in the distance and rigidity with which IAV is held away from the cell membrane. To gain mechanistic insight into how receptor length and rigidity impact the mechanism of IAV entry, we employed synthetic DNA-lipids as highly tunable surrogate receptors.

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To infect a cell, enveloped viruses must first undergo membrane fusion, which proceeds through a hemifusion intermediate, followed by the formation of a fusion pore through which the viral genome is transferred to a target cell. Single-virus fusion studies to elucidate the dynamics of content mixing typically require extensive fluorescent labeling of viral contents. The labeling process must be optimized depending on the virus identity and strain and can potentially be perturbative to viral fusion behavior.

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