Vanishing twins, selection , and infant mortality in the United States.

Background And Objectives: Research to identify fetal predictors of infant mortality among singletons born in the United States (US) concludes that poorly understood and unmeasured "confounders" produce a spurious association between fetal size and infant death. We argue that these confounders include Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS)-the clinical manifestation of selection against frail male twins . We test our argument in 276 monthly conception cohorts conceived in the US from January 1995 through December 2017.

Evaluation of racial/ethnic disparities in surgical outcomes after rectal cancer resection: An ACS-NSQIP analysis.

Background: Disparities exist the management of rectal cancer. We sought to evaluate short-term surgical outcomes among different racial/ethnic groups following rectal cancer resection.

Materials And Methods: National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database (2016-2019) was queried.

Indications and outcomes of liver transplantation for liver tumors in the United States.

Background: While hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains the leading cause of liver transplant (LT) for liver tumors, indications have broadened over the years. Data regarding patient characteristics and outcomes of LT for liver tumors are limited.

Methods: From Jan-2002 to March-2022, 14,406 LT recipients for various liver tumors were identified in United Network for Organ Sharing database.

Resident level is associated with operative time in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Background: While previous literature has shown that resident involvement increases operative time, the influence of resident involvement on operative time is generally not considered in current methods of case time predictions or operating room planning. Furthermore, evidence of prolonged case times based on the level of the assisting resident is yet scarce. We hypothesized that operative time would increase with the post-graduate year of assisting residents as they gain more autonomy in the operating room.

Predicting in-hospital mortality using Elixhauser comorbidity in patients underwent single and multiple coronary artery bypass surgery.

Background: Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) is a high-risk surgery. Cardiovascular diseases are strongly associated with comorbidities. This study aimed to assess the prediction of in-hospital mortality by comorbidities in patients who underwent CABG.

Surgical risks and care trends: A cross sectional study of people experiencing homelessness presenting at a free clinic care in Miami-Dade County.

Background: The effects of housing insecurity on surgical care are under researched and largely unknown. Thus far, studies on surgery outcomes of people experiencing homelessness either focus on shelter-based patients or do not differentiate whether patients are sheltered or unsheltered, despite significant differences in care needs and health risks. Herein we provide the first report on surgical care trends of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

Comorbidity between internalizing symptoms and disordered eating is primarily driven by genetic influences on emotion regulation in adult female twins.

Internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depression) and disordered eating (DE; e.

Characterization of the mesenteric circulatory physiology during hemorrhagic shock in a swine model.

Introduction: This study aimed to characterize blood flow through the mesenteric circulation during hemorrhage and resuscitation in a large animal model.

Methods: Five male swine (50-70 kg) underwent anesthesia and placement of flow probes and pressure catheters around and within the superior mesenteric artery, portal vein, and inferior vena cava. A laser doppler flow probe was placed on the intestine to measure end-organ perfusion.

BMI disparities in coronary artery bypass grafting outcomes: A single center Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) database analysis.

Introduction: Disparities in Body Mass Index (BMI) has been a potential risk factor for intraoperative outcomes, postoperative morbidity and mortality after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). This study aims to quantify the effect of BMI on early clinical outcomes following CABG.

Method: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Adult Cardiac Surgery Database was queried for adult patients who underwent first-time Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) patients in our center from 2014 to 2020.

Routine frozen section during pancreaticoduodenectomy does not improve value-based care.

Introduction: Frozen section (FS) is often performed to confirm negative margins during pancreaticoduodenectomies (PD). This incurs significant cost, despite lack of evidence of survival benefit. We sought to determine the frequency of positive FS during PD, associated costs per positive margin identified, and association with locoregional recurrence (LRR) and overall survival (OS).

The state of remote learning in plastic surgery: A systematic review of modalities.

Objective: To systematically review the published literature describing remote alternative educational modalities for plastic surgery residents.

Design: Systematic review.

Setting: Independent investigators performed searches in the PubMed and Cochrane Library databases using a variety of MeSH terms and search term combinations.

Rib fracture management: A review of surgical stabilization, regional analgesia, and intercostal nerve cryoablation.

Rib fractures still remain a common problem in blunt thoracic trauma, often resulting significant acute and/or chronic morbidity and mortality. The management of rib fractures has improved over the past two decades, resulting in overall improved patient outcomes. With advances in surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF), improvements in regional analgesia, and the introduction of intercostal nerve cryoablation, patient outcomes from rib fractures have improved significantly over the past several years.

Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers: Clinical application of HBOC-201 as an alternative to red blood cells for machine perfusion in liver transplantation.

Background: Liver transplantation is the gold standard treatment option for end-stage liver diseases and failure. In recent years, ex vivo liver machine perfusion has been introduced to resuscitate livers before transplantation. The RBC-based solution is the main perfusate for this matter.

Investigating the ecological fallacy through sampling distributions constructed from finite populations.

Correlation coefficients and linear regression values computed from group averages can differ from correlation coefficients and linear regression values computed using individual scores. This observation known as the ecological fallacy often assumes that all the individual scores are available from a population. In many situations, one must use a sample from the larger population.

Safe sleep crib clinics: Promoting risk reduction strategies for sudden unexpected infant death.

Objectives: Safe Sleep Community Baby Showers (CBS) provide group education to reduce risk factors of sudden unexpected infant death (SUID). Based on CBS success, Safe Sleep Crib Clinics were developed to provide individual education. This study assessed Crib Clinic outcomes and differences in Crib Clinics compared to CBSs.

Leveraging human centered design to enhance clinician communication during pregnancy care: Overcoming language barriers with Spanish-speaking patients.

Background: Engaging patients in quality improvement and innovation projects is increasingly important, yet challenges persist with involving patients who speak languages other than English. This article presents design activities our team used to engage Spanish-speaking patients and cultural brokers.

Objective: To develop a clinician communication tool to enhance patient trust in pregnancy care clinicians, especially among minoritized populations who face language and cultural barriers, using human-centered design (HCD).

Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis - A Case Report and Literature Analysis.

We describe a case of a 67-year-old man with bioprosthetic aortic valve endocarditis secondary to , a rare Gram-negative plant pathogen. The initial source was assumed to be due to soil exposure. The patient was successfully managed with ceftriaxone following aortic valve replacement.

Enoxaparin Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis Dosing in Critically Ill Underweight Patients.

Optimal dosing of VTE prophylaxis for specific patient populations remains an area of concern as insufficient evidence exists regarding dosing for underweight patients. The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence of major bleeding events in underweight patients given different prophylactic doses of enoxaparin. This is a retrospective analysis performed at multiple hospitals within a single health care system.

Urethra-sparing prostate cancer radiotherapy: Current practices and future insights from an international survey.

Purpose: In prostate cancer patients, high radiation doses to the urethra have been associated with an increased risk of severe genitourinary toxicity following dose-escalated radiotherapy. Urethra-sparing techniques have emerged as a promising approach to reduce urinary toxicity. This international survey aims to evaluate current global practices in urethra-sparing and explore future directions for the implementation of this technique in external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer.

Arv1; a "Mover and Shaker" of Subcellular Lipids.

The composition of eukaryotic membranes reflects a varied but precise amalgam of lipids. The genetic underpinning of how such diversity is achieved or maintained is surprisingly obscure, despite its clear metabolic and pathophysiological impact. The Arv1 protein is represented in all eukaryotes and was initially identified in the model eukaryote as a candidate transporter of lipids from the endoplasmic reticulum.

Cultivation of Grit in Nursing Students: A Qualitative Descriptive Study "Cultivation of Grit".

Background: Predicted nursing deficits and low nursing student retention rates highlighted the need to investigate cultivation of grit, a malleable trait involving perseverance and passion to achieve long-term goals amidst challenges and difficulties.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify how cultivation of grit and additional academic and non-academic strategies aided gritty second-year associate degree-seeking nursing students in addressing nursing program challenges and completing their nursing program.

Methods: Twenty-two second-year associate degree-seeking nursing students in rural central Arizona completed demographic and Grit-O Scale questions using Survey Monkey™ and participated in semi-structured interviews or focus group discussions held from September through December 2022.

Intravesical vancomycin for the treatment of Corynebacterium cystitis and struvite bladder stones: A case report.

Urologic patients with anatomic abnormalities can be particularly susceptible to urinary tract infections (UTI). UTI with urease-producing bacteria can promote struvite urinary calculi and pose unique treatment problems. There is potential for rapid stone growth and bacterial eradication can be difficult secondary to urothelial or stone colonization.

Synergistic interaction between wheat streak mosaic virus and Triticum mosaic virus modulates wheat transcriptome to favor disease severity.

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV; ) and Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV; ), the type members of the genera and , respectively, in the family , are economically important wheat viruses in the Great Plains region of the USA. Co-infection of wheat by WSMV and TriMV results in disease synergism. Wheat transcriptome from singly (WSMV or TriMV) and doubly (WSMV+TriMV) infected upper uninoculated leaves were analyzed by RNA-Seq at 9, 12, and 21 days postinoculation.

Elevated intraocular pressure associated with sauna use: A case report.

Purpose: To report a case of increased intraocular pressure following sauna use in a patient with severe-stage primary open-angle glaucoma.

Observations: A 64-year-old Hispanic male with severe-stage primary open-angle glaucoma experienced intraocular pressure spikes following sauna sessions, as detected in clinic and confirmed by a home tonometry device. The intraocular pressure spikes resolved after combined goniotomy and glaucoma drainage device implantation.

Psychosocial moderators of the association between pain intensity and physical function in people with systemic sclerosis.

Background: Pain is a prevalent symptom of systemic sclerosis. While previous studies have demonstrated a correlation between higher pain intensity and lower physical function in individuals with systemic sclerosis, the potentially moderating effect of psychosocial factors on the association has yet to be explored.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from a fatigue self-management trial for adults with systemic sclerosis.