Publications by authors named "Sara Arastoo"

Objective: To investigate and characterize the incidence of needlestick injuries (NSI) in a sample of practicing pain medicine physicians, with the ultimate goal of aiding to prevent these injuries by raising awareness of their prevalence.

Design: A cross-sectional research survey.

Setting: A REDCap survey was emailed to physicians who had membership to the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

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Amygdala activity in context of the splenocardiac model has not been investigated in healthy, young adults and has not been compared between nonsmokers, electronic cigarette users, and smokers. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computer tomography (FDG PET/CT) scans would demonstrate positively correlated metabolic activity in the amygdala, bone marrow, spleen, and aorta, elucidating activation of the splenocardiac axis in otherwise healthy young people who use tobacco products compared to nonusers. Moreover, the study was conducted to evaluate whether electronic cigarette users and tobacco smokers have similar levels of inflammation compared to nonusers.

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Background: Preoperative medical evaluation serves to identify risk factors and optimize patients before surgery. Providing a telehealth option in the perioperative setting has played a significant role in reducing barriers to quality perioperative health care.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate how telemedicine preoperative evaluations using Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT) impact hospital length of stay.

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The development of effective screening methods for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in early childhood remains a public health priority for communities around the world. Little is known regarding the concurrence between parent concerns about ASD and formal ASD diagnostic methods. This study aimed to examine the relationships among parental ASD concern, ADOS classification, and a physician specialist's diagnosis.

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Background Tobacco cigarettes (TCs) increase oxidative stress and inflammation, both instigators of atherosclerotic cardiac disease. It is unknown if electronic cigarettes (ECs) also increase immune cell oxidative stress. We hypothesized an ordered, "dose-response" relationship, with tobacco-product type as "dose" (lowest in nonsmokers, intermediate in EC vapers, and highest in TC smokers), and the "response" being cellular oxidative stress (COS) in immune cell subtypes, in otherwise, healthy young people.

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Electronic cigarettes (ECs) and tobacco cigarettes (TCs) both release nicotine, a sympathomimetic drug. We hypothesized that baseline heart rate variability (HRV) and hemodynamics would be similar in chronic EC and TC smokers and that after acute EC use, changes in HRV and hemodynamics would be attributable to nicotine, not non-nicotine, constituents in EC aerosol. In 100 smokers, including 58 chronic EC users and 42 TC smokers, baseline HRV and hemodynamics [blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR)] were compared.

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Objectives: Pit and fissure sealants are recognized as an effective preventive approach in pediatric dentistry. Composite resin is the most commonly used sealant material. Adding nanoparticles to composite resin could result in production of flowable composite with higher mechanical properties and better flowability than previous sealants.

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Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) receive approximately 80% of instruction in the general education classroom, where individualized behavioral management strategies may be difficult for teachers to consistently deliver. Mobile device apps provide promising platforms to manage behavior. This pilot study evaluated the utility of a web-based application (iSelfControl) designed to support classroom behavior management.

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Objective: To study dancers' perceptions of the physical, cognitive, affective, and social benefits of partnered dancing.

Method: 225 dancers (71% female) were recruited through a community ballroom dance center and completed an online survey designed to measure their perceptions of the physical, cognitive, affective, and social benefits of modern, partnered dance styles (swing, Lindy Hop, and ballroom dancing). Subgroups were formed for analyses.

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There is growing consensus that exercise improves cognitive functioning, but research is needed to identify exercise interventions that optimize effects on cognition. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate Taekwondo implemented in public middle school physical education (PE). Two classes were randomly assigned to either: five sessions per week of PE or three sessions of PE and two sessions of Taekwondo.

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