Patient Perspectives on Arteriovenous Fistula Placement, Maturation, and Use: A Qualitative Study.

Rationale & Objective: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) use among US hemodialysis (HD) patients is suboptimal, especially among Black patients. We interviewed a group of predominantly Black HD patients to probe experiences and perspectives surrounding steps along the AVF care continuum, which includes placement, maturation, and use of AVFs.

Study Design: Individual semistructured interviews.

Hepatitis Delta Virus Testing and Prevalence Among Chronic Hepatitis B Patients Across Three U.S. Safety-net Health Systems.

Background & Aims: Despite a high prevalence of risk factors associated with hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection among safety-net populations, data evaluating HDV testing and prevalence are limited. We aim to evaluate HDV testing practices and HDV prevalence among an ethnically diverse, multi-center cohort of safety-net patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 13,218 patients with CHB (54.

Extracting the Heterogeneous 3D Structure of Molecular Films Using Higher Dimensional SFG Microscopy.

Ultrathin molecular films are widespread in both natural and industrial settings, where details of the molecular structure such as density, out-of-plane tilt angles, and in-plane directionality determine their physicochemical properties. Many of these films possess important molecular-to-macroscopic heterogeneity in these structural parameters, which have traditionally been difficult to characterize. Here, we show how extending sum-frequency generation (SFG) microscopy measurements to higher dimensionality by azimuthal-scanning can extract the spatial variation in the three-dimensional molecular structure at an interface.

Sociodemographic Disparities in Hepatitis B Treatment: A Real-World Analysis of 3 Safety-Net Health Systems in the United States.

Background: Timely treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) reduces risks of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Gaps in timely treatment persist, especially among underserved safety-net populations. We aim to evaluate gaps and disparities in CHB treatment in the United States.

How Thick is the Air-Water Interface?─A Direct Experimental Measurement of the Decay Length of the Interfacial Structural Anisotropy.

The air-water interface is a highly prevalent phase boundary impacting many natural and artificial processes. The significance of this interface arises from the unique properties of water molecules within the interfacial region, with a crucial parameter being the thickness of its structural anisotropy, or "healing depth". This quantity has been extensively assessed by various simulations which have converged to a prediction of a remarkably short length of ∼6 Å.