Cancer caregivers are primarily motivated by love and sense of duty.

Cancer is a debilitating disease for which patients often need caretakers to help them live their lives and complete basic activities. This study aims to characterize the burden of the caretaker. A 14-question survey was sent out to randomly selected United States cancer caretakers to analyze the social, emotional, and physical burden of their caretaking. The results show that a majority of caretakers are direct family to the patient (69.5%). The patients' cancers are often in early stages with about 54.5% having stage 1 cancer and 22.5% having stage 2 cancer while only 8.5% had stage 3 cancer and 17.8% had stage 4 cancer. When asked about their motivation, caretakers most often do it because of love (58.82%) with family responsibilities/duty being the second highest reason (35.56%). When asked about their biggest burden, many caretakers said that grief was the biggest issue (30.50%) with mental health issues also being troublesome (28%). 75.6% of respondents said that being a cancer caretaker has negatively impacted their mental health from either anxiety (37.29%), depression (33.9%), or other conditions (4.41%). When asked about the negative impacts of being a caregiver, 43.5% stated they faced high financial costs to give care, and 35% stated they met a lack of social support or lost friends. In comparison, 33% stated they had negative physical impacts. The number of participants who face overwhelming or high stress nearly quintupled from baseline, from 13% to 59.5%. This cross-sectional survey of US adults demonstrates that there are clear negative impacts on cancer caregivers on their physical, financial, social, and mental health. These data underscore the importance of taking care of patients' caregivers.

Quantifying Physical Thrombus Characteristics on Cardiovascular Biomaterials Using MicroCT.

Hemocompatibility is a critical consideration when designing cardiovascular devices. Methods of assessing hemocompatibility range from in vitro protein adsorption and static platelet attachment to in vivo implantation. A standard preclinical assessment of biomaterial hemocompatibility is ex vivo quantification of thrombosis in a chronic arteriovenous shunt. This technique utilizes flowing blood and quantifies platelet accumulation and fibrin deposition. However, the physical parameters of the thrombus have remained unknown. This study presents the development of a novel method to quantify the 3D physical properties of the thrombus on different biomaterials: expanded polytetrafluoroethylene and a preclinical hydrogel, poly(vinyl alcohol). Tubes of 4-5 mm inner diameter were exposed to non-anticoagulated blood flow for 1 hour and fixed. Due to differences in biomaterial water absorption properties, unique methods, requiring either the thrombus or the lumen to be radiopaque, were developed to quantify average thrombus volume within a graft. The samples were imaged using X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT). The methodologies were strongly and significantly correlated to caliper-measured graft dimensions (R2 = 0.994, p < 0.0001). The physical characteristics of the thrombi were well correlated to platelet and fibrin deposition. MicroCT scanning and advanced image analyses were successfully applied to quantitatively measure 3D physical parameters of thrombi on cardiovascular biomaterials under flow.

Self curing and voltage activated catechol adhesives.

Catechol adhesives are limited to two-part curing designs. For the first time, a one-pot catechol adhesive is demonstrated with multiple modes of external activation: self-curing, electrocuring, substrate, and two-part curing. Lap shear adhesion (50 kPa) and viscoelastic properties demonstrate that electrocuring is non-inferior to two-part curing methods.

Limb Perfusion During Exercise Assessed by Contrast Ultrasound Varies According to Symptom Severity in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease.

BACKGROUND: In patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), the severity of symptoms correlates poorly with ankle-brachial index (ABI). The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that limb perfusion assessed using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEU) during contractile exercise varies according to functional class in patients with PAD, particularly those with ABIs in the 0.4 to 0.6 range whose symptoms vary widely. METHODS: Bilateral quantitative CEU perfusion imaging of the calf was performed in normal control subjects (n = 10) and patients with PAD who had at least one limb with a moderately reduced ABI (0.4-0.6; n = 17). Imaging was performed at rest and immediately after 30 sec of modest periodic (0.3-Hz) plantar flexion (10 W). RESULTS: In patients with PAD, Rutherford symptom classification for each limb varied widely, including in limbs with ABIs of 0.4 to 0.6 (n = 6 with mild or no symptoms, n = 14 with moderate to severe symptoms). CEU perfusion imaging parameters at rest were similar between control subjects and patients with PAD irrespective of ABI. In normal control subjects, limb flow increased on average by > 20-fold after only 30 sec of moderate exercise. In patients with PAD, muscle exercise perfusion for all limbs was reduced compared with control subjects and decreased according to the severity of ABI reduction, primarily from reduced microvascular flux rate. Even limbs with ABIs > 0.9 in patients with PAD had lower exercise perfusion than in control subjects (P = .03). In subjects with PAD, exercise perfusion was lower in those with moderate to severe versus mild symptoms when analyzed for all limbs (median, 30 IU/sec [interquartile range (IQR), 21-52 IU/sec] vs 84 IU/sec [IQR, 36-177 IU/sec]; P = .01) and limbs with ABIs of 0.4 to 0.6 (median, 26 IU/sec [IQR, 14-41 IU/sec] vs 54 IU/sec [IQR, 31-105 IU/sec]; P = .05). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with PAD, CEU exercise perfusion imaging detects differences in limb muscle perfusion that are likely to be responsible for differences in symptom severity and can detect the flow abnormalities from microvascular dysfunction even in limbs with normal ABIs.