Contribution of Individual- and Neighborhood-Level Social, Demographic, and Health Factors to COVID-19 Hospitalization Outcomes.

Background: Although disparities in COVID-19 outcomes have been observed, factors contributing to these differences are not well understood.

Objective: To determine whether COVID-19 hospitalization outcomes are related to neighborhood-level social vulnerability, independent of patient-level clinical factors.

Design: Pooled cross-sectional study of prospectively collected data.

Effective structural unit analysis in hexagonal close-packed alloys - reconstruction of parent β microstructures and crystal orientation post-processing analysis.

Materials with an allotropic phase transformation can form microstructures where grains have orientation relationships determined by the transformation history. These microstructures influence the final material properties. In zirconium alloys, there is a solid-state body-centred cubic (b.

A Synbiotic Formulation Comprising DSM 32315 and L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine Improves Intestinal Butyrate Levels and Lipid Metabolism in Healthy Humans.

The gut microbiota is a crucial modulator of health effects elicited by food components, with SCFA (short chain fatty acids), especially butyrate, acting as important mediators thereof. We therefore developed a nutritional synbiotic composition targeted at shifting microbiome composition and activity towards butyrate production. An intestinal screening model was applied to identify probiotic strains plus various amino acids and peptides with suitable effects on microbial butyrate producers and levels.

Validation of the Endoscopic Part of the Spigelman Classification for Evaluating Duodenal Adenomatosis in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis: A Prospective Study of Interrater and Intrarater Reliability.

Introduction: In patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, the Spigelman classification is recommended for staging and risk stratification of duodenal adenomatosis. Although the classification has been used for decades, it has never been formally validated.

Methods: We included consecutive FAP patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopic surveillance and evaluated the inter- and intrarater reliability of the Spigelman classification.

Inflammatory Monocyte Counts Determine Venous Blood Clot Formation and Resolution.

Background: Monocytes are thought to be involved in venous thrombosis but the role of individual monocyte subpopulations on thrombus formation, clot inflammation, and degradation is an important unresolved issue. We investigate the role of inflammatory Ly6C monocytes in deep vein thrombosis and their potential therapeutic impact.

Methods: Frequencies and compositions of blood monocytes were analyzed by flow cytometry in CCR2 (C-C chemokine receptor type 2) and wild-type mice of different ages and after treatment with the NR4A1 (nuclear receptor group 4 family A member 1, Nur77) agonist CnsB (cytosporone B).

Variant SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines confer broad neutralization as primary or booster series in mice.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of a global pandemic. Safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are now available, including mRNA-1273, which has shown 94% efficacy in prevention of symptomatic COVID-19 disease. However, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has led to concerns of viral escape from vaccine-induced immunity.

PD-L1 expression on circulating tumor cells and platelets in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibition is effective in several cancers. Expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on circulating tumor or immune effector cells could provide insights into selection of patients for immune checkpoint inhibition.

Methods: Whole blood was collected at serial timepoints from metastatic breast cancer patients and healthy donors for circulating tumor cell (CTC) and platelet PD-L1 analysis with a phycoerythrin-labeled anti-human PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (Biolegend clone 29E.

Insertion Depth and Cochlear Implant Speech Recognition Outcomes: A Comparative Study of 28- and 31.5-mm Lateral Wall Arrays.

Objectives: 1) To compare speech recognition outcomes between cochlear implant (CI) recipients of 28- and 31.5-mm lateral wall electrode arrays, and 2) to characterize the relationship between angular insertion depth (AID) and speech recognition.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy Is Associated with Longer Overall Survival in Patients with Resectable Gastroesophageal Cancer: A Retrospective Single-Center Analysis.

Introduction: As thyroid hormones modulate proliferative pathways it is surmised that they can be associated with cancer development. Since the potential association of gastroesophageal cancer and thyroid disorders has not been addressed so far, the aim of this study was to investigate the association of thyroid hormone parameters with the outcome of these patients, so novel prognostic and even potentially therapeutic markers can be defined.

Material And Methods: Clinical and endocrinological parameters of patients with resectable gastroesophageal cancer treated between 1990 and 2018 at the Vienna General Hospital, Austria, including history of endocrinological disorders and laboratory analyses of thyroid hormones at first cancer diagnosis were investigated and correlated with the overall survival (OS).

Immunotherapy for Esophageal Cancers: What Is Practice Changing in 2021?

The prognosis of advanced esophageal cancer is dismal, and treatment options are limited. Since the first promising data on second-line treatment with checkpoint inhibitors in esophageal cancer patients were published, immunotherapy was surmised to change the face of modern cancer treatment. Recently, several studies have found this to be true, as the checkpoint inhibitors nivolumab and pembrolizumab have achieved revolutionary response rates in advanced as well as resectable settings in esophageal cancer patients.

Characteristics of Japanese Electrolaryngeal Speech Produced by Untrained Speakers: An Observational Study Involving Healthy Volunteers.

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of electrolaryngeal (EL) speech among untrained speakers to aid in its effective introduction and to identify syllables and words that are easy or difficult to pronounce. Method A total of 21 healthy individuals who had never used an EL were included. The participants were briefed, and tests comprising 100 Japanese syllables and 50 single words were conducted to evaluate EL speech intelligibility.

Adverse pregnancy outcomes and mother-to-child transmission in patients with hepatitis B virus infection and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of intrahepatic cholestasis in pregnancy (ICP) in hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) patients.

Material And Methods: We performed a retrospective study at Beijing Youan Hospital in China from January 2010 through May 2017. A total of 232 patients were enrolled, including 106 HBV-infected ICP patients (Group H + C), 20 ICP patients (Group C) and 106 HBV-infected patients (Group H).

Evaluation of homeothermy, acid-base and electrolytic balance of black goats and ewes in an equatorial semi-arid environment.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of environmental conditions and species on thermoregulatory responses, acid-base and electrolyte balance of black goats and ewes in an equatorial semi-arid environment. Ten Canindé goats and seven Morada Nova ewes with black coat color, all multiparous, aged between 2 and 3 years, non-lactating, non-pregnant, and body weight (B) of 22.84 ± 4.

Effect of the non-ideal axial ratio c/a on anharmonic EXAFS oscillation of h.c.p. crystals.

The temperature and wavenumber dependence of the extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) oscillation of hexagonal close-packed (h.c.p.

Cerebral Microdialysate Metabolite Monitoring using Mid-infrared Spectroscopy.

The brains of patients suffering from traumatic brain-injury (TBI) undergo dynamic chemical changes in the days following the initial trauma. Accurate and timely monitoring of these changes is of paramount importance for improved patient outcome. Conventional brain-chemistry monitoring is performed off-line by collecting and manually transferring microdialysis samples to an enzymatic colorimetric bedside analyzer every hour, which detects and quantifies the molecules of interest.

Organ donation and transplantation: a multi-stakeholder call to action.

Although overall donation and transplantation activity is higher in Europe than on other continents, differences between European countries in almost every aspect of transplantation activity (for example, in the number of transplantations, the number of people with a functioning graft, in rates of living versus deceased donation, and in the use of expanded criteria donors) suggest that there is ample room for improvement. Herein we review the policy and clinical measures that should be considered to increase access to transplantation and improve post-transplantation outcomes. This Roadmap, generated by a group of major European stakeholders collaborating within a Thematic Network, presents an outline of the challenges to increasing transplantation rates and proposes 12 key areas along with specific measures that should be considered to promote transplantation.

Age-Dependent Patient and Trauma Characteristics and Hospital Resource Requirements-Can Improvement Be Made? An Analysis from the German Trauma Registry.

The burden of geriatric trauma patients continues to rise in Western society. Injury patterns and outcomes differ from those seen in younger adults. Getting a better understanding of these differences helps medical staff to provide a better care for the elderly.

Initial Hearing Preservation Is Correlated With Cochlear Duct Length in Fully-inserted Long Flexible Lateral Wall Arrays.

Objectives: To characterize the relationship between cochlear duct length (CDL) and initial hearing preservation among cochlear implant recipients of a fully inserted 31.5 mm flexible lateral wall electrode array.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Microstructural evolution of tantalum nitride thin films synthesized by inductively coupled plasma sputtering.

Tantalum nitride (TaN) thin films were grown utilizing an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) assisted direct current (DC) sputtering, and 20-100% improved microhardness values were obtained. The detailed microstructural changes of the TaN films were characterized utilizing transmission electron microscopy (TEM), as a function of nitrogen gas fraction and ICP power. As nitrogen gas fraction increases from 0.

Necrotizing enterocolitis induces T lymphocyte-mediated injury in the developing mammalian brain.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) causes acute intestinal necrosis in premature infants and is associated with severe neurological impairment. In NEC, Toll-like receptor 4 is activated in the intestinal epithelium, and NEC-associated brain injury is characterized by microglial activation and white matter loss through mechanisms that remain unclear. We now show that the brains of mice and humans with NEC contained CD4 T lymphocytes that were required for the development of brain injury.

Performance of a simplified HEART score and HEART-GP score for evaluating chest pain in urgent primary care.

Background: Chest pain is a common symptom in urgent primary care. The distinction between urgent and non-urgent causes can be challenging. A modified version of the HEART score, in which troponin is omitted ('simplified HEART') or replaced by the so-called 'sense of alarm' (HEART-GP), may aid in risk stratification.

Correlating work hardening with co-activation of stacking fault strengthening and transformation in a high entropy alloy using in-situ neutron diffraction.

Transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) leads to enhancements in ductility in low stacking fault energy (SFE) alloys, however to achieve an unconventional increase in strength simultaneously, there must be barriers to dislocation motion. While stacking faults (SFs) contribute to strengthening by impeding dislocation motion, the contribution of SF strengthening to work hardening during deformation is not well understood; as compared to dislocation slip, twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) and TRIP. Thus, we used in-situ neutron diffraction to correlate SF strengthening to work hardening behavior in a low SFE FeMnCrCoSi (at%) high entropy alloy, SFE ~ 6.