Association of Sleep Characteristics with Tinnitus and Hearing Loss.

Objective: The impact of poor sleep on tinnitus has been mainly attributed to central processes. There is an association between sleep disorders and hearing loss, but whether hearing levels mediate the association between sleep disorders and tinnitus is unknown. This study investigates the association between sleep characteristics, tinnitus, and hearing loss.

Association Between Pharmacy Proximity With Cardiovascular Medication Use and Risk Factor Control in the United States.

Background: Poor neighborhood-level access to health care, including community pharmacies, contributes to cardiovascular disparities in the United States. The authors quantified the association between pharmacy proximity, antihypertensive and statin use, and blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) among a large, diverse US cohort.

Methods And Results: A cross-sectional analysis of Black and White participants in the REGARDS (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) study during 2013 to 2016 was conducted.

A Comparison of Otolaryngology Residency Applicants Over Time and to Other Surgical Applicants.

Objective: Understand how otolaryngology residency applicant characteristics have changed over time and compare them to those of other surgical subspecialties.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of academic, extracurricular, and application data in the Texas Seeking Transparency in Application to Residency databases.

Setting: Applicants to otolaryngology, neurological surgery, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, urology, and orthopedic surgery applicants from 2019 to 2023.

Technical optimization of spatially resolved single-cell transcriptomic datasets to study clinical liver disease.

Single cell and spatially resolved 'omic' techniques have enabled deep characterization of clinical pathologies that remain poorly understood, providing unprecedented insights into molecular mechanisms of disease. However, transcriptomic platforms are costly, limiting sample size, which increases the possibility of pre-analytical variables such as tissue processing and storage procedures impacting RNA quality and downstream analyses. Furthermore, spatial transcriptomics have not yet reached single cell resolution, leading to the development of multiple deconvolution methods to predict individual cell types within each transcriptome 'spot' on tissue sections.

Partners in vaccination: A community-based intervention to promote COVID-19 vaccination among low-income homebound and disabled adults.

Background: Care managers (CM) for low-income disabled clients may address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy with specific training.

Objective: To assess the Partners in Vaccination (PIV) that trained CMs of a homecare program for disabled adults to promote COVID-19 vaccination.

Methods: We randomized 78 CMs to PIV intervention (N = 38) or control (N = 40).

Sorafenib plus memory like natural killer cell combination therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Sorafenib, FDA-approved therapy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), leads to limited improvement in overall survival. However, it may indirectly impact the expansion and activity of natural killer (NK) cells. While NK cell-based immunotherapies generally exhibit favorable safety profiles, their effectiveness in controlling solid tumor growth is constrained, primarily due to the absence of antigen specificity and suboptimal expansion and persistence within the tumor microenvironment.

Associations of daily weight management-focused social support with weight loss, activity behaviors, and eating regulation in the context of metabolic and bariatric surgery.

Objective: Greater perceived social support (PSS) is associated with more favorable changes in weight loss, activity behaviors, and eating regulation after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). However, studies have relied on generic, retrospective PSS measures, and stability of PSS levels and relations with weight loss and weight-related behaviors over time is unknown. Using smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment, this study evaluated pre-to 1-year post-MBS changes in daily weight management-focused PSS and associations with weight loss, device-measured activity behaviors, and eating regulation before and during the initial year after MBS.

Long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's physical activity and sedentary behavior.

Background: During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, decreases in physical activity (PA) and increases in sedentary behavior (SB) were reported among children in the United States (U.S.).

Evaluation of the quality of thyroidectomy-related posts on a video-based social media platform.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of thyroidectomy-related posts on TikTok, the fastest-growing social media platform worldwide.

Methods: Videos posted from April 2020 to September 2022 were queried on TikTok using the search terms "thyroidsurgery," "thyroidectomy," and "thyroidremoval." Two reviewers recorded thematic, demographic, and performance data of these posts.

The phenomenon of "dead" metal in heterogeneous catalysis: opportunities for increasing the efficiency of carbon-supported metal catalysts.

This review addresses the largely overlooked yet critical issue of "dead" metal in heterogeneous metal catalysts. "Dead" metal refers to the fraction of metal in a catalyst that remains inaccessible to reactants, significantly reducing the overall catalyst performance. As a representative example considered in detail here, this challenge is particularly relevant for carbon-supported metal catalysts, extensively employed in research and industrial settings.

Effects of informant replacement in Alzheimer's disease clinical trials.

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) trials require enrollment with an informant.

Methods: We assessed relationships between informant replacement and Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL) scores across four AD trials. Using generalized estimating equations, we examined associations between replacement and change in ADCS-ADL between successive visits.

Abundance of Oligoflexales bacteria is associated with algal symbiont density, independent of thermal stress in anemones.

Many multicellular organisms, such as humans, plants, and invertebrates, depend on symbioses with microbes for metabolic cooperation and exchange. Reef-building corals, an ecologically important order of invertebrates, are particularly vulnerable to environmental stress in part because of their nutritive symbiosis with dinoflagellate algae, and yet also benefit from these and other microbial associations. While coral microbiomes remain difficult to study because of their complexity, the anemone is emerging as a simplified model.

Determinants of retirement of formal and informal sector workers in Mexico: the role of health and economic security.

Objective: We examine the socioeconomic and health drivers of retirement decisions and compare these determinants between formal and informal sector workers in Mexico.

Materials And Methods: Using data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study 2012 and 2015, we estimate conditional probit models of retirement using sociodemographic, health, health care utilization, health insurance, private pensions, and social security systems covariates. The Institutional Review Board at the University of Southern California reviewed and approved the research (IRB # UP-15-00023).

Solving the health disparity of eczema assessment: A role for skin tape soluble protein?

Background: The assessment of erythema in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) is based on clinical examination. The difficulty of perceiving erythema in Black patients with AD has led to underestimation of AD severity in these patients.

Objective: In this study, we analyzed the concentration of skin tape soluble protein of AD lesions against common AD clinical signs.

Imaging Biomarkers and Prevalence of Complex Aortic Plaque in Cryptogenic Stroke: A Systematic Review.

Background: Complex aortic plaque (CAP) is a potential embolic source in patients with cryptogenic stroke (CS). We review CAP imaging criteria for transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), computed tomography angiography (CTA), and magnetic resonance imaging and calculate CAP prevalence in patients with acute CS.

Methods And Results: PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched up to December 2022 in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline.

An Exploratory Analysis of the Chronic Rhinosinusitis Online Support Community.

Objective: To characterize the users of the largest chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) online support communities (OSCs), describe the perceived benefits of OSCs for their users, and understand how patient medical decision making is affected by membership in OSCs.

Study Design: Cross-sectional online survey.

Setting: Online.

Head and Neck Cancer Online Support Groups: Disparities in Participation and Impact on Patients.

Objective: To characterize the users of the head and neck cancer (HNC) online support group (OSG) and describe the perceived benefits of membership.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Online.

Planned Oocyte Cryopreservation: A Review of Current Evidence on Outcomes, Safety and Risks.

Although oocyte cryopreservation was initially used as a fertility preservation strategy for medical indications, it is now is increasingly used to circumvent age-related infertility. Outcomes following planned oocyte vitrification, also known as elective egg freezing, are limited. Current studies show higher success rates for individuals undergoing fertility preservation treatment under age 35.