Assessment of fit of item response theory models: A critical review of the status quo and some future directions.

This paper provides a literature review of assessment of fit of item response theory models. Various types of fit procedures for item response theory models are reviewed, with a focus on their advantages and disadvantages. Real data examples are used to demonstrate some of the fit procedures.

Scientific Histories of Hippocampal Research: Introduction to the Special Issue.

Numerous scientific advances and discoveries have arisen from research on the hippocampal formation. This special issue provides first-person historical descriptions of these advances and discoveries in hippocampal research, written by those directly involved in the research. This is the first section of a special issue that will also include future articles on this topic.

Utility and bias in psychosocial evaluations for transplant listing.

Purpose Of Review: Disparities in access to transplantation are persistent and pervasive among minoritized populations, and remain incompletely explained by socioeconomic status, insurance, geography, or medical factors. Although much attention has been paid to factors contributing to disparities in organ allocation, fewer studies have focused on barriers to the transplant waitlist. Given increasing calls for equity in organ transplantation, we examine the role of nonmedical factors used in transplant listing decisions, including psychosocial factors like social support, motivation, and knowledge in improving utility in transplant listing decisions, as well as their potential for reinforcing bias.

The Exposome and Cardiovascular Health: Webcast December 12 2024.

This 61-minute webcast features a conversation about "The Exposome and Cardiovascular Health"-the focus of Issue 20.5. Led by the issue's editors, the discussion engages the authors on emerging themes and lessons learned while researching and writing the articles.

Mutation in and a Variant Linked to a Severe Sporadic Infant Dilated Cardiomyopathy Case.

Structural or electrophysiologic cardiac anomalies may compromise cardiac function, leading to sudden cardiac death (SCD). Genetic screening of families with severe cardiomyopathies underlines the role of genetic variations in cardiac-specific genes. The present study details the clinical and genetic characterization of a malignant dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) case in a 1-year-old Mexican child who presented a severe left ventricular dilation and dysfunction that led to SCD.

The association of cholesterol levels with memory and memory change over a 14-year period in a US national cohort.

Introduction: The impact of cholesterol on late-life cognition remains controversial. We investigated the association of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and non-HDL-C with memory in a nationally representative cohort.

Methods: Health and Retirement Study (HRS) participants ( = 13,258) aged 50+ (mean age: 67.

Extrapulmonary Sarcoidosis Presenting as Bilateral Lower Limb Erythema Nodosum Triggered by Intradermal Fillers: A Case of Misdiagnosis As Soft-Tissue Infection.

Localized inflammatory reactions in patients with past procedural history of intradermal injections can quickly drive the clinician's attention towards a diagnosis of soft-tissue infection in the context of symptoms such as fever, malaise, and local induration of the adipose panniculus. However, in patients with a long-term history of granulomatous events, a rheumatologic approach must be taken into consideration when the clinical course overwhelms the odds for more conventional diagnoses. In this case, a 39-year-old female patient who underwent bilateral lower limbs intradermal filllers presented with a two-year clinical course of repetitive flares of external bilateral hip tenderness, pain that limits her walking, soft-tissue nodular inflammation, redness, fever and a soft mobile nonpainful right supraclavicular lymphadenopathy.

United States Pooled Cohort Cardiovascular Disease Risk Scores in Adults With Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: There is significant heterogeneity in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop risk scores for total CVD and its components from a contemporary pooled, observational cohort of U.S.

The Relationship Between Quantitative Ischemia, Early Revascularization, and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Observational data have suggested that patients with moderate to severe ischemia benefit from revascularization. However, this was not confirmed in a large, randomized trial.

Objectives: Using a contemporary, multicenter registry, the authors evaluated differences in the association between quantitative ischemia, revascularization, and outcomes across important subgroups.

Propensity Score Analysis of Possible Medication Effects on Outcomes in Patients With Systemic Right Ventricles.

Background: Patients with systemic right ventricle (SRV), either d-transposition of the great arteries following an atrial switch procedure or congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, develop severe right ventricular dysfunction, prompting appropriate medical therapy. However, the efficacy of beta-blockers and angiotensin receptor blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) in SRV patients is unproven.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of ACEI/ARB and beta-blockers on outcomes in SRV patients after accounting for likely cofounders affecting their use.

Particulate Cadmium Accumulation in the Mesopelagic Ocean.

Observations of dissolved cadmium (dCd) and phosphate (PO) suggest an unexplained loss of dCd to the particulate phase in tropical oxyclines. Here, we compile existing observations of particulate Cd and phosphorus (P), and present new data from the US GEOTRACES GP15 Pacific Meridional Transect to examine this phenomenon from a particulate Cd perspective. We use a simple algorithm to reproduce station depth profiles of particulate Cd and P via regeneration and possible subsurface accumulation.

The doctor will polygraph you now.

Artificial intelligence (AI) methods have been proposed for the prediction of social behaviors that could be reasonably understood from patient-reported information. This raises novel ethical concerns about respect, privacy, and control over patient data. Ethical concerns surrounding clinical AI systems for social behavior verification can be divided into two main categories: (1) the potential for inaccuracies/biases within such systems, and (2) the impact on trust in patient-provider relationships with the introduction of automated AI systems for "fact-checking", particularly in cases where the data/models may contradict the patient.

The economic consequences of local gas leaks with evidence from Massachusetts housing market.

This study provides the first empirical evidence of the impact of leaks in natural gas distribution pipelines on nearby home prices. Using high-resolution property transaction data in Massachusetts and a difference-in-differences approach, we find that gas leaks significantly reduce nearby home prices by 2.61% ($11,700) on average.

A global meta-analysis of gillnet bycatch of toothed whales: Mitigation measures and research gaps.

Odontocetes are globally distributed and are foundational to the structure and function of marine food webs, and hence bycatch impacts from gillnet fishing need to be considered in the context of their conservation and population viability. Currently, global gillnet bycatch numbers are unknown yet are estimated to be the greatest in Asia, East Africa, and the west coasts of North and South America. Here we provide the first global meta-analyses of small- and large-scale gillnet bycatch estimates of odontocetes during 1990-2020, compiling population size, estimated gillnet bycatch, and conservation status in support of geographical and species-specific risk estimates.

Dietary or pharmacological inhibition of insulin-like growth factor-1 protects from renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice.

One-week protein restriction (PR) limits ischemia-reperfusion (IR) damages and improves metabolic fitness. Similarly, longer-term calory restriction results in increased lifespan, partly via reduced insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1. However, the influence of short-term PR on IGF-1 and its impact on IR are unknown.

The Burden of Insurance Prior Authorization on Cancer Care: A Review of Evidence From Radiation Oncology.

Purpose: Despite its high cost-effectiveness, radiation oncology faces the greatest prior authorization (PA) burden of any medical specialty. Insurance denials and resulting treatment delays have been documented across several treatment modalities, including stereotactic body radiation, intensity modulated radiation, and proton therapy. Although insurance companies suggest that PA is intended to control health care spending and ensure the implementation of evidence-based practice, the number of radiation treatment plans reviewed by the PA process that result in changes is quite low.

Optimal Setup and Parameters of Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Translational Evaluation of a Tumor Progression Model for Soft Tissue Sarcomas.

Purpose: Defining a microscopic tumor infiltration boundary is critical to the success of radiation therapy. Currently, radiation oncologists use margins to geometrically expand the visible tumor for radiation treatment planning in soft tissue sarcomas (STS). Image-based models of tumor progression would be critical to personalize the treatment radiation field to the pattern of sarcoma spread.

Multi-view fusion of diffusion MRI microstructural models: a preterm birth study.

Objective: High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging (HARDI) models have emerged as a valuable tool for investigating microstructure with a higher degree of detail than standard diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI). In this study, we explored the potential of multiple advanced microstructural diffusion models for investigating preterm birth in order to identify non-invasive markers of altered white matter development.

Approach: Rather than focusing on a single MRI modality, we studied on a compound of HARDI techniques in 46 preterm babies studied on a 3T scanner at term-equivalent age and in 23 control neonates born at term.

The evolution and genetic basis of a functionally critical skull bone, the parasphenoid, among Lake Malawi cichlids.

Adaptive radiation, whereby a clade pairs rapid speciation with rapid phenotypic evolution, can result in an uneven distribution of biodiversity across the Metazoan tree. The cichlid fishes of East Africa have undergone multiple adaptive radiations within the major rift lakes. Cichlid radiations are marked by divergence across distinct habitat gradients producing many morphological and behavioural adaptations.

Data on hydrodynamic flow and aspiration mechanisms in a patient-specific pharyngolaryngeal model with variable epiglottis angles.

This dataset comprises a comprehensive collection of videos and images illustrating the fluid dynamics of swallowing and aspiration in a patient-specific pharyngolaryngeal model with varying epiglottis angles. The data also includes the physical properties of the fluids used, comprising dynamic viscosity, surface tension, and contact angle. Videos under varying swallowing conditions were collected to investigate the mechanisms underlying aspiration.

Strategies for Academic Advisors and Mentors to Support Medical Students Entering Clinical Rotations.

Medical school offers comprehensive education and career development both in the classroom and clinical spaces. Much of the literature surrounding optimizing and navigating clinical rotations is directed towards faculty, such as clerkship directors. However, as advisors for medical students, we notice a large gap exists in peer-reviewed content focused on teaching medical students concrete skills of navigating clinical years.

Enhancing immune response and survival in hepatocellular carcinoma with novel oncolytic Jurona virus and immune checkpoint blockade.

Members of the genus including Jurona virus (JURV) have emerged as promising immunotherapeutic agents, characterized by their tumor selectivity, fast kinetics, low seroprevalence, and minimal toxicity in humans. Here, we demonstrate that the administration of JURV leads to tumor regression in both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) xenograft and syngeneic models. Furthermore, our findings indicate that combining JURV and anti-PD-1 therapy reduced tumor burden and improved survival rates over JURV or anti-PD-1 alone in an orthotopic HCC model.

Comparative Analysis of Injury and Illness Rates Among Team USA Athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Background: Previous research has reported higher rates of both injury and illness among Paralympic athletes compared with Olympic athletes during the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, but no studies have directly compared injury and illness incidence between Olympic and Paralympic athletes competing in a Summer Games.

Purpose: To compare injury and illness rates between Olympic and Paralympic Team USA athletes competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.