Early Cardiac Rehabilitation to Reduce Heart Failure Readmissions.

Purpose: This research was conducted to determine whether early participation in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) reduces readmissions following heart failure (HF) hospitalization.

Methods: A retrospective quasiexperimental comparison group design was used. Electronic medical records were abstracted for HF patients discharged between March 2013 and December 2017.

Pain management consultation for acute pancreatitis: impact on length of stay and opioid utilization.

The purpose of the study was to understand the impact of a pain management consult for acute pancreatitis patients on their inpatient length of stay, morphine milligram equivalences (MMEs) and pancreatitis severity. Adult patient data were extracted from the electronic health records from 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2018. Of 277 patients with a single acute pancreatitis hospitalization, 23 had a pain consultation (treatment group), whereas 254 did not (control group).

Comparing No-Show Rates of Neurology Outpatients with and without Parkinson's Disease: A Real-World Assessment of the Parkinsonian Personality Profile.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) has been hypothesized to be associated with certain personality traits, including conscientiousness and punctuality. However, research aimed at quantifying these traits is largely derived from questionnaire-based personality inventories rather than real-world observations.

Objective: To explore the presence of a parkinsonian personality profile by assessing the no-show rate of patients with PD versus other neurological disorders.

Management of heat in laser tissue welding using NIR cover window material.

Background: Laser tissue welding (LTW) is a novel method of surgical wound closure by the use of laser radiation to induce fusion of the biological tissues. Molecular dynamics associated with LTW is a result of thermal and non-thermal mechanisms.

Objectives: This research focuses exclusively on better heat management to reduce thermal damage of tissues in LTW using a near infrared laser radiation.

In vivo molecular evaluation of guinea pig skin incisions healing after surgical suture and laser tissue welding using Raman spectroscopy.

The healing process in guinea pig skin following surgical incisions was evaluated at the molecular level, in vivo, by the use of Raman spectroscopy. After the incisions were closed either by suturing or by laser tissue welding (LTW), differences in the respective Raman spectra were identified. The study determined that the ratio of the Raman peaks of the amide III (1247 cm(-1)) band to a peak at 1326 cm(-1) (the superposition of elastin and keratin bands) can be used to evaluate the progression of wound healing.