A Personalized and Interactive Web-Based Advance Care Planning Intervention for Older Adults (Koda Health): Pilot Feasibility Study.

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) is a process that involves patients expressing their personal goals, values, and future medical care preferences. Digital applications may help facilitate this process, though their use in older adults has not been adequately studied.

Objective: This pilot study aimed to evaluate the reach, adoption, and usability of Koda Health, a web-based patient-facing ACP platform, among older adults.

Research Experiences via Integrating Simulations and Experiments (REVISE): A Model Collaborative Research Project for Undergraduate Students in CO Sorbent Design.

Undergraduate research experiences are an instrumental component of student development, increasing conceptual understanding, promoting inquiry-based learning, and guiding potential career aspirations. Moving one step further, as research continues to become more interdisciplinary, there exists potential to accelerate student growth by granting additional perspectives through collaborative research. This study demonstrates the utilization of a model collaborative research project, specifically investigating the development of sorbent technologies for efficient CO capture, which is an important research area for improving environmental sustainability.

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Performance of a Continuous Temperature Monitor in Older Adults and Staff in Congregate-Living Facilities.

Objectives: Residents of congregate-living facilities are susceptible to disability and mortality from infection given the presence of advanced age, multimorbidity, and frailty-as demonstrated in the recent COVID pandemic. This study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and applicability of a continuous temperature monitoring device in a congregate-living facility with residents of independent living, assisted living, and their care-providing staff. We hypothesized that a wearable device compared with daily manual temperature assessment would be well tolerated and more effective at detecting temperature variances than current standard of care body temperature assessment.

A novel 3D video oculography system for measuring cross-axis vestibulo-ocular reflex.

We present a video oculography (VOG) system with 6-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) mobility for real-time measurements of the binocular 3D eye position of a small animal. A hybrid hexapod that allowed for multi-axis complex motions with the resolution of the microscopic level was used to control the motion of the animal. The instantaneous eyeball movement of the animal was determined based on two approaches: (1) tracking of marker arrays affixed to the cornea; and (2) tracking the pupil outline.

Smoking Behavior and Exposure: Results of a Menthol Cigarette Cross-over Study.

Objective: Our objective was to improve understanding of the differences in use behavior and exposure when smoking menthol and non-menthol cigarettes using a 2-part cross-over design.

Methods: Adult daily smokers were assigned randomly to alternate between 2 weeks of exclusively smoking a menthol test cigarette or a non-menthol test cigarette. Urine and saliva were collected for biomarker measurements; carbon monoxide (CO) was measured, and participants smoked test cigarettes through a CreSS® smoking topography device during 3 clinic visits.

Predictable closure of the abdominoperineal resection defect: a novel two-team approach.

Background: Primary closure of the perineum at the time of abdominoperineal resection (APR) is seldom successful. Several factors are known to adversely affect healing, including neoadjuvant chemoradiation, tension, contamination, and fluid collection. This study evaluates a 2-team approach for resection and routine perineal closure in a single stage.

Integra acellular collagen as a vascular carrier for skin flap prefabrication in rats.

In this study, the feasibility of Integra acellular collagen used as a vascular carrier in skin flap prefabrication was examined. In all, 20 Sprague--Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. The saphenous vascular bundle was used as the vascular carrier.

Effect of differing levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines in cigarette smoke on the levels of biomarkers in smokers.

Background: Smokers are exposed to significant doses of carcinogens, including tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA). Previous studies have shown significant global differences in the levels of TSNAs in cigarette smoke because of the variation in tobacco blending and curing practices around the world.

Methods: Mouth-level exposure to 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) measured in cigarette butts and urinary concentrations of its major metabolite 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) were examined among 126 daily smokers in four countries over a 24-hour study period.

Estimating smokers' mouth-level exposure to select mainstream smoke constituents from discarded cigarette filter butts.

Introduction: Standardized machine smoking measurements are poor predictors of exposure. We have refined a method using the solanesol deposited in discarded cigarette butts as a marker for estimating deliveries of mainstream smoke constituents. Developing a fast and accurate method for measuring solanesol in cigarette filters to assess tobacco smoke intake could provide a way to assess how people smoke under natural conditions.

The aesthetic correction of the ptotic breast by the procedure of nipple-areola transposition - a contemporary translation and commentary.

'No vertical scar' techniques of breast shaping have received increasing attention during the last decade and are sometimes viewed as 'new' methods. In this article, we provide a comprehensive introduction to the roots of this procedure. Raymond Passot has to be credited with the original design of 'no vertical scar' methods.

Development of a method to assess cigarette smoke intake.

Tar and nicotine deliveries of cigarettes measured using current standardized smoking machine protocols provide poor estimates of smoke exposure. The characteristics of human smoking behavior vary considerably and differ from the rigid parameters used with current standardized smoking machine protocols. Current alternatives, including measurement of biomarkers, are invasive, time-dependent, and can be too expensive to be used as mechanisms for carrying out large-scale investigations required to help determine the influence of cigarette design on smoking behaviors.

Tobacco-specific nitrosamines in tobacco from U.S. brand and non-U.S. brand cigarettes.

Tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) are one of the major classes of carcinogens found in tobacco products. As part of collaborative efforts to reduce tobacco use and resulting disease, the U.S.

The use of solid-phase microextraction in conjunction with a benchtop quadrupole mass spectrometer for the analysis of volatile organic compounds in human blood at the low parts-per-trillion level.

The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in whole human blood at the low parts-per-trillion level has until recently required the use of a high-resolution mass spectrometer to obtain the specificity and detection limits required for epidemiological studies of VOC exposure in the general public. Because of the expense and expertise required to operate and maintain a high-resolution instrument, the applicability of this method has been limited. These limitations are overcome in a new method using automated headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) in conjunction with a gas chromatograph and a benchtop quadrupole mass spectrometer.

Prevention of unfavorable scars using early pulse dye laser treatments: a preliminary report.

Hypertrophic scarring occurs frequently in the trunk and extremities, and sporadically in other areas even under favorable circumstances. Unfortunately, the existing methods of scar manipulation have not been effective in preventing these unfavorable scars. Established hypertrophic scars have been treated by Anderson and Parrish, Alster, and others using the 585-nm pulse dye laser.

Autogenous latissimus breast reconstruction.

This article discusses the authors' experience with the reliable and easily shaped autogenous latissimus flap. The design and shaping of the flap are discussed as well as its use for both immediate and delayed reconstructions.

Reconstruction of the perineum after tumor surgery.

Major defects of the perineum are often complicated by contracture, radiation injuries, fistulas, and infection. In addition, the perineal surface is unique, and any replacement must meet the requirements of mobility, sensitivity, durability, elasticity, and weight bearing. This combination of complex defects and special surface requirements can be met by adequate extirpative procedures and reconstruction with a number of muscle, musculocutaneous, and fasciocutaneous flap options.

Measurement of volatile organic compounds in human blood.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are an important public health problem throughout the developed world. Many important questions remain to be addressed in assessing exposure to these compounds. Because they are ubiquitous and highly volatile, special techniques must be applied in the analytical determination of VOCs.

Treatment of vacutainers for use in the analysis of volatile organic compounds in human blood at the low parts-per-trillion level.

Vacutainers that are routinely used for blood collection contain significant amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These VOCs interfere with the low parts-per-trillion analysis of VOCs in whole blood either by causing false positives or by masking the presence of VOCs because of high background levels. Benzene, bromoform, ethylbenzene, m/p-xylene, o-xylene, styrene, and various hydrocarbons are the most significant sources of VOC contamination present in the vacutainers.

Measurement of methyl tert-butyl ether and tert-butyl alcohol in human blood by purge-and-trap gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using an isotope-dilution method.

We developed an isotope-dilution method for measuring methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) in whole human blood using a purge-and-trap gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method. The labeled analogues for MTBE and TBA were [2H12]methyl tert-butyl ether and [2H9]-tert-butyl alcohol, respectively. Volatiles were removed from the blood by direct helium purging of the liquid; were trapped on a Tenax trap; and were desorbed, cryofocused, and chromatographed on a DB-624 capillary column that was connected directly to the ion source of a mass spectrometer.

Blood concentrations of volatile organic compounds in a nonoccupationally exposed US population and in groups with suspected exposure.

Exposure to certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly occurs in industrialized countries. We developed a method for measuring 32 VOCs in 10 mL of whole blood at low concentration. We used this method to determine the internal dose of these compounds in 600 or more people in the US who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The autogenous latissimus breast reconstruction.

The autogenous latissimus flap is an alternative to tissue expansion and is the standard latissimus flap in reconstruction of the modified mastectomy defect. It is a useful autogenous reconstruction for partial mastectomy defects, and it serves as an alternative to the TRAM flap. The donor site is acceptable to patients, and the overall results are above average.