Publications by authors named "Jeffrey Yang"

Hydroclimatic impacts affect natural organic matter (NOM) in surface water, the precursor of disinfection by-products (DBPs) including four regulated trihalomethanes (THM). Treatment adaptation analysis on the impact is hindered by a lack of mechanistic models that quantify competitive reactions of chlorine, bromine, and other oxyanions with NOMs in disinfection of treated waters. Here we propose a THM model using competitive reaction kinetics and analyzed THM formation of treated waters at the Miller water plant in Cincinnati, USA during a flash flood in the Ohio River.

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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. While surgery and liver transplantation are curative treatments for HCC, many tumors are unresectable due to co-morbidities or advanced stage. Ethanol ablation is an established alternative ablative therapy for HCC that is typically paired with ultrasound imaging to visualize tumors and enable precise ethanol delivery.

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Objective: Few studies have evaluated postoperative recovery of patients after thoracic surgery using patient-reported outcome measures. This multi-institutional study analyzed postoperative pain and opioid use among patients undergoing thoracic surgery based on patient-reported outcome measures data collected through an electronic symptom management system.

Methods: The electronic symptom management system is a multi-symptom questionnaire based on a Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events that is integrated into the electronic health record and administered via the patient portal.

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Introduction: As the United States population ages more octogenarians are undergoing surgical resection for lung cancer. We aimed to provide an updated and expanded assessment of age-related risks associated with surgical resections for early-stage NSCLC.

Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results and Medicare databases were queried for stage IA NSCLC cases treated by surgery between 2006 and 2018.

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Climate change brings intense hurricanes and storm surges to the US Atlantic coast. These disruptive meteorological events, combined with sea level rise (SLR), inundate coastal areas and adversely impact infrastructure and environmental assets. Thus, storm surge projection and associated risk quantification are needed in coastal adaptation planning and emergency management.

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Background: This study sought to evaluate the proportion of patients with lung cancer who would have qualified for lung cancer screening under different eligibility criteria in the Boston Lung Cancer Study (BLCS).

Methods: BLCS participants with a diagnosis of lung cancer from 1992 to 2024 were identified for analysis. The study evaluated the proportion of patients who would have qualified for screening under the 2021 US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) (age 50-80 years, ≥20-pack-years, <15 quit-years), 20-year duration (age 50-80 years, ≥20-year smoking duration, <15 quit-years), American Cancer Society (age 50-80 years, ≥20-pack-years), National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) category A (age ≥50 years, ≥20-pack-years), and NCCN category AB (age ≥50 years, ≥20-pack-years or ≥20-year smoking duration) guidelines.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluated the use of continuous video-electroencephalography (cEEG) to detect seizures in infants and children in a cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU), emphasizing symptoms and risk factors that led to cEEG evaluations.
  • Among 605 cEEGs performed over 38 months, seizures were found in 9% of cases, with a significantly higher detection rate (30%) when both vital sign and non-vital sign symptoms were present, while isolated vital sign changes did not yield any seizures.
  • The results indicated that certain symptoms (like gaze deviation and abnormal limb movements) and risk factors (like preexisting epilepsy and recent neuroscience surgeries) were linked to a higher likelihood of seizure detection, highlighting
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Background: Varying rates of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) have been reported early after transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) with the Harmony valve, but data regarding rhythm outcomes beyond hospital discharge are limited. This study aims to characterize ventricular arrhythmias after Harmony TPVR from implant through mid-term follow-up.

Methods: Ventricular arrhythmia data from postimplant telemetry and follow-up extended rhythm monitoring (ERM) were analyzed after Harmony TPVR.

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  • The study investigates the link between antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) through a systematic review and meta-analysis.
  • Out of 454 studies reviewed, 9 were included, showing that SLE patients with positive aPL, especially lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin IgG, are more likely to experience DAH.
  • Additionally, having antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) increases the risk of DAH significantly compared to patients without APS.
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While surgical resection is a mainstay of cancer treatment, many tumors are unresectable due to stage, location, or comorbidities. Ablative therapies, which cause local destruction of tumors, are effective alternatives to surgical excision in several settings. Ethanol ablation is one such ablative treatment modality in which ethanol is directly injected into tumor nodules.

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  • The study examines survival outcomes for patients with early-stage primary mediastinal germ cell tumors, comparing surgery and chemotherapy treatment options.
  • Among seminomas, no significant survival difference was found between patients receiving chemotherapy alone and those undergoing surgery; however, for non-seminomatous tumors, surgery showed improved 5-year survival rates.
  • The findings suggest that for non-seminomatous germ cell tumors, a combination of surgery and other treatments leads to better survival compared to chemotherapy alone, while seminomas can achieve similar outcomes with chemotherapy alone.
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Cystinuria is a rare genetic disorder characterized by defective l-cystine reabsorption from the renal proximal tubule, resulting in abnormally high concentrations of L-cystine and subsequent l-cystine crystallization and stone formation in urine. l-Cystine diamides have shown great promise as inhibitors of l-cystine crystallization. The free α-amino groups in l-cystine diamides have previously been shown to be necessary for l-cystine crystallization inhibitory activity.

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Objective: We aimed to characterize presentation and care pathways of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and delays in access to SLE-specialized care.

Methods: We included patients with incident SLE from the Lupus Midwest Network registry. Time from the first medical encounter for SLE clinical manifestation to access to SLE-specialized care, physician diagnosis, and treatment was estimated.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to assess the feasibility and safety of performing salvage lung surgery after immunotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, focusing on those with limited oligo-progression.
  • - Researchers analyzed data from the National Cancer Database, finding that out of over 934,000 diagnosed patients, only 164 underwent surgery after immunotherapy, predominantly lobectomies, with a high success rate for complete resections and good post-operative outcomes.
  • - Results indicated a median hospital stay of 4 days, a low 30-day readmission rate of 5%, and a minimal 30-day mortality rate of 0.6%, suggesting that salvage surgery after immunotherapy is both feasible and safe.
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Objective: To assess whether conditional bedside alarm triggers can reduce the frequency of nonactionable alarms without compromising patient safety and enhance nursing and family satisfaction.

Study Design: Single-center, quality improvement initiative in an acute care cardiac unit and pediatric intensive care unit. Following the 4-week preintervention baseline period, bedside monitors were programmed with hierarchical time delay and conditional alarm triggers.

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Cystinuria, a rare genetic disorder, is characterized by defective l-cystine reabsorption from the renal proximal tubule, resulting in abnormally high concentrations of l-cystine and subsequent l-cystine crystallization in urine and stone formation in the urinary tract. Inhibition of l-cystine crystallization by l-cystine diamides such as LH708 () represents a promising new approach to prevent stone formation in patients with cystinuria. While shows promising efficacy and a good safety profile in a -knockout mouse model of cystinuria, further structural modification of led to the discovery of 8-l-cystinyl bis(1,8-diazaspiro[4.

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Cardiothoracic surgery, demanding in nature, often results in surgeons suffering from musculoskeletal injuries, causing chronic pain and leading to premature retirement. A significant majority report experiencing pain, exacerbated by minimally invasive techniques such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Despite this, many surgeons delay seeking medical assistance.

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The normal probability density function (PDF) is widely used in parameter estimation in the modeling of dynamic systems, assuming that the random variables are distributed at infinite intervals. However, in practice, these random variables are usually distributed in a finite region confined by the physical process and engineering practice. In this study, we address this issue through the application of truncated normal PDF.

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CDK2 is a critical regulator of the cell cycle. For a variety of human cancers, the dysregulation of CDK2/cyclin E1 can lead to tumor growth and proliferation. Historically, early efforts to develop CDK2 inhibitors with clinical applications proved unsuccessful due to challenges in achieving selectivity over off-target CDK isoforms with associated toxicity.

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Article Synopsis
  • Adrenal hemorrhage (AH) is a serious condition linked to antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS), affecting primarily middle-aged adults, and leading to complications like primary adrenal insufficiency and increased mortality rates.
  • A study analyzed 256 patients with APS-AH, finding that 69% had bilateral adrenal involvement and common symptoms included abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, with hyponatremia as the prevalent electrolyte disorder.
  • The five-year survival rate was 82%, but a history of stroke significantly increased the risk of mortality, highlighting the need for careful monitoring and treatment strategies in affected patients.
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Introduction: An international database was created by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer to inform on the ninth edition of the TNM classification of lung cancer. The present analyses concern its T component.

Methods: Data on 124,581 patients diagnosed with lung cancer from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2019 were submitted to the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer database.

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Objective: Local drug delivery aims to minimize systemic toxicity by preventing off-target effects; however, injection parameters influencing depot formation of injectable gels have yet to be thoroughly studied. We explored the effects of needle characteristics, injection depth, rate, volume, and polymer concentration on gel ethanol distribution in both tissue and phantoms.

Methods: The polymer ethyl cellulose (EC) was added to ethanol to form an injectable gel to ablate cervical precancer and cancer.

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Introduction: Limited consensus exists on the optimal treatment strategy for clinical M1a non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) presenting as a primary tumor with additional intrapulmonary nodules in a contralateral lobe ("M1a-Contra"). This study sought to compare long-term survival of patients with M1a-Contra tumors receiving multimodal therapy with versus without thoracic surgery.

Methods: Overall survival of patients with cT1-4, N0-3, M1a NSCLC with contralateral intrapulmonary nodules who received surgery as part of multimodal therapy ("Thoracic Surgery") versus systemic therapy with or without radiation ("No Thoracic Surgery") in the National Cancer Database from 2010 to 2015 was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox proportional hazards modeling, and propensity score matching.

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