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1.
medRxiv ; 2024 May 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38746326

ABSTRACT

In behavioral-variant frontotemporal degeneration (bvFTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the presence of secondary motor or cognitive-behavioral symptoms, respectively, is associated with shorter survival. However, factors influencing the risk and hazard of secondary symptom development remain largely unexplored. We performed a retrospective evaluation of the entire disease course of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n=172) and behavioral-variant frontotemporal degeneration (n=69). Only individuals who had neuropathological confirmation of a TDP-43 proteinopathy at autopsy or had a C9orf72 repeat expansion were included for analysis. We examined the odds and hazard of secondary symptom development and assessed whether they were modified by the presence of a C9orf72 repeat expansion or initial clinical syndrome. Binary logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard analyses revealed increased odds (OR=4.25 [1.97-9.14]; p<0.001) and an increased hazard (HR= 4.77 [2.33-9.79], p<0.001) for developing secondary symptoms in C9orf72 expansion carriers compared to noncarriers. Initial clinical syndrome (bvFTD or ALS), age at symptom onset, and sex were not associated with development of secondary motor or cognitive-behavioral symptoms. These findings highlight the need for clinician vigilance to detect the onset of secondary motor symptoms and cognitive-behavioral in patients carrying a C9orf72 repeat expansion, regardless of initial clinical syndrome, and may warrant dual referrals between cognitive and neuromuscular clinics in these cases.

2.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38591193

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative condition featuring variable degrees of motor and cognitive impairment. We assessed the impact of specific, empirically derived occupational skills and requirements on cognitive and motor functioning in ALS. METHODS: Individuals with ALS (n = 150) were recruited from the University of Pennsylvania's Comprehensive ALS Clinic. The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS) measured cognition, and the Penn Upper Motor Neuron (PUMNS) and ALS Functional Rating Scales (ALSFRS-R) measured motor symptoms. We derived 17 factors representing distinct occupational skills and requirements from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), which were related to cognitive and motor scores using multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Occupational roles involving greater reasoning ability (ß = 2.12, p < .05), social ability (ß = 1.73, p < .05), analytic skills, (ß = 3.12, p < .01) and humanities knowledge (ß = 1.83, p<.01) were associated with better performance on the ECAS, while jobs involving more exposure to environmental hazards (ß=-2.57, p < .01) and technical skills (ß=-2.16, p<.01) were associated with lower ECAS scores. Jobs requiring more precision skills (ß = 1.91, p < .05) were associated with greater motor dysfunction on the PUMNS. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational histories involving more cognitively complex skills and activities were related to preserved cognitive functioning in ALS consistent with the cognitive reserve hypothesis, while jobs with greater exposure to environmental hazards and technical demands were linked to poorer cognitive functioning. Jobs involving more repetitive movements were associated with worse motor functioning, possibly due to overuse. Occupational history provides insight into protective and risk factors for variable degrees of cognitive and motor dysfunction in ALS.

3.
Muscle Nerve ; 70(1): 148-151, 2024 Jul.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38670927

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION/AIMS: The aim of this study was to examine clinical utilization and discontinuation rates of sodium phenylbutyrate-taurursodiol (PB-TURSO) in a single Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) center. PB-TURSO was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2022. Prior experience has been limited to clinical trials or expanded access protocols. In this manuscript, we discuss insurance approval rates, patient uptake, and discontinuation of PB-TURSO in a large academic center. METHODS: Records of patients seen for clinical visits between January 2022 and May 2023 were reviewed. Demographic and clinical characteristics of our clinic population and those initiating PB-TURSO were obtained from our clinical database. RESULTS: A total of 228 patients were seen during the observation period and 122 requested PB-TURSO prescriptions. 77% (94) were approved by insurance. 66% (65) of those who were approved or received free drug chose to start medication. 51% (34) of those who initiated PB-TURSO continued to take it through the end of the observation period. Four patients discontinued due to death during the observation period. Of the 29 patients who survived and discontinued, the main reasons for discontinuation were GI symptoms (17, 58.6%) and taste (8, 29.6%). DISCUSSION: PB-TURSO was approved by insurance for most patients. The discontinuation rate was high and was driven largely by GI side effects and taste. Future considerations would include deeper examination of demographic trends, patient costs, side effects, and potential benefits in clinical practice.


Subject(s)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis , Humans , Male , Female , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/drug therapy , Middle Aged , Aged , Phenylbutyrates/therapeutic use , Adult , Retrospective Studies , Drug Combinations
4.
Neurology ; 102(6): e209161, 2024 Mar 26.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38447117

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Genetic testing is now the standard of care for many neurologic conditions. Health care disparities are unfortunately widespread in the US health care system, but disparities in the utilization of genetic testing for neurologic conditions have not been studied. We tested the hypothesis that access to and results of genetic testing vary according to race, ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, and insurance status for adults with neurologic conditions. METHODS: We analyzed retrospective data from patients who underwent genetic evaluation and testing through our institution's neurogenetics program. We tested for differences between demographic groups in 3 steps of a genetic evaluation pathway: (1) attending a neurogenetic evaluation, (2) completing genetic testing, and (3) receiving a diagnostic result. We compared patients on this genetic evaluation pathway with the population of all neurology outpatients at our institution, using univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Between 2015 and 2022, a total of 128,440 patients were seen in our outpatient neurology clinics and 2,540 patients underwent genetic evaluation. Black patients were less than half as likely as White patients to be evaluated (odds ratio [OR] 0.49, p < 0.001), and this disparity was similar after controlling for other demographic factors in multivariable analysis. Patients from the least wealthy quartile of zip codes were also less likely to be evaluated (OR 0.67, p < 0.001). Among patients who underwent evaluation, there were no disparities in the likelihood of completing genetic testing, nor in the likelihood of a diagnostic result after adjusting for age. Analyses restricted to specific indications for genetic testing supported these findings. DISCUSSION: We observed unequal utilization of our clinical neurogenetics program for patients from marginalized and minoritized demographic groups, especially Black patients. Among patients who do undergo evaluation, all groups benefit similarly from genetic testing when it is indicated. Understanding and removing barriers to accessing genetic testing will be essential to health care equity and optimal care for all patients with neurologic disorders.


Subject(s)
Nervous System Diseases , Neurology , Adult , Humans , Retrospective Studies , Nervous System Diseases/diagnosis , Nervous System Diseases/genetics , Ambulatory Care Facilities , Genetic Testing
5.
J Neurol ; 271(2): 733-747, 2024 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37891417

ABSTRACT

The role of genetic testing in neurologic clinical practice has increased dramatically in recent years, driven by research on genetic causes of neurologic disease and increased availability of genetic sequencing technology. Genetic testing is now indicated for adults with a wide range of common neurologic conditions. The potential clinical impacts of a genetic diagnosis are also rapidly expanding, with a growing list of gene-specific treatments and clinical trials, in addition to important implications for prognosis, surveillance, family planning, and diagnostic closure. The goals of this review are to provide practical guidance for clinicians about the role of genetics in their practice and to provide the neuroscience research community with a broad survey of current progress in this field. We aim to answer three questions for the neurologist in practice: Which of my patients need genetic testing? What testing should I order? And how will genetic testing help my patient? We focus on common neurologic disorders and presentations to the neurology clinic. For each condition, we review the most current guidelines and evidence regarding indications for genetic testing, expected diagnostic yield, and recommended testing approach. We also focus on clinical impacts of genetic diagnoses, highlighting a number of gene-specific therapies recently approved for clinical use, and a rapidly expanding landscape of gene-specific clinical trials, many using novel nucleotide-based therapeutic modalities like antisense oligonucleotides and gene transfer. We anticipate that more widespread use of genetic testing will help advance therapeutic development and improve the care, and outcomes, of patients with neurologic conditions.


Subject(s)
Nervous System Diseases , Neurosciences , Adult , Humans , Nervous System Diseases/diagnosis , Nervous System Diseases/genetics , Nervous System Diseases/therapy , Genetic Testing , Neurologists , Ambulatory Care Facilities
6.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38050971

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate automated digital speech measures, derived from spontaneous speech (picture descriptions), in assessing bulbar motor impairments in patients with ALS-FTD spectrum disorders (ALS-FTSD). METHODS: Automated vowel algorithms were employed to extract two vowel acoustic measures: vowel space area (VSA), and mean second formant slope (F2 slope). Vowel measures were compared between ALS with and without clinical bulbar symptoms (ALS + bulbar (n = 49, ALSFRS-r bulbar subscore: x¯ = 9.8 (SD = 1.7)) vs. ALS-nonbulbar (n = 23), behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD, n = 25) without a motor syndrome, and healthy controls (HC, n = 32). Correlations with bulbar motor clinical scales, perceived listener effort, and MRI cortical thickness of the orobuccal primary motor cortex (oral PMC) were examined. We compared vowel measures to speaking rate, a conventional metric for assessing bulbar dysfunction. RESULTS: ALS + bulbar had significantly reduced VSA and F2 slope than ALS-nonbulbar (|d|=0.94 and |d|=1.04, respectively), bvFTD (|d|=0.89 and |d|=1.47), and HC (|d|=0.73 and |d|=0.99). These reductions correlated with worse bulbar clinical scores (VSA: R = 0.33, p = 0.043; F2 slope: R = 0.38, p = 0.011), greater listener effort (VSA: R=-0.43, p = 0.041; F2 slope: p > 0.05), and cortical thinning in oral PMC (F2 slope: ß = 0.0026, p = 0.017). Vowel measures demonstrated greater sensitivity and specificity for bulbar impairment than speaking rate, while showing independence from cognitive and respiratory impairments. CONCLUSION: Automatic vowel measures are easily derived from a brief spontaneous speech sample, are sensitive to mild-moderate stage of bulbar disease in ALS-FTSD, and may present better sensitivity to bulbar impairment compared to traditional assessments such as speaking rate.


Subject(s)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis , Dystonic Disorders , Frontotemporal Dementia , Humans , Frontotemporal Dementia/diagnosis , Frontotemporal Dementia/diagnostic imaging , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/complications , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/diagnosis , Speech , Magnetic Resonance Imaging
7.
Transl Neurodegener ; 12(1): 57, 2023 12 07.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38062485

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: TDP-43 proteinopathies represent a spectrum of neurological disorders, anchored clinically on either end by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). The ALS-FTD spectrum exhibits a diverse range of clinical presentations with overlapping phenotypes, highlighting its heterogeneity. This study was aimed to use disease progression modeling to identify novel data-driven spatial and temporal subtypes of brain atrophy and its progression in the ALS-FTD spectrum. METHODS: We used a data-driven procedure to identify 13 anatomic clusters of brain volume for 57 behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD; with either autopsy-confirmed TDP-43 or TDP-43 proteinopathy-associated genetic variants), 103 ALS, and 47 ALS-FTD patients with likely TDP-43. A Subtype and Stage Inference (SuStaIn) model was trained to identify subtypes of individuals along the ALS-FTD spectrum with distinct brain atrophy patterns, and we related subtypes and stages to clinical, genetic, and neuropathological features of disease. RESULTS: SuStaIn identified three novel subtypes: two disease subtypes with predominant brain atrophy in either prefrontal/somatomotor regions or limbic-related regions, and a normal-appearing group without obvious brain atrophy. The limbic-predominant subtype tended to present with more impaired cognition, higher frequencies of pathogenic variants in TBK1 and TARDBP genes, and a higher proportion of TDP-43 types B, E and C. In contrast, the prefrontal/somatomotor-predominant subtype had higher frequencies of pathogenic variants in C9orf72 and GRN genes and higher proportion of TDP-43 type A. The normal-appearing brain group showed higher frequency of ALS relative to ALS-FTD and bvFTD patients, higher cognitive capacity, higher proportion of lower motor neuron onset, milder motor symptoms, and lower frequencies of genetic pathogenic variants. The overall SuStaIn stages also correlated with evidence for clinical progression including longer disease duration, higher King's stage, and cognitive decline. Additionally, SuStaIn stages differed across clinical phenotypes, genotypes and types of TDP-43 pathology. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest distinct neurodegenerative subtypes of disease along the ALS-FTD spectrum that can be identified in vivo, each with distinct brain atrophy, clinical, genetic and pathological patterns.


Subject(s)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis , Frontotemporal Dementia , Neurodegenerative Diseases , Humans , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/diagnostic imaging , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/genetics , Frontotemporal Dementia/diagnostic imaging , Frontotemporal Dementia/genetics , Neurodegenerative Diseases/pathology , Brain/metabolism , DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics , DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism , Atrophy/genetics , Atrophy/complications , Atrophy/pathology
8.
Res Sq ; 2023 Aug 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37609205

ABSTRACT

Background: TDP-43 proteinopathies represents a spectrum of neurological disorders, anchored clinically on either end by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). The ALS-FTD spectrum exhibits a diverse range of clinical presentations with overlapping phenotypes, highlighting its heterogeneity. This study aimed to use disease progression modeling to identify novel data-driven spatial and temporal subtypes of brain atrophy and its progression in the ALS-FTD spectrum. Methods: We used a data-driven procedure to identify 13 anatomic clusters of brain volumes for 57 behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD; with either autopsy-confirmed TDP-43 or TDP-43 proteinopathy-associated genetic variants), 103 ALS, and 47 ALS-FTD patients with likely TDP-43. A Subtype and Stage Inference (SuStaIn) model was trained to identify subtypes of individuals along the ALS-FTD spectrum with distinct brain atrophy patterns, and we related subtypes and stages to clinical, genetic, and neuropathological features of disease. Results: SuStaIn identified three novel subtypes: two disease subtypes with predominant brain atrophy either in prefrontal/somatomotor regions or limbic-related regions, and a normal-appearing group without obvious brain atrophy. The Limbic-predominant subtype tended to present with more impaired cognition, higher frequencies of pathogenic variants in TBK1 and TARDBP genes, and a higher proportion of TDP-43 type B, E and C. In contrast, the Prefrontal/Somatomotor-predominant subtype had higher frequencies of pathogenic variants in C9orf72 and GRN genes and higher proportion of TDP-43 type A. The normal-appearing brain group showed higher frequency of ALS relative to ALS-FTD and bvFTD patients, higher cognitive capacity, higher proportion of lower motor neuron onset, milder motor symptoms, and lower frequencies of genetic pathogenic variants. Overall SuStaIn stages also correlated with evidence for clinical progression including longer disease duration, higher King's stage, and cognitive decline. Additionally, SuStaIn stages differed across clinical phenotypes, genotypes and types of TDP-43 pathology. Conclusions: Our findings suggest distinct neurodegenerative subtypes of disease along the ALS-FTD spectrum that can be identified in vivo, each with distinct brain atrophy, clinical, genetic and pathological patterns.

9.
medRxiv ; 2023 Jun 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37425709

ABSTRACT

Background: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative condition featuring variable degrees of motor decline and cognitive impairment. We test the hypothesis that cognitive reserve (CR), defined by occupational histories involving more complex cognitive demands, may protect against cognitive decline, while motor reserve (MR), defined by working jobs requiring complex motor skills, may protect against motor dysfunction. Methods: Individuals with ALS (n=150) were recruited from the University of Pennsylvania's Comprehensive ALS Clinic. Cognitive performance was evaluated using the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS), and motor functioning was measured using Penn Upper Motor Neuron (PUMNS) scale and ALS Functional Rating Scales (ALSFRS-R). The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) Database was used to derive 17 factors representing distinct worker characteristics, occupational requirements, and worker requirements, which were related to ECAS, PUMNS, and ALSFRS-R scores using multiple linear regression. Results: A history of working jobs involving greater reasoning ability (ß=2.12, p<.05), social ability (ß=1.73, p<.05), analytic skills, (ß=3.12, p<.01) and humanities knowledge (ß=1.83, p<.01) was associated with better performance on the ECAS, while jobs involving more exposure to environmental hazards (ß=-2.57, p<.01) and technical skills (ß=-2.16, p<.01) were associated with lower ECAS Total Scores. Jobs involving greater precision skills (ß=1.91, p<.05) were associated with greater disease severity on the PUMNS. Findings for the ALSFRS-R did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Discussion: Jobs requiring greater reasoning abilities, social skills, and humanities knowledge were related to preserved cognitive functioning consistent with CR, while jobs with greater exposure to environmental hazards and technical demands were linked to poorer cognitive functioning. We did not find evidence of MR as no protective effects of occupational skills and requirements were found for motor symptoms, and jobs involving greater precision skills and reasoning abilities were associated with worse motor functioning. Occupational history provides insight into protective and risk factors for variable degrees of cognitive and motor dysfunction in ALS.

10.
J Chem Phys ; 159(3)2023 Jul 21.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37458349

ABSTRACT

We have carried out fully close-coupled three dimensional quantum mechanical wave packet dynamical calculations for the reaction He+H2+→HeH++H on the ground electronic adiabatic potential energy surface and on the lowest two electronic states of newly constructed ab initio calculated diabatic potential energy surfaces for the system [Naskar et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 127, 3832 (2023)]. With the reactant diatom (H2+) in its roto-vibrational ground state (v = 0, j = 0), the calculations have been carried out in hyperspherical coordinates to obtain the reaction attributes. Convergence profiles of the reaction probability with respect to the total angular momentum quantum number at different collision energies are presented for the title reaction. State-to-state as well as initial state selected integral reaction cross sections are calculated from the fully converged reaction probabilities over a range of collision energies. The integral cross section values computed using the two-state diabatic potential energy surfaces are significantly lower than those obtained using the ground electronic state adiabatic potential energy surface and are in much better agreement with the available experimental results than the latter for total energy greater than 1.1 eV. Therefore, it becomes clear that it is important to include the nonadiabatic coupling terms for a quantitative prediction of the dynamical observables.

11.
J Appl Psychol ; 108(12): 1979-1997, 2023 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37523298

ABSTRACT

Multiple jobholding is increasingly common, particularly among full-time employees who have adopted side-hustles-income-generating work from the gig economy that is performed alongside full-time work. A distinguishing feature of side-hustles is substantial autonomy in the work's timing, location, and method. This autonomy has typically been portrayed as beneficial. We shift this consensus by developing a within-person model that suggests elevated side-hustle autonomy-relative to what is typical for that person-sets the employee on a course to feel "boxed in" by their full-time job. Drawing on psychological reactance theory, we argue that elevated autonomy in a side-hustle sensitizes employees to threats that restrict their control. As these employees shift to full-time work, we theorize that this sensitivity is associated with feelings of hostility that contribute to counterproductive behavior. We also propose, however, that side-hustle autonomy has benefits for full-time work-motivating employees to reassert control through increased initiative, thereby enhancing task performance. We explore the countervailing relationships between side-hustle autonomy and full-time work outcomes with a daily experience sampling study (ESM) of 101 full-time employees with side-hustles and their coworkers (Study 1) and a weekly ESM study of 100 full-time employees with side-hustles (Study 2). Taken together, we build and test theory about how employees' side-hustle autonomy exhibits within-person relationships that are a "mixed-bag" for their full-time work behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).


Subject(s)
Employment , Hostility , Humans , Employment/psychology
12.
medRxiv ; 2023 May 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37205390

ABSTRACT

Background and objectives: Patients with ALS-FTD spectrum disorders (ALS-FTSD) have mixed motor and cognitive impairments and require valid and quantitative assessment tools to support diagnosis and tracking of bulbar motor disease. This study aimed to validate a novel automated digital speech tool that analyzes vowel acoustics from natural, connected speech as a marker for impaired articulation due to bulbar motor disease in ALS-FTSD. Methods: We used an automatic algorithm called Forced Alignment Vowel Extraction (FAVE) to detect spoken vowels and extract vowel acoustics from 1 minute audio-recorded picture descriptions. Using automated acoustic analysis scripts, we derived two articulatory-acoustic measures: vowel space area (VSA, in Bark 2 ) which represents tongue range-of-motion (size), and average second formant slope of vowel trajectories (F2 slope) which represents tongue movement speed. We compared vowel measures between ALS with and without clinically-evident bulbar motor disease (ALS+bulbar vs. ALS-bulbar), behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) without a motor syndrome, and healthy controls (HC). We correlated impaired vowel measures with bulbar disease severity, estimated by clinical bulbar scores and perceived listener effort, and with MRI cortical thickness of the orobuccal part of the primary motor cortex innervating the tongue (oralPMC). We also tested correlations with respiratory capacity and cognitive impairment. Results: Participants were 45 ALS+bulbar (30 males, mean age=61±11), 22 ALS-nonbulbar (11 males, age=62±10), 22 bvFTD (13 males, age=63±7), and 34 HC (14 males, age=69±8). ALS+bulbar had smaller VSA and shallower average F2 slopes than ALS-bulbar (VSA: | d |=0.86, p =0.0088; F2 slope: | d |=0.98, p =0.0054), bvFTD (VSA: | d |=0.67, p =0.043; F2 slope: | d |=1.4, p <0.001), and HC (VSA: | d |=0.73, p =0.024; F2 slope: | d |=1.0, p <0.001). Vowel measures declined with worsening bulbar clinical scores (VSA: R=0.33, p =0.033; F2 slope: R=0.25, p =0.048), and smaller VSA was associated with greater listener effort (R=-0.43, p =0.041). Shallower F2 slopes were related to cortical thinning in oralPMC (R=0.50, p =0.03). Neither vowel measure was associated with respiratory nor cognitive test scores. Conclusions: Vowel measures extracted with automatic processing from natural speech are sensitive to bulbar motor disease in ALS-FTD and are robust to cognitive impairment.

13.
J Phys Chem A ; 127(17): 3832-3847, 2023 May 04.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37098130

ABSTRACT

First-principles based beyond Born-Oppenheimer theory has been employed to construct multistate global Potential-Energy Surfaces (PESs) for the HeH2+ system by explicitly incorporating the Nonadiabatic Coupling Terms (NACTs). Adiabatic PESs and NACTs for the lowest four electronic states (12A', 22A', 32A' and 42A') are evaluated as functions of hyperangles for a grid of fixed values of the hyperradius in hyperspherical coordinates. Conical intersection between different states are validated by integrating the NACTs along appropriately chosen contours. Subsequently, adiabatic-to-diabatic (ADT) transformation angles are determined by solving the ADT equations to construct the diabatic potential matrix for the HeH2+ system which are smooth, single-valued, continuous, and symmetric and are suitable for performing accurate scattering calculations for the titled system.

14.
Muscle Nerve ; 65(6): 640-645, 2022 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35213933

ABSTRACT

For many years, Neuromuscular Medicine programs lacked a standardized means of handling fellowship applications and offering positions. Programs interviewed applicants and made offers as early as the first half of Post Graduate Year 3 (PGY3), a suboptimal timeline for applicants who may have had little prior exposure to neuromuscular or electrodiagnostic medicine. In 2021, the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) developed the Neuromuscular Fellowship Portal to standardize a later timeline and establish a process for fellowship applications and offers. In its first year, the Neuromuscular Fellowship Portal used a unique one-way match, in which the portal released serial offers to applicants based on rank order lists submitted by programs. Fifty-two Neuromuscular Medicine programs and seven electromyography (EMG)-focused Clinical Neurophysiology programs participated. Sixty-eight positions were filled, a similar number to previous years. A survey of fellowship directors and applicants following this process showed overwhelming support for the standardized timeline and application portal, but all program directors and most applicants favored moving to a traditional match. To maintain the existing application timeline and minimize costs for all parties, the AANEM Neuromuscular Fellowship Portal will host a two-way match, based on existing commercial match algorithms, in 2022. A match will afford a fair and efficient process for all involved. Both Neuromuscular Medicine and EMG-focused Clinical Neurophysiology programs will be encouraged to participate. The process undertaken by the AANEM can stand as an example for other neurologic subspecialties who are interested in standardizing their application timeline.


Subject(s)
Fellowships and Scholarships , Internship and Residency , Surveys and Questionnaires , United States
15.
J Orthop Trauma ; 36(2): 98-103, 2022 Feb 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35061652

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether inpatient mobilization (defined as ambulation before hospital discharge) is associated with 1-year mortality and 90-day hospital readmission in patients treated with a hip hemiarthroplasty for a femoral neck fracture. DESIGN: Retrospective case-control. SETTING: Academic Level 1 trauma center. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred twelve consecutive femoral neck fractures were treated with hip hemiarthroplasties with a minimum of 1 year of follow-up. INTERVENTION: All study patients were treated with a hip hemiarthroplasty and weight-bearing as tolerated postoperative day 1. Patients were prescribed daily physical therapy with the goal of mobilization before discharge from hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality at 1 year; hospital readmission within 90 days. RESULTS: Two hundred twelve patients were included in the study. One-year mortality was 29%. One hundred thirty-two (62%) patients were able to ambulate before hospital discharge. Ambulation with physical therapy before discharge from hospital was a significant predictor of 1-year mortality when compared with patients who were unable to ambulate (hazard ratio 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.94; P = 0.03), which equates to 43% reduction in risk of mortality. There was no difference in the 90-day readmission rates for ambulatory versus nonambulatory patients. CONCLUSIONS: Ambulation with physical therapy before discharge reduced the risk of 1-year mortality by 43%, without an effect on 90-day readmission. Sixty-two percentage of our cohort was able to ambulate before discharge. Future investigations are warranted to further identify those patients at heightened risk of mortality and readmission and the role of early rehabilitation in recovery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


Subject(s)
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip , Femoral Neck Fractures , Hemiarthroplasty , Femoral Neck Fractures/surgery , Humans , Inpatients , Patient Discharge , Retrospective Studies , Treatment Outcome
16.
J Appl Psychol ; 107(1): 95-108, 2022 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33705160

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that whereas ingratiation directed toward one's supervisor enhances employee-supervisor social exchange quality, it diminishes social exchange quality with those who observe this behavior, such as team members. However, because researchers have largely overlooked the role of social context in shaping supervisors' and teammates' reactions to ingratiatory employees, current understanding of how ingratiation plays out in complex organizational settings may be incomplete, and perhaps misleading. In this study, we augment a social context perspective with social exchange theory to propose that comparative levels of ingratiation, determined by the focal employee's ingratiation in the context of other team members' ingratiation, shape social exchange quality with supervisors and teammates. The results from a multi-wave multi-source field study of 222 employees and their supervisors from 64 teams show that higher levels of ingratiation relative to other team members increases the employee's social exchange quality with the supervisor, whereas congruence between the employee's and other team members' ingratiation enhances social exchange quality with team members. We also find that relative ingratiation and ingratiation congruence increase citizenship received from supervisors and team members, respectively, via social exchange quality with the corresponding actor(s). Overall, our research contributes to a more complete understanding of ingratiation, especially in regard to how reactions to this behavior are largely a function of the social context in which it occurs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).


Subject(s)
Citizenship , Social Environment , Humans
17.
J Appl Psychol ; 107(8): 1369-1384, 2022 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34110852

ABSTRACT

The surge of opportunities available through the gig economy has increased the sizeable population of people who hold multiple jobs. Many of these multiple jobholders are full-time employees who have adopted side-hustles-income-generating work performed alongside full-time work. A core and ubiquitous feature of both full-time work and side-hustles is status, or membership in a social hierarchy. Although status has traditionally been investigated as an employee's enduring position in the social hierarchy at their full-time job, employees with side-hustles hold two distinct work-related statuses: status in their full-time job and status in their side-hustle. Having two statuses necessarily creates a situation in which employees' status is either consistent or inconsistent across roles. We investigate the implications of status inconsistency between side-hustles and full-time work for employees' stress, well-being, and performance. We assert that status inconsistency between side-hustles and full-time work requires employees to navigate stress-inducing tensions, such as incongruent role expectations and confusion regarding their sense of self. By extension, we propose that status inconsistency between side-hustles and full-time work promotes more role stress than occupying consistently low-status roles. In a four-wave field study of full-time employees with side-hustles, and their supervisors, we use polynomial regression analysis to test our predictions. We find that status inconsistency diminishes performance in full-time work via role stress and emotional exhaustion. Given the burgeoning gig economy and associated changes to how work is organized, our research has important and timely implications for multiple jobholders and their full-time work organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).


Subject(s)
Employment , Occupations , Employment/psychology , Humans
18.
J Appl Psychol ; 107(9): 1561-1578, 2022 Sep.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34647783

ABSTRACT

Models of trust have focused on the notion that an employee's trust in a coworker is based on that coworker's trustworthiness and the employee's trust propensity-a generalized tendency to believe others are trustworthy. Although these models capture the general assessment of risk associated with trusting a particular coworker, they provide insufficient insight into why an employee might take the risk associated with trust on a particular day. Bringing the concept of risk propensity-the tendency to accept or avoid risk-from the decision-making literature into the trust literature, we build a model of trust that suggests employees' trusting behaviors stem from both their calculated assessment of risk (encapsulated in trustworthiness and trust propensity) and their tendency to take those risks. We draw on motivated reasoning theory (Kunda, 1990) and the decision-making literature to suggest that employees' daily strivings for achievement, affiliation, stimulation, and security induce a biased reasoning process that influences employees' risk propensity that day. Our test of this theoretical model demonstrates that generalized work motives have an indirect effect on employees' trust in their coworkers, through risk propensity, that goes above and beyond established bases of trust. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).


Subject(s)
Motivation , Trust , Humans
19.
J Phys Chem A ; 125(3): 731-745, 2021 Jan 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33461293

ABSTRACT

The dynamics of the H + H2+ reaction has been analyzed from the electronically first excited state of diabatic potential energy surfaces constructed by employing the Beyond Born-Oppenheimer theory [J. Chem. Phys. 2014, 141, 204306]. We have employed the coupled 3D time-dependent wavepacket formalism in hyperspherical coordinates for multisurface reactive scattering problems. To be specific, the charge transfer processes have been investigated extensively by calculating state-to-state as well as total reaction probabilities and integral cross sections, when the reaction process is initiated from the first excited electronic state (21A'). We have depicted the convergence profiles of reaction probabilities for the competing charge transfer processes, namely, reactive charge transfer (RCT) and nonreactive charge transfer (NRCT) processes for different total energies with respect to total angular momentum, J. Total and state-to-state integral cross sections are calculated as a function of total energy for the initial rovibrational state, namely, v = 0, j = 0 level of H2+ (2Σg+) molecule and are compared with previous theoretical calculations. Finally, we have calculated temperature-dependent rate constants using our presently evaluated cross sections and compared their average with the experimentally measured one.

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