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Background: Three-dimensional (3-D) printing offers an innovative option to produce clinical simulators because of its low production costs and widespread availability. We aimed to develop a low-cost, 3-D printed knot-tying simulator that overcomes the barriers students face in self-directed skills development., Approach: Medical students completing a procedural residency preparation course (PRPC) completed a pre-survey with Likert scales and multiple choice questions to assess their perceptions of and barriers to self-directed knot-tying practice. Subsequently, a 3-D printed knot-tying simulator, which contains a progression of knot-tying challenges and a designated video curriculum, was designed. After utilising the simulator in a 1-hour, faculty-guided knot-tying session, PRPC students assessed the educational utility and usability of the simulator via a post-survey., Evaluation: The primary barriers students faced in engaging in self-directed knot-tying practice included limited accessibility to simulators and insufficient knowledge of knot-tying techniques. Many students (91.3%, n = 21) agreed that practicing with the simulator improved their knot-tying motor skills and was easy to use (100%, n = 23). Twenty-two (95.7%) students agreed that they would continue to use the simulator beyond the knot-tying session and PRPC., Implications: We demonstrate the educational utility and usability of a novel 3-D printed knot-tying simulator for medical education. Enabling students to engage in self-directed technical skills development is critical in developing surgical skills that can translate to clinical environments. Our simulator highlights the benefits of 3-D printers as an innovative, inexpensive option to improve the availability and accessibility to medical education tools., (© 2024 Association for the Study of Medical Education and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Wearable biosensors (wearables) enable continual, noninvasive physiologic and behavioral monitoring at home for those with pediatric or congenital heart disease. Wearables allow patients to access their personal data and monitor their health. Despite substantial technologic advances in recent years, issues with hardware design, data analysis, and integration into the clinical workflow prevent wearables from reaching their potential in high-risk congenital heart disease populations. This science advisory reviews the use of wearables in patients with congenital heart disease, how to improve these technologies for clinicians and patients, and ethical and regulatory considerations. Challenges related to the use of wearables are common to every clinical setting, but specific topics for consideration in congenital heart disease are highlighted.

Introduction: Clinical simulators are an important resource for medical students seeking to improve their fundamental surgical skills. Three-dimensional (3-D) printing offers an innovative method to create simulators due to its low production costs and reliable printing fidelity. We aimed to validate a 3-D printed knot-tying simulator named Nodo-Tie., Methods: We designed a 3-D printed knot-tying simulator integrated with a series of knot-tying challenges and a designated video curriculum made accessible via a quick-response (QR) code. The Nodo-Tie, which costs less than $1 to print and assemble, was distributed to second-year medical students starting their surgical clerkship. Participants were asked to complete a survey gauging the simulator's usability and educational utility. The time between simulator distribution and survey completion was eight weeks., Results: Students perceived the Nodo-Tie as easy-to-use (4.6 ± 0.8) and agreed it increased both their motor skills (4.5 ± 0.9) and confidence (4.5 ± 0.8) for tying surgical knots in the clinical setting. Many students agreed the Nodo-Tie provided a stable, durable surface for knot-tying practice (83.7%, n  = 41) and that they would continue to use it beyond their participation in the study period (91.7%, n  = 44)., Discussion: Medical students found this interactive, 3-D printed knot-tying simulator to be an effective tool to use for self-directed development of their knot-tying skills. Given the Nodo-Tie's low cost, students were able to keep the Nodo-Tie for use beyond the study period. This increases the opportunity for students to engage in the longitudinal practice necessary to master knot-tying as they progress through their medical education., Key Messages: Clinical simulators provide proactive learners with reliable, stress-free environments to engage in self-directed surgical skills development. The Nodo-Tie, a 3-D printed simulator, serves as a cost-effective, interactive tool for medical students to develop their knot-tying abilities beyond the clinical setting., Competing Interests: Kian Pourak reports independently preparing a provisional patent submission for the Nodo-Tie. All other authors report no related conflicts of interest to declare., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background: Ascites is common in cirrhosis but uncommon after liver transplant. We aimed to characterize the incidence, natural history, and current management strategies of post-transplant ascites., Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent liver transplantation at 2 centers. We included patients who underwent deceased donor whole graft liver transplants between 2002 and 2019. Chart review identified patients with post-transplant ascites, requiring a paracentesis between 1 and 6-month post-transplants. Detailed chart review identified clinical and transplant characteristics, evaluation of ascites etiology, and treatments., Results: Of 1591 patients who successfully underwent a first-time orthotopic liver transplant for chronic liver disease, 101 (6.3%) developed post-transplant ascites. Only 62% of these patients required large volume paracentesis for ascites before transplant. 36% of patients with post-transplant ascites had early allograft dysfunction. Most patients with post-transplant ascites (73%) required a paracentesis within 2 months of transplant, but 27% had delayed ascites onset. From 2002 to 2019, ascites studies were obtained less often, and hepatic vein pressure measurement was performed more often. Diuretics were the mainstay of treatment (58%). The use of albumin infusion and splenic artery embolization to treat post-transplant ascites increased over time. Larger pre-transplant spleen size was associated with a greater number of post-transplant paracenteses (r=0.32 and p=0.003). For patients who underwent splenic intervention, paracentesis frequency was significantly reduced (1.6-0.4 paracenteses/month, p=0.0001). The majority (72%) of patients had clinical resolution of their ascites at 6-month post-transplant., Conclusions: Persistent or recurrent ascites continues to be a clinical issue in the modern era of liver transplantation. Most had clinical resolution within 6 months, some requiring intervention., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

Objective: Morning rounds are a bedrock learning opportunity during clinical rotations in medical school. Specific feedback is critical for students to improve presentation skills and build confidence, however, current feedback mechanisms are fragmented and nonstandard. We aimed to assess whether video-based coaching of morning rounds could improve student feedback and self-awareness without increasing anxiety during patient presentations., Design: Medical students during core clinical clerkships were filmed presenting on morning rounds during their surgery clerkship. A designated faculty coach reviewed the video prior to an in-person coaching session. Students reviewed the video with faculty and were coached on content, presentation style, and presence. A short survey assessed students' pre- and postcoaching confidence, skill, and the utility of the coaching session., Setting: University of Michigan Health System, Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, Ann Arbor, Michigan PARTICIPANTS: Eight medical student volunteers during their core clinical clerkships at University of Michigan Medical School during the surgery clerkship., Results: Comparison of pre- and post self-assessments showed that students underestimated their knowledge of basic and clinical science and overestimated their clinical assessment skills and ability to appropriately address the core components of a presentation. Most students (75%) did not think that the filming process altered their performance and only 25% of students felt increased anxiety due to filming. All students agreed that the feedback session was useful and helped them understand how to improve their oral presentations., Conclusion: This pilot demonstrates the feasibility and value of video-based coaching as an educational tool for medical students on clerkships. A larger sample size is needed to further evaluate the effectiveness of video-based coaching in establishing baseline clinical abilities and identifying potential areas for improvement., (Copyright © 2021 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This case highlights a 37-year-old woman with primary sclerosing cholangitis awaiting liver transplantation who presented with torsion of a wandering spleen with associated gastric and pancreatic volvulus. The patient underwent emergent exploratory laparotomy with splenectomy. She had an uncomplicated postoperative course and recovered well., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Nitrates have been fed to ruminants, including dairy cows, as an electron sink to mitigate CH 4 emissions. In the NO 3 - reduction process, NO 2 accumulation. In the first experiment, a culture of S. cerevisiae strain 1026 was evaluated under 3 growth phases: aerobic, anoxic, or transition to anoxic culture. Each phase was evaluated with a control or 1 of 3 isonitrogenous doses, including NO - can accumulate, which could directly inhibit methanogens and some bacteria. However, little information is available on eukaryotic microbes in the rumen. Protozoa were hypothesized to enhance nitrate reductase but also have more circling swimming behavior, and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was hypothesized to lessen NO 2 - accumulation. In the first experiment, a culture of S. cerevisiae strain 1026 was evaluated under 3 growth phases: aerobic, anoxic, or transition to anoxic culture. Each phase was evaluated with a control or 1 of 3 isonitrogenous doses, including NO 3 - , NO 2 - , or NH 4 + replacing peptone in the medium. Gas head phase, NO 3 - , or NH 4 + did not influence culture growth, but increasing NO 2 - concentration increasingly inhibited yeast growth. In experiment 2, rumen fluid was harvested and incubated for 3 h in 2 concentrations of NO 3 - , NO 2 - , or sodium nitroprusside before assessing chemotaxis of protozoa toward glucose or peptides. Increasing NO 2 - concentration decreased chemotaxis by isotrichids toward glucose or peptides and decreased chemotaxis by entodiniomorphids but only toward peptides. Live yeast culture was inhibited dose-responsively by NO 2 - and does not seem to be a viable mechanism to prevent NO 2 - accumulation in the rumen, whereas a role for protozoal nitrate reductase and NO 2 - influencing signal transduction requires further research., (Copyright © 2019 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Chronic diseases have a major impact on populations and healthcare systems worldwide. Administrative health data are an ideal resource for chronic disease surveillance because they are population-based and routinely collected. For multi-jurisdictional surveillance, a distributed model is advantageous because it does not require individual-level data to be shared across jurisdictional boundaries. Our objective is to describe the process, structure, benefits, and challenges of a distributed model for chronic disease surveillance across all Canadian provinces and territories (P/Ts) using linked administrative data. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) established the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS) in 2009 to facilitate standardized, national estimates of chronic disease prevalence, incidence, and outcomes. The CCDSS primarily relies on linked health insurance registration files, physician billing claims, and hospital discharge abstracts. Standardized case definitions and common analytic protocols are applied to the data for each P/T; aggregate data are shared with PHAC and summarized for reports and open access data initiatives. Advantages of this distributed model include: it uses the rich data resources available in all P/Ts; it supports chronic disease surveillance capacity building in all P/Ts; and changes in surveillance methodology can be easily developed by PHAC and implemented by the P/Ts. However, there are challenges: heterogeneity in administrative databases across jurisdictions and changes in data quality over time threaten the production of standardized disease estimates; a limited set of databases are common to all P/Ts, which hinders potential CCDSS expansion; and there is a need to balance comprehensive reporting with P/T disclosure requirements to protect privacy. The CCDSS distributed model for chronic disease surveillance has been successfully implemented and sustained by PHAC and its P/T partners. Many lessons have been learned about national surveillance involving jurisdictions that are heterogeneous with respect to healthcare databases, expertise and analytical capacity, population characteristics, and priorities., Competing Interests: Statement on conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.