Regional differences in three-dimensional fiber organization, smooth muscle cell phenotype, and contractility in the pregnant mouse cervix.

The orientation and function of smooth muscle in the cervix may contribute to the important biomechanical properties that change during pregnancy. Thus, this study examined the three-dimensional structure, smooth muscle phenotype, and mechanical and contractile functions of the upper and lower cervix of nongravid (not pregnant) and gravid (pregnant) mice. In gravid cervix, we uncovered region-specific changes in the structure and organization of fiber tracts.

Patient-specific 3D-printed nasopharyngeal stents in dogs: a cadaveric pilot study.

Background: Currently available treatment options for nasopharyngeal stenosis and imperforate nasopharynx in dogs and cats are fraught with complications and failures.

Objective: To develop patient-specific nasopharyngeal stents using 3D-printed molds and to assess placement and fit of stents within the nasopharynx.

Animals: Six canine cadavers.

Medicare Accountable Care Organization Treatment of Serious Mental Illness: Associations Between Behavioral Health Integration Activities and Outcomes.

Objective: Characterize the association between Medicare Accountable Care Organizations' (ACOs) behavioral health integration capability and quality and utilization among adults with serious mental illness (SMI).

Background: Controlled research supports the efficacy of integrating physical and mental health care for adults with SMI, yet little is known about the organizations integrating care and associations between integration capability and quality.

Methods: We surveyed Medicare ACOs (2017-2018 National Survey of ACOs, response rate 69%) and linked responses to 2016-2017 fee-for-service Medicare claims for beneficiaries with SMI.

Factors that Facilitate Informal Advance Care Planning Conversations With Family: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Black Adults With Kidney Failure.

Advance care planning in adults with kidney failure has been understudied and limited to written advance directives. Many Black adults prefer informal conversations with family, and yet this form of advance care planning is underexplored in research. In this study, we aimed to identify the multilevel factors that facilitate informal advance care planning with family among Black adults with kidney failure.

A host-directed adjuvant resuscitates and sensitizes intracellular bacterial persisters to antibiotics.

There are two major problems in the field of antimicrobial chemotherapy-antibiotic resistance and antibiotic tolerance. In the case of antibiotic tolerance, antibiotics fail to kill the bacteria as their phenotypic state affords them protection from the bactericidal activity of the antibiotic. Antibiotic tolerance can affect an entire bacterial population, or a subset of cells known as persister cells.