Retrospective Visual and Quantitative Assessment of Burst Suppression With and Without Identical Bursts in Patients After Cardiac Arrest.

Background: The objective of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of identical bursts (IBs) in cardiac arrest survivors with burst suppression on continuous electroencephalogram (cEEG) monitoring. Burst suppression with IBs is associated with poor neurological outcomes and mortality.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of cardiac arrest survivors admitted to a US academic medical center between 2013 and 2021 who had an EEG background of burst suppression.

Prevalence and Prognostic Impact of ST Segment Elevation in Lead aVR Among Patients with Cardiac Arrest.

Background: In acute coronary syndrome, ST-segment elevation in lead aVR (STE-aVR) indicates global myocardial ischemia, often related to multivessel or severe left main disease, and correlates with increased mortality. The prevalence and prognostic significance of STE-aVR in cardiac arrest (CA) patients is unknown.

Methods: We identified patients (≥18 years) with CA between 2011 to 2022 who achieved return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).

Qualitative Analysis of a Home-Delivered Produce Prescription Intervention to Improve Food and Nutrition Security.

In total, 17.9% of households with children experienced food insecurity (FI) in 2023. Produce prescription interventions (PRx) are a viable intervention to address FI and improve diet quality.

Coronary artery calcium on lung cancer radiation planning CT aids cardiovascular risk assessment.

Background: Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing thoracic radiation are at high cardiovascular risk. Semiquantitative assessment of coronary artery calcification (CAC) on baseline planning non-gated chest computed tomography (CT) scans may help further risk stratify patients.

Objectives: This study aimed to characterize the association between CAC and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; myocardial infarction or stroke) and assess the utility of semiquantitative assessment of CAC.

Unilateral and bilateral theta burst stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: Follow up on a naturalistic observation study.

Objectives: Theta burst stimulation (TBS) is a novel and faster modality of transcranial magnetic stimulation, which is showing promise as a treatment-resistant depression (TRD) treatment. Though TBS can be applied unilaterally or bilaterally, few studies have compared the effectiveness of both approaches in a naturalistic clinical sample. In this retrospective chart review, we aimed to: (1) replicate previous bilateral sequential TBS effectiveness in a larger cohort of patients at a single centre, (2) present treatment outcome data between unilateral and bilateral TBS approaches, (3) investigate baseline factors associated with our observed outcomes, and (4) examine the sustainability of response, with follow-up data up to 6 months from patients.

Impact of a Pediatric Produce Prescription Intervention on Food Security and Perceived Nutrition-Related Behaviors: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Objectives: Poor Food security (FS) is associated with risk of diet-related diseases and rising healthcare costs. Produce Prescription Interventions (PRx) are emerging clinical tools to improve FS and diet quality, but their impact in families with children is not well established. This study evaluates the impact of a pediatric PRx on FS and nutrition-related behaviors.

Low preoperative hematocrit adversely affects short-term outcomes after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate preoperative anemia as a risk factor for postoperative complications after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR).

Methods: Adult patients who underwent ARCR from 2015-2020 were identified in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Patients were grouped according to the following preoperative hematocrit levels: normal (male >39%, female >36%), mild anemia (male 33%-39%, female 33%-36%), and moderate to severe anemia (male and female ≤33%).

A practical magnetic-resonance imaging score for outcome prediction in comatose cardiac arrest survivors.

Aim: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an important prognostic tool in cardiac arrest (CA) survivors given its sensitivity for detecting hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBI), however, it is limited by poorly defined objective thresholds. To address this limitation, we evaluated a qualitative MRI score for predicting neurological outcome in CA survivors.

Methods: Adult comatose CA survivors who underwent MRI were retrospectively identified at a single academic medical center.

Association between obesity and statin use on mortality and hospital encounters in atrial fibrillation.

Background: Obesity increases risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) at least in part due to pro-inflammatory effects, but has been paradoxically associated with improved mortality. Although statins have pleiotropic anti-inflammatory properties, their interaction with obesity and clinical outcomes in AF is unknown. We explored the relationship between BMI, statin use, and all-cause mortality and AF/congestive heart failure (CHF)-related encounters, hypothesizing that statin exposure may be differentially associated with improved outcomes in overweight/obesity.

Temperature Control Parameters Are Important: Earlier Preinduction Is Associated With Improved Outcomes Following Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Study Objective: Temperature control trials in cardiac arrest patients have not reliably conferred neuroprotective benefit but have been limited by inconsistent treatment parameters. To evaluate the presence of a time dependent treatment effect, we assessed the association between preinduction time and clinical outcomes.

Methods: In this retrospective, single academic center study between 2014 and 2022, consecutive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients treated with temperature control were identified.

Feasibility and Impact Assessment of a Food Insecurity Protocol in a Large Urban Pediatric Primary Care Network.

Introduction/objectives: In 2022, 1 in 6 households with children experienced food insecurity (FI) in the United States. The negative impact of FI on child health is well documented and pediatric clinicians are encouraged to actively screen and intervene in clinical settings. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and impact of a FI management protocol implemented in 2017 at a pediatric primary care health network serving patients who are Medicaid-eligible in Washington, DC.

Body Mass Index as a Predictor for Postoperative Complications Following Carpometacarpal Arthroplasty.

Purpose: Carpometacarpal (CMC) arthroplasty is an effective surgical treatment to relieve pain and improve function for osteoarthritis of the CMC joint. The association between body mass index (BMI) and postoperative complications has been studied for other orthopedic procedures, including total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, and total shoulder arthroplasty. However, BMI has not been studied as a risk factor for postoperative complications following CMC arthroplasty.

Pediatric produce prescription initiatives in the U.S.: a scoping review.

Background: To describe pediatric Produce Prescription (PRx) interventions and their study designs, outcomes, and opportunities for future research.

Methods: A scoping review framework was used to describe PRx interventions published between January 2000 and September 2023. Articles from online databases were uploaded into Covidence.

Septic Arthritis of the Pubic Symphysis in a 16-Year-Old Male Adolescent: A Case Report.

Case: A 16-year-old male adolescent presented with 4 weeks of right-sided hip pain and fever in the setting of recent groin trauma. He was diagnosed with septic arthritis of the pubic symphysis (SAPS) and was treated nonoperatively with antibiotics. Symptoms recurred, and he underwent surgical drainage of the pubic symphysis followed by a prolonged course of antibiotics.

Development and validation of a novel score to predict brain death after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Background And Objectives: Brain death (BD) occurs in 9-24% of successfully resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA). To predict BD after OHCA, we developed a novel brain death risk (BDR) score.

Methods: We identified independent predictors of BD after OHCA in a retrospective, single academic center cohort between 2011 and 2021.

Validation of the rCAST score and comparison to the PCAC and FOUR scores for prognostication after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Aim: Early, accurate outcome prediction after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is critical for clinical decision-making and resource allocation. We sought to validate the revised post-Cardiac Arrest Syndrome for Therapeutic hypothermia (rCAST) score in a United States cohort and compare its prognostic performance to the Pittsburgh Cardiac Arrest Category (PCAC) and Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) scores.

Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective study of OHCA patients admitted between January 2014-August 2022.

Tissue-specific mitochondrial HIGD1C promotes oxygen sensitivity in carotid body chemoreceptors.

Mammalian carotid body arterial chemoreceptors function as an early warning system for hypoxia, triggering acute life-saving arousal and cardiorespiratory reflexes. To serve this role, carotid body glomus cells are highly sensitive to decreases in oxygen availability. While the mitochondria and plasma membrane signaling proteins have been implicated in oxygen sensing by glomus cells, the mechanism underlying their mitochondrial sensitivity to hypoxia compared to other cells is unknown.

Bedside monitoring of hypoxic ischemic brain injury using low-field, portable brain magnetic resonance imaging after cardiac arrest.

Background: Assessment of brain injury severity is critically important after survival from cardiac arrest (CA). Recent advances in low-field MRI technology have permitted the acquisition of clinically useful bedside brain imaging. Our objective was to deploy a novel approach for evaluating brain injury after CA in critically ill patients at high risk for adverse neurological outcome.

VR-enabled portable brain-computer interfaces via wireless soft bioelectronics.

Noninvasive, wearable brain-computer interfaces (BCI) find limited use due to their obtrusive nature and low information. Currently available portable BCI systems are limited by device rigidity, bulky form factors, and gel-based skin-contact electrodes - and therefore more prone to noise and motion artifacts. Here, we introduce virtual reality (VR)-enabled split-eye asynchronous stimulus (SEAS) allowing a target to present different stimuli to either eye.

A Critical Role for DLK and LZK in Axonal Repair in the Mammalian Spinal Cord.

The limited ability for axonal repair after spinal cord injury underlies long-term functional impairment. Dual leucine-zipper kinase [DLK; MAP kinase kinase kinase 12; MAP3K12] is an evolutionarily conserved MAP3K implicated in neuronal injury signaling from to mammals. However, whether DLK or its close homolog leucine zipper kinase (LZK; MAP3K13) regulates axonal repair in the mammalian spinal cord remains unknown.

Development of a cell-free strategy to recover aged skeletal muscle after disuse.

Extended periods of bed rest and limb immobilization are required for healing post-injury or disease, yet disuse can result in significant muscle atrophy and decreased quality of life in older adults. Physical rehabilitation is commonly prescribed to recover these deficits, yet accumulation of reactive oxygen species and sustained rates of protein degradation persist during the rehabilitation period that can significantly delay or prevent recovery. Pericytes, considered the primary mesenchymal and vascular stromal cell in skeletal muscle, secrete beneficial factors that maintain baseline muscle mass, yet minimal information exists regarding the pericyte response to disuse and recovery.

Electrically stimulated hind limb muscle contractions increase adult hippocampal astrogliogenesis but not neurogenesis or behavioral performance in male C57BL/6J mice.

Regular exercise is crucial for maintaining cognitive health throughout life. Recent evidence suggests muscle contractions during exercise release factors into the blood which cross into the brain and stimulate adult hippocampal neurogenesis. However, no study has tested whether muscle contractions alone are sufficient to increase adult hippocampal neurogenesis and improve behavioral performance.

Attention control and the attention schema theory of consciousness.

In the attention schema theory (AST), the brain constructs a schematic, simplified model of attention. The model is associated with three cognitive processes: a model of one's own attention contributes to the endogenous control of attention, a model of the attention of others contributes to theory of mind, and the contents of these models leads to the common human claim that we contain a non-physical consciousness or awareness inside us. Because AST is a control-engineering style theory, it can make specific predictions in complex situations.

Superb autorotator: rapid decelerations in impulsively launched samaras.

Autorotation of botanical samaras, with a consequent reduction in their rate of descent, increases dispersal range in the presence of horizontal winds. Samaras in initial free fall from rest pass through a brief transitional phase prior to reaching their minimum rate of descent and stable autorotation. By contrast, intense wind gusts and elastic recoil of tree branches can produce impulsive samara detachment and accelerate them rapidly through the air.