Iowa

The current diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is based on history, clinical observation, and behavioral tests. There is a high demand to find biomarkers for the diagnosis of ADHD. The aim of this study is to analyze the serum profiles of several biomarkers, including homocysteine (Hcy), vitamin B12, vitamin D, ferritin, and iron, in a cohort of 133 male subjects (6.5-12.5 years), including 67 individuals with an ADHD diagnosis based on DSM-V criteria and 66 age-matched healthy boys (healthy controls, HC)...

Strong scientific writing skills are the foundation of a successful research career and require training and practice. Although these skills are critical for completing a PhD, most students receive little formal writing instruction prior to joining a graduate program. In 2015, the University of Iowa Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) addressed this issue by developing the scientific writing course Grant Writing Basics (GWB). Here we describe the structure of this course and its effectiveness. GWB is an interactive, workshop-based course that uses a National Institutes of Health (NIH) F30 predoctoral fellowship proposal as a platform for building writing expertise...

Changes to biodiversity from urbanization are occurring worldwide, and baseline data is vital to document the magnitude and direction of these alterations. We set out to document the biodiversity of an urban lake in Eastern Iowa that was devoid of baseline data prior to a renovation project that will convert the site into a major area for human recreation. Throughout the course of one year, we studied the biodiversity at Cedar Lake utilizing the citizen-science application iNaturalist coupled with semi-structured BioBlitz events, which we compared to previous opportunistic observations at the site...

PURPOSE: Open surgical approaches for the treatment of anterior pelvic arc lesions are associated with several complications. We present the first retrospective descriptive case series on the use of laparoscopy as an alternative. METHODS: This descriptive, retrospective, single-centre study enrolled all patients who underwent laparoscopy for the treatment of pelvic ring disruption between May 2020 and March 2022. The primary outcome was the procedure failure rate based on conversion to open surgery...

BACKGROUND: Marginal zone lymphomas (MZL), comprised of three unique but related subtypes, lack a unifying prognostic score applicable to all the patients in need for systemic chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy. METHODS: Patients from the prospective NF10 study (NCT02904577) with newly diagnosed MZL and receiving frontline systemic therapy at diagnosis or after observation were used to train a prognostic model. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) from start of treatment...

PURPOSE: Evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer prevention and control is growing, but little is known about patient-level factors associated with delayed care. We analyzed data from a survey focused on Iowan cancer patients' COVID-19 experiences in the early part of the pandemic. METHODS: Participants were recruited from the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center's Patients Enhancing Research Collaborations at Holden (PERCH) program...

Microneurographic recordings of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) reflects postganglionic sympathetic axonal activity directed toward the skeletal muscle vasculature. Recordings are typically evaluated for spontaneous bursts of MSNA; however, the filtering and integration of raw neurograms to obtain multi-unit bursts conceals the underlying c-fiber discharge behavior. The continuous wavelet transform with matched mother wavelet has permitted the assessment of action potential discharge patterns, but this approach uses a mother wavelet optimized for an amplifier that is no longer commercially available (University of Iowa Bioengineering Nerve Traffic Analysis System; Iowa NTA)...

INTRODUCTION: On-farm pig euthanasia considers aspects of animal welfare and industry economics. Guidelines are available about the euthanasia process, but the agricultural workforce is highly diverse and guidelines do not consider cultural barriers. Euthanasia requires the ability to identify compromised pigs, technical skills, and willingness to euthanize pigs. In addition, timely euthanasia is part of the Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) and, thus, can lead to failed audits if not performed as required by the audit standards...

BACKGROUND: Cognitive impulsivity manifesting in impaired inhibitory control and decision-making impulsivity is observed both in alcohol-dependent and substance-dependent individuals and may affect the ability to maintain long-term (persistent) remission. AIM: To evaluate the effects of cognitive parameters of impulsivity on the duration of remission in alcohol-dependent patients. METHODS: The study included 83 patients with alcohol dependence and 51 mentally healthy study subjects as the control group...

BACKGROUND: Cognitive impulsivity manifesting in impaired inhibitory control and decision-making impulsivity is observed both in alcohol-dependent and substance-dependent individuals and may affect the ability to maintain long-term (persistent) remission. AIM: To evaluate the effects of cognitive parameters of impulsivity on the duration of remission in alcohol-dependent patients. METHODS: The study included 83 patients with alcohol dependence and 51 mentally healthy study subjects as the control group...

BACKGROUND: The focus on pain assessment using a single, one-dimension pain assessment scale can be problematic. Locally, challenges we faced with this were; a) pain was percieved as not being effectively managed, b) patients with chronic pain were not having their pain adequately controlled, and c) misconceptions and subsequent confusion between health care teams and patients related to what pain intensity scores mean to each individual. AIMS: The purpose of this paper is to describe an evidence-based practice project aiming at improving pain assessment through the implementation of a Functional Pain Scale (FPS) on an adult inpatient cardiothoracic unit...

The United States has one of the largest incarcerated populations per capita. Prisons are dangerous environments, with high in-prison and postrelease mortality. The Death in Custody Reporting Acts (DCRAs) of 2000 and 2013 require deaths of people in correctional custody or caused by law enforcement to be reported to the Bureau of Justice Assistance. These deaths must be reported within 3 months of the death and include 10 required fields (eg, age, cause of death). There is no public reporting requirement. Our Third City Mortality project tracks near-real-time data about individual deaths released publicly and prison system metadata, including data completeness and release speed, across (N = 54) US state, federal (N = 2; Bureau of Prisons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement), Washington, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico prison systems...

BACKGROUND: There is no effective consensus on the choice of internal fixation method for the Masquelet technique in the treatment of large segmental bone defects of the distal tibia. Thus, the study aimed to investigate the outcomes of the Masquelet technique combined with double plate fixation in the treatment of large segmental bone defects. METHODS: This was a retrospective study involving 21 patients with large segmental bone defects of the distal tibia who were treated between June 2017 and June 2020...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting the quality of life of over 10 million individuals worldwide. Early diagnosis is crucial for timely intervention and better patient outcomes. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are commonly used for early PD diagnosis due to their potential in monitoring disease progression. But traditional EEG-based methods lack exploration of brain regions that provide essential information about PD, and their performance falls short for real-time applications...

PURPOSE: Evaluate the impact of high vs low intraoperative IOP during phacoemulsification on anterior and posterior physiology. SETTING: Private practice in Des Moines, Iowa. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, paired-eye clinical trial of patients anticipating bilateral cataract surgery. METHODS: Twenty-seven subjects randomized at the time of their first cataract surgery to either low intraocular pressure (IOP) or high IOP group...

The objective of this analysis was to evaluate and compare the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine and annual influenza vaccination in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Routine and annual influenza vaccination uptake and coverage between 2017 and 2021 was collected from each state's immunization information system (IIS) by age group and stratified by provider and vaccine type. Data from 2017 to 2019 were averaged to obtain a pre-pandemic baseline and compared to 2020 and 2021 data. Percent changes were calculated to evaluate differences in uptake and coverage...

Dynamic risk scales have largely been evaluated using singular assessment scores, including those obtained at the start of supervision. While this approach includes assessment of dynamic factors, it ignores changes with reassessment, failing to examine whether an instrument is truly dynamic in nature. This is problematic, as proximal risk assessments have consistently outperformed baseline assessments in the prediction of recidivism. In the current study, we examined the dynamic properties of the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Reentry (DRAOR) in 4,736 adults on community supervision in Iowa, United States ( N  = 33,965 assessments)...

Objectives. To examine sudden and unexpected or trauma-related deaths that occurred in the presence of law enforcement in Johnson County, Iowa, between 2011 and 2020. Methods. We identified deaths in the presence of law enforcement using definitions from the National Association of Medical Examiners. We obtained data, including demographics, cause and manner of death, toxicology results, and circumstances and location of event leading to death, from comprehensive medical examiner investigative reports. Results...

Accurate and frequent nitrate estimates can provide valuable information on the nitrate transport dynamics. The study aimed to develop a data-driven modeling framework to estimate daily nitrate concentrations at low-frequency nitrate monitoring sites using the daily nitrate concentration and stream discharge information of a neighboring high-frequency nitrate monitoring site. A Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) based deep learning (DL) modeling framework was developed to predict daily nitrate concentrations. The DL modeling framework performance was compared with two well-established statistical models, including LOADEST and WRTDS-Kalman, in three selected basins in Iowa, USA: Des Moines, Iowa, and Cedar River...

With the decline of bee populations worldwide, studies determining current wild bee distributions and diversity are increasingly important. Wild bee identification is often completed by experienced taxonomists or by genetic analysis. The current study was designed to compare two methods of identification including: (1) morphological identification by experienced taxonomists using images of field-collected wild bees and (2) genetic analysis of composite bee legs (multiple taxa) using metabarcoding. Bees were collected from conservation grasslands in eastern Iowa in summer 2019 and identified to the lowest taxonomic unit using both methods...