Design, modeling, and preliminary evaluation of a simple wrist-hand stretching orthosis for neurologically impaired patients.

This work studies upper-limb impairment resulting from stroke or traumatic brain injury and presents a simple technological solution for a subset of patients: a soft, active stretching aid for at-home use. To better understand the issues associated with existing associated rehabilitation devices, customer discovery conversations were conducted with 153 people in the healthcare ecosystem (60 patients, 30 caregivers, and 63 medical providers). These patients fell into two populations: spastic (stiff, clenched hands) and flaccid (limp hands).

Engineering extracellular vesicles to transiently permeabilize the blood-brain barrier.

Background: Drug delivery to the brain is challenging due to the restrict permeability of the blood brain barrier (BBB). Recent studies indicate that BBB permeability increases over time during physiological aging likely due to factors (including extracellular vesicles (EVs)) that exist in the bloodstream. Therefore, inspiration can be taken from aging to develop new strategies for the transient opening of the BBB for drug delivery to the brain.

Design, modeling, and preliminary evaluation of a 3D-printed wrist-hand grasping orthosis for stroke survivors.

Stroke causes neurological and physical impairment in millions of people around the world every year. To better comprehend the upper-limb needs and challenges stroke survivors face and the issues associated with existing technology and formulate ideas for a technological solution, the authors conversed with 153 members of the ecosystem (60 neuro patients, 30 caregivers, and 63 medical providers). Patients fell into two populations depending on their upper-limb impairment: spastic (stiff, clenched hands) and flaccid (limp hands).

Alpha-1 antitrypsin inhibits pertussis toxin.

Pertussis (whooping cough) is a vaccine-preventable but re-emerging, highly infectious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. There are currently no effective treatments for pertussis, complicating care for nonvaccinated individuals, especially newborns. Disease manifestations are predominantly caused by pertussis toxin (PT), a pivotal virulence factor classified as an ADP-ribosylating AB-type protein toxin.

Does the gender of emergency physicians have an impact on the prehospital care of psychiatric emergencies? a retrospective cohort analysis.

Background: Psychiatric emergencies pose a special challenge for emergency physicians. It is known from other areas of medicine that the influence of a doctor's gender can have an impact on the type of treatment and quality of patient care. However, this has not yet been investigated in the context of prehospital care in psychiatric emergencies.

The "6th R" of sustainability: Repurposing operating room waste for community benefit.

Background: Operating rooms contribute greatly to hospital waste and greenhouse gas production. Efforts to "green the operating room" have focused on the 5R's of sustainability: reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, and research. We propose a "6th R" -repurposing- as simple yet effective means of addressing operating room waste.

Outcome after decompressive craniectomy in older adults after traumatic brain injury.

Objective: Globally, many societies are experiencing an increase in the number of older adults (>65 years). However, there has been a widening gap between the chronological and biological age of older adults which trend to a more active and social participating part of the society. Concurrently, the incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is increasing globally.

Fam134c and Fam134b shape axonal endoplasmic reticulum architecture in vivo.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) remodeling is vital for cellular organization. ER-phagy, a selective autophagy targeting ER, plays an important role in maintaining ER morphology and function. The FAM134 protein family, including FAM134A, FAM134B, and FAM134C, mediates ER-phagy.

Homogeneous Organic Reductant Based on 4,4'-Bu-2,2'-Bipyridine for Cross-Electrophile Coupling.

The synthesis of a new homogeneous reductant based on 4,4'-Bu-2,2'-bipyridine, Bu-OED, is reported. Bu-OED was prepared on a multigram scale in two steps from inexpensive and commercially available starting materials, with no chromatography required for purification. Bu-OED has a reduction potential of -1.

CLUH maintains functional mitochondria and translation in motoneuronal axons and prevents peripheral neuropathy.

Transporting and translating mRNAs in axons is crucial for neuronal viability. Local synthesis of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins protects long-lived axonal mitochondria from damage; however, the regulatory factors involved are largely unknown. We show that CLUH, which binds mRNAs encoding mitochondrial proteins, prevents peripheral neuropathy and motor deficits in the mouse.

A Safe Framework for Quantitative In Vivo Human Evaluation of Image Guidance.

We present a new framework for in vivo image guidance evaluation and provide a case study on robotic partial nephrectomy. This framework (called the "bystander protocol") involves two surgeons, one who solely performs the therapeutic process without image guidance, and another who solely periodically collects data to evaluate image guidance. This isolates the evaluation from the therapy, so that in-development image guidance systems can be tested without risk of negatively impacting the standard of care.

Comprehensive transcriptome analysis reveals altered mRNA splicing and post-transcriptional changes in the aged mouse brain.

A comprehensive understanding of molecular changes during brain aging is essential to mitigate cognitive decline and delay neurodegenerative diseases. The interpretation of mRNA alterations during brain aging is influenced by the health and age of the animal cohorts studied. Here, we carefully consider these factors and provide an in-depth investigation of mRNA splicing and dynamics in the aging mouse brain, combining short- and long-read sequencing technologies with extensive bioinformatic analyses.

PAPAS promotes differentiation of mammary epithelial cells and suppresses breast carcinogenesis.

Extensive remodeling of the female mammary epithelium during development and pregnancy has been linked to cancer susceptibility. The faithful response of mammary epithelial cells (MECs) to hormone signaling is key to avoiding breast cancer development. Here, we show that lactogenic differentiation of murine MECs requires silencing of genes encoding ribosomal RNA (rRNA) by the antisense transcript PAPAS.

Corrigendum: Absolute oxygen-guided radiation therapy improves tumor control in three preclinical tumor models.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.

Absolute oxygen-guided radiation therapy improves tumor control in three preclinical tumor models.

Background: Clinical attempts to find benefit from specifically targeting and boosting resistant hypoxic tumor subvolumes have been promising but inconclusive. While a first preclinical murine tumor type showed significant improved control with hypoxic tumor boosts, a more thorough investigation of efficacy from boosting hypoxic subvolumes defined by electron paramagnetic resonance oxygen imaging (EPROI) is necessary. The present study confirms improved hypoxic tumor control results in three different tumor types using a clonogenic assay and explores potential confounding experimental conditions.

The Root-Colonizing Endophyte Supports Nitrogen-Starved Seedlings with Nitrogen Metabolites.

The root-colonizing endophytic fungus promotes the root and shoot growth of its host plants. We show that the growth promotion of leaves is abolished when the seedlings are grown on media with nitrogen (N) limitation. The fungus neither stimulated the total N content nor did it promote NO uptake from agar plates to the leaves of the host under N-sufficient or N-limiting conditions.

Toward a Nanoencapsulated EPR Imaging Agent for Clinical Use.

Purpose: Progress toward developing a novel radiocontrast agent for determining pO in tumors in a clinical setting is described. The imaging agent is designed for use with electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI), in which the collision of a paramagnetic probe molecule with molecular oxygen causes a spectroscopic change which can be calibrated to give the real oxygen concentration in the tumor tissue.

Procedures: The imaging agent is based on a nanoscaffold of aluminum hydroxide (boehmite) with sizes from 100 to 200 nm, paramagnetic probe molecule, and encapsulation with a gas permeable, thin (10-20 nm) polymer layer to separate the imaging agent and body environment while still allowing O to interact with the paramagnetic probe.

Medical experience as an influencing parameter in emergency medical care for psychiatric emergencies: retrospective analysis of a multicenter survey.

Background: Prehospital care of psychiatric patients often relies on the medical experience of prehospital emergency physicians (PHEPs). The psychiatrists (PSs) involved in the further treatment of psychiatric patients also often rely on their experience. Furthermore, the interaction between PHEPs and PSs is characterized by interaction problems and different approaches in the prehospital care of the psychiatric emergency.

Expectant fathers' health behaviors, infant care intentions, and social-emotional wellbeing in the perinatal period: A latent class analysis and comparison to mothers.

While parental behaviors during the 'first thousand days' are critical for child health, little is known about fathers during this time. We examined prenatal patterns of health behaviors, social-emotional wellbeing, and infant care intentions among expectant fathers, both overall and compared to expectant mothers. Among 227 mother-father dyads enrolling in a randomized controlled trial of a perinatal obesity prevention program in Boston, Massachusetts (July 2020-July 2022), participants independently completed baseline surveys addressing (1) health behaviors, (2) social emotional wellbeing, and (3) infant care intentions.

SARM1 deletion delays cerebellar but not spinal cord degeneration in an enhanced mouse model of SPG7 deficiency.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia is a neurological condition characterized by predominant axonal degeneration in long spinal tracts, leading to weakness and spasticity in the lower limbs. The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-consuming enzyme SARM1 has emerged as a key executioner of axonal degeneration upon nerve transection and in some neuropathies. An increase in the nicotinamide mononucleotide/NAD+ ratio activates SARM1, causing catastrophic NAD+ depletion and axonal degeneration.

The impact of analgesic on EMG and other biosignals in a postoperative setting.

Background: In the clinical context, the assessment of pain in patients with inadequate communication skills is standardly performed externally by trained medical staff. Automated pain recognition (APR) could make a significant contribution here. Hereby, pain responses are captured using mainly video cams and biosignal sensors.

Identification of altered miRNAs and their targets in placenta accreta.

Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) is one of the major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide with increasing incidence. PAS refers to a group of pathological conditions ranging from the abnormal attachment of the placenta to the uterus wall to its perforation and, in extreme cases, invasion into surrounding organs. Among them, placenta accreta is characterized by a direct adhesion of the villi to the myometrium without invasion and remains the most common diagnosis of PAS.

Exploiting the Receptor-Binding Domains of R-Spondin 1 to Target Leucine-Rich Repeat-Containin G-Coupled Protein Receptor 5-Expressing Stem Cells in Ovarian Cancer.

Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor (LGR5) and LGR6 mark epithelial stem cells in normal tissues and tumors. They are expressed by stem cells in the ovarian surface and fallopian tube epithelia from which ovarian cancer arises. High-grade serous ovarian cancer is unique in expressing unusually high levels of LGR5 and LGR6 mRNA.

Monocyte subtype expression patterns in septic patients with diabetes are distinct from patterns observed in obese patients.

Background: Sepsis causes a high rate of mortality and long-term morbidity, associated with an imbalance of innate immunity against infections and inflammation. Obesity and diabetes increase the risk for disease severity. Monocyte dysfunction plays a major role and justify further investigations.