Publications by authors named "Maria Smith"

Aim: To implement a culturally-adapted screening program aimed to determine the ability of infant motor repertoire to predict early neurodevelopment on the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE) and improve Australian First Nations families' engagement with neonatal screening.

Methods: A prospective cohort of 156 infants (55 % male, mean (standard deviation [SD]) gestational age 33.8 (4.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to assess nurse preceptor burnout and examine related factors.

Background: Nurse preceptors are essential to the provision of optimal hospital-based care. Preceptors guide and support nurses' transition from professional training to practice as well as movement within practice roles.

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The Histocompatibility and Identity Testing Committee offers an overview of the College of American Pathologists' (CAP) Proficiency Testing (PT) program, commemorating its significant 75th anniversary in 2024. The CAP PT program has undergone significant growth and evolution over the years, ultimately achieving Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approval. In 1979, CAP's partnership with the American Association for Clinical Histocompatibility Testing marked a pivotal moment, leading to the creation of the first proficiency testing survey in 1980.

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  • The U.S. Army struggled to meet its 2022 recruitment goals, prompting consideration of raising BMI eligibility standards to widen the pool of potential recruits.
  • A data analysis using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey identified five clusters based on metabolic syndrome risk, with two clusters exceeding current Army BMI thresholds.
  • While recruits in Cluster 1 pose significant health risks and costs, those in Cluster 3 seem to have comparatively low risks, suggesting they may be suitable candidates to help boost recruitment numbers.
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Integrins are essential surface receptors that sense extracellular changes to initiate various intracellular signaling cascades. The rapid activation of the epithelial-intrinsic β6 integrin during influenza A virus (IAV) infection has been linked to innate immune impairments. Yet, how β6 regulates epithelial immunity remains undefined.

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Human astrovirus is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. Astrovirus infection causes gastrointestinal symptoms and can lead to encephalitis in immunocompromised patients. Positive-strand RNA viruses typically utilize host intracellular membranes to form replication organelles, which are potential antiviral targets.

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Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between peripartum mean arterial pressure (MAP) and postpartum readmission for preeclampsia with severe features.

Study Design: This is a retrospective case-control study comparing adult parturients readmitted for preeclampsia with severe features to matched nonreadmitted controls. Our primary objective was to evaluate the association between MAP at three time points during the index hospitalization (admission, 24-hour postpartum, and discharge) and readmission risk.

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  • The study aimed to evaluate whether a new protocol for genetic counseling referrals (GCRs) increased the frequency of genetic testing (GT) for Lynch Syndrome (LS) in patients with abnormal mismatch repair (MMR) immunohistochemistry (IHC) results in endometrial cancer.
  • Researchers compared GCRs and GT rates before and after the protocol's implementation, finding a significant increase in GCRs from 68.8% to 96.7%, but no statistically significant difference in GT rates.
  • Although the protocol improved GCRs, about 15% of patients who qualified for GT still did not receive it, suggesting a need for further measures like universal germline testing in endometrial cancer cases
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Objective: To identify relationships between body shape, body composition, sex and performance on the new US Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT).

Methods: Two hundred and thirty-nine United States Military Academy cadets took the ACFT between February and April of 2021. The cadets were imaged with a Styku 3D scanner that measured circumferences at 20 locations on the body.

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Referential signaling, a complex form of communication in which specific signals are associated with external referents, was once thought to be limited to primates. Recent research has documented referential signaling in several other cooperative taxa, predominantly in kin-based societies. Here, we show that greater anis, communally nesting birds that breed in nonkin groups, give one type of alarm call in response to aerial threats (flying raptors) and another to more general threats (nonaerial predators).

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Unlabelled: Human astrovirus is a positive sense, single stranded RNA virus. Astrovirus infection causes gastrointestinal symptoms and can lead to encephalitis in immunocompromised patients. Positive strand RNA viruses typically utilize host intracellular membranes to form replication organelles, which are potential antiviral targets.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is the most common type of tumor found in salivary glands, and while some carcinomas can develop from it, cases are rare.
  • This text describes the first documented case of secretory carcinoma (SC) that developed from a pleomorphic adenoma, identified through the rare ETV6-RET translocation.
  • The findings enhance our understanding of the genetic variations in tumors associated with PA and could impact how SC is diagnosed, treated, and understood in terms of prognosis.
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Each year, there are 11 900 new diagnoses of head and neck cancers in the UK, with around 4000 deaths. Survival rates are higher for those diagnosed earlier, however, patients are often diagnosed later, with 20% palliative at the time of diagnosis. There is a scarcity of head and neck cancer palliative care literature available.

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Errors in medication administration involve risks to patient safety. "Bar-Coding Medication Administration" is implemented to prevent these errors. Adoption by nurses is one of the main determinants of their effectiveness.

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The majority of preventable medication errors occur at the administration stage. BCMA systems are used to improve safety and prevent errors in this stage. A variety of devices can be used for this purpose.

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Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) are a class of anti-cancer drugs that target DNA repair pathways and have shown promising efficacy in patients with ovarian cancer in recent clinical trials. To date, there have been 9 FDA PARPi approvals/indications in ovarian cancer since 2014, highlighting the importance of this class of agents in the treatment of ovarian cancer. BRCA1/2-mutated tumors or other forms of homologous recombination deficient (HRD) tumors are particularly susceptible to PARP inhibition and have seen the greatest benefits of improvement in response rate and progression-free survival (PFS) in clinical trials.

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Successful control and prevention of biological invasions depend on identifying traits of non-native species that promote fitness advantages in competition with native species. Here, we show that, among 76 native and non-native woody plants of deciduous forests of North America, invaders express a unique functional syndrome that combines high metabolic rate with robust leaves of longer lifespan and a greater duration of annual carbon gain, behaviours enabled by seasonally plastic xylem structure and rapid production of thin roots. This trait combination was absent in all native species examined and suggests the success of forest invaders is driven by a novel resource-use strategy.

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Background: Despite significant increase in COVID-19 publications, characterization of COVID-19 infection in patients with gynecologic cancer remains limited. Here we present an update of COVID-19 outcomes among people with gynecologic cancer in New York City (NYC) during the initial surge of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]).

Methods: Data were abstracted from gynecologic oncology patients with COVID-19 infection among 8 NYC area hospital systems between March and June 2020.

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Objective: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. At present, there are no reliable clinical or laboratory indicators to identify which patients might require blood transfusions during a PPH. Serum lactate has long been used as an early biomarker of tissue hypoperfusion in trauma settings.

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Introduction Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an effective treatment for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who are either medically inoperable or who decline surgery. SBRT improves tumor control and overall survival (OS) in medically inoperable, early-stage, NSCLC patients. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of two different SBRT doses commonly used and present our institutional experience.

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The current pandemic has brought a renewed appreciation for the critical importance of vaccines for the promotion of both individual and public health. Influenza vaccines have been our primary tool for infection control to prevent seasonal epidemics and pandemics such as the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus pandemic. Certain high-risk populations, including the elderly, people with obesity, and individuals with comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, are more susceptible to increased disease severity and decreased vaccine efficacy.

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Background: In women with BRCA mutations, risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy has been shown to decrease gynecologic cancer-specific and overall mortality. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends that patients with BRCA mutations undergo risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy between the ages of 35 and 40 years for BRCA1 mutation carriers and between the ages of 40 and 45 years for BRCA2 mutation carriers or after childbearing is complete. Currently, uptake and timing of risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and reasons for delays in risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy are not well understood.

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Study Objective: Obesity is a growing worldwide epidemic, and patients classified as obese undergoing gynecologic robotic surgery are at increased risk for surgical complications. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of a surgical safety protocol known as the High BMI [Body Mass Index] Pathway (HBP) for patients with BMI ≥40 kg/m undergoing planned robotic hysterectomy. Our primary outcome was the rate of all-cause perioperative complications in patients undergoing surgery with the use of the HBP.

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Background: The Will Rogers phenomenon [WRP] describes an apparent improvement in outcome for patients' group due to tumor grade reclassification. Staging of cancers is important to select appropriate treatment and to estimate prognosis. The WRP has been described as one of the most important biases limiting the use of historical cohorts when comparing survival or treatment.

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