A case of cutaneous melanoma metastatic to the ciliary body and choroid with complete regression via systemic dual checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

Background: Cutaneous melanoma is the leading cause of death from cutaneous malignancy and tends to metastasize lymphatically and hematogenously to the lung, liver, brain, and bone; it is a rare source of metastatic disease to the eye. Herein we provide a case report of cutaneous melanoma metastatic to the ciliary body and choroid involving clinical examination, slit lamp photography, and B-scan ultrasonography.

Result: A 55-year-old female with known metastatic cutaneous melanoma presented with pain, a large ciliochoroidal mass, visual decline, and diffuse intraocular inflammation.

A socioecological model of neighborhood disorder, religious attendance, and sleep efficiency.

Objectives: Drawing on the socioecological model of sleep health, we formally examine the association between neighborhood disorder and sleep efficiency. While most studies focus on direct associations with neighborhood context, we also consider whether the relationship between religious attendance and sleep efficiency varies as a function of neighborhood disorder.

Design: We use ordinary least squares regression to model cross-sectional survey data.

Effectiveness of shared decision making strategies for stroke prevention among patients with atrial fibrillation: cluster randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of multiple decision aid strategies in promoting high quality shared decision making for prevention of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Design: Cluster randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Six academic medical centers in the United States.

Evaluation of COVID-19 Diagnosis Codes for Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Infections in a Nursing Home Cohort, 2022-2023.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the utility of electronic health record (EHR) diagnosis codes for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 infections among nursing home residents.

Design: A retrospective cohort study design was used to analyze data collected from nursing homes operating under the tradename Signature Healthcare between January 2022 and June 2023.

Setting And Participants: Data from 31,136 nursing home residents across 76 facilities in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Virginia were included.

Evaluating student understanding of pharmacodynamics core concepts.

Pharmacodynamics is an essential subdiscipline of pharmacology that underpins safe and effective prescribing and therapeutic decision-making, as well as drug discovery and development. The exponential increase in the number of therapeutic drugs has prompted members of the pharmacology educator community to question existing pharmacology curricula focused on individual drugs and move toward a curriculum focused on conceptual understanding. A first step towards conceptual understanding is to establish what students currently know about pharmacodynamic core concepts.

CSI-GEP: A GPU-based unsupervised machine learning approach for recovering gene expression programs in atlas-scale single-cell RNA-seq data.

Exploratory analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) typically relies on hard clustering over two-dimensional projections like uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP). However, such methods can severely distort the data and have many arbitrary parameter choices. Methods that can model scRNA-seq data as non-discrete "gene expression programs" (GEPs) can better preserve the data's structure, but currently, they are often not scalable, not consistent across repeated runs, and lack an established method for choosing key parameters.

The impact of non-tobacco e-cigarette flavoring on e-cigarette uptake, cigarette smoking reduction, and cessation: A secondary analysis of a nationwide clinical trial.

Introduction: The impact of e-cigarette flavoring on e-cigarette uptake and switching to e-cigarettes among adults who smoke is critical to e-cigarette regulation in the United Sates. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to assess the impact of e-cigarette flavoring choice on e-cigarette uptake and changes in cigarette smoking in a large nationwide trial of e-cigarette provision in the United States.

Methods: A free four-week supply of e-cigarettes was provided with minimal instructions to use to adults who smoke (N = 427).

We All Need at Least One Friend Who Understands What We Do Not Say: A Scoping Review of Friendship and Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Purpose: The purpose of this scoping review was to understand what is known about the friendships of individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices. Because communication is important to friendship, severe communication impairment may impact the establishment or maintenance of friendships in unique and important ways.

Method: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for scoping reviews and Covidence software using an established set of operationally defined inclusion criteria supported the identification of the 46 papers included in this review.

ChatGPT Assisting Diagnosis of Neuro-Ophthalmology Diseases Based on Case Reports.

Background: To evaluate the accuracy of Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT), a large language model (LLM), to assist in diagnosing neuro-ophthalmic diseases based on case reports.

Methods: We selected 22 different case reports of neuro-ophthalmic diseases from a publicly available online database. These cases included a wide range of chronic and acute diseases commonly seen by neuro-ophthalmic subspecialists.

Treatment of a Rare Case of Longitudinal Forearm Instability: A Case Report.

Case: A 41-year old man fell from height sustaining displaced radial shaft and ulnar styloid fractures underwent open reduction internal fixation of the radius with early recognition of a radiocapitellar dislocation and longitudinal forearm instability in the early postoperative period. Revision surgery was performed 13 days postoperatively involving annular ligament reconstruction, elbow spanning external fixation, and distal radioulnar joint stabilization. Favorable functional and radiographic outcomes are shown at 1-year follow-up.

Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in five US jurisdictions: Comparison of Delta and Omicron variants.

Households are a significant source of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, even during periods of low community-level spread. Comparing household transmission rates by SARS-CoV-2 variant may provide relevant information about current risks and prevention strategies. This investigation aimed to estimate differences in household transmission risk comparing the SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants using data from contact tracing and interviews conducted from November 2021 through February 2022 in five U.

Examining the risk of delirium in patients hospitalized with COVID-19: Insights from the homeless population.

For patients hospitalized with COVID-19, delirium is a serious and under-recognized complication, and people experiencing homelessness (PEH) may be at greater risk. This retrospective cohort study compared delirium-associated risk factors and clinical outcomes between PEH and non-PEH. This study used patient records from 154 hospitals discharged from 2020-2021 from the Texas Inpatient Public Use Data file.

Frequencies and functions of vocalizations and gestures in the second year of life.

Speculations on the evolution of language have invoked comparisons across human and non-human primate communication. While there is widespread support for the claim that gesture plays a central, perhaps a predominant role in early language development and that gesture played the foundational role in language evolution, much empirical information does not accord with the gestural claims. The present study follows up on our prior work that challenged the gestural theory of language development with longitudinal data showing early speech-like vocalizations occurred more than 5 times as often as gestures in the first year of life.

Atrial Fibrillation and Retinal Stroke.

Importance: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common, chronic, cardiac arrythmia in older US adults. It is not known whether AF is independently associated with increased risk of retinal stroke (central retinal artery occlusion), a subtype of ischemic stroke that causes severely disabling visual loss in most cases and is a harbinger of further vascular events.

Objective: To determine whether there is an association between AF and retinal stroke.

Cochlear Implant Electrode Placement and Music Perception.

Importance: Cochlear implants enable improvements in speech perception, but music perception outcomes remain variable. Image-guided cochlear implant programming has emerged as a potential programming strategy for increasing the quality of spectral information delivered through the cochlear implant to improve outcomes.

Objectives: To perform 2 experiments, the first of which modeled the variance in music perception scores as a function of electrode positioning factors, and the second of which evaluated image-guided cochlear implant programming as a strategy to improve music perception with a cochlear implant.

Children's executive functioning and health behaviors across pediatric life stages and ecological contexts.

Executive functioning (EF) has been linked to chronic disease risk in children. Health behaviors are thought to partially explain this association. The current cross-sectional study evaluated specific domains of EF and varied health behaviors in three pediatric life stages.

Prognostic and therapeutic implications of measurable residual disease levels during remission induction of childhood ALL.

We evaluated the prognostic and therapeutic significance of measurable residual disease (MRD) during remission induction in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. In the CCCG-ALL-2015 protocol, 7640 patients were categorized into low-, intermediate-, or high-risk groups based on clinical and genetic features. Final risk classification was determined by MRD assessed via flow cytometry on Days 19 and 46 of remission induction, with additional intensified chemotherapy for Day 19 MRD ≥1%.

Pain Coping Skills Training for Patients Receiving Hemodialysis: The HOPE Consortium Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Chronic pain is common among individuals with dialysis-dependent kidney failure.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of pain coping skills training (PCST), a cognitive behavioral intervention, on pain interference.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter randomized clinical trial of PCST vs usual care was conducted across 16 academic centers and 103 outpatient dialysis facilities in the US.

Mastering the Copolymerization Behavior of Ethyl Cyanoacrylate as Gel Polymer Electrolyte for Lithium-metal Battery Application.

Polymers with strong electron-withdrawing groups (e.g., cyano-containing polymers) are attractive for a wide range of applications due to their high dielectric constant and outstanding electrochemical stability.

Biomarkers.

Background: Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) health, a term recently defined by the American Heart Association, encompasses the interplay among metabolic, chronic kidney, and cardiovascular risk factors. We aimed to investigate the predictive significance of CKM disorders with the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD-related dementia (ADRD) mortality in a multiethnic population.

Method: We analyzed a cohort of 6,440 adults aged 45-84 who participated in the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, with a baseline survey conducted in 2000-2002, and were followed through to December 2015.

Biomarkers.

Background: Underrepresented racial and ethnic groups have higher rates of clinical dementia symptoms and are given clinical diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease without confirmatory AD biomarkers.

Method: We compared amyloid PET positivity in cohort of all rural and suburban Southeastern participants from a single clinical practice who met appropriate-use criteria for amyloid PET imaging between January 2020-December 2024. We used a paired nominal date test McNemar test to compare amyloid PET positivity proportions between matched racial and ethnic groups and multivariable logistic regression to assess the odds of having a positive amyloid PET scan.