Overweight and obesity among Israeli adolescents and the risk for serious morbidity in early young adulthood: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.

Background: Morbidities related to obesity are usually associated with its severity and duration. Yet, the onset of serious morbidities in early adulthood among otherwise healthy adolescents with obesity is understudied. We aimed to investigate the association between adolescent BMI and serious morbidities before age 25 years.

Adolescent Blood Pressure and Early Age Stroke.

Background: Underdiagnosis of relevant risk factors has contributed to the increasing stroke incidence in young adults. Blood pressure cut-off values for adolescents are neither sex specific nor based on cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods: This nationwide, population-based, retrospective cohort study included all Israeli adolescents 16-19 years of age who were medically evaluated before compulsory military service from 1985 to 2013, including routine blood pressure measurements.

Attracting medical school graduates to residency programs in remotely located hospitals: the challenge lies beyond financial incentives.

Background: Recruitment to residency programs in hospitals located in other than major hubs ("remotely located") is a challenge in many countries. In 2011, the Israeli Ministry of Health launched a 10-year financial incentive to encourage physicians to enroll in residency programs in such hospitals. Nearly 1 billion New Israeli Shekels (260 million US$) were invested in that program which had only limited success.

Deciphering the dynamic code: DNA recognition by transcription factors in the ever-changing genome.

Transcription factors (TFs) intricately navigate the vast genomic landscape to locate and bind specific DNA sequences for the regulation of gene expression programs. These interactions occur within a dynamic cellular environment, where both DNA and TF proteins experience continual chemical and structural perturbations, including epigenetic modifications, DNA damage, mechanical stress, and post-translational modifications (PTMs). While many of these factors impact TF-DNA binding interactions, understanding their effects remains challenging and incomplete.

Site-Specific Acetylation of the Transcription Factor Protein Max Modulates Its DNA Binding Activity.

Chemical protein synthesis provides a powerful means to prepare novel modified proteins with precision down to the atomic level, enabling an unprecedented opportunity to understand fundamental biological processes. Of particular interest is the process of gene expression, orchestrated through the interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and DNA. Here, we combined chemical protein synthesis and high-throughput screening technology to decipher the role of post-translational modifications (PTMs), e.

Heritability of Body Mass Index Among Familial Generations.

Importance: Studies on the familial effects of body mass index (BMI) status have yielded a wide range of data on its heritability.

Objective: To assess the heritability of obesity by measuring the association between the BMIs of fathers, mothers, and their offspring at the same age.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study used data from population-wide mandatory medical screening before compulsory military service in Israel.

Cognitive function in adolescence and the risk of early-onset stroke.

Background: Stroke is increasingly prevalent at younger ages but the risk factors are uncertain. We examined the association between adolescent cognitive function and early-onset stroke.

Methods: This was a nationwide population-based cohort study of 1 741 345 Israeli adolescents (42% women) who underwent comprehensive cognitive function tests at age 16-20 years, before mandatory military service, during 1987-2012.

[MEDICAL EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY - "BACK TO THE FUTURE"].

The change in the world of medicine and in the future generation of doctors, also requires the world of medical education and training to change, so that we do not find ourselves extinct like the dinosaurs. As Charles Darwin famously once said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change".

Stuttering in adolescence and the risk for dysglycemia in early adulthood.

Aims: To investigate the association between stuttering during adolescence and the onset of dysglycemia (prediabetes or type 2 diabetes) in early adulthood among men and women.

Materials And Methods: This cohort study included Maccabi Health Services members assessed for mandatory military service at ages 16-19 during 1990-2019 and followed until 31 December 2020. Stuttering status was recorded in the baseline medical evaluation.

Visual impairment and cognitive performance: A nationwide study of 1.4 million adolescents.

Purpose: Previous research highlights the adverse effects of visual impairment (VI) on academic achievement in children, yet its impact on cognitive performance among adolescents and young adults remains under-studied. Therefore, this investigation aimed to analyse this association in a nationwide sample of Israeli adolescents.

Methods: A retrospective population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,410,616 Israeli-born adolescents aged 16-19 years, who were assessed before mandatory military service between 1993 and 2017.

Ecogastroenterology: cultivating sustainable clinical excellence in an environmentally conscious landscape.

Gastrointestinal practices, especially endoscopy, have a substantial environmental impact, marked by notable greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation. As the world struggles with climate change, there emerges a pressing need to re-evaluate and reform the environmental footprint within gastrointestinal medicine. The challenge lies in finding a harmonious balance between ensuring clinical effectiveness and upholding environmental responsibility.

Sixth monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccine elicits robust immune response against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants in heart transplant recipients.

Continued circulation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has driven the selection of variants with improved ability to escape preexisting vaccine-induced responses, posing a persistent threat to heart transplant recipients (HTRs). The immunogenicity and safety of the updated XBB.1.

Body mass index and visual impairment in Israeli adolescents: A nationwide study.

Background: Previous research on the association between body mass index (BMI) and visual impairment (VI) in youth has reported inconsistent findings. We aimed to investigate this association in a national cohort of Israeli adolescents.

Methods: This retrospective, population-based, cross-sectional study included 1 697 060 adolescents (56.

The Mediterranean Diet for Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: A Prospective Interventional Study.

The Mediterranean diet (MED) is highly recommended. Medical nutrition therapy is the cornerstone of diabetes treatment. The primary outcome was to evaluate the change in micronutrient intake of youth with type 1 diabetes before and after a 6-month MED intervention; we also assessed adherence and glycemic control.

High BMI and the risk for incident type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of aggregated cohort studies.

Background: There is uncertainty regarding the role of obesity in type 1 diabetes development. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to collect and synthesize evidence regarding BMI and the risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the association between BMI and incident type 1 diabetes.

Body mass index and migraine in adolescence: A nationwide study.

Background: The association between body mass index (BMI) and migraine in adults has been well established. However, studies in children and adolescents are inconclusive. We aimed to study the association between BMI and migraine using a national dataset that comprises the electronic medical records of more than two million adolescents.

Blepharoptosis and cognitive performance: a population-based study of 1.4 million adolescents.

The purpose of this study is to examine the association between blepharoptosis and cognitive performance in late adolescence. This population-based, retrospective, cross-sectional study included 1,411,570 Israeli-born adolescents (620,107 women, 43.9%) aged 16-19 years who were medically examined before compulsory military service between 1993 and 2017.

Short tandem repeats bind transcription factors to tune eukaryotic gene expression.

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are enriched in eukaryotic -regulatory elements and alter gene expression, yet how they regulate transcription remains unknown. We found that STRs modulate transcription factor (TF)-DNA affinities and apparent on-rates by about 70-fold by directly binding TF DNA-binding domains, with energetic impacts exceeding many consensus motif mutations. STRs maximize the number of weakly preferred microstates near target sites, thereby increasing TF density, with impacts well predicted by statistical mechanics.

Deciphering the Role of the Ser-Phosphorylation Pattern on the DNA-Binding Activity of Max Transcription Factor Using Chemical Protein Synthesis.

The chemical synthesis of site-specifically modified transcription factors (TFs) is a powerful method to investigate how post-translational modifications (PTMs) influence TF-DNA interactions and impact gene expression. Among these TFs, Max plays a pivotal role in controlling the expression of 15 % of the genome. The activity of Max is regulated by PTMs; Ser-phosphorylation at the N-terminus is considered one of the key regulatory mechanisms.

Inhibitory control and mood in relation to psychological resilience: an ecological momentary assessment study.

Psychological resilience, the ability to adapt to adversity, is theorized to rely on intact inhibitory control (IC) mechanisms, which underlie one's ability to maintain goal-directed behavior by inhibiting prepotent responses. However, no study to date has explored daily fluctuations of IC performance in relation to resilience. Here, we examined the association between IC and mood measured daily in relation to psychological resilience in young adults in a stressful situation.