Access improvement in healthcare: a 12-step framework for operational practice.

Background: Access improvement is a fundamental component of value-based healthcare as it inherently promotes quality by eliminating chokepoints, redundancies, and inefficiencies which could hinder the provisioning of timely care. The purpose of this review is to present a 12-step framework which offers healthcare organizations a practical, thematic-based foundation for thinking about access improvement.

Methods: This study was designed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) statement.

The Simons Observatory: Design, Optimization, and Performance of Low-Frequency Detectors.

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment located in the Atacama Desert in Chile that will make precise temperature and polarization measurements over six spectral bands ranging from 27 to 285 GHz. Three small aperture telescopes (SATs) and one large aperture telescope (LAT) will house 60,000 detectors and cover angular scales between one arcminute and tens of degrees. We present the performance of the dichroic, low-frequency (LF) lenslet-coupled sinuous antenna transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometer arrays with bands centered at 27 and 39 GHz.

The relationship between loneliness and internalizing disorders among young adults: the mediating and moderating role of ego-resilience.

Background: The relationship between loneliness and internalizing disorders has been well established in psychological research. This study aims to build on existing research by exploring how different components of loneliness-isolation, relational connectedness, and collective connectedness-interact with ego-resilience to influence anxiety, depression, and hopelessness.

Methods: The study participants were young adults ( = 337) who completed the University of California-Los Angeles Loneliness Scale, Ego Resilience Scale, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Scale, and Beck Hopelessness Scale.

Child Death and Mothers' Subsequent Mental Health in a High-Mortality African Community.

Despite declines in child mortality rates, experiencing a child death remains a common feature of motherhood in many contemporary African populations. Yet, we lack population insights into the consequences of child death for mothers' well-being in the high-mortality regions where it concentrates. Contrasting an extensive psychology literature on the severe and long-lasting consequences of child death for parents in low-mortality settings, a long-standing thesis in multiple social science literature is that the normativity of child death in high-mortality settings can lead to a numbing effect-muting parents' reactions to child loss.

Vitiligo Exchange: An Expert Panel Discussion of Two Clinical Cases.

This article is based on a roundtable discussion in which three panelists review clinically relevant insights about vitiligo and discuss two cases that illustrate the multiple challenges faced by both patients and clinicians in managing this complex disease. The first is a 32-year-old White female patient with Fitzpatrick Skin Type III/IV with extensive depigmentation in the trunk area. The patient achieved 90-percent repigmentation with a combination therapy approach.

Differential Effects of Alcohol Policies Across Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status.

Purpose: Sociocultural characteristics, including race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES), may affect individuals' attitudes and norms regarding alcohol use and treatment as well as their access to emerging health knowledge, innovative technologies, and general resources for improving health. As a result of these differences, as well as social determinants of health such as stigma and uneven enforcement, alcohol policies may not benefit all population subgroups equally. This review addresses research conducted within the last decade that examined differential effects of alcohol policies on alcohol consumption, alcohol harm, and alcohol treatment admissions across racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

APPLICATIONS OF MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING TO GENETIC BIOCONTROL.

We review existing approaches to optimizing the deployment of genetic biocontrol technologies-tools used to prevent vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue-and formulate a mathematical program that enables the incorporation of crucial ecological and logistical details. The model is comprised of equality constraints grounded in discretized dynamic population equations, inequality constraints representative of operational limitations including resource restrictions, and an objective function that jointly minimizes the count of competent mosquito vectors and the number of transgenic organisms released to mitigate them over a specified time period. We explore how nonlinear programming (NLP) and mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) can advance the state of the art in designing the operational implementation of three distinct transgenic public health interventions, two of which are presently in active use around the world.

Visible-Telecom Entangled-Photon Pair Generation with Integrated Photonics: Guidelines and a Materials Comparison.

Correlated photon-pair sources are key components for quantum computing, networking, synchronization, and sensing applications. Integrated photonics has enabled chip-scale sources using nonlinear processes, producing high-rate time-energy and polarization entanglement at telecom wavelengths with sub-100 microwatt pump power. Many quantum systems operate in the visible or near-infrared ranges, necessitating visible-telecom entangled-pair sources for connecting remote systems via entanglement swapping and teleportation.

Do delayed responses introduce bias in ecological momentary assessment? Evidence from comparisons between self-reported and objective physical activity.

Introduction: Delayed responses are a common yet often overlooked aspect of participant compliance in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) research. This study investigated whether response delays introduce selection bias in the moments captured by EMA.

Methods: Participants ( = 339) self-reported their physical activity behaviors using EMA five times a day over 7 days while wearing a continuous physical activity monitor.

A Topical Formulation Containing Ferment for Managing Barrier Damage After Mild-Moderate Skin Disruption from Cosmetic Dermatologic Procedures.

Objective: The primary objective of these studies was to evaluate the potential of a serum containing Macrocystis pyrifera ferment (MPF-Serum) to both strengthen the barrier of intact skin and enhance barrier recovery after a non-ablative laser procedure or glycolic acid chemical peel.

Methods: Two whole-face clinical trials and three split-face, randomized, controlled clinical trials were conducted in women aged 31 to 65 years. The effect of MPF-Serum on barrier integrity and strength was assessed by transepidermal water loss measurement before and after controlled tape-stripping experiments and in-clinic 70% glycolic acid peel and non-ablative laser procedures.

Topical Carboxytherapy for Skin Rejuvenation.

Driven by public demand, new safe and effective approaches for achieving dermal rejuvenation are continuously being developed. Recently, there has been growing interest and advances in carbon dioxide therapy, or carboxytherapy. Based on the Bohr effect, carboxytherapy enhances the release of O from the blood into the surrounding tissues in response to increased blood CO.

Utilization of Internet and Social Media by Outpatient Dermatology Patients: A Prospective, Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Online health-related information (HRI) has expanded access to medical knowledge. While there are benefits to the increasing availability of online HRI, there may be limitations to the accuracy, quality of information, and utilization across patient demographics.

Methods: A survey was administered to dermatology outpatients at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California to examine the utilization of internet and social media for acquiring dermatology-related information (DRI).

Parameter Estimation Procedures for Exponential-family Random Graph Models on Count-valued Networks: A Comparative Simulation Study.

The exponential-family random graph models (ERGMs) have emerged as an important framework for modeling social networks for a wide variety of relational types. ERGMs for valued networks are less well-developed than their unvalued counterparts, and pose particular computational challenges. Network data with edge values on the non-negative integers (count-valued networks) is an important such case, with examples ranging from the magnitude of migration and trade flows between places to the frequency of interactions and encounters between individuals.

The current landscape and prospects of antibody-drug conjugates for lung cancer brain metastases: a narrative review.

Background And Objective: As the most common cancer to progress to brain metastases (BMs), lung cancer presents with intracranial involvement in approximately 20% of patients at the time of diagnosis and lung cancer BMs constitute approximately half of all BMs. The current clinical strategy for managing lung cancer BMs involves a combination of systemic anticancer therapies with local radiation or surgical interventions. The efficacy of systemic treatments is often constrained by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the poor inhibition effect of the drug itself.

Challenges in estimating species' age from phylogenetic trees.

Aim: Species age, the elapsed time since origination, can give insight into how species longevity might influence eco-evolutionary dynamics, which has been hypothesized to influence extinction risk. Traditionally, species' ages have been estimated from fossil records. However, numerous studies have recently used the branch lengths of time-calibrated phylogenies as estimates of the ages of extant species.

Graphene Membrane for Water-Related Environmental Application: A Comprehensive Review and Perspectives.

Graphene-based materials can be potentially utilized for separation membranes due to their unique structural properties such as precise molecular sieving by interlayer spacing or pore structure and excellent stability in harsh environmental conditions. Therefore, graphene-based membranes have been extensively demonstrated for various water treatment applications, including desalination, water extraction, and rare metal ion recovery. While most of the utilization has still been limited to the laboratory scale, emerging studies have dealt with scalable approaches to show commercial feasibility.

Effective Nutrient Management of Surface Waters in the United States Requires Expanded Water Quality Monitoring in Agriculturally Intensive Areas.

The U.S. Clean Water Act is believed to have driven widespread decreases in pollutants from point sources and developed areas, but has not substantially affected nutrient pollution from agriculture.

Utilization of Low-Dose Phentermine for Weight Loss Prior to Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: A Prospective, Randomized, and Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Studies examining preoperative weight loss using pharmacotherapy in metabolic and bariatric patients are limited. The objective was to investigate if patients taking a low-dose formulation of phentermine had improved weight loss.

Methods: This study was a randomized, placebo-controlled trial including patients undergoing laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy.

Consensus Recommendations for the Management of Neurosarcoidosis: A Delphi Survey of Experts Across the United States.

Background And Objectives: Neurosarcoidosis poses a diagnostic and management challenge due to its rarity, phenotypic variability, and lack of randomized controlled studies to guide treatment selection. Recommendations for management based on expert opinion are useful in clinical practice and provide a framework for designing prospective studies.

Methods: In this Delphi survey study, specialists with experience in managing patients with neurosarcoidosis were invited to anonymously complete 2 surveys about key elements of evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and long-term management of neurosarcoidosis.

Training T-shaped translational scientists.

Unlabelled: To evaluate the design of I-Corps@NCATS as a translational scientist training program, we mapped specific elements of the program's content and pedagogy to the characteristics of a translational scientist, as first defined by Gilliland et al. []: systems thinker, process innovator, boundary spanner, team player, and skilled communicator. Using a mixed-methods evaluation, we examined how the I-Corps@NCATS training program, delivered across twenty-two Clinical and Translational Science Award Hubs, impacted the development of these key translational scientist characteristics.