Acupuncture in the emergency department (ACUITY): Results from a BraveNet multi-center feasibility randomized controlled trial.

Background: Pain plays a significant role in emergency department (ED) visits, however safe and effective nonpharmacologic options are needed. Prior studies of acupuncture in the ED reported pain reduction with minimal side effects, but most were small and single site.

Methods: We conducted ACUITY, a prospectively designed multi-center feasibility RCT.

The CHALO! 2.0 mHealth-Based Multilevel Intervention to Promote HIV Testing and Linkage-to-Care Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Mumbai, India: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Current programs to engage marginalized populations such as gay and bisexual individuals and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in HIV prevention interventions do not often reach all MSM who may benefit from them. To reduce the global burden of HIV, far-reaching strategies are needed to engage MSM in HIV prevention and treatment. Globally, including low- and middle-income countries, MSM are now widely using internet-based social and mobile technologies (SMTs; eg, dating apps, social media, and WhatsApp [Meta]), which provides an unprecedented opportunity to engage unreached and underserved groups, such as MSM for HIV prevention and care.

Design of a Social Justice Curriculum to Expand Critical Consciousness Among Resident Trainees.

Background: Health equity curricula emphasizing critical pedagogy and centering perspectives of those with marginalized identities, both in curriculum design and execution, have yet to be described in interdisciplinary graduate medical education settings.

Aim: The application of public health critical race praxis (PHCRP) in the redesign and evaluation of a social medicine immersion month (SMIM) curriculum.

Setting: A mandatory, 4-week course within the Residency Program for Social Medicine in the Bronx, NY.

Matrix Gla protein and the long-term incidence and progression of coronary artery and aortic calcification in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Background And Aims: Matrix Gla protein (MGP) is an inhibitor of calcification that requires carboxylation by vitamin K for activity. The inactive form of MGP, dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein (dp-ucMGP), has been associated with increased calcification. However, it is not known whether there is a longitudinal relationship between dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein levels and coronary and aortic calcification in large population cohorts.

Mucosal and systemic antigen-specific antibody responses correlate with protection against active tuberculosis in nonhuman primates.

Background: Increasing evidence supports that antibodies can protect against active tuberculosis (TB) but knowledge of potentially protective antigens, especially in the airways, is limited. The main objective of this study was to identify antigen-specific airway and systemic immunoglobulin isotype responses associated with the outcome of controlled latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection (LTBI) versus uncontrolled infection (TB) in nonhuman primates.

Methods: In a case-control design, using non-parametric group comparisons with false discovery rate adjustments, we assessed antibodies in 57 cynomolgus macaques which, following low-dose airway Mtb infection, developed either LTBI or TB.

Cytolytic circumsporozoite-specific memory CD4 T cell clones are expanded during Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Clinical immunity against Plasmodium falciparum infection develops in residents of malaria endemic regions, manifesting in reduced clinical symptoms during infection and in protection against severe disease but the mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we compare the cellular and humoral immune response of clinically immune (0-1 episode over 18 months) and susceptible (at least 3 episodes) during a mild episode of Pf malaria infection in a malaria endemic region of Malawi, by analysing peripheral blood samples using high dimensional mass cytometry (CyTOF), spectral flow cytometry and single-cell transcriptomic analyses. In the clinically immune, we find increased proportions of circulating follicular helper T cells and classical monocytes, while the humoral immune response shows characteristic age-related differences in the protected.

Factors Influencing the Referral of Patients with Prediabetes to a Diabetes Prevention Program in the Bronx, New York.

Introduction: Disparate engagement in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) may occur as early as the point of referral for certain subgroups, including Black and Hispanic men. We aimed to determine patient demographic and provider characteristics associated with referrals to a health system DPP in the Bronx, New York.

Methods: Patient and health system characteristics for DPP-eligible patients seen in primary care between July 1, 2015, and December 31, 2017, were obtained through the electronic health record.

Receiving hemodialysis in Hispanic ethnic dense communities is associated with better adherence and outcomes among young patients: a retrospective analysis of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study.

Background: Hispanic ethnic density (HED) is a marker of better health outcomes among Hispanic patients with chronic disease. It is unclear whether community HED is associated with mortality risk among ethnically diverse patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients in the United States cohort of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) database (2011-2015) was conducted (n = 4226).

Co-use of cigarettes and cannabis among people with HIV: Results from a randomized controlled smoking cessation trial.

Significance: People with HIV (PWH) who smoke cigarettes have lower cessation rates than the general population. This study investigated whether changes in cannabis use frequency impedes cigarette cessation among PWH who are motivated to quit.

Methods: Between 2016-2020, PWH who smoked cigarettes were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial for cigarette cessation.

Social Needs Assessment and Linkage to Community Health Workers in a Large Urban Hospital System.

Objectives: Identifying social needs is a growing priority in primary care, but there is significant variation in how patients access services to meet such needs. This study identifies predictors of successful linkage with a community health worker (CHW) among patients with social needs seen in an outpatient setting.

Methods: This study uses a cross-sectional analysis of social needs assessments administered in an urban health system between April 2018 and December 2019.

People with HIV who smoke cigarettes non-daily.

Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of mortality in people with HIV (PWH) in the United States (US). A rising proportion of US tobacco users smoke non-daily, a phenomenon that is common among PWH. PWH who smoke non-daily may be attractive targets for cessation efforts, and, thus, a fuller understanding of non-daily smoking in PWH is important.

HIV Testing by Gender Identity Among Sexually Active Transgender-, Intersex-, and Hijra Individuals Reached Online in India.

Online outreach may be an important strategy to reach Indian gender minority (GM) populations for HIV testing. However, little is known about Indian GM populations reached online who are sexually active and their HIV testing behaviors. We conducted a secondary analysis of an India wide online cross-sectional survey to assess HIV testing and identify associated factors.

Doubled-Up Households, Self-Management Behaviors, Diabetes Preventive Care Services, and Hospital Use in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) 2015-2020.

Objective: We investigated associations of living in a doubled-up household (i.e., adults living with adult children, other related adults, or other unrelated adults) with diabetes self-management behaviors, occurrence of diabetes preventive care services, and hospital use by Hispanic/Latino adults with diabetes.

Patients Receiving Integrative Medicine Effectiveness Registry (PRIMIER) of the BraveNet practice-based research network: Outcomes of the PRIMIER cohort.

Objective: To evaluate the real-world effectiveness of integrative medicine treatment on quality of life using the Patients Receiving Integrative Medicine Effectiveness Registry (PRIMIER).

Design: A prospective, longitudinal, observational evaluation of patient reported outcomes for quality of life.

Setting: Participants were patients from 17 integrative medicine clinics who received personalized, integrative medicine treatments between August 2013 and October 2017.

High-Density Lipoprotein and Long-Term Incidence and Progression of Aortic Valve Calcification: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Background: Aortic valve calcification (AVC) shares pathological features with atherosclerosis. Lipoprotein components have been detected in aortic valve tissue, including HDL (high-density lipoprotein). HDL measures have inverse associations with cardiovascular disease, but relationships with long-term AVC progression are unclear.

Peer mentorship to improve outcomes in patients on hemodialysis (PEER-HD): a randomized controlled trial protocol.

Background: Patients receiving in-center hemodialysis experience disproportionate morbidity and incur high healthcare-related costs. Much of this cost stems from potentially avoidable hospitalizations. Peer mentorship has been used effectively to improve outcomes for patients with complex chronic diseases.

Acupuncture in the emergency department for pain management: A BraveNet multi-center feasibility study.

Purpose: Pain accounts for up to 78% of emergency department (ED) patient visits and opioids remain a primary method of treatment despite risks of addiction and adverse effects. While prior acupuncture studies are promising as an alternative opioid-sparing approach to pain reduction, successful conduct of a multi-center pilot study is needed to prepare for a future definitive randomized control trial (RCT).

Methods: Acupuncture in the Emergency Department for Pain Management (ACUITY) is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Randomized Trial of a Web-Based Tobacco Treatment and Online Community Support for People With HIV Attempting to Quit Smoking Cigarettes.

Background: Persons with HIV (PWH) in the United States (US) smoke cigarettes at approximately triple the rate of the general adult population and are less successful in their quit attempts than other smokers. This randomized trial tested whether a novel web-based cessation program for PWH yielded higher cigarette quit rates compared with a control program.

Setting: Two urban HIV care sites in NYC and Baltimore.

Plasma host protein biomarkers correlating with increasing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection activity prior to tuberculosis diagnosis in people living with HIV.

Background: Biomarkers correlating with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection activity/burden in asymptomatic individuals are urgently needed to identify and treat those at highest risk for developing active tuberculosis (TB). Our main objective was to identify plasma host protein biomarkers that change over time prior to developing TB in people living with HIV (PLHIV).

Methods: Using multiplex MRM-MS, we investigated host protein expressions from 2 years before until time of TB diagnosis in longitudinally collected (every 3-6 months) and stored plasma from PLHIV with incident TB, identified within a South African (SA) and US cohort.

Behavioral and Genetic Factors Associated with Successful Long-Term Cessation in Persons with HIV Who Smoke Cigarettes.

Background: Persons with HIV (PWH) smoke cigarettes at much higher rates than the general population in the US, and smoking is now the leading cause of death in US PWH. Efforts to control the tobacco use epidemic in PWH have met with limited success, and the factors associated with successful cessation are not well delineated. There is a particular dearth of knowledge regarding PWH ex-smokers who have successfully quit smoking cigarettes for the long term.