Good morning, Postcall here with your weekly roundup! A new study has given hope to help those struggling to conceive. The method was published in the Science Advance journal and works by removing the donor egg from its nucleus, transferring it from a mouse skin cell, and discarding half of its chromosomes to ensure the correct number once fertilized.

📈☕️ Postcall’s one-sip market minute:

Things are looking up for tech — with Apple's stock rebounding from a losing streak after last week’s general market volatility. Tech giant Oracle also saw a 10% jump after its earnings report, with Adobe slated to release their earnings results on Mar 14. It looks like the rising tide of generative AI continues to lift tech companies higher and higher.

Now on to this week’s stories!

Staying #Up2Date 🚨 

1. Going peanuts for Omalizumab 

Omalizumab may be a new treatment option for children with peanut allergies. In a placebo-controlled RCT, 177 children and adolescents with peanut allergies and at least two other food allergies were randomized to receive omalizumab vs. placebo q2-4 weeks. After 16 weeks, 67% of patients who took omalizumab could tolerate a 600-mg peanut protein challenge compared to 7% of control. 

2. Spinal vs. general anesthesia (GA) in hip fractures

Spinal or GA: that is the question. The REGAIN trial has been following 1,600 patients who were assigned either a spinal or GA for hip fracture repair. Short-term outcomes revealed no meaningful differences for mortality, delirium, and ambulation. Now, at 1 year, the two appear to be equivalent: no difference in mortality, recovery of independence in ambulation, or new transition to a nursing home.

3. Minimizing restenosis after PCI

An RCT with 600 patients evaluated the treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis by coronary angioplasty using a paclitaxel-coated balloon vs. an uncoated balloon. The paclitaxel-coated group had lower target lesion failure vs. the uncoated group (17.9 vs. 28.6%, P = .003). Ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization and target vessel MI were also lower in the paclitaxel-coated group.

🧑‍💻Heidi’s Tech Bites

1: 🏎️ VR training isn’t just for pilots and Formula 1 drivers anymore. Montreal doctors developed a VR experience to prepare surgical teams for treating children with serious injuries. Designed for medial staff who might not see paediatric trauma often, PeTIT VR simulates an immersive environment with a patient, medical equipment, and “at times, a very anxious parent.”

2: 🕵️‍♀️ Remember when Congress was concerned that TikTok was Chinese spyware? Well, that never stopped, and now the US passed a bill that could ban the TikTok app. If the bill becomes law, ByteDance — TikTok’s China-linked parent company — would have a little more than 5 months to sell TikTok.

3: 🏡 A group of US renters are accusing corporate landlords of price-fixing via the app RealPage, which recommends pricing for housing units. This lawsuit is against the software provider itself and 34 co-defendant landlords. In a similar, recent lawsuit, the Washington, DC attorney general said, “RealPage is facilitating a housing cartel.” RealPage says landlords aren’t obligated to take their price suggestions.

4: 🚙 EV manufacturer Rivian unveiled the start of their new model line with a smaller SUV. Expected to come out in mid-2026, the R2 is about the size of a classic Jeep Grand Wagoneer and will start at $45,000 USD.

5: 🤖 Google is limiting their Gemini AI chatbot from answering questions related to upcoming elections in countries like the U.S, India, South Africa, and the UK. This comes after a “widespread concern” over AI generating disinformation and on global elections and its use of deep fakes and “chatbot-generated propaganda.” 

Want to use AI instead of just reading about it? Try Heidi, the only free AI scribe.

AI Gets Ear-ie👂

Or how a smartphone app is helping doctors give patients a more sound diagnosis.

What happened: Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh developed a tool that uses AI to detect ear infections.

Why it’s important: Researchers created an app that uses a smartphone’s camera to examine the tympanic membrane (TM) via endoscope or otoscope. The app captured videos of 635 children’s ear drums under the age of 3 to identify who had acute otitis media (AOM). The tool was able to detect 93% of patients who had a bulging TM, which is one of the most common symptoms of AOM. Studies show doctors accurately diagnose AOM 30-84% of the time.

But wait. We’re worried about fairness and bias in the experiment. For example, researchers didn’t reveal the demographic of their patients, meaning the public doesn’t know if the AI model is trained to recognize darker skin tones. 

Bottom line: The next time a patient comes to you and asks about the new app, it might be best to hear them out. 

Notable Numbers 🔢

100: Holland American Line passengers aboard the Koningsdam cruise ship have contracted norovirus. The ships crew have increased their cleaning and disinfecting procedures since the outbreak. The CDC said symptoms of norovirus include diarrhea and vomiting. Norovirus cases have been on the rise in the U.S in recent weeks.

32: Is the number of hours Americans will have to work if the new bill Sen. Bernie Sanders proposed is approved. Sanders said a four-day work week will “allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life.”

4: The number of years since COVID-19 was announced as a global pandemic. Since then the U.S government has ended its national emergency declarations, but long COVID cases are still on the rise as more than 17% of adults in the U.S have experienced symptoms of long COVID as of February. There are currently no treatments for the illness.

$352,000: How much US doctors make per year in USD, according to the Medscape International Physician Compensation Report 2023. This is compared to Canada’s $273K (USD), and UK’s average of $122K (USD).

Postcall Picks ✅ 

🛫 Travel: Want to roll the dice while learning about treating acute and chronic pain? Attendees at Pain Week in Las Vegas can earn up to 21 credits of CME while spending the nights taking in the sights, sounds, and shows. Learn more here.

🪴 Plant: Here’s the gardening tasks you can get ahead of, starting now.

🥧 Eat: Looking to up your cheesy-bread game? Look no further than this easy Khachapuri recipe.

🤩 Watch: Missed the Oscars? No worries because we’ve found a video of all the highlights so you can catch up!

Game ⛳️

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