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Introduction: Accelerating smoking cessation, particularly among young adults, is a national priority for decreasing tobacco-related disease. Healthcare providers play a critical role in delivering tobacco treatment interventions to this population. This study examined associations of demographic and tobacco use characteristics with young adults’ self-reported past-year clinical encounters to identify opportunities to facilitate cessation. Methods: We conducted cross-sectional, secondary analyses on a sample of 831 young adults aged 18–34 participating in the first wave of the National Young Adult Health Survey (NYAHS 2018–2019). Demographic and tobacco use characteristics were participants’ sex, age, race, current cigarette use, and current other tobacco use. Clinical encounter outcomes were past-year self-report of (1) seeing a clinician, (2) being asked about tobacco use, and among those currently smoking, (3) being advised to quit smoking. Results: After adjustment for covariates, women (vs. men) had 2.16 times greater odds of reporting seeing a clinician, while Non-White (vs. White) young adults and those currently (vs. never) smoking had 69% and 47% lower odds. Women and those currently smoking had 2.98 and 2.66 times greater odds, respectively, of being asked about tobacco use. Among those who currently smoked, being not confident (vs. confident) about quitting smoking was associated with 69% lower odds of being advised to quit; those who reported moderate (vs. low) nicotine dependence had 3.11 times higher odds of being advised to quit. Conclusions: Sex, racial, and smoking status differences in young adults’ clinical encounter outcomes suggest multiple opportunities for future smoking prevention and cessation intervention efforts.

Family and internal medicine physicians play an important role in cancer screening, yet there are limited data on their beliefs regarding effectiveness of screening tests, which may affect physicians’ likelihood to recommend such tests. The study purpose was to assess current beliefs among family medicine and internal medicine physicians regarding effectiveness of various types of cancer screening. A national sample of 582 physicians from the American Medical Association’s Physician Masterfile were surveyed. Participants were asked about their perceived effectiveness of screening for colon, lung, breast, prostate, and cervical cancer among average, healthy individuals. Chi-square tests were conducted to assess relationships between perceiving screening tests to be ‘very effective in reducing cancer-related mortality’ and demographic characteristics. A substantial majority of physicians perceived colonoscopy (83.8%) and Pap smear (82.9%) to be very effective. Perceiving low-dose computed tomography (LDCT), Pap smear, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as ‘very effective’ differed by gender, with females less likely to endorse LDCT and Pap smear but more likely to endorse PSA. Perceiving PSA as ‘very effective’ differed by age and graduation year, with younger or more recently graduated physicians being less likely to perceive PSA as ‘very effective’. Non-Hispanic Black/African-American physicians were more likely to perceive mammography as ‘very effective’ than other groups. Physicians’ perceived effectiveness about cancer screening tests varies widely and may influence their recommendations or usage of these tests. Understanding physicians’ beliefs can help in improving uptake of evidence-based screening tests by providers and patients to promote early detection and successful treatment.

The depletion of CO molecules is observed in infrared dark clouds. However, only few exsamples are found in pc-scale. An NH3 emission is one of good counter parts of C18O because of similar effective critical density. Our NH3 observations of a molecular filament associated with CMa OB1 or KAG 71, which is a target of Kagoshima Galactic Object survey with Nobeyama 45-m telescope by Mapping in Ammonia lines (KAGONMA) project. Although NH3 data shows similarity in morphology with infrared data suggesting no depletion, C18O in the clumps 4 and 6 are weaker than expected based on NH3 data. After examining the dissipation of the high-density gas, photodissociation, and depletion, we concluded that CO is depleted at least in the clump 4. It is a new example of depletion in pc-scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease. It is not curable and treatment revolves around controlling the symptoms. The most preferable approach is medicating with levodopa drug. One of the major concerns in treating with this drug is its conversion to dopamine within the gut and 1%−10% of dopamine becomes available to the brain, thus compromising the effectiveness of the treatment. Other dominant concerns are γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) collapse and serotonergic dysfunction that leads to secondary symptoms. To counter-balance its appalling repercussions reversal of gut bacterial dysbiosis, gut modulation by supportive bacteria is the new uproar, uncovering potent applications. In this study, gut bacteria were focused on having the ability to overcome the drug interference possibility. Samples were collected from PD patients, prone to PD, and healthy individuals for isolation of gut bacteria and were screened for criteria like tyrosine decarboxylase, GABA, short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and serotonin production. Thin layer chromatography (TLC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and spectrophotometric analysis were used to test bacteria for the production of GABA and serotonin. A total of 855 isolates were screened and 23 isolates were further evaluated for their probiotic properties. Out of which 6 isolates namely HFS 2.1 TM, HFS 10.2 TM, FS 9.2 SA, HFS 6.2 NA, HFS 11.1 TM, and HFS 11.1 PDA were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing and were screened positive to be prospective psychobiotic agents that could be employed as adjuvant therapy for PD.

To what extent do Americans racially discriminate against doctors? While a large literature shows that racial biases pervade the American healthcare system, there has been no systematic examination of these biases in terms of who patients select for medical treatment. We examine this question in the context of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, where a wealth of qualitative evidence suggests that discrimination against some historically marginalized communities, particularly Asians, has increased throughout the United States. Conducting a well-powered conjoint experiment with a national sample of 1,498 Americans, we find that respondents do not, on average, discriminate against Asian or doctors from other systematically minoritized groups. We also find no consistent evidence of treatment effect heterogeneity; Americans of all types appear not to care about the racial identity of their doctor, at least in our study. This finding has important implications for the potential limits of American prejudice.

Introduction: FNA is a well‐established method for the preoperative diagnosis of thyroid nodules, but limitations still reside among non‐diagnostic and indeterminate samples. The objective of the present study was to assess the impact of repeat FNA in thyroid nodules primarily classified as non‐diagnostic and indeterminate, with the evaluation of the diagnostic resolution rate after the reassessment of the nodule. Methods: We retrospectively collected all cases of thyroid FNA at our institution in the last 5 years that had one or more repeat aspirations of the same nodule, calculating the percentage of samples with change in the diagnostic category. Additional collected data included sex, age and interval between the repeat aspirations. Results: One hundred and seventy‐eight specimens from 167 patients (140 female, 27 male) with a median age of 56 years (range 11‐90) were included in the study. Among the 86 cases primarily classified as non‐diagnostic, 25 (29.1%) remained in the same category after the first reassessment and only 18 (20.9%) after the second repeat aspiration. Among the 40 indeterminate cases, only 10 (25%) retained their status after the second aspiration, with no change after the third assessment. Conclusion: Repeat aspiration of non‐diagnostic and indeterminate thyroid nodules had a positive impact in both groups, with diagnostic resolution rates of 80% and 75%, respectively. The present study therefore endorses the use of such strategy for the initial follow‐up of nodules with no definite diagnosis, especially in low‐resource centres with limited access to modern molecular technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The change in QT interval with age during childhood of normal children and children with long QT syndrome (LQTS) and the effects of body mass index on the QT interval have not been studied in detail. The prevalence of LQTS in children is not well known. We measured 3 consecutive QT and RR intervals in 4,655 children. Their electrocardiograms along with their height and weight were recorded when they were in the first grade in 1994 and again when they were in the seventh grade in 2000. The QT interval was corrected by Bazett's formula. The longer corrected QT intervals in female subjects than male subjects start at elementary school age, earlier than previously reported. Overweight did not have an impact on the uncorrected or corrected QT interval. None of the 4 children diagnosed with LQTS in the seventh grade had characteristic electrocardiographic findings of LQTS in the first grade. All 4 are nonfamilial cases. The prevalence of LQTS in children was found to be 1 of 1,164. These data suggest that abnormal electrocardiographic phenotypes in children with nonfamilial LQTS may appear during the elementary school year. The longer QT intervals in female subjects than male subjects start at the same period. No correlation was found between obesity and length of the QT interval. Finally, the prevalence of LQTS in children is greater than previously suspected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the relation between heart rate and the QT interval using face immersion in cold water in children with long QT syndrome (LQTS) without a family history of this condition, and in control children. The face immersion test revealed that all children with high probability of LQTS had a significantly longer QT interval than control children during face immersion, and that the test could induce T-wave alternans or a notched T-wave in all children with a high probability of LQTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]