As part of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical laboratories have been faced with massive increases in testing, resulting in sample collection systems, reagent, and staff shortages. We utilized self-collected saline gargle samples to optimize high throughput SARS-CoV-2 multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in order to minimize cost and technologist time. This was achieved through elimination of nucleic acid extraction and automation of sample handling on a widely available robotic liquid handler, Hamilton STARlet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Care management has the potential to improve quality of care and health outcomes for chronic conditions, but questions remain about how patients perceive care management. Understanding patient perceptions is critical for ensuring care management can successfully engage patients and improve management of chronic conditions.
Objective: To understand high-risk patients' experiences and perceptions of care management.
Objective: Review the menstrual and obstetric outcomes among Asherman syndrome patients when stratified by disease severity.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: A community teaching hospital affiliated with a large academic medical center.
J Minim Invasive Gynecol
March 2021
Objective: To summarize and update our current knowledge regarding adenomyosis diagnosis, prevalence, and symptoms.
Data Sources: Systematic review of PubMed between January 1972 and April 2020. Search strategy included: "adenomyosis [MeSH Terms] AND (endometriosis[MeSH Term OR prevalence study [MeSH Terms] OR dysmenorrhea[text word] OR prevalence[Text Word] OR young adults [Text Word] OR adolesce* [Text Word] OR symptoms[Text Word] OR imaging diagnosis [Text Word] OR pathology[Text Word].
Study Question: Is there an association between endometrial thickness (EMT) measurement and clinical pregnancy rate among Asherman syndrome (AS) patients utilizing IVF and embryo transfer (ET)?
Summary Answer: EMT measurements may not be associated with successful clinical pregnancy among AS patients undergoing IVF.
What Is Known Already: Clinical pregnancy rate after IVF is significantly lower in patients with a thin endometrium, defined as a maximum EMT of <7 mm. However, AS patients often have a thin EMT measurement due to intrauterine scarring, with a paucity of data and no guidance on what EMT cutoff is appropriate when planning an ET among these patients.
Study Objective: Create a comprehensive summary of maternal and neonatal morbidities from patients previously treated for Asherman syndrome and evaluate for differences in perinatal outcomes based on conception method.
Design: Retrospective cohort.
Setting: Community teaching hospital affiliated with a large academic medical center.
J Minim Invasive Gynecol
February 2021
Study Objective: To characterize obstetric outcomes for concomitant Asherman syndrome and adenomyosis.
Design: A retrospective cohort study.
Setting: A community teaching hospital affiliated with a large academic medical center.
Objective: Slow-wave activity (SWA) during sleep is reduced in people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and is related to sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Acoustic stimulation of slow oscillations has proven effective in enhancing SWA and memory in younger and older adults. In this study we aimed to determine whether acoustic stimulation during sleep boosts SWA and improves memory performance in people with aMCI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDegeneration of cerebral white matter (WM), or structural disconnection, is one of the major neural mechanisms driving age-related decline in cognitive functions, such as processing speed. Past cross-sectional studies have demonstrated beneficial effects of greater cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity, cognitive training, social engagement, and nutrition on cognitive functioning and brain health in aging. Here, we collected diffusion magnetic resonance (MRI) imaging data from 174 older (age 60-79) adults to study the effects of 6-months lifestyle interventions on WM integrity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransmission of leptospirosis occurs through contact of mucous membranes and abraded skin with freshwater contaminated by pathogenic Leptospira spp. Exposure to physiological osmolarity induces leptospires to express high levels of the Lig surface proteins containing imperfect immunoglobulin-like repeats that are shared or differ between LigA and LigB. We report that osmotic induction of Lig is accompanied by 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHer-2/neu (ErbB2) oncogene, the second member of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family, encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor in Her-2-positive tumors. Accumulating evidences demonstrate that signaling networks activated by EGFR and transcription factor NF-kappaB are associated with cell response to ionizing radiation (IR). The present study shows that overexpression of ErbB2 enhanced NF-kappaB activation induced by IR in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells transfected with ErbB2 genes (MCF-7/ErbB2).
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