2024 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Immunosuppressive Opioids are Associated with Longer Hospital Length of Stay in SARS-CoV-2 Patients.

Introduction: Since late 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 767 million people worldwide with over one million deaths in the United States alone. One risk factor identified for possible worse outcomes from the virus is medication-induced immune suppression. Some opioids have been associated with immunomodulatory effects.

2024 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Oral Health Education Enhancement For South Dakota Medical Learners.

Introduction: Medical education focuses on the biochemical origins, pathophysiologic pathways, diagnosis and treatment of human illnesses. While this educational training attempts to be all-encompassing, oral health and the associated pathologies are not commonly emphasized in medical training. Disparities in oral health have detrimental effects on systemic disease and impacts patient well-being.

2024 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Metacognitive Analysis of Simulation-Based Education Identifies a Gap in Healthcare Education.

Introduction: Simulation has become an integral part of healthcare education. Studies demonstrate rapid knowledge and skill acquisition with the use of simulation and rapid knowledge degradation if it is not further reinforced. Effect of simulation on metacognitive processes, or the ability to understand one's own knowledge, is not well-investigated yet.

2024 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Analysis of First 50 Liver Transplants in a Rural Midwest Medical Center.

Introduction: Chronic liver disease, a progressive deterioration of liver function, has become a significant health problem in the United States. According to the National Vital Statistics Report 2017 from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 4.5 million adults have been diagnosed with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (end-stage liver disease), which is 1.

2024 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Routine Pediatric Vaccination Rates in 7 Upper Midwestern States.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic stressed healthcare systems by increasing patient loads and creating shortages of both staffing and medical supplies. As a result, the process of administering routine pediatric vaccinations was affected. Multiple studies have reported ongoing decreases in vaccination opportunities.

2024 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Retrospective Cohort Study of Pediatric COVID-19 in a Rural Integrated Health System.

Introduction: The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which caused Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), led to a global pandemic and public health crisis, which affected the physical health and mental well-being of Americans in every part of the country. Although the effect of the pandemic was ubiquitous, it has been more extensively studied in urban areas, which leads to an underscoring of the burden of COVID-19 in rural US. Health disparities adversely affect children in rural communities, each of which is unique and requires interventions based on regional needs.

2024 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Assessing and Monitoring Competency of Medical Students as Simulation Educators Using Novel Rubric.

Introduction: Physicians are life-long learners and life-long educators. Through their entire careers, they educate patients, residents, medical students, and other health care professionals. There is currently no requirement for medical schools in the United States to provide courses in teaching or communication.

Racism, homophobia, and the sexual health of young Black men who have sex with men in the United States: A systematic review.

Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (BMSM) experience the highest rates of HIV acquisition annually out of any population in the United States, and young BMSM (YBMSM) are heavily impacted by this inequity as they enter adulthood. Despite a high annual HIV incidence, extant literature has found BMSM to engage in fewer sexual risk behaviors than White and Hispanic/Latino men who have sex with men, resulting in a gap between risk behaviors and the inequity of HIV infection. Structural factors, such as racism and homophobia, are thus being examined in order to understand this disconnect between behavior and HIV incidence.

Pasteurized waste milk vs. milk replacer at the same crude protein:metabolizable energy ratio with different energy sources (fat vs. lactose) to pre-weaning Holstein calves: Effects on growth performance, feeding behavior, and health.

The improved growth performance of calves at weaning results from an effective pre-weaning feeding strategy. The type and pasteurization process of liquid feed are among the most variable feeding practices affecting calves' growth and health. In previous studies that compared waste milk (WM) vs.

1-Methylxanthine enhances memory and neurotransmitter levels.

1-Methylxanthine (1-MX) is the major metabolite of caffeine and paraxanthine and might contribute to their activity. 1-MX is an adenosine receptor antagonist and increases the release and survivability of neurotransmitters; however, no study has addressed the potential physiological effects of 1-MX ingestion. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of 1-MX on memory and related biomarkers in rats compared to control.

Longitudinal host transcriptional responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults with extremely high viral load.

Current understanding of viral dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 and host responses driving the pathogenic mechanisms in COVID-19 is rapidly evolving. Here, we conducted a longitudinal study to investigate gene expression patterns during acute SARS-CoV-2 illness. Cases included SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals with extremely high viral loads early in their illness, individuals having low SARS-CoV-2 viral loads early in their infection, and individuals testing negative for SARS-CoV-2.

Menopause-induced 17β-estradiol and progesterone loss increases senescence markers, matrix disassembly and degeneration in mouse cartilage.

Female individuals who are post-menopausal present with higher incidence of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) than male counterparts; however, the mechanisms underlying this disparity are unknown. The most commonly used preclinical models lack human-relevant menopausal phenotypes, which may contribute to our incomplete understanding of sex-specific differences in KOA pathogenesis. Here we chemically induced menopause in middle-aged (14-16 months) C57/BL6N female mice.

B cells enhance IL-1 beta driven invasiveness in triple negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype often characterized by high lymphocyte infiltration, including tumor-infiltrating B cells (TIBs). These cells are present even in early stages of TNBC and associated with microinvasion. This study shows that co-culturing TNBC cells with B cells increases Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) expression and secretion.

The associations between cardiovascular and pain responses to a cold pressor test differ between males and females.

Nociceptors contribute to the cardiovascular responses during a cold pressor test (CPT). While these responses are lower in females, data suggest that they perceive the CPT as more painful. Thus, we examined sex differences in associations between pain and cardiovascular responses to a CPT (Aim 1) as well as differences between females using (OC), and not using (NC), an oral contraceptive (Aim 2).

Label-free nanoscopy of cell metabolism by ultrasensitive reweighted visible stimulated Raman scattering.

Super-resolution imaging of cell metabolism is hindered by the incompatibility of small metabolites with fluorescent dyes and the limited resolution of imaging mass spectrometry. We present ultrasensitive reweighted visible stimulated Raman scattering (URV-SRS), a label-free vibrational imaging technique for multiplexed nanoscopy of intracellular metabolites. We developed a visible SRS microscope with extensive pulse chirping to improve the detection limit to ~4,000 molecules and introduced a self-supervised multi-agent denoiser to suppress non-independent noise in SRS by over 7.

PRDM1 is a key regulator of the natural killer T-cell central memory program and effector function.

Natural killer T cells (NKTs) are a promising platform for cancer immunotherapy, but few genes involved in regulation of NKT therapeutic activity have been identified. To find regulators of NKT functional fitness, we developed a CRISPR/Cas9-based mutagenesis screen that employs a guide RNA (gRNA) library targeting 1,118 immune-related genes. Unmodified NKTs and NKTs expressing a GD2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (GD2.

Changes in Support for Advance Provision and Over-the-Counter Access to Medication Abortion.

Importance: Since Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization (Dobbs) removed federal abortion protections, people's views about alternative models of abortion care may have been impacted, yet research on this topic is limited.

Objective: To examine changes in national support for and personal interest in advance provision (AP) and over-the-counter (OTC) access to medication abortion.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Two nationally representative cross-sectional online surveys were administered to a market research firm's panel members who were assigned female at birth (AFAB) and aged 15 to 49 years from December 2021 to January 2022 (before Dobbs) and June to July 2023 (after Dobbs).

Race and Ethnicity and Diffusion of Telemedicine in Medicaid for Schizophrenia Care After Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: Delivery of mental health care through telehealth (telemental health care) increased after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the speed of adoption (diffusion) of telemental health in the care in the care of individuals with schizophrenia.

Objectives: To characterize telemental health care diffusion in mental health agencies serving Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia and the beneficiary-level association of telemental health care use with race and ethnicity.

Geriatrics-Focused vs Traditional Primary Care in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

Importance: Older adults often require specialized health care expertise, but the effects of geriatrics-focused models of primary care have not been fully evaluated.

Objective: To compare the effects of geriatrics-focused primary care vs traditional primary care for older patients in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this cohort study, geriatrics-focused primary care and traditional primary care patient dyads matched on variables associated with geriatrics-focused primary care entry and outcomes were enrolled from VA medical centers with operational geriatrics-focused primary care clinics serving 500 or more patients annually in fiscal year 2016.

Cost-Effectiveness of Noninvasive Colorectal Cancer Screening in Community Clinics.

Importance: Several noninvasive tests for colorectal cancer screening are available, but their effectiveness in settings with low adherence to screening and follow-up colonoscopy is not well documented.

Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of and outcomes associated with noninvasive colorectal cancer screening strategies, including new blood-based tests, in a population with low adherence to screening and ongoing surveillance colonoscopy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The validated microsimulation model used for the decision analytical modeling study projected screening outcomes from 2025 to 2124 for a simulated cohort of 10 million individuals aged 50 years in 2025 and representative of a predominantly Hispanic or Latino patient population served by a Federally Qualified Health Center in Southern California.

Influence of Practitioner Dashboard Feedback on Anesthetic Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Prospective Performance Improvement Investigation.

Anesthetic gases contribute to global warming. We described a two-year performance improvement project to examine the association of individualized provider dashboard feedback of anesthetic gas carbon dioxide equivalent (CDE) production and median perioperative fresh gas flows (FGF) during general anesthetics during perioperative management. Using a custom structured query language (SQL) query, hourly CDE for each anesthetic gas and median FGF were determined.

An exosome-based liquid biopsy predicts depth of response and survival outcomes to cetuximab and panitumumab in metastatic colorectal cancer: The EXONERATE Study.

PURPOSE EXONERATE (EXOsome and cell-free micro-RNAs of anti-EGFR ResistAnce) was an open-label, biomarker interventional study designed to develop, test, and validate a liquid biopsy predictive of progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and objective response rate (ORR) for first-line EGFR inhibitors in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with newly diagnosed RAS-WT, chemotherapy-naïve mCRC, both right- and left-sided, were enrolled in 2-nationwide trials to receive cetuximab or panitumumab along with chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was 12-month PFS, which was hierarchically tested in left- and right-sided mCRC to predict PFS, OS, and ORR.

Skin cancer treatment environment and survivorship resources among sexual and gender minority patients: results of the OUT National Cancer Survey.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) cancer survivors face unmet care needs in accessing cancer health information and social support despite high satisfaction with treatment. SGM patients often delay care due to concerns of discrimination in healthcare settings, though the care experiences of SGM skin cancer survivors are less known. SGM individuals, particularly sexual minority men, report higher skin cancer prevalence and related risk behaviors than heterosexual men.

PSMA+ Extracellular Vesicles are a Biomarker for SABR in Oligorecurrent Prostate Cancer Analysis from the STOMP-like and ORIOLE trial cohorts.

Purpose: Two randomized clinical trials (STOMP and ORIOLE) demonstrated that stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) can prolong ADT-free survival or progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with metachronous oligometastatic prostate cancer (omCSPC) patients. While most omCSPC patients have a more modest delay in progression, a small subset achieves a durable response following SABR. We investigated the prognostic and predictive value of circulating PSMA-positive extracellular vesicles (PSMA+EV) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) in a biomarker correlative study using blood samples from three independent patient cohorts.