Publications by authors named "Melton C"

Background And Purpose: Among individuals with diagnosed heart failure (HF), the impact of physical activity on systemic inflammation and risk of hospital admissions remains unclear. This study examines the associations between physical activity and 1) systemic inflammation measured through C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and 2) frequency of hospital admissions in those with HF.

Methods: We utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey in this observational cross-sectional study to include 377 community-dwelling adults with HF.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Outcomes for patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) are poor, with a 50% five-year survival rate, so a test to detect molecular residual disease (MRD) in blood is essential to identify recurrence risk within the first two years after treatment.
  • - A study involving 325 patients assessed MRD using blood samples collected over time, finding that those with MRD positivity had significantly worse recurrence-free survival rates, particularly in HPV-negative cases.
  • - The developed tissue-agnostic test demonstrated high sensitivity (91%) and specificity (88%) for predicting recurrences as much as 14.9 months before they occurred, validating its effectiveness for monitoring HNC patients post-treatment.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder characterized by excessive fear, hypervigilance, and avoidance of thoughts, situations or reminders of the trauma. Among these symptoms, relatively little is known about the etiology of pathological avoidance. Here we sought to determine whether acute stress influences avoidant behavior in adult male and female rats.

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Background: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) positivity at diagnosis, which is associated with worse outcomes in multiple solid tumors including stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), may have utility to guide (neo)adjuvant therapy.

Methods: In this retrospective study, 260 patients with clinical stage I NSCLC (180 adenocarcinoma, 80 squamous cell carcinoma) were allocated (2:1) to high- and low-risk groups based on relapse versus disease-free status ≤5 years post-surgery. We evaluated the association of preoperative ctDNA detection by a plasma-only targeted methylation-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test with NSCLC relapse ≤5 years post-surgery in the overall population, followed by histology-specific subgroup analyses.

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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder characterized by excessive fear, hypervigilance, and avoidance of thoughts, situations or reminders of the trauma. Among these symptoms, relatively little is known about the etiology of pathological avoidance. Here we sought to determine whether acute stress influences avoidant behavior in adult male and female rats.

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Estimating the abundance of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragments shed from a tumor (i.e., circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)) can approximate tumor burden, which has numerous clinical applications.

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Background: Health promotion can empower populations to gain more control over their well-being by using digital interventions that focus on preventing the root causes of diseases. Digital platforms for personalized health coaching can improve health literacy and information-seeking behavior, leading to better health outcomes. Personal health records have been designed to enhance patients' self-management of a disease or condition.

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As social media use has grown in recent years, ease of access and rapid data collection through online social media has permitted researchers to measure and track sentiments related to emerging public health threats. Herein, we explore the possibilities of examining messaging shared via social media networks for sentiment classification as it relates to women's reproductive healthcare, especially access to abortion. In our previous works, our team has successfully employed various natural language processing (NLP) models for the analysis of social media shared sentiments.

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Climate change is leading to worsening disasters that disproportionately impact older adults. While research has begun to measure disparities, there is a gap in examining wildfire-specific disasters. To address this gap, this scoping review analyzed literature to explore the nexus of wildfires and older adults.

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Background: Restoration of joint-line position and deformity correction remain important tenets for preserving stability and function after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We sought to characterize the role of posterior osteophytes in the correction of alignment deformity during TKA.

Methods: We evaluated 57 patients (57 TKAs) who participated in a trial of robotic-arm assisted TKA outcomes.

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Aims & Objectives: YouTube is a non-peer-reviewed platform with a large library of healthcare-related videos which attempt to provide educational content. The goal of this study is to analyze the quality, absorbability, and educational content of videos available to patients on YouTube regarding ankle fractures.

Materials & Methods: On May 31, 2022, over 550 videos populated the initial search of "ankle fracture" within YouTube's platform.

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Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new opportunities for health communication, including an increase in the public's use of online outlets for health-related emotions. People have turned to social media networks to share sentiments related to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we examine the role of social messaging shared by Persons in the Public Eye (ie, athletes, politicians, news personnel, etc) in determining overall public discourse direction.

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In the Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas (NCT02889978) substudy 1, we evaluate several approaches for a circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA)-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test by defining clinical limit of detection (LOD) based on circulating tumor allele fraction (cTAF), enabling performance comparisons. Among 10 machine-learning classifiers trained on the same samples and independently validated, when evaluated at 98% specificity, those using whole-genome (WG) methylation, single nucleotide variants with paired white blood cell background removal, and combined scores from classifiers evaluated in this study show the highest cancer signal detection sensitivities. Compared with clinical stage and tumor type, cTAF is a more significant predictor of classifier performance and may more closely reflect tumor biology.

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Lattice and electronic structure interactions for f-electrons are fundamental challenges for lanthanide equation of state development. Difficulties in first-principles calculations, such as density functional theory (DFT), emphasize the need for well-characterized experimental data. Here, we measure in-situ x-ray diffraction of shocked samarium (Sm) and temperature along the Hugoniot for the first time, providing direct evidence for phase transitions.

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Background: The emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the necessary separation of populations have led to an unprecedented number of new social media users seeking information related to the pandemic. Currently, with an estimated 4.5 billion users worldwide, social media data offer an opportunity for near real-time analysis of large bodies of text related to disease outbreaks and vaccination.

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This study demonstrates a method to estimate floating oil slick thickness based on remote sensing of thermal infrared contrast. The approach was demonstrated for thick oil slicks from natural seeps in the Coal Oil Point seep field, offshore southern California. Airborne thermal infrared and visible spectrum remote sensing imagery were acquired along with position and orientation data by the SeaSpires™ science package.

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Tubo-ovarian abscess (TOA) is a complication of pelvic inflammatory disease that is most commonly seen in sexually active females and seldom in pre-coitarchal adolescents. Initial treatment is generally parenteral antibiotics but often requires more invasive surgical procedures. We present the case of a 12-year-old, non-sexually active adolescent, with bilateral TOA who ultimately underwent a sterilizing bilateral salpingectomy and appendectomy for treatment.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the world, having taken the lives of over 6 million individuals. Accordingly, this pandemic has caused a shift in conversations surrounding the burden of diseases worldwide, welcoming insights from multidisciplinary fields including digital health and artificial intelligence. Africa faces a heavy disease burden that exacerbates the current COVID-19 pandemic and limits the scope of public health preparedness, response, containment, and case management.

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The COVID-19 pandemic fueled one of the quickest vaccine developments in history. Misinformation on online social media often leads to negative vaccine sentiment. We conducted a sentiment analysis and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling from Reddit communities focusing on the COVID-19 vaccine.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the world, having taken the lives of over 6 million individuals. Accordingly, this pandemic has caused a shift in conversations surrounding the burden of diseases worldwide, welcoming insights from multidisciplinary fields including digital health and artificial intelligence. Africa faces a heavy disease burden that exacerbates the current COVID-19 pandemic and limits the scope of public health preparedness, response, containment, and case management.

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The practice of fasting before elective cardiac procedures including cardiac catheterization and transesophageal echocardiography is commonly implemented but evidence for these requirements is lacking. Fasting periods often exceed the intended length of time, increasing the risk of irritability, dehydration, acute kidney injury, hypoglycemia, and length of hospitalization. The practice of perioperative fasting relies on the premise that aspiration during general anesthesia can be mitigated by minimizing the volume of gastric contents, and stomach acidity.

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Almost half of the world population has received at least one dose of vaccine against the COVID-19 virus. However, vaccine hesitancy amongst certain populations is driving new waves of infections at alarming rates. The popularity of online social media platforms attracts supporters of the anti-vaccination movement who spread misinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness.

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Incorporating service learning (SL) experiences into undergraduate courses can be a meaningful way to engage students and connect course content to the real world. Neuropsychopharmacology courses are often popular amongst undergraduate students, but it can be a challenge to find ways to connect the theoretical issues discussed in the classroom to the real world, and convey the complexities of research on substance use. This article describes a partnership between a 300-level "Drugs & Behavior" laboratory course and a local not-for-profit anti-drug coalition focused on drug education and prevention.

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Case: A 21-year-old woman with a history of multiple failed surgical and conservative management for recurrent involuntary shoulder instability presented with 1-year history of shoulder pain. Physical examination demonstrated intractable static anterior glenohumeral instability, deficient capsular tissue, with reducible scapular winging secondary to long thoracic nerve palsy. Allograft capsular reconstruction and open split pectoralis major tendon transfer were performed to salvage shoulder motion and stabilize her shoulder girdle.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic fueled one of the most rapid vaccine developments in history. However, misinformation spread through online social media often leads to negative vaccine sentiment and hesitancy.

Methods: To investigate COVID-19 vaccine-related discussion in social media, we conducted a sentiment analysis and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling on textual data collected from 13 Reddit communities focusing on the COVID-19 vaccine from Dec 1, 2020, to May 15, 2021.

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