Nonlinear beamforming for intracardiac echocardiography: a comparative study.

Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) enables cardiac imaging with a wide field of view, deep imaging depth, and high frame rate during surgery. However, strong sidelobe and grating lobe artifacts created by the ultra-compact transducer degrade its image quality, making diagnosis and monitoring of treatment difficult. Conventionally, aperture apodization algorithms are often used to suppress sidelobe and grating lobe artifacts at the expense of lateral resolution, which is undesirable in ICE. In this study, we present comparative results of the beamforming methods specifically in ICE application. We demonstrate and compare five nonlinear beamforming algorithms in ICE: nonlinear pth root delay and sum (NL-p-DAS), nonlinear pth root spectral magnitude scaling (NL-p-SMS), delay-and-sum with coherence factors (DAS + SCF), delay and sum with apodization (DAS + apodization) and delay and sum (DAS). Phantom and ex-vivo experiment compare the performance of each algorithm in static and dynamic conditions. DAS + SCF shows the best lateral resolution, and all four algorithms improve the image contrast and sidelobe suppression over conventional DAS. NL-p-SMS stands out for the best axial resolution and suppression of grating lobe artifacts. For motion tracking, NL-p-SMS shows better temporal resolution than other methods. Overall, all the beamforming algorithms other than DAS showed improved image quality. Among them, NL-p-SMS, which has a high temporal resolution, showed the potential for providing more accurate information regards movement tracking. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13534-024-00352-9.

X-ray free-electron laser induced acoustic microscopy (XFELAM).

The X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) has remarkably advanced X-ray imaging technology and enabled important scientific achievements. The XFEL's extremely high power, short pulse width, low emittance, and high coherence make possible such diverse imaging techniques as absorption/emission spectroscopy, diffraction imaging, and scattering imaging. Here, we demonstrate a novel XFEL-based imaging modality that uses the X-ray induced acoustic (XA) effect, which we call X-ray free-electron laser induced acoustic microscopy (XFELAM). Initially, we verified the XA effect by detecting XA signals from various materials, then we validated the experimental results with simulation outcomes. Next, in resolution experiments, we successfully imaged a patterned tungsten target with drilled various-sized circles at a spatial resolution of 7.8 ± 5.1 µm, which is the first micron-scale resolution achieved by XA imaging. Our results suggest that the novel XFELAM can expand the usability of XFEL in various areas of fundamental scientific research.

Analysis of cured pork loin ham quality using wet-aging and a pulsed electric field system.

The effects on the quality of loin ham from using wet-aging with a commercial refrigerator (CR) and with a pulsed electric field system refrigerator (PEFR, at 0 and - 1 °C) were compared. The CR sample recorded an increased cooking loss alongside a decrease in color stability and shear force. In contrast, the samples using PEFR observed improved color stability, water holding capacity, and weight loss. In electronic nose analysis, wet-aging samples were shown to be significantly different from raw meat samples, however, the use of PEFR did not significantly affect the flavor. In electronic tongue analysis, wet-aging was observed to increase the umami of the loin ham, whilst the PEFR - 1 °C sample showed the highest umami. In sensory evaluation, the PEFR 0 °C sample showed significantly higher overall acceptability than raw meat. Conclusively, the application of wet-aging with PEFR in the manufacturing of loin ham led to an improvement in quality.

Analysis of Quality after Sous Vide of Pork Loin Wet-Aged using Pulsed Electric Field System.

The effects of wet-aging using a commercial refrigerator (CR, 4°C) and a pulsed electric field refrigerator (PEFR, 0°C and -1°C) on the quality of sous vide pork loin were analyzed. The moisture and fat contents, pH, CIE L*, CIE b*, chroma, and shear force of the wet-aged samples were lower than those of the raw meat samples, whereas the water holding capacity (WHC) was higher. The PEFR group showed higher pH, CIE b*, chroma, and WHC and lower weight loss than the CR samples. Electronic nose analysis indicated that positive flavor compounds were induced whereas negative flavor compounds were inhibited in the PEFR group. Wet-aging increased the sourness, saltiness, and umami of sous vide pork loin; the PEFR 0°C samples showed the highest umami. Sensory evaluation indicated that wet-aging improved the color of sous vide pork loin. The PEFR 0°C samples were rated higher than the raw meat and CR samples for all sensory traits. In conclusion, sous vide after wet-aging using a PEFR improved the quality of pork loin.

Improving Health and Addressing Social Determinants of Health Through Hospital Partnerships.

Hospitals and health systems are forming partnerships to develop an integrated social network of services that better address the needs of their surrounding communities and their social determinants of health (SDOH). There is little research on the association of these partnered services with hospital outcomes. This study examined the association between hospital social need partnerships and activities to improve hospital and community outcomes. A secondary cross-sectional design to analyze 2021 census data of nonfederal short-term acute care hospitals in the United States was utilized. Data were obtained from the American Hospital Association. Four multilevel logistic regression models were used to analyze data from 1005 hospitals. The authors found that hospital partnership type differed in association to social need outcomes. They found that hospitals with a partnership with health insurance providers were more likely to have better health outcomes. Hospitals partnered with health insurance providers, local organizations addressing housing insecurity, local businesses, or chambers of commerce were more likely to have decreased health care costs. Hospitals partnered with health care providers, health insurance providers, local organizations providing legal assistance, or law enforcement/safety forces were more likely to have decreased utilization of hospital services. However, hospitals partnered with other local or state government or social service organizations were less likely to indicate decreased utilization of services. Many hospitals and health systems across the United States are screening for SDOH and are advancing health care delivery and improving the community's overall health and well-being by identifying unmet social needs and partnering with the community to address them.

Physicochemical property analysis of lyophilized fresh, wet-, and dry-aged beef powders: Application of dry-aged beef crust as a food additive.

Herein, the physicochemical properties of various lyophilized beef powders were investigated. The samples consisted of fresh, wet-aged, and dry-aged beef and crust derived from dry-aged beef. The wet-aging sample had higher fat content and water absorption and emulsifying capacities than the fresh and dry-aging samples (P < 0.05). The dry-aged sample had higher protein and ash contents, lightness, redness, and yellowness than the wet-aging and crust samples (P < 0.05). The crust samples had higher water and fat contents, salinity, emulsifying capacity, and emulsifying stability index than the fresh and dry-aging samples (P < 0.05). The swelling yields of the samples at pH 3 and 4 were significantly higher than that at pH 7 (P < 0.05). Therefore, various lyophilized beef powders exhibit diverse physicochemical properties; In particular, the dry-aged beef crust was able to verify that some physical properties showed superior properties compared to other samples.

What Determinants Affect Inpatient Satisfaction in a Post-Acute Care Rehabilitation Hospital?

OBJECTIVE: To examine how specific hospital service domains (personal issues domain, discharge domain, rehabilitation doctor domain, nursing domain, physical therapist domain, occupational therapist domain, and food domain) influence final patient satisfaction scores, the overall quality of care, and willingness to recommend the hospital to others among patients in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING: Patient-level data from electronic medical records were joined with Press Ganey (www.pressganey.com) satisfaction data for a single post-acute care inpatient rehabilitation facility in northeast Florida. PARTICIPANTS: Patients who participated in the inpatient rehabilitation survey (N=4,785). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Main outcome measures included final patient satisfaction scores, overall rating of care during the stay, and willingness to recommend the hospital to others. RESULTS: This study found the personal issues domain to be the most important factor in determining the final patient satisfaction score, overall rating of care, and likelihood to recommend the hospital to others, followed by the physical therapist, nurse, discharge, and food domains (P<.0001). Within the personal issues domain score, staff promptness and explanation upon arrival were areas identified as opportunities to make improvements that would result in the greatest positive effect. CONCLUSIONS: This work represents novel findings by investigating the major determinants of positive patient experience in a rehabilitation hospital setting. These findings provide actionable information to improve patient experience as well as where to focus improvement efforts using limited resources.

Hexa-BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene based nanoparticle for NIR fluorescence/photoacoustic dual-modal imaging and photothermal cancer therapy.

Theranostic, which integrates the diagnosis and tumor treatment in tandem, is an emerging strategy in cancer treatment. Here, we report a novel and unique theranostic nanoparticle, HBCP NP, based on hexa-BODIPY cyclophosphazene (HBCP). Due to the unique bulky molecular structure of HBCP, this nanoparticle can simultaneously perform near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging and photoacoustic imaging (PAI). Interestingly, since reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation of HBCP NPs is completely inhibited, 'safe' fluorescence imaging is possible without the risk of cell damage even under laser irradiation. Finally, NIR fluorescence imaging and PAI in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice demonstrated selective accumulation of HBCP NPs at tumor sites. In addition, HBCP NPs exhibited excellent photothermal effects under high-power laser irradiation, achieving effective tumor growth inhibition.

Effect of lyophilized chive (Allium wakegi Araki) supplementation to the frying batter mixture on quality attributes of fried chicken breast and tenderloin.

Batter mixtures for frying chicken breasts and tenderloins were supplemented with different amounts (0, 3, 5, and 7%) of lyophilized chives (Allium wakegi Araki). The viscosity of the batter mixture, crispness of the fried batter, fat and ash contents, caloric value, coating pickup, and frying yield were directly proportional, whereas the lightness, redness, yellowness, and pH were inversely proportional, to the amount of lyophilized chives in the batter. Principal component analysis revealed that the aromatic profiles varied between the 0%, 3%, and 5% lyophilized chive-supplemented groups in both the breast and tenderloin samples. However, the aromatic profiles of the 7% and 5% lyophilized chive-supplemented samples were similar. The taste profile of the 7% lyophilized chive-supplemented sample was different from those of the 0%, 3%, or 5% lyophilized chive-supplemented samples. The sensory characteristics of the 5% lyophilized chive-supplemented breast samples and 3% or 5% lyophilized chive-supplemented tenderloin samples received the best scores by sensory panelists.

Listening to drug delivery and responses via photoacoustic imaging.

Administrating pharmaceutic agents efficiently to achieve the therapeutic effect is the aim of all drug delivery techniques. Recent drug delivery systems aim to deliver high doses of drugs to disease sites accurately while maximizing therapeutic effects and minimizing potential side effects. Key approaches apply image guidance techniques for the quantification of drug biodistribution and pharmacokinetic parameters during drug delivery. This review highlights recent research on image-guided drug delivery systems based on photoacoustic imaging, which has been attracting attention for its non-invasiveness, non-ionizing radiation, and real-time imaging functions. Photoacoustic imaging based on the photothermal conversion efficiency of agents can be easily combined with various phototherapeutics, making them highly suitable for drug delivery therapy platforms. Here, we summarize and compare the characteristics of various types of photoacoustic imaging systems, focus on contrast-enhanced photoacoustic imaging and controlled release of therapeutics in drug delivery systems for synergistic therapies.

Factors Impacting Patients' Willingness to Recommend: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

Patient ratings of inpatient stay have been the focus of prior research since better patient satisfaction results in a financial benefit to hospitals and are associated with better patient health care outcomes. However, studies that simultaneously account for within- and between-hospital effects are uncommon. We constructed a multilevel structural equation model to identify predictors of patients' willingness to recommend a hospital at both within-hospital and between-hospital levels. We used data from 60 U.S. general medical and surgical hospitals and 12,115 patients. Multilevel structural equation modeling reported that patient ratings on the overall quality of care significantly affect the willingness to recommend within hospitals. Also, patients' perspectives on the hospital environment and nursing are the significant factors that predict the patient ratings on the overall quality of care. Overall patient satisfaction significantly predicts the willingness to recommend at the between-hospital level, whereas hospital size and location have marginal impacts.

Telehealth and hospital performance: Does it matter?

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies indicated that telehealth services may improve hospital performance. However, the extent to which these telehealth provisions would improve hospital total performance score under the hospital value-based purchasing (HVBP) programme is not clear. The aim of this study is to examine the association between telehealth provision and hospital performance. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of the association between the provision of telehealth services and 2699 hospital's total performance score (TPS) on the 2018 HVBP programme and its four domains. Multivariate regression models were used to analyse TPS and hospital performance on each domain. Telehealth services offered by a hospital was categorically operationalized as hospitals with no telehealth services, with one to two telehealth services, and with three or more telehealth services. RESULTS: Hospitals with one to two telehealth services have TPS (ß coefficient = 1.50; 95% confident intervals (CI): 0.28, 2.73; p < 0.05) and hospitals with three or more telehealth services have higher efficiency and cost reduction (ß = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.32, 1.87; p < 0.01) domain scores. However, the impact of telehealth on clinical care, person and community engagement, and safety domain scores was not significant. DISCUSSION: The expansion of hospital telehealth service provision can improve not only the efficiency of care, but also the total performance of the hospital. Since total performance is directly associated with hospital payments from the government, these findings have significant practice and policy implications. In addition, the effect of telehealth on other quality measures such as clinical care and safety needs further investigation.

Examining the Relationship Between Hospital-Community Partnerships and COVID-19 Case-Fatality Rates.

Abtract During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across the United States were tasked to develop partnerships with other hospitals and community organizations to overcome the unexpected challenges. The aim of this study is to examine COVID-19 case-fatality rates and explore their relationship with hospital-community partnerships. This study employed a cross-sectional design using a multilevel generalized linear model with a Poisson regression distribution and publicly available COVID-19 mortality data from February to October 2020 across 2526 hospital service areas (HSAs). HSAs with a greater number of partnerships were found to have a reduced risk of higher case-fatality rates than those with fewer health system partnerships. The findings indicated the need for greater cooperation between individual health care systems, state and local governments, and community programs for better outcomes in the ongoing and evolving COVID-19 pandemic, and to be better prepared for future pandemics or large-scale public health crises. This study provides the necessary insights for policy makers, hospital administrators, and public health leaders to understand the critical importance of community partnerships and their influence on reducing the COVID-19 case-fatality rate, as well as their potential effects on improving the health of vulnerable populations as a means to achieve the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's goal of achieving health equity. This research illustrates the need for further inquiries into the importance of these health care partnerships for positive health care outcomes.

In situ x-ray-induced acoustic computed tomography with a contrast agent: a proof of concept.

X-ray-induced acoustic computed tomography (XACT) has shown great potential as a hybrid imaging modality for real-time non-invasive x-ray dosimetry and low-dose three-dimensional (3D) imaging. While promising, one drawback of the XACT system is the underlying low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), limiting its in vivo clinical use. In this Letter, we propose the first use of a conventional x-ray computed tomography contrast agent, Gastrografin, for improving the SNR of in situ XACT imaging. We obtained 3D volumetric XACT images of a mouse's stomach with orally injected Gastrografin establishing the proposal's feasibility. Thus, we believe, in the future, our proposed technique will allow in vivo imaging and expand or complement conventional x-ray modalities, such as radiotherapy and accelerators.

Repurposing Eltrombopag for Multidrug Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections.

The continuous rise of antimicrobial resistance urgently demands new therapeutic agents for human health. Drug repurposing is an attractive strategy that could significantly save time delivering new antibiotics to clinics. We screened 182 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs to identify potential antibiotic candidates against Staphylococcus aureus, a major pathogenic bacterium. This screening revealed the significant antibacterial activity of three small molecule drugs against S. aureus: (1) LDK378 (Ceritinib), an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor for the treatment of lung cancer, (2) dronedarone HCl, an antiarrhythmic drug for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, and (3) eltrombopag, a thrombopoietin receptor agonist for the treatment of thrombocytopenia. Among these, eltrombopag showed the highest potency against not only a drug-sensitive S. aureus strain but also 55 clinical isolates including 35 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (Minimum inhibitory concentration, MIC, to inhibit 50% growth [MIC50] = 1.4-3.2 mg/L). Furthermore, we showed that eltrombopag inhibited bacterial growth in a cell infection model and reduced bacterial loads in infected mice, demonstrating its potential as a new antibiotic agent against S. aureus that can overcome current antibiotic resistance.

Erratum: "New contrast agents for photoacoustic imaging and theranostics: Recent 5-year overview on phthalocyanine/naphthalocyanine-based nanoparticles" [APL Bioeng. 5, 031510 (2021)].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1063/5.0047660.].

The Financial Burden of Opioid-Related Abuse among Surgical and Non-Surgical Patients in Florida: A Longitudinal Study.

Florida is one of the eight states labeled as a high-burden opioid abuse state and is an epicenter for opioid use and misuse. The aim of our study was to measure multi-year total room charges and costs billed for opioid abuse-related events and to compare the costs of inpatient opioid abusers and non-opioid abusers for Florida hospitals from 2011 to 2017. We constructed a retrospective case-control longitudinal study design on inpatient administrative discharge data across 173 hospitals. Opioid abuse was defined using both ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM systems. We found a statistically significant association between opioid abuse diagnosis and total room charge. On average, opioid abuse status increased the room charges by 8.1%. We also noticed year-to-year variations in opioid abuse had a remarkable influence on hospital finances. We showed that since 2015, the differences significantly increased from 4-5% to 13-14% for both room charges and cost, which indicates the financial burden due to opioid abuse becoming more frequent. These findings are important to policymakers and hospital administrators because they provide crucial insight into Florida's opioid crisis and its economic burden on hospitals.

Effects of Marketing Ages on the Physicochemical Properties and Sensory Aspects of Cured Broiler Chicken Breast Meat.

This research evaluated the properties of cured chicken breasts of broiler chicken with different marketing ages (28, 30, 32, and 34 day). The water contents in the proximate compositions of the samples tended to decrease with increasing marketing age, while the protein content increased. The samples' uncooked and cooked pH values, WHC, and cooking yield increased with increasing marketing age; however, the WHC and cooking yield were not significantly different between the 32 and 34 day samples (p > 0.05). In the case of the color, the 34 day samples were significantly lower in terms of lightness, but significantly higher in redness and yellowness compared to the other samples (p < 0.05). Although the shear forces of the 28-32 day samples were not significantly different (p > 0.05), those of the 28 and 30 day samples were significantly lower than those of the 34 day sample (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the aromatic profile (determined by principal component analysis) of the 34 day sample differed from that of the 28-32 day samples. Flavor evaluation of the cooked 30 and 32 day samples showed significant differences compared to the 28 and 34 day samples (p < 0.05), and the texture evaluation showed that the 34 day sample obtained a significantly lower score than the 28 day sample (p < 0.05). Overall, these results suggest that the current broiler marketing age of 32 day results in suitable quality properties for broiler cured chicken breast.

New contrast agents for photoacoustic imaging and theranostics: Recent 5-year overview on phthalocyanine/naphthalocyanine-based nanoparticles.

The phthalocyanine (Pc) and naphthalocyanine (Nc) nanoagents have drawn much attention as contrast agents for photoacoustic (PA) imaging due to their large extinction coefficients and long absorption wavelengths in the near-infrared region. Many investigations have been conducted to enhance Pc/Ncs' photophysical properties and address their poor solubility in an aqueous solution. Many diverse strategies have been adopted, including centric metal chelation, structure modification, and peripheral substitution. This review highlights recent advances on Pc/Nc-based PA agents and their extended use for multiplexed biomedical imaging, multimodal diagnostic imaging, and image-guided phototherapy.

Improving the care of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients: perspectives and strategies for IBD center management.

The incidence and prevalence rates of inf lammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been increasing in East Asian countries over the past few decades. Accordingly, the general understanding and awareness of IBD among healthcare professionals has increased considerably in this region. This increase is ultimately associated with the evolving focus of IBD clinicians devoted to comprehensive patient care, especially in establishing IBD clinics/centers capable of providing multidisciplinary counseling. Comprehensive IBD care at IBD clinics/centers usually includes surgical and medication decision-making, transition from pediatric to adult clinics, care of extraintestinal manifestations, care of infectious diseases in patients undergoing immunomodulatory or biologic therapies, and nutritional, psychosocial, socioeconomic, and pharmacological care. Team members comprise specialists from various departments related to IBD and can be divided into core and ad hoc members. Usually, the scope of work in IBD clinics/centers involves patient care, patient outreach, and system management. Considering the environmental changes in IBD treatment, it is necessary to perform comprehensive IBD patient care in the form of a program based on competencies, rather than simply following the organization of previous IBD centers. The present review summarizes recent trends in IBD patient care and offers perspectives regarding IBD center management.