Publications by authors named "RJ Walker"

The objective of this review is to evaluate and summarize the evidence base for the effects of monetary intervention approaches (the use of positive monetary reinforcers and gains) on diabetes outcomes. A reproducible search using OVID Medline, PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL was conducted. Articles published from database creation up to July 2024 were searched.

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Spread of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) to the larynx is exceedingly rare and can be obscured by more common conditions such as laryngeal cancer or oropharyngeal candidiasis, complicating an accurate diagnosis. Risk factors for chronic laryngeal disease, such as smoking and toxin exposure, place TB infection comparatively lower for consideration on a physician's differential. However, identifying these lesions is crucial from a medical and public health perspective to prevent community spread.

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: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and physical- and mental-health-related quality of life in adults with diabetes. : Using two years of national Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data (2016-2017), we investigated the relationship between food insecurity and physical-health-related (PCS) and mental-health-related (MCS) quality of life in adults with diabetes. PCS and MCS were measured with the Short-Form 12 health survey and food insecurity was measured with the USDA 10-item adult scale.

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  • Differences exist between what patients and clinicians view as important endpoints, influenced by personal preferences and values.
  • A scoping review was conducted to identify effective methods for eliciting patient preferences related to invasive procedures, aiming to guide future research and clinical practices.
  • The review included 394 articles on patient preferences, highlighting a variety of elicitation methods; quantitative methods dominated, while qualitative approaches provided deeper insights into patient views.
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Diabetes is a significant public health concern with significant implications for health equity. Functional disability undermines disease control and may be associated with the relationship between criminal legal involvement and poor chronic disease outcomes, but this relationship has not been studied. This study examined the association between recent criminal legal involvement and functional disability among a nationally representative sample of US adults with diabetes.

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Importance: As the global population ages, the proportion of individuals living with functional disability is increasing. Evidence suggests that functional disability is associated with worse health outcomes and is concentrated in populations with high rates of concurrent social risk factors such as criminal legal involvement (CLI), making it an increasingly important issue for advocates of health equity.

Objective: To determine whether age is associated with functional disability in a nationally representative sample of United States adults with lifetime exposure to the criminal legal system.

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Background: Approximately 11.3% of the US population has diabetes. The burden of diabetes is higher in older adults and African Americans (AAs), such that 40% of adults aged 50 years and older have diabetes; African Americans are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes compared to non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs).

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  • Many older adults have been involved with the criminal justice system, which can lead to serious health problems over time.
  • A study looked at how this past involvement affects middle-aged and older adults’ use of emergency health services.
  • The findings show that middle-aged people with a history of legal issues go to the emergency room more often, while older adults with similar backgrounds spend more nights in the hospital than those without such history.
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  • - Growing evidence indicates that social determinants of health, like education and access to care, significantly impact the use of preventive healthcare services in the US.
  • - A cross-sectional study analyzed data from 82,432 adults (2016-2018) to investigate how six social risk factors relate to the likelihood of receiving services such as mammograms, Pap tests, and vaccines.
  • - Results showed that educational deficits and limited access to care were strongly linked to lower rates of preventive service uptake, emphasizing the need for addressing these social factors to improve health outcomes.
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The isotopic compositions of samples returned from Cb-type asteroid Ryugu and Ivuna-type (CI) chondrites are distinct from other carbonaceous chondrites, which has led to the suggestion that Ryugu/CI chondrites formed in a different region of the accretion disk, possibly around the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. We show that, like for Fe, Ryugu and CI chondrites also have indistinguishable Ni isotope anomalies, which differ from those of other carbonaceous chondrites. We propose that this unique Fe and Ni isotopic composition reflects different accretion efficiencies of small FeNi metal grains among the carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies.

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Background: As the global burden of diabetes persists, research is needed to understand the role of wealth and correlates of diabetes across regions of the world. The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence and role of wealth and diabetes across 6 low- and middle- income countries while also accounting for independent correlates of diabetes by country.

Methods: Data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE), SAGE Wave 1 was used.

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  • Herbaspirillum spp. is a bacterium typically found in environments like soil and water, and is rarely linked to infections, especially in healthy individuals.
  • A 57-year-old male with no neutropenia experienced symptoms like fever and malaise after undergoing home dialysis, leading to the discovery of Herbaspirillum huttiense in his blood cultures.
  • After treating him with various antibiotics and removing his central line, he recovered without complications, raising the significance of this rare infection in a non-neutropenic dialysis patient.
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Importance: No clear process exists for categorizing social risks in a way that informs effective social risk screening and intervention development.

Objective: To investigate social risk profiles and associations of those profiles with clinical outcomes in adults with diabetes using latent profile analysis.

Design, Setting, And Participants: For this cross-sectional study, a latent profile analysis was conducted using data for adults with type 2 diabetes collected at 2 primary care clinics in the Southeastern US from 2013 to 2014.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to investigate how delay discounting, which is the tendency to prioritize immediate rewards over future ones, affects clinical outcomes in diabetes, and suggests future research areas.
  • A thorough review of existing literature from multiple databases found 15 relevant articles, with 14 of them indicating a significant negative relationship between higher delay discounting and various diabetes outcomes, such as HbA1c levels, self-care behaviors, and overall quality of life.
  • The findings emphasize the need for more interdisciplinary research to better understand the mechanisms behind this relationship and develop targeted interventions to improve diabetes management and health outcomes.
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Background: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease is burgeoning in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors is increasing, though rates of CVD diagnosis and management remain low. Awareness of the influence of social determinants of health (SDOH) on cardiovascular outcomes is growing, however, most work focuses on high-income countries.

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Background: Published guidelines that help clinicians identify patients who would benefit from the co-prescription of intranasal naloxone (IN) exclude "palliative care patients." In the absence of clear care standards, palliative care (PC) clinicians may experience uncertainty in how to approach IN co-prescriptions.

Objective: Explore the attitudes of PC clinicians in the United States of America who work at regional health care institutions regarding IN prescriptions for patients they prescribe opioids for.

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Background: Associations between procedure volumes and outcomes can inform minimum volume standards and the regionalization of health services. Robot-assisted surgery continues to expand globally; however, data are limited regarding which hospitals should be using the technology.

Study Design: Using administrative health data for all residents of Ontario, Canada, this retrospective cohort study included adult patients who underwent a robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), total robotic hysterectomy (TRH), robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN), or robotic portal lobectomy using 4 arms (RPL-4) between January 2010 and September 2021.

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Introduction: Loss to follow-up (LTFU) distorts results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Understanding trial characteristics that contribute to LTFU may enable investigators to anticipate the extent of LTFU and plan retention strategies. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the extent of LTFU in surgical RCTs and evaluate associations between trial characteristics and LTFU.

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  • Calcium-sensing receptors (CaSRs) are critical in regulating calcium levels and hormone release related to calcium metabolism by acting in the kidneys, gut, and bones.
  • Genetic variations, particularly single nucleotide polymorphisms in CaSR genes, can lead to various conditions affecting calcium balance, such as autosomal dominant hypercalciuric hypocalcaemia.
  • A case study highlights a female patient who developed severe kidney issues after treatment for hypocalcaemia in childhood, but post-kidney transplant, her condition improved and she now has stable calcium and phosphate levels.
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Gout affects 15%-30% of individuals with advanced kidney disease. Allopurinol which is rapidly and extensively metabolised to an active metabolite, oxypurinol, is the most commonly prescribed urate-lowering therapy. Oxypurinol is almost entirely eliminated by the kidneys (>95%) and has an elimination half-life of 18-30 h in those with normal kidney function.

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Acetaminophen (ACE) is a widely used analgesic and antipyretic drug with various applications, from pain relief to fever reduction. Recent studies have reported equivocal effects of habitual ACE intake on exercise performance, muscle growth, and risks to bone health. Thus, this study aimed to assess the impact of a 6-week, low-dose ACE regimen on muscle and bone adaptations in exercising and non-exercising rats.

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Objective: The aim of this analysis was to create a parsimonious tool to screen for high social risk using item response theory to discriminate across social risk factors in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Cross-sectional data of 615 adults with diabetes recruited from two primary care clinics were used. Participants completed assessments including validated scales on economic instability (financial hardship), neighborhood and built environment (crime, violence, neighborhood rating), education (highest education, health literacy), food environment (food insecurity), social and community context (social isolation), and psychological risk factors (perceived stress, depression, serious psychological distress, diabetes distress).

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  • The study investigates the relationship between postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) and overall survival (OS) in patients with early-stage HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) that has positive lymphovascular invasion (LVI).
  • Researchers analyzed data from 2,768 patients treated surgically between 2010 and 2019, focusing on those with LVI and PORT to determine its impact on 5-year OS.
  • Findings suggest that PORT does not significantly improve 5-year OS for patients with early-stage HPV+ OPSCC who only exhibit LVI as an adverse feature, implying that they might not need PORT after surgery.
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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health burden, with ineffective therapies leading to increasing morbidity and mortality. Renal interstitial fibrosis is a common pathway in advanced CKD, resulting in kidney function and structure deterioration. In this study, we investigate the role of FTO-mediated N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and its downstream targets in the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis.

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  • The study examines how historic redlining in the U.S. connects to higher rates of diabetes in various communities.
  • Using census data and existing research models, the authors analyzed factors like discrimination, poverty, and housing that could link redlining to diabetes prevalence.
  • Findings show that areas with a history of redlining not only had higher diabetes rates directly but also influenced them through various social issues like incarceration and access to education and food.
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