Two-Dimensional Materials for Brain-Inspired Computing Hardware.

Recent breakthroughs in brain-inspired computing promise to address a wide range of problems from security to healthcare. However, the current strategy of implementing artificial intelligence algorithms using conventional silicon hardware is leading to unsustainable energy consumption. Neuromorphic hardware based on electronic devices mimicking biological systems is emerging as a low-energy alternative, although further progress requires materials that can mimic biological function while maintaining scalability and speed.

Scrolled Poly(L-lactic acid) Single Crystals via Chain End-Induced Symmetry-Breaking.

Single crystals that do not obey translational symmetry have been reported in various material systems. In polymers, twisted crystals are typically formed in banded spherulites, while a class of non-flat polymer single crystals (PSCs) has been observed. Herein, we report the formation of scrolled single crystals of biodegradable polymer poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA).

Recombinant vs Egg-Based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccination for Nursing Home Residents: A Cluster Randomized Trial.

Importance: Influenza vaccination remains the most important intervention to prevent influenza morbidity and mortality among nursing home residents. The additional effectiveness of recombinant influenza vaccine vs standard dose vaccines was demonstrated in outpatient older adults but has not been evaluated in nursing home populations.

Objective: To compare hospitalization rates among residents in nursing homes immunized with a recombinant vs a standard dose egg-based influenza vaccine.

Parent-Targeted Oral Health Text Messaging for Underserved Children Attending Pediatric Clinics: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Caries is the most common chronic childhood disease, with substantial health disparities.

Objective: To test whether parent-targeted oral health text (OHT) messages outperform child wellness text (CWT) messages on pediatric caries increment and oral health behaviors among underserved children attending pediatric well-child visits.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The parallel randomized clinical trial, Interactive Parent-Targeted Text Messaging in Pediatric Clinics to Reduce Caries Among Urban Children (iSmile), included participants who were recruited during pediatric medical clinic visits at 4 sites in Boston, Massachusetts, that serve low-income and racially and ethnically diverse (herein, underserved) populations.

Cardiovascular Disease and Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis.

Importance: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer are the leading causes of mortality in the US. Large-scale population-based and mechanistic studies support a direct effect of CVD on accelerated tumor growth and spread, specifically in breast cancer.

Objective: To assess whether individuals presenting with advanced breast cancers are more likely to have prevalent CVD compared with those with early-stage breast cancers at the time of diagnosis.

Validating Rules for Defining No Improvement of Visual Acuity in Childhood Amblyopia.

Purpose: When treating amblyopia, it is important to define when visual acuity (VA) is no longer improving (i.e., stable) because treatment decisions may be altered based on this determination.

How community connection, homophobia, and racism shape gene expression in sexual minority men with and without HIV.

Objective: Although sexual minority men experience substantial discrimination, in addition to increased risk for several serious mental and somatic health problems, the biological mechanisms underlying these effects are unclear. To address this issue, we examined how experiences of social safety (i.e.

CARLIN: A Mouse Line for Simultaneous Readout of Lineage Histories and Gene Expression.

The CRISPR-activated repair lineage tracing (CARLIN) mouse line uses DNA barcoding to enable high-resolution tracing of cell lineages in vivo (Bowling et al, Cell 181, 1410-1422.e27, 2020). CARLIN mice contain expressed barcodes that allow simultaneous interrogation of lineage and gene expression information from single cells.

Cerebellar Transcranial AC Stimulation Produces a Frequency-Dependent Bimodal Cerebellar Output Pattern.

Cerebellar transcranial alternating current stimulation (ctACS) has the potential to be an appealing, non-invasive treatment option for psychiatric and neurological disorders. However, realization of this potential has been limited by gaps in our knowledge of how ctACS affects cerebellar output on single cell and population levels. Previously, we showed that AC stimulation applied to the cerebellar surface produced a strong, frequency-dependent modulation of Purkinje cell (PC) and cerebellar nuclear (CN) cell activity.

Programmable Food-Derived Peptide Coassembly Strategies for Boosting Targeted Colitis Therapy by Enhancing Oral Bioavailability and Restoring Gut Microenvironment Homeostasis.

Orally targeting nanostrategies of multiple nutraceuticals have attracted increasing attention in ulcerative colitis (UC) therapy for superior patient compliance, cost-effectiveness, and biocompatibility. However, the actual targeting delivery and bioefficacy of nutraceuticals are extremely restricted by their poor solubility, interior gastrointestinal retention, and base permeability. Herein, we developed controllable colon-targeting nanoparticles (NPs) composed of a quaternary ammonium chitosan (HTCC) shell and succinic acid-modified γ-cyclodextrin (SACD) core for precise UC treatment.

Activity Space Mapping and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Uptake Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Sexual Minority Men in Small Cities and Towns in the United States.

In the US, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minoritized men (GBSMM) remain disproportionately impacted by HIV, and continue to experience unmet needs for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). A growing body of literature has underscored the need to consider the geographic factors of HIV prevention, particularly beyond administrative boundaries and towards localized spaces that influence the accessibility and utilization of health-promoting resources. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the associations of driving times from activity spaces to PrEP offering facilities and individual PrEP uptake.

Local tissue response to a C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 therapy for fecal incontinence in a rabbit model.

This study aimed to determine if local injection of CXCL12 reduces sphincter fibrosis, restores sphincter muscle content, vascularization, and innervation, and recruits progenitor cells in a rabbit model of anal sphincter injury and incontinence. Adult female rabbits were assigned to 3 groups: uninjured/no treatment (control), injured/treated (treated), and injured/no treatment (untreated) (n=4 each). Injured groups were anesthetized and a section of external anal sphincter was removed at the 9:00 o'clock position.

Management Principles of Civilian Ballistic Orthopaedic Trauma.

Gun-related violence is becoming increasingly more common in the United States, and ballistic injuries pose a challenge to the orthopaedic surgeon on trauma call. The guiding principles of trauma care are almost exclusively based on blunt trauma, and the management principles do not always translate. Ballistic long bone fractures, particularly of the lower extremity, can often be managed with similar principles, although the injury pattern can make restoration of anatomic alignment a challenge.

Reducing Opioid Use in Orthopaedic Surgery.

The opioid crisis has been an issue in the United States since the mid-1990s, claiming numerous lives and presenting a significant challenge to health care clinicians. Various preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative strategies aimed at reducing opioid consumption can be used by orthopaedic surgeons to help minimize this crisis. Preoperative screening tools can help identify patients at risk for prolonged opioid use, allowing for tailored interventions and counseling.

Psychometric evaluation of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale in pregnant women.

Purpose: Although many women experience obsessive-compulsive symptoms during the perinatal period, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) has not yet been psychometrically evaluated in this population. This study examined the internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and factor structure of the YBOCS among pregnant women.

Methods: 256 Women who were 20 to 24 weeks pregnant completed the clinician-administered YBOCS and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) along with a series of self-report questionnaires including the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS) and Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R).

Characteristics of accountable care organizations' preferred skilled nursing facility networks.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and characteristics of preferred skilled nursing facility (SNF) networks established by Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Study Design: Cross-sectional analysis of a 2019 Medicare ACO survey.

Methods: We analyzed surveys from 138 Medicare ACOs to assess preferred SNF network prevalence, characteristics, and challenges.

Impact of delayed adoption of novel atrial fibrillation treatments.

Objective: To examine the relationship between adoption of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and health and cost outcomes for patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

Study Design: Real-world cohort study.

Methods: US adults who newly initiated treatment for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were identified from claims data.

Disconnects between provider network directories and patient preferences.

Objectives: The question of what providers one has access to under their insurance coverage is crucial for patients in managed care. This study sought to examine information displayed in online provider directories and whether this information matched consumer preferences.

Study Design: A national survey (N = 4007) paired with an analysis of online provider network directories.

Out-of-pocket spending for cardiac rehabilitation and adherence among US adults.

Objectives: Although cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves cardiovascular outcomes, adherence remains low. Higher patient-incurred out-of-pocket (OOP) spending may be a barrier to CR adherence. We evaluated the association between OOP spending for the first CR session and adherence.

The health care price crisis needs policy solutions.

This commentary, part of the Price Crisis campaign, calls for state and federal policy interventions that are needed to rebalance the market to enhance competition and provide value in health care.

Compulsive exercise and disordered eating in college men: Body shame as a mediator for appearance pressures, a mixed methods study.

The present mixed-method study aims to understand the association between sociocultural pressures, disordered eating, and compulsive exercise in men, with body shame as a mediator. We surveyed 263 U.S.

Provider capacity during Medicaid expansion and a public health emergency.

Objectives: To assess the capacity of Medicaid providers to take on new patients during a time of unprecedented growth in program enrollment due to Medicaid expansion and the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Study Design: We conducted a survey of Medicaid providers in Missouri in 2023 about their patient load and capacity to accept new patients.

Methods: We recruited 141 Missouri Medicaid providers through probability sampling and 109 additional providers through convenience sampling for a total sample size of 250, representing 0.

Uptake of rituximab biosimilars in Medicare and Medicaid in 2019-2022.

Objectives: This study evaluated the uptake and costs of 3 biosimilars among Medicare and Medicaid populations for 2019 to 2022: rituximab-abbs (Truxima), rituximab-pvvr (Ruxience), and rituximab-arrx (Riabni).

Study Design: A retrospective, descriptive study.

Methods: Using the annually aggregated, product-level utilization and cost data of biologic and biosimilar rituximab products from CMS drug spending data, total claims and costs (reimbursement and out of pocket) for all rituximab products were identified and extracted from Medicare Part B, Medicare Part D, and Medicaid.

Cost-effectiveness of a multicancer early detection test in the US.

Objectives: Multicancer early detection (MCED) testing could result in earlier cancer diagnosis, thereby improving survival and reducing treatment costs. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of MCED testing plus usual care (UC) screening while accounting for the impact of clinical uncertainty and population heterogeneity for an MCED test with broad coverage of solid cancer incidence.

Study Design: Cost-effectiveness analysis of MCED testing plus UC vs UC alone in an adult population in the US.

A standardized care pathway increases optimal dialysis starts.

Objective:  To determine whether an intensive value-based care educational program that includes a standardized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) transition pathway would improve the number of optimal starts within Kidney Contracting Entities (KCEs).

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods:  We recorded optimal starts, defined as the initiation of dialysis without a central venous catheter, and the initial modality type (hemodialysis vs peritoneal dialysis [PD]) in adult Medicare patients in a Comprehensive Kidney Care Contracting program.