Definitive Evidence for the Identification and Function of Renin-Expressing Cholinergic Neurons in the Nucleus Ambiguus.

Background: The importance of the brain renin-angiotensin system in cardiovascular function is well accepted. However, not knowing the precise source of renin in the brain has been a limitation toward a complete understanding of how the brain renin-angiotensin system operates.

Methods: Highly sensitive in situ hybridization techniques and conditional knockout mice were used to address the location and function of renin in the brainstem.

Using a Human-Centered Design Process to Evaluate and Optimize User Experience of a Website (InPACT at Home) to Promote Youth Physical Activity: Case Study.

Background: Web-based physical activity interventions often fail to reach the anticipated public health impact due to insufficient use by the intended audiences.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to use a human-centered design process to optimize the user experience of the Interrupting Prolonged sitting with ACTivity (InPACT) at Home website to promote youth physical activity participation.

Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted to assess engagement and pain points with the InPACT at Home website.

Quantifying SARS-CoV-2 Infection Risk Within the Google/Apple Exposure Notification Framework to Inform Quarantine Recommendations.

Most early Bluetooth-based exposure notification apps use three binary classifications to recommend quarantine following SARS-CoV-2 exposure: a window of infectiousness in the transmitter, ≥15 minutes duration, and Bluetooth attenuation below a threshold. However, Bluetooth attenuation is not a reliable measure of distance, and infection risk is not a binary function of distance, nor duration, nor timing. We model uncertainty in the shape and orientation of an exhaled virus-containing plume and in inhalation parameters, and measure uncertainty in distance as a function of Bluetooth attenuation.

Fluorophore exchange kinetics in block copolymer micelles with varying solvent-fluorophore and solvent-polymer interactions.

Fluorescence spectroscopy was employed to characterize the kinetics of guest exchange in diblock copolymer micelles composed of poly(ethylene oxide-b-ε-caprolactone) (PEO-PCL) diblock copolymers in water/tetrahydrofuran (THF) mixtures which encapsulated fluorophores. The solvent composition (THF content) of the micelle solution was varied as a means of modulating the strength of interactions between the fluorophore and solvent as well as between the micelle core and solvent. A donor-acceptor fluorophore pair was employed consisting of 3,3'-dioctadecyloxacarbocyanine perchlorate (DiO, the donor) and 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI, the acceptor).

Incorporating longitudinal pediatric patient-centered outcome measurement into the clinical workflow using a commercial electronic health record: a step toward increasing value for the patient.

Patient-centered outcomes measurement provides healthcare organizations with crucial information for increasing value for patients; however, organizations have struggled to obtain outcomes data from electronic health record (EHR) systems. This study describes how Texas Children's Hospital customized a commercial EHR system and assembled a cross-functional team to capture outcomes data using existing functionality. Prior to its installation and customization, no surgical subspecialties besides the congenital heart and transplant surgery groups conducted prospective, patient outcomes measurement, but by 2015, the outcomes of over 1300 unique patients with supracondylar fractures, cleft lip and/or palate, or voiding dysfunction had been tracked.