34 Decreased opportunities to approach next of kin for eye donation to the liverpool research eye bank due to COVID-19.

Background: The Liverpool Research Eye Bank (LREB) specialises in collection and storage of ocular tissues for use in projects investigating ophthalmic diseases and potential treatments. In collaboration with the Liverpool Eye Donation Centre (LEDC), we collect whole eyes from cadaveric donors. The LEDC screens potential donors and approaches next-of-kin for consent on behalf of the LREB; however, there are factors which reduce the pool of donors such as transplant suitability, time constraints, medical contraindications and other complications.

Psychosocial well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic among women with and without breast cancer.

Objective: Treatment delays in combination with general social distancing practices to reduce transmission may have negative impacts on the mental health of women with breast cancer who may need more social and emotional support. We sought to elucidate the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among women with and without breast cancer in New York City.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study among women aged 18+ across the spectrum of breast health care at New York Presbyterian (NYP)-Weill Cornell, NYP-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and NYP-Queens.

Spectral pattern similarity analysis: Tutorial and application in developmental cognitive neuroscience.

The human brain encodes information in neural activation patterns. While standard approaches to analyzing neural data focus on brain (de-)activation (e.g.

Memory specificity is linked to repetition effects in event-related potentials across the lifespan.

The specificity with which past experiences can be remembered varies across the lifespan, possibly due to differences in how precisely information is encoded. Memory formation can be investigated through repetition effects, the common finding that neural activity is altered when stimuli are repeated. However, whether differences in this indirect measure of memory formation relate to lifespan differences in memory specificity has not yet been established.

Development of a geospatial approach for the quantitative analysis of trauma center access.

Introduction: Decisions around trauma center (TC) designation have become contentious in many areas. There is no consensus regarding the ideal number and location of TC and no accepted metrics to assess the effect of changes in system structure. We aimed to develop metrics of TC access, using publicly available data and analytic tools.

Success rate and factors predictive of redo radiofrequency ablation of perforator veins.

Objective: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is increasingly being employed for treatment of perforator vein insufficiency and venous ulcer healing. Previous studies have shown a closure rate of 60% to 80% in incompetent perforator veins (IPVs) with RFA. The purpose of the study was to determine the utility of a redo RFA for symptomatic recanalized perforators and to predict factors associated with recanalization.

Changes in Markers of Thrombin Generation and Interleukin-6 During Unicondylar Knee and Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Background: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is associated with a risk of thromboembolism requiring routine thromboprophylaxis, but there is debate about the risk with unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA) as it is a more minor procedure. We sought to investigate the relative risk of thromboembolism with UKA compared to TKA and one-staged bilateral TKA (BTKA) by measuring the increase in circulating biochemical markers of thrombin generation during the procedures. Degree of surgical trauma was also assessed by measuring interleukin-6, a marker of metabolic injury.

Changes in the Skin Conductance Monitor as an End Point for Sympathetic Nerve Blocks.

Objective: There is a lack of objective methods for determining the achievement of sympathetic block. This study validates the skin conductance monitor (SCM) as an end point indicator of successful sympathetic blockade as compared with traditional monitors.

Methods: This interventional study included 13 patients undergoing 25 lumbar sympathetic blocks to compare time to indication of successful blockade between the SCM indices and traditional measures, clinically visible hyperemia, clinically visible engorgement of veins, subjective skin temperature difference, unilateral thermometry monitoring, bilateral comparative thermometry monitoring, and change in waveform amplitude in pulse oximetry plethysmography, within a 30-minute observation period.

U Can Touch This: How Tablets Can Be Used to Study Cognitive Development.

New technological devices, particularly those with touch screens, have become virtually omnipresent over the last decade. Practically from birth, children are now surrounded by smart phones and tablets. Despite being our constant companions, little is known about whether these tools can be used not only for entertainment, but also to collect reliable scientific data.

The incidence and risk factors for post-operative ileus after spinal fusion surgery: a multivariate analysis.

Purpose: Post-operative ileus is a recognized complication of surgery. Little is known about the incidence and risk factors for post-operative ileus following spinal fusion surgery. To report the incidence and to assess for independent risk factors of post-operative ileus after spinal fusion surgery.

Abnormal circumferential strain measured by echocardiography is present in patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome despite normal shortening fraction.

Background: Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome (SDS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by bone marrow failure and exocrine pancreatic dysfunction. Heart failure has been described in patients with SDS. Circumferential strain (ε(cc)) is a measure of cardiac performance that may identify dysfunction when standard measures are normal.

Fusarium torreyae sp. nov., a pathogen causing canker disease of Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia), a critically endangered conifer restricted to northern Florida and southwestern Georgia.

During a survey for pathogens of Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia) in 2009, a novel Fusarium species was isolated from cankers affecting this critically endangered conifer whose current range is restricted to northern Florida and southwestern Georgia. Published multilocus molecular phylogenetic analyses indicated that this pathogen represented a genealogically exclusive, phylogenetically distinct species representing one of the earliest divergences within the Gibberella clade of Fusarium. Furthermore, completion of Koch's postulates established that this novel species was the causal agent of Florida torreya canker disease.

A Novel Fusarium Species Causes a Canker Disease of the Critically Endangered Conifer, Torreya taxifolia.

A canker disease of Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia) has been implicated in the decline of this critically endangered species in its native range of northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. In surveys of eight Florida torreya sites, cankers were present on all dead trees and 71 to 100% of living trees, suggesting that a fungal pathogen might be the causal agent. To identify the causal agent, nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS rDNA) sequences were determined for 115 fungi isolated from cankers on 46 symptomatic trees sampled at three sites in northern Florida.

First Report of Laurel Wilt Disease Caused by Raffaelea lauricola on Camphor in Florida and Georgia.

Laurel wilt is a recently described (1) vascular disease of redbay (Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng) and other plants in the family Lauraceae. The wilt is caused by Raffaelea lauricola, a fungus vectored by the nonnative redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus Eichhoff) (1,2).

Barriers to implementing a surgical beta-blocker protocol.

Background: Experience with a quality improvement (QI) program undertaken to increase the use of beta-adrenergic blockade in at-risk patients at both a major academic medical center and a community hospital suggests barriers to implementation.

Methods: A retrospective and prospective cohort study was performed to establish the incidence and effectiveness of beta-blockade use pre- and postimplementation of a standardized screening tool and a major education program as part of a QI project. Data gathering involved a baseline phase pre-intervention; 6 weeks postintervention; and 3-6 months postintervention.

Clinical nurse specialists' knowledge specific to Medicare structures and processes.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe clinical nurse specialists' (CNSs) knowledge of Medicare structures and processes using a multiple-choice examination.

Design: This descriptive study used the survey method with a convenient sample.

Setting: Potential subjects received the research study packet at the address designated by them for membership mailings sent from the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS).

Status, communality, and agency: implications for stereotypes of gender and other groups.

Four studies addressed the hypothesis, based on correspondence bias, that low- relative to high-status individuals are perceived as more communal and less agentic. Study 1 instantiated status in terms of occupations, and findings were as expected. The findings of Study 2 reconciled those of Study 1 and of A.

Existential well-being is an important determinant of quality of life. Evidence from the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire.

Background: The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL) is being developed to correct what we perceive to be a flaw in existing quality of life instruments: neglect of the existential domain.

Methods: This study reports the first use of MQOL for people with cancer at all phases of the disease, including those with no evidence of disease after therapy.

Results: The data suggest that MQOL is comprised of an item measuring physical well-being and four subscales: physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, existential well-being, and support.

The importance of early diagnosis and treatment of the meningiomas of the planum sphenoidale and tuberculum sellae: a retrospective study of 105 cases.

Delay in the diagnosis of meningiomas of the tuberculum sellae and planum sphenoidale is detrimental to the patient in terms of visual recovery, morbidity and mortality. Early accurate diagnosis of these tumors is possible through the use of computed tomography which is recommended for all patients with unexplained impairment of vision. In this article 105 cases of meningiomas of the planum sphenoidale and tuberculum sellae are reviewed.

The effects of plane of nutrition and environmental temperature on the energy metabolism of the growing pig. 1. Heat loss and critical temperature.

1. The heat losses and energy balances of thirty-eight individually housed pigs (initial body-weights 21--38 kg) were measured continuously for periods of 14 d when they were maintained at environmental temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 degrees. At each temperature four levels of feeding were given approximating to once, twice and three times the maintenance energy intake and the ad lib.

Neurosurgery 1977: problems and attainments. The 1977 AANS presidential address.

The President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) discusses the many elements that appear to restrict the professional activities of neurosurgeons and other physicians. He stresses the importance of the active role required of the AANS, the American Medical Association, and the American College of Surgeons in finding solutions to problems related to neurosurgery.