Healthcare Utilization Among Hispanic Immigrants with Diabetes: Investigating the Effect of US Documentation Status

Previous studies have not examined whether documentation status has an effect on healthcare utilization among US Hispanic immigrants with diabetes. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the Pew Hispanic Center and Robert Johnson Wood Foundation’s 2007 Hispanic Healthcare Survey. Hispanic immigrants diagnosed with diabetes were included in analyses. The association between documentation status and healthcare utilization was assessed using logistic regressions. Of N = 577 Hispanic immigrants with diabetes, 80 % were documented immigrants and 81 % reported having visited a healthcare provider in the last 6 months. Adjusting for confounders, those who were undocumented faced higher odds of having seen a healthcare provider more than 6 months ago or never when compared to those who were documented (OR = 1.79; 95 % CI 1.01, 3.14). Unique opportunities in addressing healthcare disparities can be found in focusing on the Hispanic immigrant population living with diabetes

Loss of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase Kinase 4 (MAP3K4) Reveals a Requirement for MAPK Signalling in Mouse Sex Determination

The boygirl (byg) mouse mutant reveals that MAP3K4-mediated signaling is necessary for normal SRY expression and testis specification in the developing mouse gonad

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Patients’ reflections on communication in the second-opinion hematology–oncology consultation

OBJECTIVE The nature of communication between patients and their second-opinion hematology consultants may be very different in these one-time consultations than for those that are within long-term relationships. This study explored patients’ perceptions of their second-opinion hematology oncology consultation to investigate physician-patient communication in malignant disease at a critical juncture in cancer patients’ care and decision-making. METHODS In-depth telephone interviews with a subset of 20 patients from a larger study, following their subspecialty hematology consultations. RESULTS Most patients wanted to contribute to the consultation agenda, but were unable to do so. Patients sought expert and honest advice delivered with empathy, though most did not expect the consultant to directly address their emotions. They wanted the physician to apply his/her knowledge to the specifics of their individual cases, and were disappointed and distrustful when physicians cited only general prognostic statistics. In contrast, physicians’ consideration of the unique elements of patients’ cases, and demonstrations of empathy and respect made patients’ feel positively about the encounter, regardless of the prognosis. CONCLUSIONS Patients provided concrete recommendations for physician and patient behaviors to enhance the consultation