Baseline Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Patients Seen Through the Free Diabetes Screening (FDS) Program.

Purpose: To characterize the baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients seen through the Free Diabetic Screening (FDS) program, a free diabetic retinopathy screening program for uninsured patients, in the ophthalmology resident clinic at the Wilmer Eye Institute.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective longitudinal cohort study included uninsured patients ≥18 years with diabetes mellitus seen through the FDS clinic from 2013 to 2023. Data extraction was performed using manual chart review of the first FDS visit, and automated extraction of the data warehouse related to all other office visits.

Associations between School-Based Vision Program Outcomes and School Characteristics in 410 Schools.

Objective: School-based vision programs (SBVPs) deliver vision care services directly to students at school, helping address disparities in access to pediatric vision care. We aim to evaluate the associations between SBVP outcomes and school-level characteristics.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional data analysis PARTICIPANTS: Public schools with at least 50 SBVP-enrolled students 5 to 22 years old with complete demographic data.

Refractive Profiles in Children Receiving School-Based Eye Exams Following Vision Screening from a Large School-Based Vision Program in 2016 to 2022.

Purpose: To describe refractive error findings and associated factors in students who received school-based eye exams following vision screenings.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of pre-kindergarten through 12 grade students who failed vision screening and underwent a school-based eye exam in the Northeast region of the United States during 2016-2022. Non-cycloplegic autorefraction and visual acuity measurements were used to categorize refractive error by type and severity.

Transposase-assisted target-site integration for efficient plant genome engineering.

The current technologies to place new DNA into specific locations in plant genomes are low frequency and error-prone, and this inefficiency hampers genome-editing approaches to develop improved crops. Often considered to be genome 'parasites', transposable elements (TEs) evolved to insert their DNA seamlessly into genomes. Eukaryotic TEs select their site of insertion based on preferences for chromatin contexts, which differ for each TE type.

Maryland School Health partners' Perspectives on the Impact of COVID-19 on School Health Services for Grades K-12.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routine school operations, including school health programs. This study aims to describe the pandemic's impact on school health service delivery from the perspective of Maryland school health partners.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with health service representatives from public schools (K-12) between July and December 2021.

An Analysis of Solicitations From Predatory Journals in Ophthalmology.

Purpose: To evaluate trends associated with email communication from potentially predatory publishers to faculty in ophthalmology.

Design: Cross-sectional study METHODS: Ophthalmologists (n = 14) from various subspecialties and institutions were recruited to participate. Participants identified unsolicited emails that they had received originating from publishers in May 2021.

Spending on public benefit programs and exposure to adverse childhood experiences.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences are associated with poverty, and public benefit programs are increasingly used as primary prevention for negative child outcomes.

Objective: To estimate the association between spending on benefit programs and cumulative exposure to ACEs among children.

Participants And Setting: Children aged 0-17 years in the United States during 2016-17 as reported in National Survey of Children's Health.

Phlebotomy-free days in children hospitalized with common infections and their association with clinical outcomes.

Background: Phlebotomy for hospitalized children has consequences (e.g., pain, iatrogenic anemia), and unnecessary testing is a modifiable source of waste in healthcare.

Effect of cognitive load on time spent offline during wakefulness.

Humans continuously alternate between online attention to the current environment and offline attention to internally generated thought and imagery. This may be a fundamental feature of the waking brain, but remains poorly understood. Here, we took a data-driven approach to defining online and offline states of wakefulness, using machine learning methods applied to measures of sensory responsiveness, subjective report, electroencephalogram (EEG), and pupil diameter.

Association of Sociodemographic Characteristics with Pediatric Vision Screening and Eye Care: An Analysis of the 2021 National Survey of Children's Health.

Purpose: Vision screening and regular eye care can help detect and treat potentially irreversible vision impairment. This study aims to investigate the associations between sociodemographic and health characteristics and the receipt of eye care among children aged 17 years and younger in the United States.

Design: This cross-sectional study used data from the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), a nationally representative and population-based survey of randomly sampled households.

Leveraging a Peer-to-Peer Approach to Mitigate Vaccine Misinformation and Improve Vaccine Communication During a Pandemic: Experiences From the Development of a Massive Open Online Course.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only led to massive global mortality and morbidity, but it has also fueled an infodemic of false and misleading information about COVID-19 and vaccines. The spread of misinformation and disinformation on vaccine safety and efficacy has contributed to vaccine hesitancy and distrust of public health institutions and has undermined the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because communication plays a monumental role in pandemic preparedness, a promising approach to countering the COVID-19 infodemic is empowering peers to serve as trusted messengers to provide accurate information using evidence-based communication approaches.

Addressing Health Disparities in Pediatric Eye Care for School-Age Children: A Call to Action.

Disparities in access to pediatric eye care among school-age children pose significant challenges to their health and well-being; addressing these disparities will necessitate coordination across multiple systems. Although vision screenings are mandated in most US states, differences persist in terms of who receives screenings and subsequent follow-up care. Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic factors exacerbate the issue, with potential ramifications of unaddressed eye problems on learning performance and the risk of widening preexisting educational disparities.

Development of a community-informed communication toolkit to prevent spread of viral illness in schools, including SARS-COV-2.

Introduction: Schools were uniquely impacted during the COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) pandemic. We sought to elucidate how parents/guardians of elementary and middle school students in Maryland navigated the return to in-person school following remote instruction. We also sought to understand how they perceived communication about school-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies and their preferences for the content and format of public health communication about COVID-19 mitigation in schools.

Identifying and preventing fraudulent responses in online public health surveys: Lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Web-based survey data collection has become increasingly popular, and limitations on in-person data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic have fueled this growth. However, the anonymity of the online environment increases the risk of fraudulent responses provided by bots or those who complete surveys to receive incentives, a major risk to data integrity. As part of a study of COVID-19 and the return to in-person school, we implemented a web-based survey of parents in Maryland between December 2021 and July 2022.

Consistency between Household and County Measures of Onsite Schooling during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The academic, socioemotional, and health impacts of school policies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic have been a source of many questions that require accurate information about the extent of onsite schooling occurring. This article investigates school operational status datasets during the pandemic, comparing (1) self-report data collected nationally on the household level through a Facebook-based survey, (2) county-level school policy data, and (3) a school-level closure status dataset based on phone GPS tracking. The percentage of any onsite instruction within states and counties are compared across datasets from December 2020 to May 2021.

Predictors of student mask mandate policies in United States school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Although factors such as urbanicity, population demographics, and political affiliation have been linked with COVID-19 masking behavior and policy in community settings, little work has investigated factors associated with school mask policies. We sought to characterize United States state and school district student COVID-19 masking policies during the 2021-22 school year and determine predictors of these mandates at four time points, including before and after federal guidance relaxed school mask recommendations in February 2022.

Methods: Student mask policies for US states and the District of Columbia, as well as a sample of 56 districts were categorized as prohibited, recommended, or required in September 2021, November 2021, January 2022, and March 2022 based on the Johns Hopkins eSchool+ Initiative School Reopening Tracker.

Variation in stool testing for children with acute gastrointestinal infections.

Background And Objective: Children with gastrointestinal infections often require acute care.The objectives of this study were to describe variations in patterns of stool testing across children's hospitals and determine whether such variation was associated with utilization outcomes.

Design, Settings And Participants: We performed a multicenter, cross-sectional study using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database.

Pediatric and School-Age Vision Screening in the United States: Rationale, Components, and Future Directions.

Pediatric vision screening detects children at risk for visual conditions with the goal of connecting those in need with an eye care provider for evaluation and treatment. The primary aim for vision screening in younger children is the detection of those at risk for amblyopia, which can result in irreversible vision loss if left untreated. In older children, screening goals broaden to include the detection of risk for uncorrected refractive error.

Considerations in Building a School-Based Vision Program.

The burden of childhood visual impairment and disparities in access to pediatric vision care remain pressing issues in the United States. School-based vision programs (SBVPs) serve as one approach to advancing health equity. Operating at the intersection of schools and healthcare, SBVPs can increase access to pediatric vision services, improve academic performance, and facilitate referrals to community vision care providers.

Advancing health equity in pediatric eye care: the role of school-based vision programs, research, advocacy, community engagement, and medical education.

Disparities in access to pediatric vision care for school-age children remain a pressing issue in the United States. School-based vision programs (SBVPs) are regarded as a means to advance health equity, especially for disadvantaged students. While SBVPs can be beneficial, these programs are only part of the solution.