An innovative approach to the multidisciplinary treatment of uninsured breast cancer patients.

Purpose: A significant proportion of many populations remain uninsured. The aim of the study was to assess differences in breast cancer outcomes before and after the implementation of an innovative approach to the multidisciplinary treatment of uninsured breast cancer patients.

Methods: Retrospective review was performed of patients seen at a safety net hospital from January 2000 to December 2020.

Clinical Trial Access in Diverse Populations.

Despite the disproportionate impact of cancer on minority groups, their participation in oncologic clinical trials remains low. Contributing factors include mistrust of the medical establishment, structural barriers, and implicit bias. Strategies to improve access and representation include pragmatic trial designs, patient navigation programs, financial support, and increasing diversity among medical professionals.

Investigating the impact of steroid dependence on gastrointestinal surgical outcomes from UK Biobank.

Although corticosteroids are an important treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, many subjects develop dependence, leading to serious long-term side effects. We applied causal inference analyses to investigate the length of steroid use on reoperations in IBD patients. We identified subjects in the UK Biobank general practice dataset with at least one major GI surgery and followed them for at least 5 years to evaluate subsequent operations.

Statin use and its association with all-cause mortality and incident diabetes/prediabetes in African Americans: Findings from the jackson heart study.

Objectives: This study investigates the association between statin use and all-cause mortality, as well as the association between statin use and incident diabetes or prediabetes among African Americans.

Methods: This study is based on the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), a community-based cohort study of African Americans (AAs). The baseline period for JHS was 9/26/2000 to 3/31/2004.

Financial Toxicity in High-Grade Glioma Resection: A Retrospective Analysis.

Background: Despite its association with lower survival rates among patients in various disease states, financial toxicity is often overlooked in health care. The aims of our study are to elucidate the effect of financial toxicity on the care of glioma patients.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated clinical information of 130 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma from a single institution between 2014 and 2021.

Understanding US adolescents' and emerging adults' overestimation of their cannabis use quantity.

Cannabis is the most used federally illicit drug in the United States (U.S). Understanding how accurate adolescents and emerging adults are at estimating their cannabis use quantity is important, as this lays the groundwork for understanding and studying the outcomes associated with cannabis use.

Dodecafluoropentane improves neuro-behavioral outcomes and return of spontaneous circulation rate in a swine model of cardiac arrest.

Introduction: Dodecafluoropentane emulsion (DDFPe) administration has previously demonstrated improved gas exchange in single-organ perfusion models. This could translate to prevention of brain injury in cardiac arrest.

Methods: We induced cardiac arrest in 12 pigs, performing CPR after 5-minute downtime.

Awareness, knowledge, and willingness to take PrEP among Black students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions.

Objective: A mixed-methods study exploring PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) access, services, and acceptance among Black college students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions MSIs in Georgia was conducted.

Participants: This study included faculty, administrators, and staff and Black students aged (18 - 24) from three HBCUs and one MSI.

Methods: The research utilized key informant interviews ( = 17), focus groups ( = 7) a student survey ( = 163).

Optimizing iNKT-driven immune responses against cancer by modulating CD1d in tumor and antigen presenting cells.

Two major antigen processing pathways represent protein Ags through major histocompatibility complexes (MHC class I and II) or lipid Ags through CD1 molecules influence the tumor immune response. Invariant Natural Killer T cells (iNKT) manage a significant role in cancer immunotherapy. CD1d, found on antigen-presenting cells (APCs), presents lipid Ags to iNKT cells.

Reinvigorating the Promise of the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) to Advance Autism Knowledge.

The National Institute of Mental Health created the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) to accelerate autism knowledge through data sharing and collaboration. However, our experience using NDAR reveals systematic challenges across several aspects of data submission, selection, management, and analysis that limit utility of this resource. We describe our NDAR experience in an ongoing project examining autism intervention outcomes among marginalized racial, ethnic, and gender groups.

A mobile app for chronic disease self-management for individuals with low health literacy: A multisite randomized controlled clinical trial.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a mobile app designed to improve chronic disease self-management in patients 40 years and older with low health literacy and who had at least one chronic health condition, and to assess the impact of delivering information at different levels of reading difficulty. A randomized controlled trial was completed at two sites. Individuals aged 40 years and older screened for low health literacy who had at least one chronic health condition were randomly assigned to a tailored information multimedia app with text at one of three grade levels.

Platelet's plea to Immunologists: Please do not forget me.

Platelets are non-nucleated mammalian cells originating from the cytoplasmic expulsion of the megakaryocytes. Megakaryocytes develop during hematopoiesis through megakaryopoiesis, whereas platelets develop from megakaryocytes through thrombopoiesis. Since their first discovery, platelets have been studied as critical cells controlling hemostasis or blood coagulation.

Reproductive hormones and sex chromosomes drive sex differences in the sleep-wake cycle.

There are well-documented gender differences in the risk and severity of sleep disorders and associated comorbidities. While fundamental sex differences in sleep regulatory mechanisms may contribute to gender disparities, biological responses to sleep loss and stress may underlie many of the risks for sleep disorders in women and men. Some of these sex differences appear to be dependent on sex chromosome complement (XX or XY) and the organizational effects of reproductive hormones.

Performance of Abbreviated Breast MRI in High-Risk Patients in a Tertiary Care Academic Medical Center.

Introduction: The development of abbreviated breast MRI (AB-MRI) protocols reduce scan times. This paper reports the performance of AB-MRI at a tertiary care public academic medical center in comparison with established literature.

Methods: This HIPAA-compliant IRB-approved retrospective study reviewed 413 AB-MRI screenings in high-risk patients from June 2020 to March 2023.

Disruption of Melatonin Signaling Leads to Lipids Accumulation in the Liver of Melatonin Proficient Mice.

Melatonin signaling via melatonin receptor type 1 (MT) and type 2 (MT) plays an important role in the regulation of several physiological functions. Studies in rodents and humans have demonstrated that disruption of melatonin signaling may affect glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and leptin levels. Accumulating experimental evidence also indicates that in rodents the administration of exogenous melatonin has a beneficial effect on the blood lipid levels.

Understanding Barriers to Access and Opportunities for Telemedicine in Underserved Urban Communities.

Loss to follow-up and decreased access to timely care have health consequences that often lead to increased emergency service utilization for benign, treatable, and preventable conditions. As such, significant medical intervention is necessary. Specifically in the District of Columbia (DC), the health of Medicaid beneficiaries of Wards 7 and 8, overwhelmingly underserved communities, necessitates alternative means for more accessible, convenient, and consistent care, which can be achieved by integrating telemedicine services into current care modalities.

Barriers to Cancer Care in the LGBTQ+ Community.

Individuals that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) make up a medically underserved population, that experience disparities in cancer care. Specific cancer incidence and mortality in this population is understudied, as national cancer registries and cancer surveys have limited data about sexual orientation or gender identity. The LGBTQIA community face disparate cancer outcomes in prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment due to barriers that limit access to cancer care.

Exploiting blood-based biomarkers to align preclinical models with human traumatic brain injury.

Rodent models are important research tools for studying the pathophysiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and developing new therapeutic interventions for this devastating neurological disorder. However, the failure rate for the translation of drugs from animal testing to human treatments for TBI is 100%. While there are several potential explanations for this, previous clinical trials have relied on extrapolation from preclinical studies for critical design considerations, including drug dose optimization, post-injury drug treatment initiation and duration.

Clinical profile of patients with acute traumatic brain injury undergoing cranial surgery in the United States: report from the 18-centre TRACK-TBI cohort study.

Background: Contemporary surgical practices for traumatic brain injury (TBI) remain unclear. We describe the clinical profile of an 18-centre US TBI cohort with cranial surgery.

Methods: The prospective, observational Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury Study (2014-2018; ClinicalTrials.

Neighborhood Ecologies, Cases, and Deaths during the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for Current and Future Epidemics?

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately affected Black and Latinx communities. Ecologic analyses have shown that counties with a higher percentage of Latinx and Black people have worse COVID-19 outcome rates. Few ecologic analyses have been published at the neighborhood (census tract) level.