Evidence of non-response bias in patient reported outcome measurement information system surveys.

Background: Patient-reported outcome measurement instrument surveys (PROMIS) have been increasingly used to assess clinical outcomes following a variety of medical procedures. Despite their value in evaluating patient functional status, response rates to these surveys remain low. Understanding differences in demographics between responders and non-responders to PROMIS may be beneficial to improving generalizability and response rates.

Evaluating the effectiveness of interlaminar epidural steroid injections for cervical radiculopathy using PROMIS as an outcome measure.

Background: Cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injections (CIESI) are frequently used to treat cervical radiculopathy due to cervical nerve root impingement.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of CIESI for patients with cervical radiculopathy.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of consecutive adult patients with cervical radicular pain and corroborative cervical spondylotic foraminal stenosis on MRI that failed at least 6 weeks of conservative management consisting of medication and physical rehabilitation seen at a multidisciplinary, tertiary academic spine center.

Multiregion Light Control in Diffusive Media via Wavefront Shaping.

Wavefront shaping allows focusing light through or inside strongly scattering media, but the background intensity also increases which reduces the target's contrast. By combining transmission or deposition matrices for different regions, we construct joint operators to achieve spatially resolved control of light in diffusive systems. The eigenmode of a contrast operator can maximize the power contrast between a target and its surrounding.

Comparison of Pain With Ultrasound-Guided Intra-Articular Hip Injections With and Without Prior Subcutaneous Local Anesthesia.

Objective: To compare pain levels of intra-articular hip steroid injections performed with and without prior subcutaneous local anesthesia (LA) injection.

Design: Randomized prospective study.

Setting: University-based musculoskeletal clinic.

Single-mode regenerative amplification in multimode fiber.

The peak power performance of ultrafast fiber lasers scales with fiber mode area, but large fibers host multiple modes that are difficult to control. We demonstrate a technique for single-mode operation of highly multimode fiber based on regenerative amplification. This results in a short-pulse fiber source with, to our knowledge, an unprecedented combination of features: high gain (>55 dB) with negligible amplified spontaneous emission, high pulse energy (>50 μJ), good beam quality ( ≤ 1.

Understanding barriers and enablers to participation in a proposed online lifestyle intervention for older adults with age-related macular degeneration to guide programme implementation.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a blinding condition associated with depression, loneliness and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours which drives AMD progression. We have proposed the first online lifestyle intervention for AMD, called Movement, Interaction and Nutrition for Greater Lifestyles in the Elderly (MINGLE) to promote positive lifestyle changes and reduce loneliness. This qualitative grounded-theory study explored enablers and barriers to future participation in MINGLE for older adults with AMD.

Tailoring 3D Speckle Statistics.

We experimentally generate three-dimensional speckles with customized intensity statistics. By appropriately modulating the phase front of a laser beam, the far-field speckles can maintain a desired intensity probability density function upon axial propagation: while evolving into different spatial patterns. We also demonstrate how to design speckle patterns that obtain distinct tailored intensity statistics on multiple designated axial planes.

Coherent enhancement of optical remission in diffusive media.

Remitted waves are used for sensing and imaging in diverse diffusive media from the Earth's crust to the human brain. Separating the source and detector increases the penetration depth of light, but the signal strength decreases rapidly, leading to a poor signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we show, experimentally and numerically, that wavefront shaping a laser beam incident on a diffusive sample enables an enhancement of remission by an order of magnitude at depths of up to 10 transport mean free paths.

Sum rules for energy deposition eigenchannels in scattering systems.

In a random-scattering system, the deposition matrix maps the incident wavefront onto the internal field distribution across a target volume. The corresponding eigenchannels have been used to enhance the wave energy delivered to the target. Here, we find the sum rules for the eigenvalues and eigenchannels of the deposition matrix in any system geometry: including two- and three-dimensional scattering systems, as well as narrow waveguides and wide slabs.

Development, implementation and evaluation of the online Movement, Interaction and Nutrition for Greater Lifestyles in the Elderly (MINGLE) program: The protocol for a pilot trial.

Introduction: People with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are more likely to experience loneliness, have poorer diets and be less physically active than people without AMD. The online Movement, Interaction and Nutrition for Greater Lifestyles in the Elderly (MINGLE) program is a holistic evidence-based intervention aiming to support people with AMD by incorporating physical activity, social interaction and nutrition education components all delivered via a COVID-19-safe Zoom platform. This study will involve two phases: 1) a formative qualitative study with AMD patients to identify the barriers and facilitators to participating in the proposed MINGLE program; and 2) a 10-week pilot study to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of MINGLE.

Diabetes SPECIAL (Students Providing Education on Chronic Illness and Lifestyle): a novel preclinical medical student elective.

Background: Traditional medical student curricula limit substantial clinical experiences until the third and fourth years of medical school. This delay in valuable experiences hinders the ability of some medical students to choose a specialty to pursue, delays the formation of meaningful longitudinal mentorship relationships, and limits the development of important clinical acumen. Furthermore, the use of medical students in preclinical years may help to improve patient care and outcomes.

Fluctuations and Correlations of Transmission Eigenchannels in Diffusive Media.

Selective excitation of a diffusive system's transmission eigenchannels enables manipulation of its internal energy distribution. The fluctuations and correlations of the eigenchannel's spatial profiles, however, remain unexplored so far. Here we show that the depth profiles of high-transmission eigenchannels exhibit low realization-to-realization fluctuations.

Introducing non-local correlations into laser speckles.

Laser speckles have become a fundamental component of the modern optics-research toolbox. Not only are speckle patterns the basis of numerous imaging techniques, but also, they are employed to generate optical potentials for cold atoms and colloidal particles. The ability to manipulate a speckle pattern's spatial intensity correlations, particularly long-range (non-local) ones, is essential in numerous applications.

Engineering wavefront caustics trajectories in PT-symmetric lattices.

We utilize caustic theory in PT-symmetric lattices to design focusing and curved beam dynamics. We show that the gain and loss parameter in these systems provides an additional degree of freedom that allows for the design of the same caustics trajectories with different intensity distribution in the individual waveguides. Moreover we can create aberration-free focal points at any paraxial distance z(f), with anomalously large focal intensity.