Race and sex demographics in the surgical management of facial nerve palsy.

Objective: Facial palsy affects patients of all backgrounds, yet no existing studies describe differences in its treatment patterns between demographic groups.

Methods: We used the National Surgical Quality Improvement Project database to investigate whether race and sex disparities exist in facial reanimation surgery. Patients were identified using CPT codes corresponding to facial-nerve procedures.

Gender Differences in Visual Functioning Questionnaire Scores among Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To examine gender differences in visual functioning using the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (VFQ-25) in a Colorado cohort of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a registry of AMD patients who attended the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center (2014 to 2019). Demographic, clinical, and image data were collected, and AMD was categorized as Early/Intermediate AMD, or unilateral/bilateral neovascular (NV) AMD, geographic atrophy (GA), or Both Advanced using the Beckman Classification.

Outcomes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Over the past 20 years, despite significant advancements in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) medical therapy, many patients require admission to the hospital and are at risk for in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA). Prior data found poor survival in PAH patients after cardiac arrest. The purpose of this study was to explore post-IHCA outcomes in PAH patients receiving advanced medical therapies.

Spread of COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation in the Ninth Inning: Retrospective Observational Infodemic Study.

Background: Shortly after Pfizer and Moderna received emergency use authorizations from the Food and Drug Administration, there were increased reports of COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). In January 2021, Major League Baseball legend and Hall of Famer, Hank Aaron, passed away at the age of 86 years from natural causes, just 2 weeks after he received the COVID-19 vaccine. Antivaccination groups attempted to link his death to the Moderna vaccine, similar to other attempts misrepresenting data from the VAERS to spread COVID-19 misinformation.

Cognitive practice effects delay diagnosis of MCI: Implications for clinical trials.

Introduction: Practice effects (PEs) on cognitive tests obscure decline, thereby delaying detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Importantly, PEs may be present even when there are performance declines, if scores would have been even lower without prior test exposure. We assessed how accounting for PEs using a replacement-participants method impacts incident MCI diagnosis.

Lemierre's syndrome caused by complicated with multiple brain abscesses-A case report, literature review, and suggested management.

We present an unusual case of Lemierre´s syndrome complicated by multiple brain abscesses, a literature review and suggested management. A young man with multiple brain abscesses deteriorated despite two weeks of directed antibiotics. A multidisciplinary approach was successful.

Higher cerebrospinal fluid tau is associated with history of traumatic brain injury and reduced processing speed in Vietnam-era veterans: A Department of Defense Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (DOD-ADNI) study.

Introduction:  Our goal was to determine whether cognitive and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers of tau and amyloid beta 1-42 (Aβ) differ between Vietnam-era veterans with and without history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and whether TBI moderates the association between CSF markers and neurocognitive functioning.

Methods:  A total of 102 male participants (52 TBI, 50 military controls [MCs]; mean age = 68) were included. Levels of CSF Aβ, tau phosphorylated at the threonine 181 position (p-tau), and total tau (t-tau) were quantified.

Machine Learning Identifies Metabolic Signatures that Predict the Risk of Recurrent Angina in Remitted Patients after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study.

Recurrent angina (RA) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has few known risk factors, hampering the identification of high-risk populations. In this multicenter study, plasma samples are collected from patients with stable angina after PCI, and these patients are followed-up for 9 months for angina recurrence. Broad-spectrum metabolomic profiling with LC-MS/MS followed by multiple machine learning algorithms is conducted to identify the metabolic signatures associated with future risk of angina recurrence in two large cohorts ( = 750 for discovery set, and = 775 for additional independent discovery cohort).

COVID-19 educational innovation: Hybrid in-person and virtual simulation for emergency medicine trainees.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected medical education. Emergency medicine (EM) requires excellence in multiple core competencies, including leadership, teamwork, and communication skills as well as procedural experience. To meet these objectives, we developed a hybrid simulation model that accommodated a reduced number of learners in our simulation center to allow for physical distancing, seamlessly integrated with an online integrated experience for remote learners.

Differential blood DNA methylation across Lewy body dementias.

Introduction: Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) are characterized by cognitive alterations, visual hallucinations, and motor impairment. Diagnosis is based on type and timing of clinical manifestations; however, determination of clinical subtypes is challenging. The utility of blood DNA methylation as a biomarker for Lewy body disorders (LBD) is mostly unexplored.

Go Red for Women Strategically Focused Research Network: Summary of Findings and Network Outcomes.

The Go Red for Women movement was initiated by the American Heart Association (AHA) in the early 2000s to raise awareness concerning cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in women. In 2016, the AHA funded 5 research centers across the United States to advance our knowledge of the risks and presentation of CVD that are specific to women. This report highlights the findings of the centers, showing how insufficient sleep, sedentariness, and pregnancy-related complications may increase CVD risk in women, as well as presentation and factors associated with myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in women.

Droplet Ejection at Controlled Angles via Acoustofluidic Jetting.

We study the nozzle-free ejection of liquid droplets at controlled angles from a sessile drop actuated from two, mutually opposed directions by focused surface acoustic waves with dissimilar parameters. Previous researchers assumed that jets formed in this way are limited by the Rayleigh angle. However, when we carefully account for surface tension in addition to the driving force, acoustic streaming, we find a quantitative model that reduces to the Rayleigh angle only when inertia is dominant, and suggests larger ejection angles are possible in many practical situations.

MADVent: A low-cost ventilator for patients with COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced critical shortages of ventilators worldwide. There is an unmet need for rapidly deployable, emergency-use ventilators with sufficient functionality to manage COVID-19 patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Here, we show the development and validation of a simple, portable and low-cost ventilator that may be rapidly manufactured with minimal susceptibility to supply chain disruptions.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in the California Teachers Study.

Background Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption has been associated with cardiometabolic risk. However, the association between total and type of SSB intake and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) end points such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and revascularization is limited. Methods and Results We examined the prospective association of baseline SSB consumption with incident CVD in 106 178 women free from CVD and diabetes mellitus in the CTS (California Teachers Study), a cohort of female teachers and administrators, followed since 1995.

Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors in Endothelial Cells Play an Essential Role in Vasodilation and Blood Pressure Regulation.

Background Endothelial NO synthase plays a central role in regulating vasodilation and blood pressure. Intracellular Ca mobilization is a critical modulator of endothelial NO synthase function, and increased cytosolic Ca concentration in endothelial cells is able to induce endothelial NO synthase phosphorylation. Ca release mediated by 3 subtypes of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors ( IP Rs) from the endoplasmic reticulum and subsequent Ca entry after endoplasmic reticulum Ca store depletion has been proposed to be the major pathway to mobilize Ca in endothelial cells.

Communicating uncertainty in cancer prognosis: A review of web-based prognostic tools.

Objective To review how web-based prognosis tools for cancer patients and clinicians describe aleatory (risk estimates) and epistemic (imprecision in risk estimates) uncertainties. Methods We reviewed prognostic tools available online and extracted all uncertainty descriptions. We adapted an existing classification and classified each extracted statement by presentation of uncertainty.

Isolation and characterization of human urine extracellular vesicles.

Extracellular vesicles (ECV) reflect physiological or pathological conditions, emerging as potential biomarkers for disease. They can be obtained from a variety of body fluids, particularly urine that is an ideal source because it can be obtained in great quantities, recurrently and with minimal intervention. However, the characterization of urine ECV is challenging because the preparation is usually contaminated with soluble proteins, such as uromodulin (UMOD) or Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein that forms large extracellular filaments co-sedimenting with ECV.

Cell cycle networks link gene expression dysregulation, mutation, and brain maldevelopment in autistic toddlers.

Genetic mechanisms underlying abnormal early neural development in toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) remain uncertain due to the impossibility of direct brain gene expression measurement during critical periods of early development. Recent findings from a multi-tissue study demonstrated high expression of many of the same gene networks between blood and brain tissues, in particular with cell cycle functions. We explored relationships between blood gene expression and total brain volume (TBV) in 142 ASD and control male toddlers.

Extracellular heat shock proteins: a new location, a new function.

The expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) is a basic and well-conserved cellular response to an array of stresses. These proteins are involved in the repair of cellular damage induced by the stress, which is necessary for the salutary resolution from the insult. Moreover, they confer protection from subsequent insults, which has been coined stress tolerance.

Urothelial bladder carcinoma with choriocarcinomatous differentiation presenting with a false-positive pregnancy test.

Urothelial carcinoma of the bladder with choriocarcinomatous features is a rare presentation among genitourinary cancers. In this study, the case of a 42-year-old woman who presented with menstrual irregularity and positive urine and serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin tests is presented. Pelvic ultrasound showed no intrauterine pregnancy.