AAPM-RSS Medical Physics Practice Guideline 9.b: SRS-SBRT.

The purpose of this Medical Physics Practice Guideline (MPPG) is to describe the minimum level of medical physics support deemed prudent for the practice of linear-accelerator, photon-based (linac) stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) services. This report is an update of MPPG 9.a published in 2017.

Efficacy of Lifting Threads Composed of Poly(L-Lactide-Co-ε-Caprolactone) Copolymers Coated With Hyaluronic Acid: A Long-Term Study on Biorevitalizing Properties in Skin Remodeling.

Background: Facial thread lifting, which is popular in aesthetic medicine because of its minimal invasiveness, has led to advancements in the use of biodegradable polymers such as poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (P(LA/CL)) and its hyaluronic acid-coated variant (P(LA/CL)-HA). These developments enhance biocompatibility and efficacy, offering prolonged benefits through better biostimulation and tissue integration.

Methods: A controlled experiment involving five 4-month-old female pigs compared the effectiveness of P(LA/CL) and P(LA/CL)-HA threads over six months.

A review of how colors clue us into gross diagnosis in domestic animals.

Different tissues have a normal color spectrum that reflects their cellular composition and/or metabolic features. Similarly, distinct color variations may occur in tissues that have undergone pathologic or nonpathologic changes. Common examples of color changes in domestic animal tissues include red (associated with erythrocytes, hemoglobin, and myoglobin), brown (ferric hemoglobin or myoglobin, suppurative inflammation, lipid oxidation, postmortem autolysis, formalin fixation, neoplasms arising from cytochrome-rich tissues), yellow (hemoglobin and iron degradation, biliary pigment and by-products, carotenes, keratin, necrosis, suppurative or fibrinous inflammation), green (hemoglobin and iron degradation, biliary pigment and by-products, meconium, eosinophilic or suppurative inflammation, oomycete and algal infections), white (lack of blood, adipose tissue and its neoplasms, chylous effusion, necrosis, mineralization, fibrosis, lymphoid tissue, round cell neoplasms), translucent (transudate, cysts), black to gray (hemoglobin and iron degradation, melanin, carbon, tattoos), and blue to purple (poorly oxygenated blood, tattoos).

Beliefs and attitudes of family caregivers of People with dementia toward advance care planning: A Q methodology study.

Family caregivers' perspectives for advance care planning (ACP) are critically important to reflect the end-of-life wishes of people with dementia. Culture can influence ACP practice and people's perspectives toward it. Little is known about family caregivers' perspectives toward ACP in Asian countries, especially in Korea.

Fam163a knockdown and mitochondrial stress in the arcuate nucleus of hypothalamus reduce AgRP neuron activity and differentially regulate mitochondrial dynamics in mice.

Aim: Mitochondria play key roles in neuronal activity, particularly in modulating agouti-related protein (AgRP) and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC), which regulates food intake. FAM163A, a newly identified protein, is suggested to be part of the mitochondrial proteome, though its functions remain largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Fam163a knockdown and mitochondrial dysfunction on food intake, AgRP neuron activity, and mitochondrial function in the hypothalamus.

Impact of Enterococcus infection in HSCT recipients: a national analysis.

Background: Enterococci are the third most common cause of healthcare-associated infections in the United States, affecting 10-12% of all transplant recipients worldwide. Enterococcal bacteremia complicates the post-transplant recovery and raises mortality to 18%. This study aims to identify factors linked to mortality in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients with Enterococcus infection.

Battery-free head orientation measurement using passive RFID tags.

Real-time measurement of head rotation, a primary human body movement, offers potential advantages in rehabilitating head or neck motor disorders, promoting seamless human-robot interaction, and tracking the lateral glance of children with autism spectrum disorder for effective intervention. However, existing options such as cameras capturing the entire face or skin-attached sensors have limitations concerning privacy, safety, and/or usability. This research introduces a novel method that employs a battery-free RFID tag-based wearable sensor for monitoring head orientation, as a substitute for the existing options like camera.

Elastic textile-based wearable modulation of musculoskeletal load: A comprehensive review of passive exosuits and resistance clothing.

Elastic textiles play a critical role in passive wearable solutions for musculoskeletal load management in both passive exosuits and resistance clothing. These textiles, based on their ability to stretch and retract, can exhibit ambivalence in their load-modulating effects when used in occupational, rehabilitation, exercise, or everyday activity settings. While passive exosuits and resistance garments may appear similar in design, they have opposing goals: to reduce the musculoskeletal load in the case of exosuits and to increase it in the case of resistance clothing.

Predictive control of musculotendon loads across fast and slow-twitch muscles in a simulated system with parallel actuation.

Research in lower limb wearable robotic control has largely focused on reducing the metabolic cost of walking or compensating for a portion of the biological joint torque, for example, by applying support proportional to estimated biological joint torques. However, due to different musculotendon unit (MTU) contractile speed properties, less attention has been given to the development of wearable robotic controllers that can steer MTU dynamics directly. Therefore, closed-loop control of MTU dynamics needs to be robust across fiber phenotypes, that is ranging from slow type I to fast type IIx in humans.

Impact of a Comprehensive Palliative Quality Improvement Initiative (ICU-PAL) in a Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit.

Background: Early palliative care practice implementation in the intensive care unit (ICU) improves advance care planning, promotes patient and family satisfaction, and decreases health care costs. The consensus for protocolized palliative care delivery is unknown. We assessed the impact of a qualitive improvement educational intervention that promotes the identification of critically ill patients who will benefit from early expert palliative care interventions.

Derivation and Internal Validation of a Clinical Prediction Model for Diagnosis of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsioses in Northern Tanzania.

Spotted fever group rickettsioses (SFGR) pose a global threat as emerging zoonotic infectious diseases; however, timely and cost-effective diagnostic tools are currently limited. We used data from 449 patients presenting to 2 hospitals in northern Tanzania between 2007 and 2008, of which 71 (15.8%) met criteria for acute SFGR based on ≥4-fold rise in antibody titers between acute and convalescent serum samples.

Proceedings of the 12th annual deep brain stimulation think tank: cutting edge technology meets novel applications.

The Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Think Tank XII was held on August 21st to 23rd. This year we showcased groundbreaking advancements in neuromodulation technology, focusing heavily on the novel uses of existing technology as well as next-generation technology. Our keynote speaker shared the vision of using neuro artificial intelligence to predict depression using brain electrophysiology.

Global Diversity Patterns are Explained by Diversification Rates and Dispersal at Ancient, not Shallow, Timescales.

Explaining global species richness patterns is a major goal of evolution, ecology, and biogeography. These richness patterns are often attributed to spatial variation in diversification rates (speciation minus extinction). Surprisingly, prominent studies of birds, fish, and plants have reported higher speciation and/or diversification rates at higher latitudes, where species richness is lower.

Redefining the Limits of Functional Continuity in the Early Evolution of P-Loop NTPases.

At the heart of many nucleoside triphosphatases is a conserved phosphate-binding sequence motif. A current model of early enzyme evolution proposes that this 6-8 residue motif could have sparked the emergence of the very first nucleoside triphosphatases - a striking example of evolutionary continuity from simple beginnings, if true. To test this provocative model, seven disembodied Walker A-derived peptides were extensively computationally characterized.

UNC9426, a Potent and Orally Bioavailable TYRO3-Specific Inhibitor.

TYRO3 plays a critical role in platelet aggregation as a platelet response amplifier. Selective inhibition of TYRO3 may provide therapeutic benefits for treating thrombosis and related diseases without increasing bleeding risk. We employed a structure-based approach and discovered a novel and potent TYRO3 inhibitor UNC9426 () with an excellent Ambit selectivity score ( (1.

Aberrant DNA methylation of genes regulating CD4+ T cell HIV-1 reservoir in women with HIV.

Background: The HIV-1 reservoir in CD4+ T cells (HR) pose a major challenge to curing HIV, with many of its mechanisms still unclear. HIV-1 DNA integration and immune responses may alter the host's epigenetic landscape, potentially silencing HIV-1 replication.

Methods: This study used bisulphite capture DNA methylation sequencing in CD4+ T cells from the blood of 427 virally suppressed women with HIV to identify differentially methylated sites and regions associated with HR.

Global, regional, and national assessment of foreign body aspiration (1990-2021): novel insights into incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years.

Background: Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a preventable yet underrecognized global health challenge, contributing to substantial clinical and economic burdens. Comprehensive and comparable analyses of FBA trends across diverse populations and socioeconomic contexts remain limited. Leveraging data from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study, we provide an in-depth global, regional, and national analysis of FBA trends over the past three decades, including the first evaluation of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost (YLLs), and years lived with disability (YLDs).

Viral Storytelling: COVID-19 Comes to Albany, Georgia.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spilled into the United States and spawned devastating outbreaks in Albany, Georgia, and multiple other cities, news media organizations served an important public health function. Journalists gathered and reported information about a new infectious disease peril, and they used increasing tolls of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as a shorthand form of risk communication. However, there were ample reasons from the start to question the completeness, accuracy, and fairness of the information that local news sources provided, and reporters repeated in numerous accounts of the Albany hotspot from March to July 2020.

Automatic multisensory integration follows subjective confidence rather than objective performance.

It is well known that sensory information from one modality can automatically affect judgments from a different sensory modality. However, it remains unclear what determines the strength of the influence of an irrelevant sensory cue from one modality on a perceptual judgment for a different modality. Here we test whether the strength of multisensory impact by an irrelevant sensory cue depends on participants' objective accuracy or subjective confidence for that cue.

GABA and Glycine Synaptic Release on Axotomized Motoneuron Cell Bodies Promotes Motor Axon Regeneration.

Motor axon regeneration after traumatic nerve injuries is a slow process that adversely influences patient outcomes because muscle reinnervation delays result in irreversible muscle atrophy and suboptimal axon regeneration. This advocates for investigating methods to accelerate motor axon growth. Electrical nerve stimulation and exercise both enhance motor axon regeneration in rodents and patients, but these interventions cannot always be easily implemented.

A Scoping Review of Interventions Designed to Increase Behavioural Health Service Engagement.

Background: A documented underutilization of behavioural health interventions with known efficacy for treating psychological disorders exists. Thus, engagement enhancement approaches (EEAs) exist to help increase individuals' use of behavioural health interventions. EEAs target a range of barriers to treatment; therefore, a wide variety of approaches exist.

The Effect of a Brief Medical Huddle on Patient and Family Experience During Rounds.

Background: Initial studies of patient- and family-centered rounds (PFCR) in pediatrics used parental interest in participating as the primary outcome. There are mixed results of family satisfaction with the process when compared with standard rounding. To date, there are limited data examining hybrid models of rounding and communication.

In the red zone: How Atlanta Falcons home games impact emergency department and emergency medical services volumes.

Introduction: Optimizing Emergency Department (ED) resources based on patient volumes is crucial for patient care and hospital operations. Previous literature demonstrated varied effects of large-scale gatherings on Emergency Medical Services (EMS) call volume and ED volume. We assessed the impact of Atlanta Falcons home games on EMS call and trip volume, and ED volume at Grady Memorial Hospital.

An Academic-Practice Partnership to Support Transition to Practice.

Repercussions from the COVID pandemic and a depleted nursing workforce demand more robust support to assure successful new graduate nurse transitions. Clinical learning in the real-world patient care setting is widely regarded as the essential element for preparation to practice. An academic-practice partnership established an apprenticeship program offering student nurse's greater exposure to real-world clinical experience to evaluate the value of a student nurse apprenticeship on new graduate nurse readiness for practice.

National Trends in U.S Hospitalizations and Outcomes of Thyrotoxicosis With and Without Thyrotoxic Storm, 2016-2020.

Objective: We analyzed trends in thyrotoxicosis hospitalizations with and without thyroid storm in the U.S. between 2016 and 2020.