Evolution of Telehealth Program to Meet Current Needs of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Communities.

This article describes a telehealth program initially created to reduce transfers to acute care from the nursing home and its evolution into a robust program that includes Behavioral Health, a Medical Director program, and telenursing.

Biomechanical Evaluation of Tracheal Needle Puncture Forces: Comparative Analysis of Annular Ligaments and Tracheal Cartilage.

Percutaneous tracheotomies (PCT) are commonly performed minimally invasive procedures involving the creation of an airway opening through an incision or puncture of the tracheal wall. While the medical intervention is crucial for critical care and the management of acute respiratory failure, tracheostomy complications can lead to severe clinical symptoms due to the alterations of the airways biomechanical properties/structures. The causes and mechanisms underlaying the development of these post-tracheotomy complications remain largely unknown.

Gene partners of the EWSR1 fusion may represent molecularly distinct entities.

EWSR1 fusions are highly promiscuous and are associated with unique malignancies, clinical phenotypes, and molecular subtypes. However, rare fusion partners (RFP) of EWSR1 has not been well described. Here, we conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective study of 1,140 unique tumors harboring EWSR1 fusions.

Patient perspectives on recall period and response options in patient-reported outcome measures for chronic rhinosinusitis symptomatology: An international multi-centered study.

Background: Existing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) use a variety of recall periods and response scales to assess CRS symptom burden. Global perspectives of CRS patients regarding optimal recall periods and response scales for CRS PROMs are unknown.

Methods: This was a multi-center, cross-sectional study recruiting 461 CRS patients from sites across the United States, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and Austria.

Patient Perspectives on Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: Acute exacerbations of chronic rhinosinusitis (AECRS) are currently defined as a transient worsening of symptoms that return to baseline. This definition is narrow and can only be made retrospectively. The literature has studied this phenomenon from the physician perspective, yet a key stakeholder's-the patient's perspective is not well elucidated in the literature.

Effect of Water Depth on Limb and Back Kinematics in Horses Walking on a Water Treadmill.

Water treadmill (WT) exercise is frequently used for training/rehabilitation of horses. There is limited study into the effect of water depth on limb/back kinematics warranting investigation. The objective was to determine the effect of walking in different water depths, at the same speed, on limb/back kinematics measured simultaneously in a group of horses.

Hepatitis B Screening, Vaccination, and Linkage to Care: Lessons Learned from a Mississippi Vietnamese Community.

Background: Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders are disproportionately impacted by chronic hepatitis B infection (CHBI). The long-term effects of untreated CHBI include cirrhosis of the liver, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver failure. Approximately two-thirds of those living with CHBI are unaware of their HBV status.

UPCODING MEDICARE: IS HEALTHCARE FRAUD AND ABUSE INCREASING?

Medicare fraud has been the cause of up to $60 billion in overpaid claims in 2015 alone. Upcoding occurs when a healthcare provider has submitted codes for more severe conditions than diagnosed for the patient to receive higher reimbursement. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Medicare and Medicaid fraud to determine the magnitude of upcoding inpatient and outpatient claims throughout reimbursements.

Health System Success in Delivering Bamlanivimab Within Post-acute and Long-Term Care Facilities.

Objectives: Post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) residents are disproportionately affected by coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). We describe a health system approach that incorporated PALTC stakeholders to treat residents effectively and efficiently with monoclonal antibodies during the pandemic.

Design: Retrospective observational.

Maternal prenatal choline and inflammation effects on 4-year-olds' performance on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-IV.

Maternal gestational inflammation from infection, obesity, depression, and adverse childhood experiences negatively affects offspring cognitive development. Choline is a key nutrient in fetal brain development. We investigated whether higher maternal plasma choline concentrations have a positive association with offspring cognition, specifically processing speed, in the presence of inflammation.

Test to Protect Family and Self-A Hepatitis B Screening and Care-Linkage Initiative in the Coastal Mississippi Vietnamese Community.

Although Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders represent less than 5% of the U.S. population, they represent approximately half of all people living with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV).

Olfactory Dysfunction is not a Determinant Of Patient-Reported Chronic Rhinosinusitis Disease Control.

Objectives/hypothesis: As a cardinal symptom of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), hyposmia has been recommended to be assessed as a component of CRS disease control. Herein we determine the significance of hyposmia in CRS in the context of nasal obstruction and drainage symptoms.

Study Design: Prospective, cross-sectional METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 308 CRS patients (102 CRSwNP, 206 CRSsNP) without prior endoscopic sinus surgery.

The Nationwide Health Information Network: The Case of the Expansion of Health Information Exchanges in the United States.

The Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) implemented secure exchange of health records through utilization of the Internet. The NHIN has greatly assisted in achieving the goals of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act by promoting the adoption of Meaningful Use. Epic introduced a Health Information Exchange platform, Care Everywhere, which has facilitated Health Information Exchange availability.

Increasing Research Capacity in Underserved Communities: Formative and Summative Evaluation of the Mississippi Community Research Fellows Training Program (Cohort 1).

Background: The Mississippi Community Research Fellows Training Program (MSCRFTP) is a 15-week program conducted in Jackson, MS, USA consisting of training in the areas of evidence-based public health, research methods, research ethics, and cultural competency. The purpose of the program was to increase community knowledge and understanding of public health research, develop community-based projects that addressed health disparity in the participants' community, increase individual and community capacity, and to engage community members as equal partners in the research process.

Methods: A comprehensive evaluation of the MSCRFTP was conducted that included both quantitative and qualitative methods.

'A good method of quitting smoking' or 'just an alternative to smoking'? Comparative evaluations of e-cigarette and traditional cigarette usage by dual users.

The development of e-cigarettes was initially hailed as a resource in facilitating a reduction in or cessation of cigarette smoking. Many users of e-cigarettes are 'dual users', smoking traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. The present qualitative study examines the factors that a group of 20 dual users considered to have been influential in their decisions to use e-cigarettes and their comparative evaluations of e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes.

Creating A Nationwide Nonpartisan Initiative for Family Caregivers in Political Party Platforms.

Policymakers have been slow to support family caregivers, and political agendas mostly fail to address the cost burdens, impact on employment and productivity, and other challenges in taking on long-term care tasks. This project set out to raise policymakers' awareness of family caregivers through proposals to Republican and Democratic party platforms during the 2016 political season. The Family Caregiver Platform Project (FCPP) reviewed the state party platform submission process for Democratic and Republican parties in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The prognostic use of inflammation and tissue necrosis in benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Introduction: Evidence for the role of inflammation in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is conflicting. Establishing the prognostic significance of local and systemic inflammation and tissue necrosis scoring systems in BPH may elucidate the potential of inflammatory pathways as a target of therapeutic intervention in these patients.

Patients And Methods: Consecutive patients with histological BPH diagnosed between 1996 and 2005 were identified.

Body mass index predicts failure of surgical management in benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Introduction: Inflammation is postulated to link obesity and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The role of inflammation and the prognostic significance of body mass index (BMI) was investigated in BPH patients.

Subjects And Methods: Consecutive patients with histological BPH were identified from 1996 to 2005.

Ab initio investigation of the hydration of the tetrahedral perchlorate, perbromate, selenate, arsenate, and vanadate anions.

The geometries, energies, and vibrational frequencies of various isomers of XO(4)(m-)(H2O)n, x = Cl, Br, Se, As, V; n = 0-6, m = 1-3 are calculated at various levels up to MP2/6-31+G*. These properties are studied as a function of increasing cluster size. The experimental and theoretical vibrational spectra are compared where available.

Theoretical study of polaron formation in poly(G)-poly(C) cations.

Polaron formation in poly(G)-poly(C) cations is investigated with density functional theory (DFT) and molecular mechanics (MM) employing a two-layer ONIOM method. In these calculations, the high layer, composed of all complementary base pairs, is treated by a DFT method, while the low layer, which includes the sugar-phosphate backbone, counterions and water molecules, is described by the AMBER force field. The high layer is the model system in which the charge transfer takes place.

Phthalazinone pyrazoles as potent, selective, and orally bioavailable inhibitors of Aurora-A kinase.

The inhibition of Aurora kinases in order to arrest mitosis and subsequently inhibit tumor growth via apoptosis of proliferating cells has generated significant discussion within the literature. We report a novel class of Aurora kinase inhibitors based upon a phthalazinone pyrazole scaffold. The development of the phthalazinone template resulted in a potent Aurora-A selective series of compounds (typically >1000-fold selectivity over Aurora-B) that display good pharmacological profiles with significantly improved oral bioavailability compared to the well studied Aurora inhibitor VX-680.

The effect of multiplicity on the size of iron(II) and the structure of iron(II) porphyrins.

The displacement of the iron(II) atom from the porphyrin plane in iron(II) porphyrin complexes is investigated with respect to the spin state of iron(II) employing density functional theory. In this study the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) is used to show that the atomic volume of iron is smaller in the quintet state of imidazolium ligated iron(II) porphyrin than in the triplet state. This is consistent with what has been found for free atoms and contradicts the original interpretation of structural studies with X-rays, which assumed that the out-of-plane displacement of iron from the porphyrin ring in the quintet state is due to the increased spatial size of the high-spin iron atom.