The Use of Race and Socioeconomic Status Variables in Published Otolaryngologic Research.

Objective: To characterize the use of race and socioeconomic status (SES) variables in clinical otolarynogologic research.

Methods: Databases were queried for all articles published in 2016 issues of 5 major otolaryngologic journals. One thousand, one hundred and forty of 1593 articles abstracted met inclusion criteria for analysis.

Qualia and Phenomenal Consciousness Arise From the Information Structure of an Electromagnetic Field in the Brain.

In this paper we address the following problems and provide realistic answers to them: (1) What could be the physical substrate for subjective, phenomenal, consciousness (P-consciousness)? Our answer: the electromagnetic (EM) field generated by the movement and changes of electrical charges in the brain. (2) Is this substrate generated in some particular part of the brains of conscious entities or does it comprise the entirety of the brain/body? Our answer: a part of the thalamus in mammals, and homologous parts of other brains generates the critical EM field. (3) From whence arise the qualia experienced in P-consciousness? Our answer, the relevant EM field is "structured" by emulating in the brain the information in EM fields arising from both external (the environment) and internal (the body) sources.

Machine-Learning Model for Mortality Prediction in Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Development and Validation Study.

Background: Artificial intelligence tools and techniques such as machine learning (ML) are increasingly seen as a suitable manner in which to increase the prediction capacity of currently available clinical tools, including prognostic scores. However, studies evaluating the efficacy of ML methods in enhancing the predictive capacity of existing scores for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are limited. We aimed to apply and validate a causal probabilistic network (CPN) model to predict mortality in patients with CAP.

The Current State of Care for Black and Hispanic Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients.

Research on the care of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients has been primarily in populations of European ancestry. However, the incidence of IBD, which comprises Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, is increasing in different populations around the world. In this comprehensive review, we examine the epidemiology, clinical presentations, disease phenotypes, treatment outcomes, social determinants of health, and genetic and environmental factors in the pathogenesis of IBD in Black and Hispanic patients in the United States.

Effect of Hyperthyroidism Control During Pregnancy on Maternal and Fetal Outcome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Context: Although the overt hyperthyroidism treatment during pregnancy is mandatory, unfortunately, few studies have evaluated the impact of treatment on reducing maternal and fetal outcomes.

Objective: This study aimed to demonstrate whether treatment to control hyperthyroidism manifested during pregnancy can potentially reduce maternal-fetal effects compared with euthyroid pregnancies through a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Data Source: MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Library Central, LILACS/BIREME until May 2021.

Linguistic Validation of Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory to Finnish Applying Mandysova's Decision Tree Algorithm.

Currently, there is no available Finnish version of the Genomic Nursing Concept Inventory tool (GNCI). This study tested the validity, reliability, and clinical usability of a Finnish translation. A decision tree algorithm was used to guide the translation, as per International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research guidelines.

Improving the Accuracy of Composite Methods: A G4MP2 Method with G4-like Accuracy and Implications for Machine Learning.

G4MP2 theory has proven to be a reliable and accurate quantum chemical composite method for the calculation of molecular energies using an approximation based on second-order perturbation theory to lower computational costs compared to G4 theory. However, it has been found to have significantly increased errors when applied to larger organic molecules with 10 or more nonhydrogen atoms. We report here on an investigation of the cause of the failure of G4MP2 theory for such larger molecules.

Phase offset determines alpha modulation of gamma phase coherence and hence signal transmission.

We find conditions for optimal phase coherence among sums of phase-offset sine wave pairs of two frequencies, e.g., gamma and alpha.

Reforming Physician Payments to Achieve Greater Equity and Value in Health Care: A Position Paper of the American College of Physicians.

Socioeconomic factors remain one of the most clinically significant contributors to health outcomes in this country, yet the current fee-for-service payment structure incentivizes volume and does not address such factors. The American College of Physicians proposes specific policy recommendations on reforming payment programs, including those designed to treat underserved patient populations, to better address value in health care and achieve greater equity. The proposal advocates that population-based prospective payment models, including hybrid models that combine fee-for-service with prospective payments, not only have the potential to achieve high-value care but can also be designed in such a way as to adjust for the social drivers that impact health outcomes.

Digital Droplet PCR to Track SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak in a Hospital Transitional Care Unit.

We describe an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 on a transition unit composed of elderly patients awaiting placement. Environmental and patient sample analyses using digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) suggested possible fomite transmission and a high viral burden source from a few individual patients. This outbreak illustrates challenges inherent to this specific patient population.

Self-reported mask use among persons with or without SARS CoV-2 vaccination -United States, December 2020-August 2021.

Wearing a facemask can help to decrease the transmission of COVID-19. We investigated self-reported mask use among subjects aged 18 years and older participating in the COVID-19 Community Research Partnership (CRP), a prospective longitudinal COVID-19 surveillance study in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States. We included those participants who completed ≥5 daily surveys each month from December 1, 2020 through August 31, 2021.

Internet and social media research by parents of pediatric otolaryngologic patients.

Purpose: Public access to medical information has increased dramatically with the growth and accessibility of the Internet. The goal of this study is to characterize how parents use the Internet to understand and make decisions about their child's otolaryngologic surgery.

Materials And Methods: A survey was distributed to parents of pediatric patients undergoing otolaryngologic procedures to assess if and how parents gather information about their child's surgery.

Melioidosis in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia.

Melioidosis is endemic in the remote Katherine region of northern Australia. In a population with high rates of chronic disease, social inequities, and extreme remoteness, the impact of melioidosis is exacerbated by severe weather events and disproportionately affects First Nations Australians. All culture-confirmed melioidosis cases in the Katherine region of the Australian Top End between 1989-2021 were included in the study, and the clinical features and epidemiology were described.

Opioid use in pediatric otolaryngologic surgery: A survey of caregivers' attitudes.

Objective: Given the current opioid epidemic and the fact that children continue to be undertreated for pain following surgeries, it is important to understand care-givers' attitudes toward post-operative opioid use.

Design: A survey was distributed to caregivers of pediatric patients undergoing otolaryngologic procedures.

Setting: An academic hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Digital White Racial Socialization: Social Media and the Case of Whiteness.

The Internet has become a ubiquitous central element in the lives of adolescents. In this conceptual paper, we focus on digital white racial socialization (D-WRS), arguing: (1) for an expanded conceptualization of WRS as doings, and (2) that social media may be changing processes of WRS through an extension of traditional settings and through the creation of unique social contexts. We highlight the uniqueness of social media contexts due to the designed normalization of whiteness, weak-tie racism, social media affordances, and racialized pedagogical zones allowing adolescents to practice doing race.

COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths Among American Indian or Alaska Native Persons - Alaska, 2020-2021.

American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons across the United States face substantial health disparities, including a disproportionately higher incidence of COVID-19 (1,2). AI/AN persons living in Alaska also face serious health and health care challenges, including access to care because 90% of the state's land area is inaccessible by road (3), and approximately one half of the state's AI/AN population (AI/AN race alone or in combination with another race) live in remote rural areas (4). To examine the extent of COVID-19-associated disparities among AI/AN persons living in Alaska, a retrospective analysis of COVID-19 cases reported to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (AKDHSS) during March 12, 2020-December 31, 2021, was conducted.

Peptide location fingerprinting identifies species- and tissue-conserved structural remodelling of proteins as a consequence of ageing and disease.

Extracellular matrices (ECMs) in the intervertebral disc (IVD), lung and artery are thought to undergo age-dependant accumulation of damage by chronic exposure to mechanisms such as reactive oxygen species, proteases and glycation. It is unknown whether this damage accumulation is species-dependant (via differing lifespans and hence cumulative exposures) or whether it can influence the progression of age-related diseases such as atherosclerosis. Peptide location fingerprinting (PLF) is a new proteomic analysis method, capable of the non-targeted identification of structure-associated changes within proteins.

Preventing symptomatic vitamin D deficiency and rickets among Indigenous infants and children in Canada.

Vitamin D deficiency (VitDD) rickets and other manifestations of severe VitDD, such as cardiomyopathy and hypocalcemic seizures, continue to be diagnosed in Canada. Breastfed Indigenous infants, particularly those living in northern communities, are disproportionately impacted, although formula-fed infants are not exempt in cases where the mother's vitamin D status is critically low. This statement deals with the prevention of rickets and hypocalcemia due to VitDD for Indigenous children, and revises an earlier document from the Canadian Paediatric Society.

Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men Who Are Not on Oral PrEP may be Less Interested in Available Injectable Products than in Oral PrEP: Examining Individual-Level Determinants of Interest and Barriers Across Products.

Approval of the first injectable PrEP product (cabotegravir) provides an exciting addition to oral PrEP that could encourage those not currently on PrEP to use it. However, few studies have explored interest in injectable cabotegravir among those at increased risk who are not currently on PrEP. We conducted an online survey with 327 gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) with limited PrEP history to explore their interest and intentions to use oral and injectable PrEP (cabotegravir), and examine barriers and individual-level predictors of both product types.

Genomic erosion in a demographically recovered bird species during conservation rescue.

The pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) is an endemic species of Mauritius that has made a remarkable recovery after a severe population bottleneck in the 1970s to early 1990s. Prior to this bottleneck, an ex situ population was established from which captive-bred individuals were released into free-living subpopulations to increase population size and genetic variation. This conservation rescue led to rapid population recovery to 400-480 individuals, and the species was twice downlisted on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Age-dependent gray matter demyelination is associated with leptomeningeal neutrophil accumulation.

People living with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience episodic CNS white matter lesions instigated by autoreactive T cells. With age, patients with MS show evidence of gray matter demyelination and experience devastating nonremitting symptomology. What drives progression is unclear and studying this has been hampered by the lack of suitable animal models.

Effect of Burosumab Compared With Conventional Therapy on Younger vs Older Children With X-linked Hypophosphatemia.

Context: Younger age at treatment onset with conventional therapy (phosphate salts and active vitamin D; Pi/D) is associated with improved growth and skeletal outcomes in children with X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH). The effect of age on burosumab efficacy and safety in XLH is unknown.

Objective: This work aimed to explore the efficacy and safety of burosumab vs Pi/D in younger (< 5 years) and older (5-12 years) children with XLH.

Sex Education and Sexual Risk Behavior among Adolescents and Youth in the Deep South: Implications for Youth HIV Prevention.

Objectives: Adolescents and young adults represent the largest group of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in the United States, especially in the South. We wanted to determine whether abstinence only until marriage (AOUM) sex education programs were effective in reducing HIV vulnerability among youth in Mississippi.

Methods: Using the 2015 Mississippi Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, we examined the effect of AOUM sex education among a sample of youth ages 12 to 18 years on 4 HIV-related sexual risk behaviors.

Strategic Ambiguity: How Pre-Tenure Faculty Negotiate the Hidden Rules of Academia.

The tenure evaluation process is characterized by a lack of clarity and governed by unspoken rules. At the same time, while institutions have increased the presence of racially minoritized people among the ranks of faculty over the last 30 years, this growth in numbers has been concentrated among non-tenure track and pre-tenure levels. This study analyzes the ways that ambiguity in the tenure evaluation process contributes to the racialized hierarchy of the professoriate.