Self-reported longitudinal COVID-19 vaccination reactogenicity profiles in persons with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Preventing severe COVID-19 associated outcomes continues to be a priority for persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). We previously reported in an interim analysis that short-term reactions to the first and second SARS-CoV-2 vaccines experienced by PwMS were mostly self-limiting and similar to reactions experienced by the general population.

Objectives: First, to report short-term reactogenicity experienced by PwMS in relation to the first through fourth SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

The onset presentation of multiple sclerosis differs in Hispanic/Latinx Americans compared with non-Hispanic White Americans.

Background: Little is known about how multiple sclerosis (MS) presents in Hispanic/Latinx (HL) people with MS (pwMS).

Objective: Compare age at onset (AAO) and onset severity between HL versus non-Hispanic White (NHW) pwMS.

Methods: A cross-sectional study leveraged the MS PATHS registry spanning seven US tertiary care institutions.

Body mass index trends over four years in persons with multiple sclerosis.

Background: The role of obesity in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) is incompletely understood. Obesity predisposes individuals to a pro-inflammatory state and cardiovascular comorbidities, both of which can negatively impact MS disease course. A better understanding of weight trends in PwMS will inform optimal management of those who are overweight or obese.

Multiple sclerosis subgroups: Data-driven clusters based on patient-reported outcomes and a large clinical sample.

Background: While standard clinical assessments provide great value for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), they are limited in their ability to characterize patient perspectives and individual-level symptom heterogeneity.

Objectives: To identify PwMS subgroups based on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) of physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms. We also sought to connect PRO-based subgroups with demographic variables, functional impairment, hypertension and smoking status, traditional qualitative multiple sclerosis (MS) symptom groupings, and neuroperformance measurements.

Clinical correlates of perceived stigma among people living with epilepsy enrolled in a self-management clinical trial.

Background And Purpose: Stigma is a pervasive barrier for people living with epilepsy (PLWE) and can have substantial negative effects. This study evaluated clinical correlates of perceived stigma in a research sample of PLWE considered to be at high risk due to frequent seizures or other negative health events.

Methods: Analyses were derived from baseline data from an ongoing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded randomized controlled trial (RCT) testing an epilepsy self-management approach.

Clinical correlates of medication adherence in individuals with bipolar disorder and comorbid hypertension.

Objective: Individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) have high rates of suboptimal medication adherence, medical illness, and premature mortality, largely from cardiovascular causes. This study examined the association between adherence to antihypertensive, adherence to BD medications, and clinical symptoms in patients with BD and comorbid hypertension (HTN). Participants were involved in an ongoing clinical trial.

Risk Factors for Bacterial Keratitis and Severe Disease in Hydrogel Contact Lens Users: A Multicenter Case-Control Study and Case-Only Analysis.

Purpose: To assess risk factors for contact lens (CL)-related bacterial keratitis, cases and high-risk controls were enrolled. Using high-risk controls can help elucidate whether certain CL types or modalities are attributable to disease burden if risky wear patterns are similar between the cases and controls. This analysis identified whether such CL factors were associated with the occurrence of bacterial keratitis.

Mobility trajectories in multiple sclerosis: A comparative study of timed 25-foot walk and a patient-reported outcome measure.

Background: Loss of mobility is common in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), but little is known about this impairment from the patient's perspective.

Objective: The aim is to model longitudinal variation in a mobility patient-reported outcome (PRO) and compare trajectories to those observed for Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW) in a retrospective cohort.

Methods: Latent-class growth analysis was applied to 47,508 measures of Performance Scales© Mobility PRO (PS-Mobility) over ~4 years for 8524 PwMS.

A 6-month, prospective, randomized controlled trial of customized adherence enhancement versus a bipolar-specific educational control in poorly adherent adolescents and young adults living with bipolar disorder.

Objective: Few studies have addressed medication adherence in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with bipolar disorder (BD). This 6-month prospective randomized-controlled trial (RCT) tested customized adherence enhancement for adolescents and young adults (CAE-AYA), a behavioral intervention for AYAs versus enhanced treatment as usual (ETAU).

Methods: Inclusion criteria were AYAs age 13-21 with BD type I or II with suboptimal adherence defined as missing ≥20% of medications.

Correlated variability and its attentional modulation depend on anatomical connectivity.

Visual cortical neurons show variability in their responses to repeated presentations of a stimulus and a portion of this variability is shared across neurons. Attention may enhance visual perception by reducing shared spiking variability. However, shared variability and its attentional modulation are not consistent within or across cortical areas, and depend on additional factors such as neuronal type.

A case study in science-to-service application of epilepsy self-management.

Aims: Epilepsy self-management (ESM), the overall approach of reducing seizures and optimizing whole-health, is a targeted approach to improve population health for people with epilepsy (PWE). "Self-management for people with epilepsy and a history of negative health events" (SMART) is an 8-session group-format, remotely delivered ESM. This report describes the evolution of SMART development, testing and scale-up, taking advantage of ESM team expertise, community relationships and infrastructure established by social service agencies that deliver support to PWE.

Association Between Symptom Severity and Medication Adherence in Adults with Bipolar Disorder Reporting Adherence Challenges.

Background: Given the importance of medication adherence among individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), this analysis from an ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT) examined the relationship between BD symptoms, functioning and adherence in 69 poorly adherent adults with BD.

Method: Study inclusion criteria included being ≥ 18 years old with BD Type 1 or 2, difficulties with medication adherence and actively symptomatic as measured by Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) score ≥ 36, Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) > 8 or Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) > 8. Adherence was measured in 2 ways: 1) the self-reported Tablets Routine Questionnaire (TRQ) and 2) electronic pill container monitoring (eCap pillbox).

Influence of social determinants of health and adversity on computerized neurocognitive assessment.

Social determinants of health and adversity, including poverty, maltreatment, and neighborhood deprivation, are individual-level factors that may significantly affect baseline neurocognitive testing and management that have yet to be thoroughly explored within the computerized neurocognitive assessment. Examine individual-level experiences of poverty, abuse, neighborhood deprivation, and social mobility on computerized cognitive testing. The sample included 3,845 student-athletes who completed a baseline Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) and were enrolled in the Child-Household Integrated Longitudinal Data database.

Physical comorbidities of older age bipolar disorder (OABD) patients: A global replication analysis of prevalence and sex differences.

Objectives: To compare the prevalence of physical morbidities between older aged patients with bipolar disorder (OABD) and non-psychiatric comparisons (NC), and to analyze sex differences in prevalence.

Methods: OABD was defined as bipolar disorder among adults aged ≥50 years. Outcomes analyzed were the prevalence of diseases affecting the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, renal, musculoskeletal, and endocrine systems.

Adaptive and Innate Immunity Are Key Drivers of Age at Onset of Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) age at onset (AAO) is a clinical predictor of long-term disease outcomes, independent of disease duration. Little is known about the genetic and biological mechanisms underlying age of first symptoms. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to investigate associations between individual genetic variation and the MS AAO phenotype.

A person-centered approach to characterizing longitudinal ambulatory impairment in Parkinson's disease.

Loss of ambulation is common and highly variable in Parkinson's disease (PD), and poorly understood from the perspectives of those with PD. Gaining insights to the anticipated perceived trajectories and their drivers, will facilitate patient-centered care. Latent class growth analysis, a person-centered mixture modelling approach, was applied to 16,863 people with PD stratified by early (N = 8612; < 3 years), mid (N = 6181; 3-10 years) and later (N = 2070; > 10 years) disease to discern clusters with similar longitudinal patterns of self-reported walking difficulty, measured by EuroQoL 5D-5L that is validated for use in PD.

Clinical correlates of negative health events and disparities among adults with epilepsy enrolled in a self-management clinical trial.

Aims: Despite advances in care, people with epilepsy experience negative health events (NHEs), such as seizures, emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. This analysis using baseline data from an epilepsy self-management clinical trial targeting people from rural regions and other underserved populations assessed the relationship between demographic and clinical variables vs. NHEs.

Cognition in older age bipolar disorder: An analysis of archival data across the globe.

Background: Cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder (BD) impact functioning and are main contributors to disability in older age BD (OABD). We investigated the difference between OABD and age-comparable healthy comparison (HC) participants and, among those with BD, the associations between age, global cognitive performance, symptom severity and functioning using a large, cross-sectional, archival dataset harmonized from 7 international OABD studies.

Methods: Data from the Global Aging and Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder (GAGE-BD) database, spanning various standardized measures of cognition, functioning and clinical characteristics, were analyzed.

Bipolar symptoms, somatic burden and functioning in older-age bipolar disorder: A replication study from the global aging & geriatric experiments in bipolar disorder database (GAGE-BD) project.

Objectives: The Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE-BD) project pools archival datasets on older age bipolar disorder (OABD). An initial Wave 1 (W1; n = 1369) analysis found both manic and depressive symptoms reduced among older patients. To replicate this finding, we gathered an independent Wave 2 (W2; n = 1232, mean ± standard deviation age 47.

Parallel Streams of Direct Corticogeniculate Feedback from Mid-level Extrastriate Cortex in the Macaque Monkey.

First-order thalamic nuclei receive feedforward signals from peripheral receptors and relay these signals to primary sensory cortex. Primary sensory cortex, in turn, provides reciprocal feedback to first-order thalamus. Because the vast majority of sensory thalamocortical inputs target primary sensory cortex, their complementary corticothalamic neurons are assumed to be similarly restricted to primary sensory cortex.

Beta-defensin index: A functional biomarker for oral cancer detection.

There is an unmet clinical need for a non-invasive and cost-effective test for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) that informs clinicians when a biopsy is warranted. Human beta-defensin 3 (hBD-3), an epithelial cell-derived anti-microbial peptide, is pro-tumorigenic and overexpressed in early-stage OSCC compared to hBD-2. We validate this expression dichotomy in carcinoma in situ and OSCC lesions using immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry.

Male sexual and reproductive health in multiple sclerosis: a scoping review.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neuroinflammatory disease with highest incidence during the period of optimal reproductive health. This scoping review aimed to identify and summarize available data on sexual/reproductive health in males with MS (MwMS).

Methods: This review was based on PRISMA extension for Scoping Review.

Limited restoration of contrast sensitivity with training after V1 damage in humans.

Stroke damage to the primary visual cortex (V1) causes severe visual deficits, which benefit from perceptual retraining. However, whereas training with high-contrast stimuli can locally restore orientation and motion direction discrimination abilities at trained locations, it only partially restores luminance contrast sensitivity (CS). Recent work revealed that high-contrast discrimination abilities may be preserved in the blind field of some patients early after stroke.

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of people with oldest older age bipolar disorder in a global sample: Results from the global aging and geriatric experiments in bipolar disorder project.

Objects: Studies of older age bipolar disorder (OABD) have mostly focused on "younger old" individuals. Little is known about the oldest OABD (OOABD) individuals aged ≥70 years old. The Global Aging and Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder (GAGE-BD) project provides an opportunity to evaluate the OOABD group to understand their characteristics compared to younger groups.