Limited evidence of biased offspring sex allocation in a cavity-nesting conspecific brood parasite.

Sex allocation theory predicts that mothers should bias investment in offspring toward the sex that yields higher fitness returns; one such bias may be a skewed offspring sex ratio. Sex allocation is well-studied in birds with cooperative breeding systems, with theory on local resource enhancement and production of helpers at the nest, but little theoretical or empirical work has focused on birds with brood parasitic breeding systems. Wood ducks () are a conspecific brood parasite, and rates of parasitism appear to increase with density.

Demographic Determinants and Geographical Variability of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Underserved Communities: Cross-sectional Study.

Background: COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths disproportionately affect underserved and minority populations, emphasizing that vaccine hesitancy can be an especially important public health risk factor in these populations.

Objective: This study aims to characterize COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in underserved diverse populations.

Methods: The Minority and Rural Coronavirus Insights Study (MRCIS) recruited a convenience sample of adults (age≥18, N=3735) from federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in California, the Midwest (Illinois/Ohio), Florida, and Louisiana and collected baseline data in November 2020-April 2021.

Amiodarone or procainamide for the termination of sustained stable ventricular tachycardia: an historical multicenter comparison.

Objectives: The objective was to compare the effectiveness of intravenous (IV) procainamide and amiodarone for the termination of spontaneous stable sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT).

Methods: A historical cohort study of consecutive adult patients with stable sustained VT treated with IV amiodarone or procainamide was performed at four urban hospitals. Patients were identified for enrollment by admissions for VT and treatment with the study agents in the emergency department (ED) from 1993 to 2008.

Adenosine for wide-complex tachycardia: efficacy and safety.

Objectives: : To determine whether adenosine is useful and safe as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent for patients with undifferentiated wide QRS complex tachycardia. The etiology of sustained monomorphic wide QRS complex tachycardia is often uncertain acutely.

Design: : A retrospective observational study.

Is redundancy in vital signs monitoring useful?

During an ongoing study of wireless vital signs monitoring of post-triage patients with SMART [1] in the waiting area of the emergency department (ED) at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, we observed that redundancy in vital signs monitoring can be advantageous.