Concerns on healthcare access, utilization, and safety due to COVID-19 among American adults with vision loss.

Background: Limited studies have indicated that Americans with vision loss are differentially impacted by COVID-19.

Objective: We examined concerns with healthcare and safety among Americans with vision loss during the early phase of the pandemic (April 2020).

Methods: The Flatten Inaccessibility Survey assessed the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare (pharmacy access, maintenance of eyecare regimen, caregiver access, and resource denial) and safety (social distancing, clean surfaces, and touching public signage) concerns among Americans with low vision or who were blind.

Storytelling training to promote stakeholder engagement in research dissemination.

Storytelling is increasingly recognized as a culturally relevant, human-centered strategy and has been linked to improvements in health knowledge, behavior, and outcomes. The Community Engagement Program of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research designed and implemented a storytelling training program as a potentially versatile approach to promote stakeholder engagement. Data collected from multiple sources, including participant ratings, responses to open-ended questions, and field notes, consistently pointed to high-level satisfaction and acceptability of the program.

Ambulatory Surgery Centers Versus Hospital Outpatient Departments for Orthopaedic Surgeries.

Background: The goals of this study were to compare the utilization and costs of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) versus hospital outpatient department (HOPD) for commonly performed outpatient orthopaedic surgical procedures.

Methods: Commercially insured patients undergoing elective, outpatient orthopaedic surgery were queried using an administrative claims database. We queried the following surgeries: carpal tunnel release, lumbar microdiskectomy, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, knee arthroscopy, arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, and bunion repair.

A bacterial extracellular vesicle-based intranasal vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 protects against disease and elicits neutralizing antibodies to wild-type and Delta variants.

Several vaccines have been introduced to combat the coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines include mRNA-containing lipid nanoparticles or adenoviral vectors that encode the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2, inactivated virus, or protein subunits. Despite growing success in worldwide vaccination efforts, additional capabilities may be needed in the future to address issues such as stability and storage requirements, need for vaccine boosters, desirability of different routes of administration, and emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants such as the Delta variant.

Honoring Dr. Shalon Irving, A Champion for Health Equity.

Shalon Irving's 2017 death brought national attention to maternal mortality among Black women in the US. This essay remembers her life and legacy.

Applications of research evidence during processes to acquire approvals for syringe services program implementation in rural counties in Kentucky.

Introduction: Despite decades of empirical research in the US and internationally documenting the benefits of implementing syringe services programs (SSPs), their implementation may be controversial in many jurisdictions. Better understanding how research evidence is applied during SSP implementation processes may enable the public health workforce to advocate for program scale up. This study explores applications of research evidence during processes to acquire approvals for SSP implementation in rural counties in Kentucky.

US Food Industry Progress Toward Salt Reduction, 2009-2018.

To determine the extent to which reductions in sodium during the National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI) target-setting period (2009-2014) continued after 2014. We used the NSRI Packaged Food Database, which links products in the top 80% of US packaged food sales to nutrition information, to assess the proportion of products meeting the NSRI targets and the sales-weighted mean sodium density (mg/100 g) of 54 packaged food categories between 2009 and 2018. There was an 8.

Decreased MIP-3α Production from Antigen-Activated PBMCs in Symptomatic HIV-Infected Subjects.

CD4 CCR6 T cells are highly susceptible to HIV infection, and a high cytokine producing CCR6 T cell subset is selectively lost during HIV infection. The CCR6 chemokine MIP-3α (CCL20) is produced at sites of infection in SIV animal models. Recently, we have shown that MIP-3α inhibits HIV replication.

Does Surgical Repair Benefit Pipkin Type I Femoral Head Fractures?: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

: Femoral head fractures are rare injuries with or without traumatic dislocations. The management of these fractures is crucial to prevent the development of severe complications and to achieve optimal functional outcomes. Wide treatment options for Pipkin 1 femoral head fractures range from fragment excision, fixation following open reduction with internal fixation, or conservative treatment such as close reduction alone after fracture dislocation.

Ensuring Rights while Protecting Health: The Importance of Using a Human Rights Approach in Implementing Public Health Responses to COVID-19.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have implemented public health policies that limit individual freedoms in order to control disease transmission. While such limitations on liberties are sometimes necessary for pandemic control, many of these policies have been overly broad or have neglected to consider the costs for populations already susceptible to human rights violations. Furthermore, the pandemic has exacerbated preexisting inequities based on health care access, poverty, racial injustice, refugee crises, and lack of education.

HIV-infection and cocaine use regulate semen extracellular vesicles proteome and miRNAome in a manner that mediates strategic monocyte haptotaxis governed by miR-128 network.

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are regulators of cell-cell interactions and mediators of horizontal transfer of bioactive molecules between cells. EV-mediated cell-cell interactions play roles in physiological and pathophysiological processes, which maybe modulated by exposure to pathogens and cocaine use. However, the effect of pathogens and cocaine use on EV composition and function are not fully understood.

Association of elevated plasma inflammatory biomarker levels with age-related macular degeneration but not cataract in persons with AIDS.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between plasma biomarkers of systemic inflammation and incident age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in persons with the AIDS.

Design: Case-control study.

Methods: Participants with incident intermediate-stage AMD (N = 26) in the Longitudinal Study of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (LSOCA) and controls (N = 60) without AMD.

Hospital utilization for hypoglycemia among patients with type 2 diabetes using pooled data from six health systems.

Introduction: Hypoglycemia is the most common serious adverse effect of diabetes treatment and a major cause of medication-related hospitalization. This study aimed to identify trends and predictors of hospital utilization for hypoglycemia among patients with type 2 diabetes using electronic health record data pooled from six academic health systems.

Research Design And Methods: This retrospective open cohort study included 549 041 adults with type 2 diabetes receiving regular care from the included health systems between 2009 and 2019.

Randomized controlled trial transfusing convalescent plasma as post-exposure prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background: The efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma (CCP) for preventing infection in exposed, uninfected individuals is unknown. We hypothesized that CCP might prevent infection when administered before symptoms or laboratory evidence of infection.

Methods: This double-blinded, phase 2 randomized, controlled trial (RCT) compared the efficacy and safety of prophylactic high titer (≥1:320) CCP with standard plasma.

Infection With the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta Variant Is Associated With Higher Recovery of Infectious Virus Compared to the Alpha Variant in Both Unvaccinated and Vaccinated Individuals.

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant of concern (VOC) B.1.617.

Diet quality scores associated with improved cardiometabolic measures among African American adolescents.

Background: The Reversing the Negative cardiovascular Effects on Weight (ReNEW) Clinic is a prospective cohort study in children and adolescents (≤21 years) at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis between diet quality using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010), pro-inflammatory potential using the Children's Dietary Inflammatory Index (C-DII), and cardiometabolic outcomes. AHEI-2010 and C-DII scores were assessed by median intake determined from the sample distribution and associated with cardiometabolic measures using linear regression models.

Visual Function, Physical Function, and Activities of Daily Living in Two Aging Communities.

Purpose: We report the distribution of visual acuity impairment (VAI), contrast sensitivity impairment (CSI) and their associations with physical health in an aging population.

Methods: In this cross-sectional analysis, VAI was categorized as mild (20/40-20/60) and moderate or greater (<20/60) in the better eye for distance and near vision. CSI was categorized as moderate (1.

Self-Reported Physical Activity and Survival in Adults Treated With Hemodialysis: A DIET-HD Cohort Study.

Introduction: Regular physical activity is associated with longevity in adults receiving hemodialysis, but it is uncertain whether this association varies by causal pathways (cardiovascular and noncardiovascular).

Methods: DIET-HD was a prospective, multinational study of adults undergoing hemodialysis across Europe and Argentina. We classified participants as physically inactive, occasionally active (irregularly to once a week), or frequently active (twice a week or more), using a self-reported questionnaire.

Signature changes in gut microbiome are associated with increased susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in MSM.

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) have been disproportionately affected by HIV-1 since the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, particularly in the USA and Europe. Compared to men who have sex with women (MSW), MSM have a distinct fecal microbiome regardless of HIV-1 infection. However, it is unclear whether the MSM-associated gut microbiome affects the susceptibility and progression of HIV-1 infection.

Dietary Potassium Intake and All-Cause Mortality in Adults Treated with Hemodialysis.

Background And Objectives: Dietary potassium restriction in people receiving maintenance hemodialysis is standard practice and is recommended in guidelines, despite a lack of evidence. We aimed to assess the association between dietary potassium intake and mortality and whether hyperkalemia mediates this association.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: A total of 8043 adults undergoing maintenance hemodialysis in Europe and South America were included in the DIETary intake, death and hospitalization in adults with end-stage kidney disease treated with HemoDialysis (DIET-HD) study.

Full breastfeeding protection against common enteric bacteria and viruses: results from the MAL-ED cohort study.

Background: Breastfeeding is known to reduce the risk of enteropathogen infections, but protection from specific enteropathogens is not well characterized.

Objective: The aim was to estimate the association between full breastfeeding (days fed breast milk exclusively or with nonnutritive liquids) and enteropathogen detection.

Methods: A total of 2145 newborns were enrolled at 8 sites, of whom 1712 had breastfeeding and key enteropathogen data through 6 mo.

Longitudinal Analysis of the Effect of Repeated Transarterial Chemoembolization for Liver Cancer on Portal Venous Pressure.

Objectives: Investigate long-term effects of repeated transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) on portal venous pressure (PVP) using non-invasive surrogate markers of portal hypertension.

Methods: Retrospective, Institutional Review Board-approved study. 99 patients [hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) group (n=57); liver metastasis group (n=42)] who underwent 279TACEs and had longitudinal pre-/post-therapy contrast-enhanced-MRI (n=388) and complete blood work were included.