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Background: Social determinants of health (SDoH) contribute to up to 80% of an individual's health, underscoring its importance in medical education. Research has shown that community exposure and engagement during undergraduate medical education increases the likelihood of students working in underserved areas in the future. Given the limited research on the feasibility and educational effects of SDoH experiences implemented at the early stages of medical education, this study presents a unique perspective on an interactive learning opportunity during the preclinical curriculum. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the educational impact of an immersive social determinants of health learning intervention for first-year medical students., Methods: First year medical students visited one of five underserved neighborhoods in Pittsburgh during Orientation Week. Students received materials about neighborhoods and community engagement etiquette prior to their visit. Visits spanned four hours with two groups of approximately 15 students for each neighborhood, led by at least one faculty member and two student facilitators. Students visited two to four community organizations in each neighborhood and participated in a debrief session. Students completed a feedback survey, and results were analyzed with Chi-square Test of Independence (p < 0.05)., Results: The survey response rate was 58.2%. Students ranked the intervention as "Excellent" (77%), "Above Average" (14%), and "Good" (7%). When asked to rate the comfortability of helping patients obtain community resources on a scale of 1-5, 64.3% of students rated 4 or above. Similarly, 91.6% of students rated 4 or above when asked about knowledge of available resources in their neighborhood. The major learning outcomes from students were richness of community resources/history (35.7%), food insecurity (26.2%), and dissipation of previous stigma (23.8%). There was a significant association between growing up in Pittsburgh and self-rating of comfortableness with helping patients obtain community resources (p = 0.02). Students who completed pre-visit materials were more likely to rate the materials (p < 0.01) and debrief session as helpful (p < 0.01)., Conclusions: Prior exposure to and information about communities was found to enhance the neighborhood learning experience. This initiative demonstrates the benefit of early engagement with community resources and neighborhood-based health disparities in undergraduate medical education., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethics approval and informed consent to participate was waived by the University of Pittsburgh IRB as study does not constitute as human subjects research according to federal guidelines. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Clinical trial number: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).) more...

Importance: Postoperative urinary retention (POUR) is common after reconstructive pelvic surgery. Little is known about the relationship between older age (≥70 years) and POUR after pelvic organ prolapse surgery., Objectives: We aimed to investigate the relationship between age ≥70 years and POUR. Secondarily, we aimed to determine if duration of urinary catheterization differed by age in women with POUR., Study Design: This was a secondary analysis of a dual-center retrospective study on perioperative adverse events in biologic females aged ≥61 years undergoing prolapse surgery. The primary outcome was POUR, defined as a failed retrograde voiding trial requiring bladder catheterization. The secondary outcome was duration of temporary bladder catheterization. We developed a stepwise multivariable logistic regression model, which included relevant variables with P < 0.10 on univariate analyses and a forced age variable., Results: In this cohort of 2,665 women, mean ± standard deviation age was 71.2 ± 6.7 years, and 54.6% were ≥70 years, POUR occurred in 830 (31.1%) patients. Women with POUR had a lower body mass index and were more likely to have undergone a vaginal prolapse surgery and concomitant hysterectomy/incontinence procedure (P < 0.05). They had higher estimated blood loss (75 vs 50 mL, P < 0.001). On multivariable logistic regression, age ≥70 years was not associated with POUR (adjusted odds ratio 1.02, 95% CI [0.83-1.26]). Age ≥70 years was associated with longer duration of catheterization (5 vs 4 days, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Age was not associated with POUR when controlling for other clinical factors (body mass index, surgical approach, concomitant hysterectomy/incontinence surgery, and estimated blood loss). These factors may affect POUR in older women and should be considered in perioperative management., Competing Interests: Disclosures and source of funding: This research was supported by the 2023 Wishwa N. Kapoor Catalyst Fund for Trainees in the Clinical and Translational Sciences. M.F. Ackenbom is supported by NIH National Institute on Aging (K23AG073517-01). The authors have no conflicts of interest to report., (Copyright © 2025 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.) more...

Introduction: Depression is one of the most common yet underdiagnosed perinatal complications and our understanding of its pathophysiology remains limited. Though perinatal depression is considered to have a multifactorial etiology, integrative approaches to investigation are minimal. This review takes an integrative approach to systematically evaluate determinants (e.g., biological, behavioral, environmental, social) and interactions among determinants of perinatal depression and the quality of methods applied., Methods: Four databases (i.e., PubMed, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, Web of Science) were systematically searched to identify studies examining determinants of perinatal depression in adult perinatal persons (≥ 18 years). Articles were excluded if the outcomes were not focused on perinatal persons and depression or depression symptoms, depression was examined in a specific subpopulation evidenced to have psychological consequences due to situational stressors (e.g., fetal/infant loss, neonatal intensive care unit admission), or was considered grey literature. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme and AXIS tools were used to guide and standardize quality appraisal assessments and determine the level of risk of bias., Results: Of the 454 articles identified, 25 articles were included for final review. A total of 14 categories of determinants were investigated: biological (5), behavioral (4), social and environmental (5). Though only 32% of studies simultaneously considered determinants under more than one domain, a pattern of interactions with the tryptophan pathway emerged. Concerns for risk of bias were noted or were unclear for three types of bias: 13 (52%) selection bias, 3 (12%) recall bias, and 24 (96%) measurement bias., Conclusions: Future research is needed to explore interactions among determinants and the tryptophan pathway; to strengthen the methods applied to this area of inquiry; and to generate evidence for best practices in reporting, selecting, and applying methods for measuring determinants and perinatal depression., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Longoria et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.) more...

Introduction: Depression is one of the most common yet underdiagnosed perinatal complications and our understanding of the pathophysiology remains limited. Though perinatal depression is considered to have a multifactorial etiology, integrative approaches to investigation are minimal. This review takes an integrative approach to systematically evaluate determinants and potential interactions among determinants of perinatal depression across four domains (i.e., biological, behavioral, environmental, social) and appraise the quality of methods applied., Methods: Four databases (i.e., PubMed, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, and Web of Science) were systematically searched to identify studies examining determinants of perinatal depression in adult perinatal persons (≥ 18 years). Articles were excluded if the outcomes were not focused on perinatal persons and depression or depression symptoms, the evaluation of depression was specific to a discrete facet of the perinatal period with probable psychological consequences (e.g., abortion, fetal/infant loss, adoption), or was considered grey literature. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme and AXIS tools were used to guide and standardize quality appraisal assessments and determine the level of risk of bias., Results: Of the 454 articles identified, 25 articles were included for final review. A total of 14 categories of determinants were investigated: biological (5), behavioral (4), social and environmental (5). Though only 28% of studies simultaneously considered determinants under more than one domain, a pattern of interactions with the tryptophan pathway emerged when determinants across domains were aggregated. Concerns for risk of bias were noted or were unclear for three types of bias: 13 (52%) selection bias, 3 (12%) recall bias, and 24 (96%) measurement bias., Conclusions: Future research is needed to explore interactions among determinants and the tryptophan pathway; to strengthen the methods applied to this area of inquiry; and to generate evidence for best practices in reporting, selecting, and applying methods for measuring determinants and perinatal depression. more...

Introduction: Advancements in DNA extraction and sequencing technologies have been fundamental in deciphering the significance of the microbiome related to human health and pathology. Whole metagenome shotgun sequencing (WMS) is gaining popularity in use compared to its predecessor (i.e., amplicon-based approaches). However, like amplicon-based approaches, WMS is subject to bias from DNA extraction methods that can compromise the integrity of sequencing and subsequent findings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate systematic differences among four commercially available DNA extraction kits frequently used for WMS analysis of the microbiome., Methods: Oral, vaginal, and rectal swabs were collected in replicates of four by a healthcare provider from five participants and randomized to one of four DNA extraction kits. Two extraction blanks and three replicate mock community samples were also extracted using each extraction kit. WMS was completed with NovaSeq 6000 for all samples. Sequencing and microbial communities were analyzed using nonmetric multidimensional scaling and compositional bias analysis., Results: Extraction kits differentially biased the percentage of reads attributed to microbial taxa across samples and body sites. The PowerSoil Pro kit performed best in approximating expected proportions of mock communities. While HostZERO was biased against gram-negative bacteria, the kit outperformed other kits in extracting fungal DNA. In clinical samples, HostZERO yielded a smaller fraction of reads assigned to Homo sapiens across sites and had a higher fraction of reads assigned to bacterial taxa compared to other kits. However, HostZERO appears to bias representation of microbial communities and demonstrated the most dispersion by site, particularly for vaginal and rectal samples., Conclusions: Systematic differences exist among four frequently referenced DNA extraction kits when used for WMS analysis of the human microbiome. Consideration of such differences in study design and data interpretation is imperative to safeguard the integrity of microbiome research and reproducibility of results. more...

The COVID-19 pandemic has made birthing more stressful and isolating, which has raised particular concern for populations of birthing people affected by maternal health inequities. Doulas have been proposed as one means of improving health outcomes by providing emotional, physical, and informational support to patients and their families before, during, or after labor. However, the social and economic conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic have posed new challenges for doula care. We conducted thematic analysis on 25 semi-structured interviews with practicing doulas in the United States to explore changes to doula care during the pandemic. Although doulas have faced many challenges in providing virtual and socially-distanced support during the pandemic, the rising use of telehealth among doulas has revealed new coping strategies and opportunities for virtual communication with the doula community. Our findings indicate that doula experiences during the pandemic can inform future doula care practices, particularly for birthing people of color and low-income birthing people. more...

Purpose: To assess the associations between simple measurements of left atrial (LA) size and image quality of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)., Materials and Methods: Four hundred and nineteen patients who underwent CCTA were retrospectively examined. Image quality was measured by coronary artery attenuation and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the proximal coronary artery (mean values of right coronary artery and left main trunk). LA transverse (LA-TRA) and anterior-posterior (LA-AP) diameter were measured on non-contrast CT images of the chest. The relationships of coronary attenuation and CNR with LA diameters were assessed by Pearson's correlation or Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and multivariate linear regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess the predictive value of LA diameters for image quality., Results: Both coronary artery attenuation value and CNR were independently correlated with LA-AP diameter (r = -0.38, for artery attenuation; r = -0.16, for CNR, both p < 0.001), and LA-TRA diameter (r = -0.2, p < 0.001, for artery attenuation; r = -0.11, p = 0.02, for CNR), respectively. With a cutoff value of 34 mm, the LA-AP diameter had a sensitivity of 85.2%, a specificity of 68.4% and an area under curve (AUC) of 0.77 for prediction of insufficient image quality (coronary artery attenuation less than 326 Hounsfield units)., Conclusion: Coronary artery attenuation and CNR in CCTA decreased with larger LA size., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) more...

The title compound N -(4-meth-oxy-phen-yl)-2-[4-(3-oxo-3-phenyl-prop-1-en-1-yl)phen-oxy]acetamide, C 24 H 21 NO 4 , was prepared from reaction of N -(4-meth-oxy-phen-yl)-2-chloro-acetamide and ( E )-3-(4-hy-droxy-phen-yl)-1-phenyl-prop-2-en-1-one, which was obtained from the reaction of 4-hy-droxy-benzaldehyde and aceto-phenone. The structure of the title compound was determined by IR, 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR and HR-MS spectroscopic data and further characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The asymmetric unit contains four mol-ecules, each displaying an E -configuration of the C=C bond. The dihedral angle between the phenyl rings in each mol-ecule varies between 14.9 (2) and 45.8 (2)°. In the crystal, C-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter-actions link the mol-ecules into chains running along the [001] direction. In addition, C-H⋯π inter-actions further stabilize the crystal packing. A Hirshfeld analysis indicates that the most important contributions to the surface contacts are from H⋯H (43.6%), C⋯H/H⋯C (32.1%) and O⋯H/H⋯O (18.1%) inter-actions., (© Nguyen Tien et al. 2021.) more...

The title compound, C 18 H 16 N 2 O 3 S, was synthesized by reaction of 2-mercapto-3-phenyl-quinazolin-4(3 H )-one with ethyl chloro-acetate. The quinazoline ring forms a dihedral angle of 86.83 (5)° with the phenyl ring. The terminal methyl group is disordered by a rotation of about 60° in a 0.531 (13): 0.469 (13) ratio. In the crystal, C-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter-actions result in the formation of columns running in the [010] direction. Two parallel columns further inter-act by C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The most important contributions to the surface contacts are from H⋯H (48.4%), C⋯H/H⋯C (21.5%) and O⋯H/H⋯O (18.7%) inter-actions, as concluded from a Hirshfeld analysis., (© Nguyen Tien et al. 2020.) more...

Caffeine and other methylxanthines are stimulant molecules found in formulated beverages, including sodas and energy drinks, and in brewed beverages, such as coffee and teas. Previously, we developed a bioassay for caffeine that involves monitoring the growth of a ΔguaB mutant of Escherichia coli defective in de novo guanine biosynthesis. When supplemented with a plasmid expressing the genes for an N -demethylation pathway from Pseudomonas putida CBB5, these bacteria demethylate caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) and other methylxanthines into xanthine, which is then converted into guanine to support cell growth. A major limitation of this bioassay was that it could only measure the total concentration of all methylxanthines in a mixture. Therefore, it could not be used to measure the caffeine content of beverages like teas, which contain substantial quantities of multiple methylxanthines. To overcome this limitation, we created seven new plasmids containing all subsets of the three demethylase genes ( ndmA , ndmB , and ndmC ). We show that strains of ΔguaB E. coli containing each plasmid are able to demethylate specific subsets of methylxanthines and that they can be used to determine the concentrations of individual methylxanthines in complex mixtures containing multiple methylxanthines, including coffee doped with an additional methylxanthine. While validating this assay, we also discovered an unexpected demethylation event at the 1-methyl position when NdmB and NdmC were expressed in the absence of NdmA. The improved cell-based bioassay is inexpensive, is easy to use, and gives results comparable to standard high-performance liquid chromatography methods for measuring methylxanthine concentrations. IMPORTANCE Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) is the dominant neurostimulant found in coffee, teas, sodas, and energy drinks. Measuring the amount of caffeine and other methylxanthines in these beverages is important for quality assurance and safety in food science. Methylxanthines are also used in medicine and as performance-enhancing drugs, two contexts in which accurately determining their concentrations in bodily fluids is important. Liquid chromatography is the standard method for measuring methylxanthine concentrations in a sample, but it requires specialized equipment and expertise. We improved a previous bioassay that links E. coli growth to methylxanthine demethylation so that it can now be used to determine the amounts of individual methylxanthines in complex mixtures or beverages, such as coffee., (Copyright © 2019 American Society for Microbiology.) more...

Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between cardiac functional parameters and image quality in coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)., Material and Methods: Sixty-six patients who underwent both CCTA and echocardiography were included. The coronary artery attenuation values and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were measured in the proximal right coronary arteries (RCA) and left main (LM) trunk. Then, the averages of the mean values derived from RCA and LM were calculated. The cardiac output (CO), left atrial (LA) volume, and early mitral inflow velocity to mitral annular early diastolic velocity ratio (E/e') were measured by echocardiography. The relationship of cardiac parameters with arterial attenuation and CNR were assessed by Pearson's correlation, Spearman's rank correlation and multivariable linear regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, body surface area and heart rate., Results: The coronary artery attenuation value was negatively correlated with CO (r = -0.30, p = 0.01) and LA volume (r = -0.37, p = 0.002). CNR was negatively correlated with LA volume (r = -0.4, p = 0.001) and E/e' (r = -0.27, p = 0.03). These associations remained significant in the multivariable analysis., Conclusion: CO and diastolic function had an impact on image quality of CCTA. Adjusting CCTA protocol may improve image quality in patients with known diastolic dysfunction or reduced cardiac output., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.) more...

The syntheses of nine new 5-iodosalicylic acid-based 1,3,4-oxadiazoline derivatives starting from methyl salicylate are described. These compounds are 2-[4-acetyl-5-methyl-5-(3-nitrophenyl)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-4-iodophenyl acetate (6a), 2-[4-acetyl-5-methyl-5-(4-nitrophenyl)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-4-iodophenyl acetate (6b), 2-(4-acetyl-5-methyl-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)-4-iodophenyl acetate, C 19 H 17 IN 2 O 4 (6c), 2-[4-acetyl-5-(4-fluorophenyl)-5-methyl-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-4-iodophenyl acetate, C 19 H 16 FIN 2 O 4 (6d), 2-[4-acetyl-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-5-methyl-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-4-iodophenyl acetate, C 19 H 16 ClIN 2 O 4 (6e), 2-[4-acetyl-5-(3-bromophenyl)-5-methyl-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-4-iodophenyl acetate (6f), 2-[4-acetyl-5-(4-bromophenyl)-5-methyl-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-4-iodophenyl acetate (6g), 2-[4-acetyl-5-methyl-5-(4-methylphenyl)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-4-iodophenyl acetate (6h) and 2-[5-(4-acetamidophenyl)-4-acetyl-5-methyl-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]-4-iodophenyl acetate (6i). The compounds were characterized by mass, 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR spectroscopies. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies were also carried out for 6c, 6d and 6e. Compounds 6c and 6d are isomorphous, with the 1,3,4-oxadiazoline ring having an envelope conformation, where the disubstituted C atom is the flap. The packing is determined by C-H...O, C-H...π and I...π interactions. For 6e, the 1,3,4-oxadiazoline ring is almost planar. In the packing, Cl...π interactions are observed, while the I atom is not involved in short interactions. Compounds 6d, 6e, 6f and 6h show good inhibiting abilities on the human cancer cell lines KB and Hep-G2, with IC 50 values of 0.9-4.5 µM. more...

In the title compound, C 15 H 14 IN 3 O 2 ·CH 3 OH, two aromatic rings are linked by an N -substituted hydrazide function. The dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 10.53 (8)°. The stereochemistry about the imine function is E . The methanol mol-ecule forms an O-H⋯O hydrogen bond to the hydrazide O atom. In the crystal, chains of mol-ecules running along the c -axis direction are formed by O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. Adjacent chains are linked through N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking inter-actions. The inter-molecular inter-actions in the crystal packing were investigated using Hirshfeld surface analysis, which indicated that the most significant contacts are H⋯H (38.2%), followed by C⋯H/H⋯C (20.6%), O⋯H/H⋯O (11.1%) and I⋯H/H⋯I (9.7%). more...

The title compound, C 9 H 8 N 2 O 2 S 3 , crystallizes with two mol-ecules ( A and B ) in the asymmetric unit. Both have similar conformations (overlay r.m.s. deviation = 0.209 Å) and are linked by an N-H⋯O hydrogen bond. In both mol-ecules, the thio-phene rings show orientational disorder, with occupancy factors of 0.6727 (17) and 0.3273 (17) for mol-ecule A , and 0.7916 (19) and 0.2084 (19) for mol-ecule B . The five-membered rings make an angle of 79.7 (2)° in mol-ecule A and an angle of 66.8 (2)° in mol-ecule B . In the crystal, chains of mol-ecules running along the a -axis direction are linked by N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The inter-action of adjacent chains through N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds leads to two types of ring structures containing four mol-ecules and described by the graph-set motifs R 4 4 (18) and R 4 2 (14). more...