Work as an Understudied Driver of Racial Inequities in Breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding inequities by race are a persistent public health problem in the United States. Inequities in occupation and working conditions likely contribute to relatively less breastfeeding among Black compared to White mothers, yet little research has addressed these interrelationships. Here, we offer a critical review of the literature and a conceptual framework to guide future research about work and racial inequities in breastfeeding.

Cholesteatoma With Cochlear Fistula and Carotid Dehiscence.

Cholesteatomas are non-neoplastic, invasive lesions created by the accumulation of keratinized squamous epithelium in the temporal bone. If left untreated, its expansion may cause local destruction of the surrounding structures, eventually leading to inner ear fistula, dehiscence of tegmen and possible intracranial pathology, and facial nerve paralysis. Surgical resection is the mainstay of curative treatment.

Retained Dental Implant in the Maxillary Sinus.

Implant dentistry has become a popularized means of replacing damaged or missing teeth. Although it has become common practice, there are accounts of implants displacing into surrounding structures, commonly the maxillary sinus. We present the case of a 54-year-old man who presented with chronic left sided pain and pressure found to be secondary to a displaced implant obstructing the left maxillary outflow sinus tract.

Understanding Hesitation to Use Nicotine Replacement Therapy: A Content Analysis of Posts in Online Tobacco-Cessation Support Groups.

Purpose: We aimed to better understand hesitancy to use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to quit smoking.

Design: We content coded and analyzed NRT-related posts in online quit smoking support groups to understand NRT-use hesitancy and to examine associations with health outcomes.

Setting: NRT posts were analyzed in unmoderated social-media support groups with free NRT.

Applicant Perspectives of Virtual General Surgery Residency Interviews.

Background: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic prompted drastic changes to residency recruitment. The majority of general surgery residency interviews for the 2020-2021 interview cycle were restructured into a virtual format. The goal of this study is to evaluate general surgery residency applicants' perception of virtual interviews.

Dawn of a New Normal: Resident and Faculty Attitudes in Adopting Virtual Conferences and Education.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed education in medical residencies with the need to transition to a virtual format. The objective of this study is to assess the adoption of a virtual format for grand rounds, M&M, and education of the surgical department.

Method: A 25 question online survey was developed using Qualtrics and distributed to faculty and resident physicians in the Department of Surgery from March to April 2021.

Neural Functions of Hypothalamic Oxytocin and its Regulation.

Oxytocin (OT), a nonapeptide, has a variety of functions. Despite extensive studies on OT over past decades, our understanding of its neural functions and their regulation remains incomplete. OT is mainly produced in OT neurons in the supraoptic nucleus (SON), paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and accessory nuclei between the SON and PVN.

A Change for the Worse: Negative Social Exchanges are Associated with an Accelerated Decline in Self-Rated Health Over Time.

Objectives: Age-associated accelerated declines in physical health vary across individuals, and researchers have suggested that individual differences in decline may vary as a function of stressors. The relation of one such stressor, negative social exchanges, to accelerated declines in self-rated health is investigated.

Method: Participants are from a 2-year, 5-wave, national, longitudinal study of social relationships among older adults.

Endovascular Intervention in Internal Carotid Artery Blunt Cerebrovascular Injury: An EAST Multicenter Study.

Background: Use of endovascular intervention (EI) for blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) is without consensus guidelines. Rates of EI use and radiographic characteristics of BCVI undergoing EI nationally are unknown.

Methods: A post-hoc analysis of a prospective, observational study at 16 U.

Association of Cardiovascular Disease and Military Veteran Status With Impairments in Physical and Psychological Functioning: Retrospective Cross-Sectional Analysis of US National Survey Data.

Introduction: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provides multidisciplinary team-based care with peer-to-peer support for diabetes and obesity, but not for most heart diseases.

Objective: To inform disease-care models, assess physical and psychological functioning in veterans with, or at high risk of, heart disease.

Methods: Retrospective, cross-sectional cohort analysis of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2015-2019, based on standard measures of functioning: self-rated health, serious psychological distress, and high-risk substance use.

Application of Safety Protocols for International Cleft Outreach Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Global Smile Foundation Precaution Guidelines and Implications.

Background: Since COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March of 2020, foundation-based cleft outreach programs to Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) were halted considering global public health challenges, scarcity of capacity and resources, and travel restrictions. This led to an increase in the backlog of untreated patients with cleft lip and/or palate, with new challenges to providing comprehensive care in those regions. Resumption of international outreach programs requires an updated course of action to incorporate necessary safety measures in the face of the ongoing pandemic.

Designing an mHealth Roadmap for the Journey to Self-Management: A Qualitative Study with Adolescents and Young Adults Living with Chronic Illness.

Objectives: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with chronic illnesses often struggle with illness self-management. The objective of this study is to understand how AYA with various chronic illnesses develop self-management skills and which mobile health (mHealth) strategies they believe could be helpful.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients, between 16 to 20 years old, living with at least one chronic illness (N = 19), between 2018 and 2019 in Los Angeles, CA.

Emergency Response Protocols for Overseas Outreach Settings: Global Smile Foundation Strategy.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aim to alleviate unmet global disease burden and promote collaboration between visiting and host countries. Well-executed emergency response protocols are foundational to providing safe and quality care in an unpredictable global setting. Global Smile Foundation (GSF) instituted a protocol in 2012 based on over three decades of cleft care experience.

Cholesteatoma Causing a Horizontal Semicircular Canal Fistula.

Horizontal canal fistulas are not uncommon in patients with cholesteatoma. Patients with canal wall down cavities and exposed horizontal canal fistulas develop significant dizziness with wind or suction exposure. Obliteration of mastoid cavities in patients with exposed fistulas can be challenging.

The DEPARTS Score: A Novel Tool for Predicting Discharge Disposition in Geriatric Trauma Patients.

Background: Geriatric trauma patients (GTPs) represent a high-risk population for needing post-acute care, such as skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and long-term acute care hospitals (LTACs), due to a combination of traumatic injuries and baseline functional health. As there is currently no well-established tool for predicting these needs, we aimed to create a scoring tool that predicts disposition to SNFs/LTACs in GTPs.

Methods: The adult 2017 Trauma Quality Improvement Program database was divided at random into two equal sized sets (derivation and validation sets) of GTPs >65 years old.

Perceived Discrimination, Retention, and Diabetes Risk Among American Indians and Alaska Natives in a Diabetes Lifestyle Intervention.

To examine the association of perceived discrimination with participant retention and diabetes risk among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Data were drawn from the Special Diabetes Program for Indians-Diabetes Prevention Demonstration Project ( = 2553). Perceived discrimination was significantly and negatively associated with short-term and long-term retention and diabetes risk without adjusting.

Adjuvant pembrolizumab in genomically selected high-risk patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Introduction: Patients with muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer post neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy with pathologic advanced disease (ypT3, ypT4, ypN+) at radical cystectomy have a significantly worse five-year overall survival. There is currently no preferred adjuvant therapy to reduce risk of cancer recurrence in this high-risk patient cohort and surveillance remains the standard-of-care.

Case Report: We present a case series of two patients who received cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy and had pathologic node-positive urothelial carcinoma at the time of radical cystectomy.

No Difference in Morbidity or Mortality Between Octogenarians and Other Geriatric Burn Trauma Patients.

Background: Geriatric burn trauma patients (age ≥65 years) have a 5-fold higher mortality rate than younger adults. With the population of the US aging, the number of elderly burn and trauma patients is expected to increase. A past study using the National Burn Repository revealed a linear increase in mortality for those >65 years old.

Cryopreservation: An Overview of Principles and Cell-Specific Considerations.

The origins of low-temperature tissue storage research date back to the late 1800s. Over half a century later, osmotic stress was revealed to be a main contributor to cell death during cryopreservation. Consequently, the addition of cryoprotective agents (CPAs) such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), glycerol (GLY), ethylene glycol (EG), or propylene glycol (PG), although toxic to cells at high concentrations, was identified as a necessary step to protect against rampant cell death during cryopreservation.

Preferences of Type 1 Diabetic Patients on Devices for Islet Transplantation.

Transplantation of pancreatic islets within a biomaterial device is currently under investigation in clinical trials for the treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Patients' preferences on such implants could guide the designs of next-generation implantable devices; however, such information is not currently available. We surveyed the preferences of 482 patients with T1D on the size, shape, visibility, and transplantation site of islet containing implants.

Sustainable Cleft Care: A Comprehensive Model Based on the Global Smile Foundation Experience.

Introduction: Clefts of the lip and palate are leading congenital facial anomalies. Underserved patients with these facial differences lack access to medical care, surgical expertise, prenatal care, or psychological support. Moreover, the disease results in significant economic strains on patients and their families.

Saphenous Nerve Somatosensory-Evoked Potentials Monitoring During Lateral Interbody Fusion.

Study Design.: Retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To clinically evaluate saphenous nerve somatosensory-evoked potentials (SSEPs) as a reliable and predictable way to detect upper lumbar plexus injury intraoperatively during lateral lumbar trans-psoas interbody fusion (LLIF).

Metastatic penile squamous cell carcinoma with dramatic response to combined checkpoint blockade with ipilimumab and nivolumab.

Introduction: Prognosis for patients with lymph node positive or metastatic penile squamous cell carcinoma remains poor. Chemotherapy with paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (TIP regimen) is recommended as a first-line option in this cohort of patients. No standard preferred subsequent-line therapy exists for patients with relapsed or refractory penile carcinoma following TIP chemotherapy.

Racial Disparities in Adult Blunt Trauma Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Objective: Study incidence and mortality for blunt trauma patients developing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) across race and insurance.

Design: The National Trauma Data Bank (2007-2015) was queried for blunt trauma patients age 16. Covariates (age 65, injury severity score [ISS] 25, traumatic brain injury, lung injury, pneumonia, severe sepsis, hypotension on admission, and blood transfusion) were included in a multivariable logistic regression analysis.