Predictive Methods and Probabilistic Mapping of Subcortical Brain Components in Fossil Carnivora.

Paleoneurology reconstructs the evolutionary history of nervous systems through direct observations from the fossil record and comparative data from extant species. Although this approach can provide direct evidence of phylogenetic links among species, it is constrained by the availability and quality of data that can be gleaned from the fossil record. Here, we sought to translate brain component relationships in a sample of extant Carnivora to make inferences about brain structure in fossil species.

Recipient sex and donor leukemic cell characteristics determine leukemogenesis in patient-derived models.

In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), leukemogenesis depends on cell-intrinsic genetic aberrations and thus, studies on AML require investigations in an in vivo setting as provided by patient derived xenografts (PDX) models. Here we report that, next to leukemic cell characteristics, recipient sex highly influences the outgrowth of AML cells in PDX models, with females being much better repopulated than males in primary as well as secondary transplantation assays. Testosterone may be the more important player since, strikingly, better engraftment was seen in castrated versus control male recipients, while ovariectomy did not significantly impair engraftment in females.

Malnutrition in adult patients treated with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A descriptive cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate malnutrition and its association with outcomes in adult patients requiring venoarterial (VA) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Methods: Patients cannulated for VA ECMO between January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2023, were screened. Patients on ECMO for <48 hours or without a nutritional evaluation were excluded.

Soluble factors released by peripheral blood-derived CAR-NK cells cause bystander myeloid cell activation.

Introduction: CAR-T cell therapy is associated with life-threatening inflammatory toxicities, partly due to the activation and secretion of inflammatory cytokines by bystander myeloid cells (BMCs). However, due to limited clinical data, it is unclear whether CAR-NK cells cause similar toxicities.

Methods: We characterized the soluble factors (SFs) released by activated human CAR-T and CAR-NK cells and assessed their role in BMC activation (BMCA).

Rapid Detection of Fusions in Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia: CRISPR/Cas9 Nanopore Sequencing with Adaptive Sampling.

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) accounts for approximately 10-15% of newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia cases and presents with coagulopathy and bleeding. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are required to minimize early mortality in APL as initiation of all-trans retinoic acid therapy rapidly reverses coagulopathy. The fusion is a hallmark of APL and its rapid identification is essential for rapid initiation of specific treatment to prevent early deaths from coagulopathy and bleeding and optimize patient outcomes.

Disentangling Sources of Momentum Fluctuations in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the eventwise average transverse momentum [P([p_{T}])]. Disentangling the contributions from fluctuations in the nuclear overlap size (geometrical component) and other sources at a fixed size (intrinsic component) remains a challenge. This problem is addressed by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of P([p_{T}]) in ^{208}Pb+^{208}Pb and ^{129}Xe+^{129}Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.

Combined Effects of Oxandrolone and Exercise on Muscle Recovery in Rats with Severe Burn and Hindlimb Unloading.

Background: Loss of muscle mass and strength in patients who have experienced severe burns is dramatic and associated with subsequent functional impairment. Past work has shown that exercise and oxandrolone, an anabolic steroid, individually improve muscle function and muscle mass in severely burned patients. This study aims to evaluate the effect of oxandrolone treatment combined with resistance exercise on muscle atrophy and investigate the protein synthesis and mitochondrial biogenesis pathways in a hindlimb suspension model.

Designing, implementing and evaluating multidisciplinary healthcare training programmes in the wartime humanitarian context of Ukraine.

Introduction: Civilian healthcare workers (HCW) and medical facilities are directly and indirectly impacted by armed conflict. In the Russia-Ukraine war, acute trauma care needs grew, the workforce was destabilised by HCW migrating or shifting roles to meet conflict needs, and facilities faced surge events. Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) exposure risks created unique preparedness needs.

Long-Term Clinical and Biological Prognostic Factors of Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis in Children.

Background And Objectives: Anti-NMDAR encephalitis (NMDARE) is a severe neurologic condition, and recently, the NMDAR Encephalitis One-Year Functional Status (NEOS) score has emerged as a 1-year prognostic tool. This study aimed to evaluate NEOS score and biomarker (neurofilament light chains [NfL], total-Tau protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and serum cytokines) correlation with modified Rankin Scale (mRS), cognitive impairment, and clinical recovery in pediatric NMDARE over 2 years.

Methods: In this French multicenter observational study, 104 pediatric patients with NMDARE were followed for a minimum of 2 years.

Water, Solute, and Ion Transport in De Novo-Designed Membrane Protein Channels.

Biological organisms engineer peptide sequences to fold into membrane pore proteins capable of performing a wide variety of transport functions. Synthetic de novo-designed membrane pores can mimic this approach to achieve a potentially even larger set of functions. Here we explore water, solute, and ion transport in three de novo designed β-barrel membrane channels in the 5-10 Å pore size range.

Molecular and Clinical Risk Factors Associated with Thrombosis and Bleeding in Myelofibrosis Patients.

Background:  The risk of thrombosis and bleeding in myelofibrosis (MF) has been historically underappreciated. We sought to investigate potential molecular and clinical risk factors for venous (VTE) and arterial (ATE) thrombotic events as well as bleeding episodes.

Methods:  Data from 246 consecutive MF patients were analyzed.

Are ultrasound salivary parenchymal lesions more severe in primary Sjögren patients with a longer disease duration? A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Salivary gland ultrasound (SGUS) has an interest in primary Sjögren's disease (pSD) for diagnosis, but the evolution of parenchymal lesions over time is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the severity of ultrasound abnormalities in relation to pSD duration from the time of buccal dryness onset.

Methods: In this cross-sectional international multicentre study, patients with pSD according to the 2002 or 2016 ACR/EULAR classification criteria were included.

Contemporary treatment patterns of overweight and obesity: insights from the Mass General Brigham health care system.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of obesity, obesity-related conditions (ORCs), and antiobesity medication (AOM) eligibility and prescribing practice among eligible patients in a large health care system.

Methods: In this cross-sectional analysis of the multicenter Mass General Brigham health care system (Boston, Massachusetts) spanning 2018 to 2022, adults eligible for AOMs (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m or BMI 27-29.9 kg/m with ≥1 ORC) were identified.

Lifetime management considerations to optimise transcatheter aortic valve implantation: a practical guide.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a safe and effective procedure for the treatment of aortic stenosis. With the recently broadened indications, there is a larger cohort of patients likely to outlive their first transcatheter heart valve (THV). This review discusses relevant lifetime planning considerations, focusing on the utility of preprocedural computed tomography imaging to help implanters future-proof their patients who are likely to outlive their first valve.

Identification of Chronic Hypertension in Pregnancy in Three Administrative Data Sources Among Medicaid-Funded Births in California.

Purpose: Administrative data sources are used to describe the epidemiology of chronic hypertension in pregnancy and its consequences. Differences in identification across sources may affect research estimates. We compared identification of chronic hypertension in birth certificate records, hospital discharge records, and Medi-Cal claims in the same individuals.

Efficacy and Safety of Venetoclax Plus Azacitidine for Patients With Treatment-Naive High-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes.

Patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (HR MDS) have a median survival of ~1.5 years with azacitidine, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is their only curative option. Therefore, improved therapies are needed.

Impact of DNA extraction, PCR amplification, sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis on food-associated mock communities using PacBio long-read amplicon sequencing.

Background: Long-read 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing has a high potential for characterizing food-associated microbiomes. The advantage results from sequencing the full-length (1,500 bp) gene, enabling taxonomic resolution at species level. Here we present a benchmarking study using mock communities representative of milking machine biofilms and raw meat, revealing challenges relevant to food-associated habitats.

The University of California Study of Outcomes in Mothers and Infants (a Population-Based Research Resource): Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Population-based databases are valuable for perinatal research. The California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) created a linked birth file covering the years 1991 through 2012. This file includes birth and fetal death certificate records linked to the hospital discharge records of the birthing person and infant.

Bone marrow microenvironment signatures associate with patient survival after guadecitabine and atezolizumab therapy in HMA-resistant MDS.

Almost 50% of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are refractory to first-line hypomethylating agents (HMAs), which presents a significant clinical challenge considering the lack of options for salvage. Past work revealed that immune checkpoint molecules on peripheral myeloblasts and immune cells are up-regulated after HMA treatment. Therefore, we conducted a Phase I/II clinical trial combining guadecitabine (an HMA) and atezolizumab (an immune checkpoint inhibitor) to treat HMA-relapsed or refractory (HMA-R/R) MDS patients.

Olverembatinib After Failure of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors, Including Ponatinib or Asciminib: A Phase 1b Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) resistant or intolerant to BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have limited treatment options. Olverembatinib, which is approved in China, has only been tested in Chinese patients.

Objective: To assess the pharmacokinetics, safety, efficacy, and recommended dose of olverembatinib in patients with CML or Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL resistant or intolerant to at least 2 TKIs.

Effects of Manipulated Rainfall and Intraspecific Variation Within Dominant Species on Community Assembly: Insights From a Long-Term Grassland Restoration Experiment.

Grasslands converted to agricultural land use can be reestablished by sowing seeds of native species and temporal dynamics of diversity under altered climate can inform community assembly in the context of global change. We quantified three aspects of diversity (species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and functional diversity) in restored prairie plots sown with different ecotypes of two dominant grass species and manipulated rainfall to understand the relative importance of abiotic filtering and population source of dominant species on community assembly. We also evaluated the contributions of intra- and interspecific variations in functional traits across plots sown with different ecotypes of dominant species.

Independent Contributions of Callous-Unemotional Behaviors and Quantitative Autistic Traits to Aggression in Early Childhood.

Objective: Callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors and quantitative autistic traits (QATs), heritable domains implicated in social development, are both associated with reduced prosocial behavior and increased aggression at their clinical extremes. However, they are hypothesized to contribute to aggression through separate mechanisms. This study tested whether CU behaviors and QATs exhibited distinct profiles of heritable influences as well as independent contributions to early childhood aggression in a general population sample with enhanced sensitivity to clarify these relationships.

Predictors of Device-Related Thrombus After Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion: TED-F Score.

Background: Left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion (LAAO) is performed to prevent LAA thrombus in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The risk of device-related thrombus (DRT) on the atrial side of the LAAO device is approximately 4%. Identifying patients at high risk of DRT would enable closer surveillance and more-aggressive anticoagulation to prevent post-LAAO DRT-related stroke.

Enhanced CO Coordinates the Spatial Recruitment of Diazotrophs in Rice Via Root Development.

Understanding the reciprocal interaction between root development and coadapted beneficial microbes in response to elevated CO (eCO) will facilitate the identification of nutrient-efficient cultivars for sustainable agriculture. Here, systematic morphological, anatomical, chemical and gene expression assays performed under low-nitrogen conditions revealed that eCO drove the development of the endodermal barrier with respect to L-/S-shaped lateral roots (LRs) in rice. Next, we applied metabolome and endodermal-cell-specific RNA sequencing and showed that rice adapts to eCO by spatially recruiting diazotrophs via flavonoid secretion in L-shaped LRs.

Universal non-circular cone beam CT orbits for metal artifact reduction imaging during image-guided procedures.

Innovation in image-guided procedures has been driven by advances in robotic Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) systems. A fundamental challenge for CBCT imaging is metal artifacts arising from surgical tools and implanted hardware. Here, we outline how two universal non-circular imaging orbits, optimized for metal artifact reduction, can be implemented in real-time on clinical robotic CBCT systems.