Viability discrimination of bacterial microbiomes in home kitchen dish sponges using propidium monoazide treatment.

Dish sponges are known to support the proliferation of human bacterial pathogens, yet they are commonly used by consumers. Exposure to foodborne pathogens via sponge use may lead to illness, a serious concern among susceptible populations. The extent of exposure risks from sponge use has been limited by constraints associated with culture-independent or dependent methods for bacterial community characterization.

Latent classification model for censored longitudinal binary outcome.

Latent classification model is a class of statistical methods for identifying unobserved class membership among the study samples using some observed data. In this study, we proposed a latent classification model that takes a censored longitudinal binary outcome variable and uses its changing pattern over time to predict individuals' latent class membership. Assuming the time-dependent outcome variables follow a continuous-time Markov chain, the proposed method has two primary goals: (1) estimate the distribution of the latent classes and predict individuals' class membership, and (2) estimate the class-specific transition rates and rate ratios.

Impact of Hydrocolloid Dressing and Moisturizing Cream as Facial Skin Protectants Among Health Care Workers.

Introduction: During the novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, health care workers experienced facial problems from prolonged use of N95 masks, including skin irritation, pigmentation changes, and contact dermatitis. We assessed the use of hydrocolloid dressing versus dimethicone cream to prevent skin breakdown among military health care workers while wearing an N95.

Materials And Methods: Participants were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling in this nonblinded, randomized, cross-over study with 2 active treatments, hydrocolloid dressing and dimethicone cream, across 3 time points.

Association of Nightly Fasting, Meal Frequency, and Skipping Meals with Metabolic Syndrome among Kuwaiti Adults.

Mounting evidence suggests that meal timing and frequency are associated with cardiometabolic health by influencing circadian rhythms. However, the evidence is inconsistent and limited, especially in non-Western cultures. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the association between temporal habits of dietary intake, such as nightly fasting duration and meal frequency, and metabolic syndrome among Kuwaiti adults.

The Effectiveness of Metformin in Managing Second Generation Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain in Children and Adolescents.

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of metformin for antipsychotic-induced weight gain (AIWG) and determine whether the timing of metformin initiation and premorbid obesity moderated metformin effectiveness in children and adolescents on treatment with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs). A cohort of individuals 6 to 17 years of age, from 2016 to 2021, initiating a new SGA treatment and receiving a subsequent metformin prescription during SGA treatment were identified from the IQVIA Ambulatory EMR-US database. The changes in body mass index (BMI) score before and after metformin initiation were assessed using the piecewise linear mixed-effects regression model.

Estimation of non-monotonic transition rates in a semi-Markov process with covariates adjustments and application to caregivers' stress data.

With the large ongoing number of aged people and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients worldwide, unpaid caregivers have become the primary sources of their daily caregiving. Alzheimer's family caregivers often suffer from physical and mental morbidities owing to various reasons. The aims of this paper were to develop alternate methods to understand the transition properties, the dynamic change, and the long-run behavior of AD caregivers' stress levels, by assuming their transition to the next level only depends on the duration of the current stress level.

Implementation and Evaluation of a mHealth-Based Community Health Worker Feedback Loop for Hispanics with and at Risk for Diabetes.

Background: Gaps in accessibility and communication hinder diabetes care in poor communities. Combining mobile health (mHealth) and community health workers (CHWs) into models to bridge these gaps has great potential but needs evaluation.

Objective: To evaluate a mHealth-based, Participant-CHW-Clinician feedback loop in a real-world setting.

Dimension reduction of 911 Good Samaritan Laws: Drawing inferences from policy surveillance.

Background: 911 Good Samaritan Laws (GSLs) extend legal protection to people reporting drug overdoses who may otherwise be in violation of controlled substance laws. Mixed evidence suggests GSLs decrease overdose mortality, but these studies overlook substantial heterogeneity across states. The GSL Inventory exhaustively catalogs features of these laws into four categories: breadth, burden, strength, and exemption.

Utilization and Predictors of Adjuvant Metformin for Children and Adolescents on Mixed Receptor Antagonists (Second-Generation Antipsychotics).

Objective: To examine utilization and predictors of adjuvant metformin among pediatric recipients of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) (mixed receptor antagonist).

Method: This study used 2016-2021 data of a national electronic medical record database. Eligible participants were children aged 6 to 17 with a new SGA prescription for at least 90 days.

Area deprivation index and segregation on the risk of HIV: a U.S. Veteran case-control study.

Background: Preventing HIV infection remains a critically important tool in the continuing fight against HIV/AIDS. The primary aim is to evaluate the effect and interactions between a composite area-level social determinants of health measure and an area-level measure of residential segregation on the risk of HIV/AIDS in U.S.

Non-homogeneous continuous-time Markov chain with covariates: Applications to ambulatory hypertension monitoring.

Hypertension significantly increases the risk for many health conditions including heart disease and stroke. Hypertensive patients often have continuous measurements of their blood pressure to better understand how it fluctuates over the day. The continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) is commonly used to study repeated measurements with categorical outcomes.

Healthcare Provider's Perceived Self-Efficacy in HPV Vaccination Hesitancy Counseling and HPV Vaccination Acceptance.

Background: HPV vaccine hesitancy is a key contributor to the sub-optimal HPV vaccination uptake in the United States. We aimed to determine the association between healthcare providers' self-efficacy in HPV vaccination hesitancy counseling and HPV vaccination acceptance after initial and follow-up counseling sessions.

Methods: Population-based cross-sectional study of healthcare providers (HCPs) practicing in Texas.

Plasma Cytokines/Chemokines as Predictive Biomarkers for Lymphedema in Breast Cancer Patients.

Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) occurs in ~ 40% of patients after axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), radiation therapy (RT), or chemotherapy. First-line palliative treatment utilizes compression garments and specialized massage. Reparative microsurgeries have emerged as a second-line treatment, yet both compression and surgical therapy are most effective at early stages of LE development.

HPV Vaccination Training of Healthcare Providers and Perceived Self-Efficacy in HPV Vaccine-Hesitancy Counseling.

HPV vaccine hesitancy is a key barrier to HPV vaccination. Using a population-based survey of HCPs practicing in Texas we determined the association between formal training of HCPs and perceived self-efficacy in counseling HPV vaccine-hesitant parents and adult patients. A total of 1283 HCPs completed the survey, with 879 providing vaccination services to pediatric patients and 1018 providing vaccination services to adult patients.

A Dynamic Risk Model for Multitype Recurrent Events.

Recurrent events can occur more than once in the same individual; such events may be of different types, known as multitype recurrent events. They are very common in longitudinal studies. Often there is a terminating event, after which no further events can occur.

Does hospital location matter? Association of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage with hospital quality in US metropolitan settings.

An aspect of a hospital's location, such as its degree of socioeconomic disadvantage, could potentially affect quality ratings of the hospital; yet, few studies have granularly explored this relationship in United States (US) metropolitan areas characterized by a wide breadth of socioeconomic disparities across neighborhoods. An understanding of the effect of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage on hospital quality of care is informative for targeting resources in poor neighborhoods. We assessed the association of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage with hospital quality of care across several areas of quality (including mortality, readmission, safety, patient experience, effectiveness of care, summary and overall star rating) in US metropolitan areas.

A Prospective Evaluation of Fatigue in Pediatric Brain Tumor Patients Treated With Radiation Therapy.

Fatigue is a well-established consequence of cranial radiotherapy in survivors of pediatric brain tumor, but less is known about acute fatigue during radiotherapy treatment. This study aimed to longitudinally evaluate fatigue in newly diagnosed pediatric patients with brain tumors during treatment. Primary caregivers of pediatric patients with brain tumors completed the proxy-reported Parent Fatigue Scale assessments prior to radiotherapy and weekly during radiotherapy treatment.

Association of provider HPV vaccination training with provider assessment of HPV vaccination status and recommendation of HPV vaccination.

The delivery of strong HPV vaccine recommendations hinges on the expertise of healthcare providers (HCPs) in assessing patients' status and recommending HPV vaccination. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of HCPs practicing in Texas to examine the relationship between HPV vaccination training of HCPs and HPV vaccination status assessment and recommendation. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between HCPs' formal training and recency of training in HPV vaccination promotion or counseling with HPV vaccination status assessment and recommendation.

Evaluation of the kitchen microbiome and food safety behaviors of predominantly low-income families.

Bacterial pathogens in the domestic environment present a risk to residents, particularly among susceptible populations. However, the impact of consumer demographic characteristics and food handling methods on kitchen microbiomes is not fully understood. The domestic kitchen bacterial communities of ten predominantly low-income families in Houston, TX, were assessed in conjunction with a cross-sectional food safety survey to evaluate differences in household and surface-specific microbiomes and bacterial foodborne pathogen presence.

Associations Between Vascular Diseases and Alzheimer's Disease or Related Dementias in a Large Cohort of Men and Women with Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Long term risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) associated with vascular diseases in people with colorectal cancer is unknown.

Objective: To determine the risk of ADRD in association with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), stroke, hypertension, and diabetes in a cohort of patients with colorectal cancer.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study consisted of 210,809 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age≥65 years in 1991-2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database with follow-up from 1991-2016, who were free of any ADRD at the baseline (<12 months prior to or < 30 days after the date of cancer diagnosis).

Food Safety Attitudes, Behaviors, and Hygiene Measures among Predominantly Low-Income Parents in Houston, Texas.

Abstract: Foodborne infections in the United States affect racial-ethnic minority and low-income populations at higher rates than the general population. To identify the prevalence of food safety behaviors and demographic characteristics associated with food handling practices among a susceptible, high-risk population, a cross-sectional survey was administered to 106 parents with children enrolled at two elementary schools serving predominantly low-income families in Houston, Texas. Relationships between demographic characteristics and food safety behavioral outcomes were examined using cross-tabulations and Fisher's exact test.

Prediction of breast cancer-related lymphedema by dermal backflow detected with near-infrared fluorescence lymphatic imaging.

Purpose: Mild breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is clinically diagnosed as a 5%-10% increase in arm volume, typically measured no earlier than 3-6 months after locoregional treatment. Early BCRL treatment is associated with better outcomes, yet amid increasing evidence that lymphedema exists in a latent form, treatment is typically delayed until arm swelling is obvious. In this study, we investigated whether near-infrared fluorescence lymphatic imaging (NIRF-LI) surveillance could characterize early onset of peripheral lymphatic dysfunction as a predictor of BCRL.

Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias in Association with Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, Hypertension, and Diabetes in a Large Cohort of Women with Breast Cancer and with up to 26 Years of Follow-Up.

Background: No study on the long-term incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) has been reported in women with breast cancer by vascular diseases.

Objective: To determine the risk of ADRD in association with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), stroke, hypertension, and diabetes in women with breast cancer.

Methods: Study identified 246,686 women diagnosed with breast cancer at age≥65 years in 1991-2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database.

Trends in neonatal intensive care unit admissions by race/ethnicity in the United States, 2008-2018.

To examine temporal trends of NICU admissions in the U.S. by race/ethnicity, we conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using natality files provided by the National Center for Health Statistics at the U.

Determining Risk Factors That Affect Progression in Patients with Nonproliferative Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: To determine risk factors that affect nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) progression and establish a predictive model to estimate the probability of and time to progression in NPDR. . Charts of diabetic patients who received an initial eye exam between 2010 and 2017 at our county hospital were included.