Disparities in United States Retinoblastoma Presentation, Management, and Local Recurrence in the National Cancer Database, 2004-2016.

Purpose: To investigate patient-level differences in retinoblastoma presentation, treatments, and outcomes within the United States (US).

Design: Retrospective registry-based analysis.

Participants: One thousand, four hundred and four retinoblastoma cases in the National Cancer Database, 2004-2016, a US-based cancer registry.

Cortical norepinephrine-astrocyte signaling critically mediates learned behavior.

Updating behavior based on feedback from the environment is a crucial means by which organisms learn and develop optimal behavioral strategies. Norepinephrine (NE) release from the locus coeruleus (LC) has been shown to mediate learned behaviors such that in a task with graded stimulus uncertainty and performance, a high level of NE released after an unexpected outcome causes improvement in subsequent behavior. Yet, how the transient activity of LC-NE neurons, lasting tens of milliseconds, influences behavior several seconds later, is unclear.

Mind your pain: A single-arm feasibility study to assess a smartphone-based interoceptive attention training for patients with chronic low back pain.

Objective: People commonly cope with chronic low back pain (cLBP) by ignoring and distraction. Can mindful interoceptive exposure to the pain sensation itself and its phenomenological components be an alternative approach?

Methods: Single-arm feasibility study in patients with cLBP using a 2-minute attention exercise guided by a smartphone app several times per day over 8 weeks. We assessed feasibility, pre/post pain, function, and psychological parameters using mixed methods: standard questionnaires, ecological momentary assessment, and exit interviews that included micro-phenomenology technique and subsequent reflexive thematic qualitative analysis.

Cellular signaling pathways in the nervous system activated by various mechanical and electromagnetic stimuli.

Mechanical stimuli, such as stretch, shear stress, or compression, activate a range of biomolecular responses through cellular mechanotransduction. In the nervous system, studies on mechanical stress have highlighted key pathophysiological mechanisms underlying traumatic injury and neurodegenerative diseases. However, the biomolecular pathways triggered by mechanical stimuli in the nervous system has not been fully explored, especially compared to other body systems.

Implementation and validation of face de-identification (de-facing) in ADNI4.

Introduction: Recent technological advances have increased the risk that de-identified brain images could be re-identified from face imagery. The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is a leading source of publicly available de-identified brain imaging, who quickly acted to protect participants' privacy.

Methods: An independent expert committee evaluated 11 face-deidentification ("de-facing") methods and selected four for formal testing.

A Technology-Based Intervention Impacts Quality of Life for Low-Income Older Adults by Reducing Loneliness and Improving Healthcare Self-Efficacy and Self-Rated Health.

This paper describes a technology program aimed at developing technical skills and confidence, reducing social isolation and loneliness, and increasing healthcare self-management and self-efficacy among older adults. We conducted a mixed-methods study using surveys collected at baseline and 12 months from 90 older adults. Focus group data ( = 7) collected at 12 months were examined for convergence with key quantitative outcomes, emergent value-related themes, and evaluation of program structure and staff.

Agreement of Medication Information Derived From EHR Data Compared to Medicare Insurance Claims: An Analysis of Biologic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs.

Purpose: Few studies have reported the agreement between medication information derived from ambulatory EHR data compared to administrative claims for high-cost specialty drugs. We used data from a national EHR-enabled registry, the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE), with linked Medicare claims in a population of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to investigate variations in agreement for different biologic disease-modifying agents (bDMARDs) between two data sources (RISE EHR data vs. Medicare claims), categorized by drug, route of administration, and patient insurance factors (dual eligibility).

The prevalence of lifetime trauma and association with physical and psychosocial health among adults at the end of life.

Background: National guidelines recognize lifetime trauma as relevant to clinical care for adults nearing the end of life. We determined the prevalence of early life and cumulative trauma among persons at the end of life by gender and birth cohort, and the association of lifetime trauma with end-of-life physical, mental, and social well-being.

Methods: We used nationally representative Health and Retirement Study data (2006-2020), including adults age > 50 who died while enrolled (N = 6495).

Inflammation and aging-related disease: A transdisciplinary inflammaging framework.

Inflammaging, a state of chronic, progressive low-grade inflammation during aging, is associated with several adverse clinical outcomes, including frailty, disability, and death. Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of aging and is linked to the pathogenesis of many aging-related diseases. Anti-inflammatory therapies are also increasingly being studied as potential anti-aging treatments, and clinical trials have shown benefits in selected aging-related diseases.

A proactive phone intervention for older adults to address loneliness identified by a health plan.

Social isolation and loneliness are associated with poor health and higher health care costs among older adults. Our objective was to determine if older adults identified as at risk for loneliness by a Medicare Advantage health plan could benefit from a proactive telephone support program. We conducted a mixed-methods pilot efficacy study of outbound calls from an established community-based telephone program to support older adults identified as at risk for loneliness.

Deprescribing of Antihypertensive Medications and Cognitive Function in Nursing Home Residents.

Importance: Antihypertensive medication deprescribing is common among nursing home residents, yet its association with cognitive decline remains uncertain.

Objective: To investigate the association of deprescribing antihypertensive medication with changes in cognitive function in nursing home residents.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study using a target trial emulation approach included VA long-term care residents aged 65 years or older with stays of at least 12 weeks from 2006 to 2019.

Function, cognition, and quality of life among older adults with lung cancer who live alone: A prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Among older adults without cancer, living alone is associated with poor health outcomes. However, among older adults with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who live alone, data on function, cognition, and quality of life (QOL) during systemic treatment remain limited.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled adults aged ≥65 with advanced NSCLC starting a new chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and/or targeted therapy regimen with non-curative intent.

Improving rigor and reproducibility in western blot experiments with the blotRig analysis.

Western blot is a popular biomolecular analysis method for measuring the relative quantities of independent proteins in complex biological samples. However, variability in quantitative western blot data analysis poses a challenge in designing reproducible experiments. The lack of rigorous quantitative approaches in current western blot statistical methodology may result in irreproducible inferences.

Class I Recalls of Cardiovascular Devices Between 2013 and 2022 : A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Background: Cardiovascular devices account for one third of all Class I recalls, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) most severe designation, indicating a reasonable probability of "serious adverse health consequences or death.

Impact of age on clinical outcomes and response to serelaxin in patients with acute heart failure: An analysis from the RELAX-AHF-2 trial.

Aims: Acute heart failure (AHF) is a major cause of hospitalizations and death in the elderly. However, elderly patients are often underrepresented in randomized clinical trials. We analysed the impact of age on clinical outcomes and response to treatment in patients enrolled in Relaxin in Acute Heart Failure (RELAX-AHF-2), a study that included older patients than in previous AHF trials.

Identifying priority challenges of older adults with COPD: A multiphase intervention refinement study.

Background: Identifying priority challenges of older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is critical to designing interventions aimed at improving their well-being and independence.

Objective: To prioritize challenges of older adults with COPD and those who care for them to guide refinement of a telephonic nurse coach intervention for patients with COPD and their family caregivers (EPIC: Empowering People to Independence in COPD).

Design: Multiphase study guided by Baltes Theory of Successful Aging and the 5Ms Framework: Phase 1: Nominal group technique (NGT), a structured process of prioritizing responses to a question through group consensus.