Recent advances in electrochemical sensing and remediation technologies for ciprofloxacin.

Ciprofloxacin (CIP) is an extensively used broad-spectrum, fluoroquinolone antibiotic used for treating diverse bacterial infections. Effluent treatment plants (ETPs) worldwide lack technologies to detect or remediate antibiotics. CIP reaches the aquatic phase primarily due to inappropriate disposal practices, lack of point-of-use sensing, and preloaded activated charcoal filter at ETPs.

The Association of Hospital-Cardiologist Integration With Patient Outcomes, Care Quality, and Utilization.

Background: Cardiologists are increasingly moving from independent practice to direct employment by hospitals. Hospital employment has the potential to improve care coordination and delivery, but little is known about its effect on care quality and outcomes.

Objectives: In this study, we sought to assess the association between hospital employment of cardiologists and patient outcomes, care quality, and utilization among patients hospitalized with incident acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or heart failure (HF).

Trends in Mortality After Incident Hospitalization for Heart Failure Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

Importance: Despite advances in treatment and care quality for patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF), minimal improvement in mortality has been observed after HF hospitalization since 2010.

Objective: To evaluate trends in mortality rates across specific intervals after hospitalization.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study evaluated a random sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with incident HF hospitalization from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2018.

Impact of a patient-centered tool to reduce misconceptions about coronary artery disease and its treatment: The CAD roadmap.

Objective: Health misinformation is common and can lead to harmful behaviors such as medication non-adherence. We assessed the impact of a novel patient educational tool focused on overcoming misconceptions among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: We developed the CAD Roadmap, an educational tool aimed at explaining the disease trajectory and overcoming common disease misconceptions (such as that statin medications are not beneficial).

Disposable electrochemical biosensors for the detection of bacteria in the light of antimicrobial resistance.

Persistent and inappropriate use of antibiotics is causing rife antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide. Common bacterial infections are thus becoming increasingly difficult to treat without the use of last resort antibiotics. This has necessitated a situation where it is imperative to confirm the infection to be bacterial, before treating it with antimicrobial speculatively.

Conscience-Based Barriers to Medical Aid in Dying: A Survey of Colorado Physicians.

Background: Approximately 20% of the United States' population lives in a state or jurisdiction where medical aid in dying (MAiD) is legal. It is unknown how physicians' own barriers are associated with their provision of the spectrum of MAiD services.

Objective: To measure physicians' religious and/or ethical barriers to providing MAiD services and how such barriers relate to physicians' intentions and behaviors.

A more complete measure of vertical integration between physicians and hospitals.

Objective: To develop an accurate and reproducible measure of vertical integration between physicians and hospitals (defined as hospital or health system employment of physicians), which can be used to assess the impact of integration on healthcare quality and spending.

Data Sources And Study Setting: We use multiple data sources including from the Internal Revenue Service, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and others to determine the Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) that hospitals and physicians use to bill Medicare for services, and link physician billing TINs to hospital-related TINs.

Study Design: We developed a new measure of vertical integration, based on the TINs that hospitals and physicians use to bill Medicare, using a broad set of sources for hospital-related TINs.

Peripheral Ossifying Fibroma of Maxillary Gingiva with Calcification: A Case Report.

Peripheral ossifying fibroma is presented as an exophytic growth with a smooth surface. It is located mostly on the gingiva, and it is an unusual growth of gingiva that occurs after irritational trauma. It is seen in the later decade of life, with the calcifications in the lesion in advanced stages seen on radiographic images.

Ethics and Medical Aid in Dying: Physicians' Perspectives on Disclosure, Presence, and Eligibility.

Medical aid in dying (MAiD), despite being legal in many jurisdictions, remains controversial ethically. Existing surveys of physicians' perceptions of MAiD tend to focus on the legal or moral permissibility of MAiD in general. Using a novel sampling strategy, we surveyed physicians likely to have engaged in MAiD-related activities in Colorado to assess their attitudes toward contemporary ethical issues in MAiD.

Ayurvedic Drug Triphala in Combination with Providone Iodine Mitigates Radiation-Induced Mucositis in Head and Neck Cancer Patients without Affecting the Tumor Response.

Radiation-induced mucositis is a dose-limiting concern in the treatment of head and neck cancers (HNC). This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the Ayurvedic drug Triphala in reducing radiation-induced mucositis and influencing tumour control when combined with providone iodine. Data from patient files of HNC patients who received Triphala in conjunction with iodine or iodine alone over the course of curative radiotherapy (> 60 Gy) from May 2013 to February 2015 were extracted for this retrospective chart based study.

Industry relationships among authors of U.S. Clinical Practice Guidelines in cardiology from 2014 to 2020.

Clinical practice guidelines and Scientific statements are influential publications that define the standard of care for many diseases. However, little is known about industry payments and financial conflict-of-interest among authors of such publications in cardiology. We identified guidelines published between 2014 and 2020 by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in order to assess the payment status of CPG authors using the Open Payment Program (OPP) database.

Trends in Short-, Intermediate-, and Long-Term Mortality Following Hospitalization for Myocardial Infarction Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 2008 to 2018.

Background Advances in technology and care quality have transformed the care of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but little is known about trends in mortality rates across separate time periods after hospitalization. Methods and Results We identified all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries hospitalized with incident AMI from 2008 to 2018. We calculated unadjusted mortality rates by dividing the number of all-cause deaths by the number of patients with incident AMI for the following time periods: acute (in hospital), post acute (0-30 days after hospital discharge), short term (31 days to 1 year after discharge), intermediate term (1-2 years after discharge), and long term (2-3 years after discharge).

Specialty Differences in Medical Aid in Dying Experiences: Results of a Survey of Physicians in Colorado.

In Colorado, medical aid in dying (MAiD) is legal, allowing a terminally ill person to request a prescription and self-administer a medication to end their life. Such requests are granted under certain circumstances, including a malignant neoplasm diagnosis, with a goal of peaceful death. This study examined differences in attitudes and actual participation in MAiD between oncologists and non-oncologists, using data from a recent survey of physicians regarding MAiD.

Fruits and their phytochemicals in mitigating the ill effects of ionizing radiation: review on the existing scientific evidence and way forward.

Although helpful in treating cancer, exposure to ionizing radiation can sometimes cause severe side effects, negating its benefit. In addition to its use in clinics, a nontoxic radioprotective agent can also be beneficial in occupational settings where humans are occupationally exposed for prolonged periods to low doses of radiation. Scientific studies using laboratory animals have shown that the fruits , , , , , , , , , , , or , , , , , , , , , , and , and the phytochemicals gallic acid, ellagic acid, quercetin, geraniin, corilagin, ascorbic acid, hesperetin, ursolic acid, lycopene, naringin, hesperidin, rutin, resveratrol, β-sitosterol, apigenin, luteolin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, mangiferin, diosmin, ferulic acid, and kaempferol are effective in preventing radiation-induced ill effects.

Use and Influence of Medical Aid in Dying Service on Physician Experiences.

The involvement of Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) experts to guide MAiD prescribers who may be unfamiliar with the process is unknown. To examine the involvement of consulting services on physician experiences participating in MAiD activities. This is an anonymous survey.

Personalized glycemic response led digital therapeutics program improves time in range in a period of 14 days.

Background: Lifestyle modification is an integral aspect for the management of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, it is difficult to ensure the accuracy of personalized lifestyle advice. The study aims to analyse the real-world effectiveness of personalized glycemic response based Diabefly-Pro digital therapeutics for better glycemic control.

Patient Symptoms and Stress Testing After Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

Importance: Up to 60% of patients in the US receive a stress test within 2 years of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), prompting concerns about the possible overuse of stress testing.

Objective: To examine the proportion of patients who underwent stress testing within 2 years of elective PCI, proportion of patients who had symptoms that were consistent with coronary artery disease (CAD), timing of stress testing, and site-level variation in stress testing among symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study used administrative claims data and clinical records from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Clinical Assessment, Reporting, and Tracking program.

Immunopathogenesis and distinct role of Th17 in periodontitis: A review.

Background: Periodontitis is a multifactorial inflammatory disease mediated by the host immune response to dental plaque. Periodontitis is characterized by periodontal bone loss and loss of tooth support. Several studies have corroborated the infiltration of T lymphocytes in periodontitis and correlated the infiltration with chronic inflammation in a dysregulated T cell-mediated immune response.

A novel methodology to identify and survey physicians participating in medical aid-in-dying.

Physicians who participate in medical-aid-in-dying (MAID) cannot be easily identified and studied due to cost and anonymity barriers. We developed and empirically tested a novel methodology to identify and survey physicians highly likely to participate in MAID activities. We used a state-level comprehensive administrative claims database to identify a cohort of patients with diagnoses and hospice enrollment similar to those known to have filled a prescription for MAID from 2017-2018.

Strategies to Reduce Low-Value Cardiovascular Care: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Low-value health care services that provide little or no benefit to patients are common, potentially harmful, and costly. Nearly half of the patients in the United States will receive at least 1 low-value test or procedure annually, creating risk of avoidable complications from subsequent cascades of care and excess costs to patients and society. Reducing low-value care is of particular importance to cardiovascular health given the high prevalence and costs of cardiovascular disease in the United States.