Jennifer Packer’s Unique Employment of Color: How the Artist Uses Hue to Mystify and Politicize Simultaneously

Jennifer Packer has immensely impacted the art world since her emergence a decade ago. An African American woman, Packer uses her art to depict, analyze, and complicate the intricacies of living in the United States as a Black person. Packer’s singular style of intimate portraits bordering on the abstract makes her work both intellectually and visually engaging. This essay argues that Packer uses color, through various techniques, to address the socio-political dilemmas she wants to get at in her work. At the same time, she uses these hues in abstraction to lift her paintings away from reality

Utilizing Bibliometrics to Understand the Role of Machine Learning in the Current Orthopedic Arthroplasty Literature

Background: Machine learning technology has been demonstrated to be a very useful tool in current orthopedic research. Furthermore, machine learning has shown to be quite impactful in the field of arthroplasty solving many clinical and scientific problems, leading to greater utilization in retrospective studies. This current study aims to identify machine learning arthroplasty research and predict future hotspots. We hypothesize that the production of current scientific literature on machine learning will be produced by US-based national institutions and will have exponentially grown in the past 5 years. Methods: Machine learning arthroplasty publications between 1996 and 2023 were identified using the Web of Science Core Collection of Clarivate Analytics. Then bibliometric indicators were obtained and imported for further analysis with VOSviewer and Bibliometreix to identify previous and ongoing trends within this field. Results: The bibliometric sourcing identified a total of 235 documents that were associated with machine learning applications to arthroplasty. 34 countries published articles on the topic and the United States demonstrated to be the largest contributor. The year 2022 had the highest number of publications produced in a year, totaling 66 articles. A total of 405 institutions across the world had published articles, the most relevant institutions with the highest production were Harvard University and Harvard Medical School with 41 and 34 articles produced respectively. Kwon YM was the most productive author while Haeberle HS and Ramkumar PN are the most impactful based on h-index. Co-occurrence visualization and thematic map identified niche and major themes within the literature. Conclusions: Machine learning in arthroplasty research continues to show an increasing trend since 2021 with contributions from authors and institutions globally. United States institutions and authors are the leading contributors to machine learning applications in arthroplasty research. This study identifies previous, current, and developing trends within this field for future hotspot development

Exploring the Effects of Amniotic Bladder Therapy on Female Sexual Dysfunction in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Patients

Introduction and Objectives: Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is commonly associated with Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS). FSD manifests as abnormalities in sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, pain, distress, and satisfaction. Our primary objective was to assess the impact of micronized amniotic membrane injections (AM) on FSD and lower urinary tract symptoms using comprehensive measures, including the multi-domain Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), the Pain Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Index (ICSI) and Interstitial Cystitis Problem Index (ICPI). Methods: Study participants included patients diagnosed with IC/BPS and FSD refractory to traditional therapies. Under general anesthesia, these patients received intra-detrusor injections of reconstituted 100mg micronized AM. We collected data on ICSI, ICPI, FSFI, and VAS scores before the procedure and at 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks post-injection. Our primary study endpoint was the impact of amniotic bladder therapy (ABT) on sexual function, with a parallel evaluation of injection safety. Results: Eleven consecutive patients, with an average age of 49 ± 12 years, demonstrated progressive improvements in their baseline IC/BPS symptoms over the 24-week study duration. These improvements were mirrored by enhanced FSFI scores, and reduced pain (VAS) related to intercourse over the 24-week study period. No adverse events were observed. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that ABT holds promise for IC/BPS patients, particularly females with refractory FSD symptoms. However, further research is imperative to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms through which ABT effectively addresses these complex disorders. Additionally, the long-term durability of this treatment response warrants investigation