Association of Scholarly Impact to Industrial Contributions Among Academic Interventional Radiologists.

OBJECTIVE: The Physician Sunshine Act of 2010 aimed to increase public awareness of physician-industry relationships. Our objective was to evaluate whether there is an association between scholarly impact and industry funding among academic interventional radiologists. METHODS: A database from a prior study with our group was used in which we had investigated H-indices among US interventional radiologists; academic rank, gender, institution, and geographic location were obtained. The Scopus database was queried to determine all physicians' H-index. The CMS Open Payments database was used to determine industry payments from 2015 to 2021 for each interventional radiologist. RESULTS: H-index and professor rank positively and significantly correlated with industrial funding (H-index coefficient = $6,977, P < .001 and professor rank coefficient = $183,902, P = .003). Industry funding was found to be significantly different between all ranks. Among 830 academic interventional radiologists, the mean industrial funding of male physicians was $130,034, which was significantly higher than female physicians' $28,166 (P = .00013). By academic rank, male primary investigators of associate professor and unranked position had higher industrial funding than female primary investigators (Wilcoxon test, P = .029 and P= .039, respectively). Professor and assistant professor ranks had no significant difference in industrial funding between male and female physicians (Wilcoxon's test, P = .080 and P = .053, respectively). CONCLUSION: Scholarly activity as defined by the H-index and academic rank seem to have a positive association with industry funding of academic interventional radiologists.

Evaluation of h-index in Academic Interventional Radiology.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the association of h-index, a widely used bibliometric factor used to determine promotions and grant allocations, with academic ranking, sex, and geographic distribution in the interventional radiology community. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A database of all academic interventional radiologists in the US was created; academic rank, sex, institution, and geographic location were obtained. The Scopus database was used to determine the physicians' h-index. RESULTS: Our query identified 832 board-certified interventional radiologists. The mean h-index amongst all interventional radiologists was 10.81 ± 13.17 (median, 7; range, 0-167). H-indices were significantly different amongst assistant professors, associate professors, and professors (p < 0.0001). Our query identified 724 male interventional radiologists and 108 female interventional radiologists. The mean h-index amongst male interventional radiologists was 11.27 ± 13.69 (median, 7; range, 0-167) and amongst female interventional radiologists was 7.72 ± 8.33 (median, 5; range, 0-47). When stratified by rank, there was no statistically significant difference in h-index between male and female interventional radiologists. Multiple regression analysis identified sex is not significantly associated with h-index, but academic rank and region are. CONCLUSION: H-index in academic interventional radiology correlates significantly with faculty position and may be a factor in determining academic promotion. The sex-based differences in h-index seem to be due to the greater number of male faculty in senior academic positions who have been in the field for longer.

Comparison of BMI on operative time and complications of robotic inguinal hernia repair at a VA medical center.

BACKGROUND: BMI is a risk factor for recurrence and post-operative complications in both open and laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal approach (TEP) repair. Robotic surgery using the transabdominal preperitoneal approach (TAPP) is a safe and viable option for inguinal hernia repair (IHR). The objective of this study is to determine how difference in BMI influences rate of operative time, complications, and rate of recurrence in a robotic TAPP IHR. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients who underwent robotic inguinal hernia repair between 2012 and 2019 at a Veterans Health Administration facility (N = 304). The operating time, outcomes, and overall morbidity and mortality for robotic IHR were compared between three different BMI Groups. These groups were divided into: "Underweight/Normal Weight" (BMI < 25) n = 102, "Pre-Obese" (BMI 25-29.9) n = 120, and "Obese" (BMI 30 +) n = 82. RESULTS: The average operating time of a bilateral IHR by BMI group was 83.5, 98.4, and 97.8 min for BMIs < 25, 25-29.9, and 30 +, respectively. Operating time was lower in the Underweight/Normal BMI group compared to the Pre-Obese group (p = 0.006) as well as the Obese group (p = 0.001). For unilateral repair, the average operation length by group was 65.2, 70.9, and 85.6 min for BMIs < 25, 25-29.9, and 30 +, respectively, demonstrating an increased time for Obese compared to Underweight/Normal BMI (p = 0.001) and for Obese compared to Pre-Obese (p = 0.01). Demographic/comorbidity variables were not significantly different, except for a higher percentage of white patients in the Underweight/Normal BMI group compared to the Pre-Obese and Obese groups (p = 0.02 and p = 0.0003). There was no significant difference in complications or recurrence. CONCLUSION: BMI has a significant impact on the operating time of both unilateral and bilateral robotic hernia repair. Despite this increased operative time, BMI group did not differ significantly in postoperative outcomes or in recurrence rates.

Regulation of in vivo dynein force production by CDK5 and 14-3-3ε and KIAA0528.

Single-molecule cytoplasmic dynein function is well understood, but there are major gaps in mechanistic understanding of cellular dynein regulation. We reported a mode of dynein regulation, force adaptation, where lipid droplets adapt to opposition to motion by increasing the duration and magnitude of force production, and found LIS1 and NudEL to be essential. Adaptation reflects increasing NudEL-LIS1 utilization; here, we hypothesize that such increasing utilization reflects CDK5-mediated NudEL phosphorylation, which increases the dynein-NudEL interaction, and makes force adaptation possible. We report that CDK5, 14-3-3ε, and CDK5 cofactor KIAA0528 together promote NudEL phosphorylation and are essential for force adaptation. By studying the process in COS-1 cells lacking Tau, we avoid confounding neuronal effects of CDK5 on microtubules. Finally, we extend this in vivo regulatory pathway to lysosomes and mitochondria. Ultimately, we show that dynein force adaptation can control the severity of lysosomal tug-of-wars among other intracellular transport functions involving high force.