High-Resolution Three-Dimensional Hybrid MRI + Low Dose CT Vocal Tract Modeling: A Cadaveric Pilot Study.

Objectives: MRI based vocal tract models have many applications in voice research and education. These models do not adequately capture bony structures (e.g.

Fee cuts for radiology and low-value imaging.

Based on the belief that fee-for-service reimbursement contributes to the overuse of costly medical procedures, policymakers have sought to cut payments for low-value services. Using a difference-in-differences model and Medicare claims linked with cancer registry records, we evaluate the impact of a large payment reduction for an imaging procedure commonly used in prostate cancer patients. We find that the payment cut did not affect imaging use, even in low-risk patients for whom imaging is not recommended.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Survival Disparities by Health Insurance Coverage Among Patients With Metastatic Cancer.

Importance: The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has been associated with substantial improvement in median survival among individuals with cancer; however, people without health insurance coverage may be unable to afford ICIs due to their high costs.

Objective: To examine the association between the introduction of ICIs and changes in survival disparities by health insurance coverage among people with a new diagnosis of advanced-stage cancer.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study was conducted among individuals who received a new diagnosis at age 18 to 64 years of stage IV melanoma (n = 12 048), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; n = 152 610), or renal cell carcinoma (RCC; n = 18 782) who were identified from the National Cancer Database before and after US Food and Drug Administration approval of ICIs (January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2019, for melanoma and January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019, for other cancers).

Do Must-Access Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) Affect Pain and Physical Impairment Outcomes in Older Adults?

Background: State policies requiring clinicians to review prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) databases have proliferated. Patient advocates warn that such policies may reduce quality of life for some patients.

Objectives: To quantify the relationship between must-access PDMPs and pain and physical impairment outcomes.

Annual PM2.5 exposure and clinical, laboratory, and stroke-risk outcomes in pediatric sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) causes severe morbidity and early mortality, yet it varies phenotypically. Both air pollution and SCD affect the cardiorespiratory, inflammatory, and endothelial systems; however, limited evidence exists on the effect of long-term air pollution exposure in SCD. We hypothesized that annual ambient (outdoor) concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.

Referral Network Increases Physicians' Adoption of Active Surveillance for Localized Prostate Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study Using SEER-Medicare.

Physicians' referral networks influence the information they obtain from peers and how fast they adopt new treatment modality. This study employs a cross-sectional design. We examined how urologists' referral network connections via primary care physicians influence the adoption of active surveillance for localized prostate cancer, using SEER-Medicare data (2001-2015).

Evaluating the long-term benefits of hydroxyurea in pediatric sickle cell anemia.

Hydroxyurea is the primary disease-modifying medication for sickle cell anemia (SCA), but its long-term effects, particularly how these effects change over time, are not well understood. This study aimed to quantify the effects of hydroxyurea on clinical and laboratory outcomes in children with SCA over a prolonged period of use. We conducted a quasi-experimental study using contemporary difference-in-differences and dynamic event study analyses on a longitudinal cohort of 2147 children with SCA (hemoglobin SS or hemoglobin SSβ0, HbSS/HbSβ0) from 2010 to 2021.

Operative Mortality for Male Versus Female Surgeons: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: This systematic review synthesizes published data concerning whether there is a difference in mortality rate for patients operated on by female surgeons compared to patients operated on by male surgeons. Several studies have attempted to compare surgical outcomes, including operative mortality, of male surgeons versus female surgeons. These studies include many different surgical subspecialties and surgery types.

Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of a Home Food Environment Intervention on Healthy Eating.

Introduction: Multiple aspects of the home food environment shape dietary patterns. The purpose of this study was to test a more scalable version of an intervention designed to promote healthy eating by improving home food environments, and to determine its cost-effectiveness.

Methods: Healthy Homes/Healthy Families (HH/HF) is a 3-month program alternating weekly coaching calls and text messages to encourage healthy eating by creating healthier home food environment through 8 healthy actions.

Can a novel set of handgrips on a walking frame increase stability and support users when transferring to/from a chair?

Introduction: One important aspect of walking aid use is transferring safely to the aid from sitting and transferring back to the chair after walking, since these activities have been associated with falls in older adults. Standard frames require their user to push off the chair or ask for help from a carer, which may over time lead to back pain. This study's aim was to assess whether novel handgrips located above the rear feet of a walking frame would facilitate safe transfer as compared to utilizing only the seat cushion or armrests of the chair.

Cisplatin resistance alters ovarian cancer spheroid formation and impacts peritoneal invasion.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is an aggressive and lethal gynaecologic malignancy due to late diagnosis and acquired resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, such as cisplatin. EOC metastasis commonly occurs through the extensive dissemination of multicellular aggregates, formed of cells originally shed from the primary ovarian tumour, within the peritoneal cavity. However, little is known about how cisplatin resistance (CR) alters the biophysical properties of EOC multicellular aggregates and how this impacts metastasis.

A democratized bimodal model of research for soft robotics: Integrating slow and fast science.

A shift toward a democratized, bimodal model of research would allow soft robotics to realize its full potential.

Improving 3D Reconstruction Through RGB-D Sensor Noise Modeling.

High-resolution RGB-D sensors are widely used in computer vision, manufacturing, and robotics. The depth maps from these sensors have inherently high measurement uncertainty that includes both systematic and non-systematic noise. These noisy depth estimates degrade the quality of scans, resulting in less accurate 3D reconstruction, making them unsuitable for some high-precision applications.

Understaffing as a Two-Dimensional Phenomenon: A Cross-Sectional Study of Hospital Nurses' Manpower and Expertise Understaffing.

Aim(s): To examine whether manpower and expertise understaffing are distinct, and whether they relate similarly to nursing stressors, burnout, job satisfaction and intentions to turnover.

Design: A cross-sectional survey of hospital nurses nested within units was used.

Methods: The sample included 402 nurses.

Eligibility for and reach of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, 2018-2021.

Purpose: The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) provides access to timely breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services to women who have low incomes and are uninsured or underinsured. Documenting the number of women eligible and the proportion of eligible women who receive NBCCEDP-funded services is important for identifying opportunities to increase screening and diagnostic services among those who would not otherwise have access.

Methods: Using the Census Bureau's Small Area Health Insurance Estimates data, we estimated the number of women who met the NBCCEDP eligibility criteria based on age, income, and insurance status.

Perspectives on Surgical Leadership: Panel Discussion at the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery.

Leadership is a skill that all surgeons are confronted with in some capacity. Surprisingly, in the US most training programs do not offer a structured program in leadership and there certainly are no metrics used to assess leadership competency. As a response to this, at the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery, a panel of leaders in vascular surgery both national and international along with leadership experts discussed some of the salient issues in this space.

Adipocyte derived exosomes promote cell invasion and challenge paclitaxel efficacy in ovarian cancer.

Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the deadliest gynaecological cancer with high mortality rates driven by the common development of resistance to chemotherapy. EOC frequently invades the omentum, an adipocyte-rich organ of the peritoneum and omental adipocytes have been implicated in promoting disease progression, metastasis and chemoresistance. The signalling mechanisms underpinning EOC omentum tropism have yet to be elucidated.

Medicare-mandated shared decision making for left atrial appendage closure in clinical practice.

Introduction: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) required a shared decision-making (SDM) interaction, with an "independent" physician, before left atrial appendage closure (LAAC). The purpose of this study is to better understand how this requirement is implemented in clinical practice.

Methods: We surveyed LAAC-performing centers.