Women Ridesharing Drivers' Responses to Sexual Violence on the Job: The Role of Confrontation.

One critical area where sexual violence has been underexplored is in the ridesharing industry in the United States, where women drivers frequently must interact with unknown male passengers. Sexual violence against them is categorized as technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the online to offline world, where services such as transportation are ordered through an online app and result in a person-to-person interaction once the driver picks the passenger up. Since ridesharing drivers are mostly independent contractors, they do not have at their disposal traditional legal and strong organizational remedies to address sexual violence; moreover, like all victims of violence, these methods usually can only be accessed after the incident has taken place.

How to educate patients and caregivers on end-of-life nutrition care and support.

Background: There are numerous articles, book chapters, and published guidelines on the topic of clinical ethics in the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration, which often incorporates end-of-life (EOL) nutrition care and support. Components of clinical ethics involve the importance of ethical principles, patient-centered care, and shared decision-making. However, there is sparse information on how to educate patients and caregivers on this subject.

Pandemic-associated food insecurity in northern, coastal Ecuador.

The COVID-19 pandemic worsened food insecurity worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the pandemic on perceived food insecurity among households in rural Esmeraldas, Ecuador. We conducted a cross-sectional survey to characterize pandemic impacts on household livelihoods and food insecurity in five communities.

Successful Percutaneous Coronary Stenting in End-Stage Liver Disease Patients Awaiting Liver Transplantation.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is associated with poor outcomes after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We report on six high-risk end-stage liver disease (ESLD) patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with bare metal stents during the preoperative evaluation process. There was no mortality or major adverse cardiac event (MACE) within 90 days of OLT.

Extracting Housing and Food Insecurity Information From Clinical Notes Using cTAKES.

Objective: To assess the utility and challenges of using natural language processing (NLP) in electronic health records (EHRs) to ascertain health-related social needs (HRSNs) among older adults.

Study Setting And Design: We extracted HRSN information using the NLP system Clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES), combined with Concept Unique Identifiers and Systematized Nomenclature for Medicine codes. We validated cTAKES performance, via manual chart review, on two HRSNs: food insecurity, which was included in the healthcare system's HRSN screening tool, and housing insecurity, which was not.

Model-Informed Recommendation of Mavacamten Posology for Chinese Adults With Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Mavacamten is a cardiac myosin inhibitor for adults with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Dose optimization is performed 4 weeks after starting mavacamten, guided by periodic echo measurements of Valsalva left ventricular outflow tract gradient (VLVOTg) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Previously, a population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model was developed and exposure-response (E-R) of VLVOTg (efficacy) and LVEF (safety) was used to identify the mavacamten titration regimen with the optimal benefit/risk ratio, now included in the US prescribing information.

Protocol for visual-acoustic intervention with service delivery in-person and via telepractice (VISIT) non-inferiority trial for residual speech sound disorder.

Background: Residual speech sound disorder (RSSD) is a high-prevalence condition that negatively impacts social and academic participation. Telepractice service delivery has the potential to expand access to technology-enhanced intervention methods that can help remediate RSSD, but it is not known whether remote service delivery is associated with a reduction in the efficacy of these methods. This project will systematically measure the outcomes of visual-acoustic biofeedback intervention when delivered in-person or online.

Reproducibility and transparency: what's going on and how can we help.

Problems with experimental reproducibility affect every field of science. However, the opinions on the causes of the reproducibility “crisis” and how we all can help vary amongst fields as well as individual scientists. Here, we talk to experts from different fields of science to get their insights on this endemic issue.

Bilateral hippocampal toxicity in a patient using kratom.

As an emerging toxic recreational drug, kratom use has been associated with a range of adverse effects, but reports of structural changes in the central nervous system are rare. We report a case of a young man in his 20s with a history of anxiety and depression who presented with an altered mental status and anterograde and retrograde amnesia following kratom use. His labs showed elevated alanine aminotransferase and ammonia levels, and his MRI revealed bilateral hippocampal T2 hyperintensity signal changes.

Cardiovascular, cancer, and infection risks of Janus kinase inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis: A nationwide cohort study.

Background: Evolving evidence suggests that patients undergoing treatment with Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) may face an increased risk of cardiovascular events, malignancies, and serious infections.

Objectives: We assessed cardiovascular, malignancy, and serious infection risks associated with JAKi use compared to tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) use, which served as the active comparator, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or ulcerative colitis (UC).

Methods: This study emulated a target trial using South Korea's nationwide claims database (2013-2023).

Association of depression dimensions with cognitive functioning in community-dwelling oldest old adults: The LifeAfter90 study.

Objectives: The oldest old adults (90+) constitute the fastest growing demographic at highest dementia risk among older adults. Depression, a common risk factor, inherently presents with heterogeneous clinical manifestations. Here, we explored the associations of the predominant depression dimensions with cognition in the LifeAfter90 study.

A multi-cohort study of longitudinal and cross-sectional Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Introduction: The generalizability of neuroimaging and cognitive biomarkers in their sensitivity to detect preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) and power to predict progression in large, multisite cohorts remains unclear.

Method: Longitudinal demographics, T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cognitive scores of 3036 cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults (amyloid beta [Aβ]-negative/positive [A-/A+]: 1270/1558) were included. Cross-sectional and longitudinal cognition and medial temporal lobe (MTL) structural measures were extracted.

Small Nucleolar RNAs and the Brain: Growing Evidence Supporting Their Role in Psychiatric Disorders.

Noncoding RNAs comprise most of the transcriptome and represent an emerging area of research. Among them, small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) have emerged as a promising target because they have been associated with the development and evolution of several diseases, including psychiatric disorders. snoRNAs are expressed in the brain, with some showing brain-specific expression that indicates specific roles in brain development, function, and dysfunction.

AI-assisted exposure-response data analysis: Quantifying heterogeneous causal effects of exposures on survival times.

AI-assisted data analysis can help risk analysts better understand exposure-response relationships by making it relatively easy to apply advanced statistical and machine learning methods, check their assumptions, and interpret their results. This paper demonstrates the potential of large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, to facilitate statistical analyses, including survival data analyses, for health risk assessments. Through AI-guided analyses using relatively recent and advanced methods such as Individual Conditional Expectation (ICE) plots using Random Survival Forests and Heterogeneous Treatment Effects (HTEs) estimated using Causal Survival Forests, population-level exposure-response functions can be disaggregated into individual-level exposure-response functions.

Cost-Effectiveness of Serum Pepsinogen as a Gastric Cancer Targeted Screening Strategy in the United States.

Background And Aims: Current gastric cancer (GC) screening modalities are invasive and expensive. Noninvasive screening for GC precursors with serum pepsinogen (PG) may improve early detection and prevention. Test characteristics of PG based on US prospective data was recently reported and used to study the cost-effectiveness of PG screening vs no screening in the US.

Recycling of Post-Consumer Waste Polystyrene Using Commercial Plastic Additives.

Photothermal conversion can promote plastic depolymerization (chemical recycling to a monomer) through light-to-heat conversion. The highly localized temperature gradient near the photothermal agent surface allows selective heating with spatial control not observed with bulk pyrolysis. However, identifying and incorporating practical photothermal agents into plastics for end-of-life depolymerization have not been realized.

Characterizing Wellness Initiatives in Academic Radiation Oncology Departments.

Purpose: Burnout is prevalent in radiation oncology (RO), and an increased focus on promoting physician wellness and formalizing wellness-directed efforts has transpired in recent years. We aimed to characterize current wellness leadership positions and efforts within academic RO departments.

Methods And Materials: Academic RO department chairs were contacted to inquire whether they had a departmental wellness leader with a request for leader contact information, if applicable.

Medical malpractice litigation following humeral fractures in the United States.

Background: The purpose of this study is to characterize malpractice claims against orthopedic surgeons treating humeral fractures and determine factors associated with plaintiff verdicts and settlements.

Methods: The Westlaw legal database was queried for all cases involving humeral fractures. Patient demographics, causes cited for litigation, case outcomes, and indemnity payments were collected to determine common factors that lead plaintiffs to pursue legal action.

Meningioma in the fourth ventricle in 2 cats.

Feline meningiomas typically arise on the surface of the brain but can occur in the third ventricle. Meningiomas in the fourth ventricle have not been reported in cats, to our knowledge. Here, we describe the clinical and pathologic findings of meningioma in the fourth ventricle in 2 cats.