Unpacking the COVID-19 roadway fatality paradox: an analysis of motor vehicle crashes in Michigan 2019-2022.

Objectives: Motor vehicle travel shifts during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in fewer vehicle miles traveled yet paradoxically higher fatality rates. Anecdotally, the paradox was blamed on increases in risky behavior in the absence of regular traffic and enforcement. We examined three hypotheses to explain the fatality paradox using Michigan crash data: (1) lack of congestion led to higher-speed impacts; (2) increased risky driver/driving; and (3) low-risk driving miles decreased.

Validation of a Passive Solar Drying System Using Pineapple.

Wasted produce is a pertinent issue in agriculture, with billions of tons of produce going to waste even before it hits markets. Specifically, in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), nearly half of all produce is lost before market. To combat this, the Agricycle passive solar drier was designed to provide a cost-effective method of drying fruit for preservation.

Functional Electrical Stimulation of the Lateral Knee Muscles Can Reduce Peak Knee Adduction Moment during Stepping: A Pilot Study.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is an age-dependent disease dominantly affected by mechanical loading. Balancing the forces acting on the medial knee compartment has been the focus of KOA interventions. This pilot study investigated the effects of functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the biceps femoris and lateral gastrocnemius on reducing peak knee adduction moment (pKAM) in healthy adults and individuals with medial KOA while stepping on an instrumented elliptical system.

Determining Individualized Foot Progression Angle for Reduction of Knee Medial Compartment Loading during Stepping.

Purpose: Modifying foot progression angle (FPA), the angle between the line from the heel to the second metatarsal head and the line of progression, can reduce peak knee adduction moment (pKAM). However, determining the optimal FPA that minimizes pKAM without inducing unnatural walking patterns can be challenging. This study investigated the FPA-pKAM relationship using a robotic stepping trainer to assess the feasibility of determining the optimal FPA based on this relationship.

Whole genome sequencing for copy number variant detection to improve diagnosis and management of rare diseases.

First-line genetic investigations for rare neurological and developmental conditions have limitations in their ability to detect and characterize copy number variants (CNVs). Whole genome sequencing (WGS) offers potential advantages over other methods of CNV analysis. We aimed to demonstrate the utility of CNV detection using WGS through description of three clinical cases.

Acute Response to Training after Returning from the Off-Season in Elite Rugby League Athletes.

The purposes of this study were to quantify the physiological response to the initial two-week preseason period in elite male rugby league (RL) athletes, and to determine if a repeated bout effect (RBE) occurs. Eighteen RL players were monitored for the initial two-week preseason period. Blood samples were collected on days (D)1, D2, D4, D5, D8, D9, D11 and D12 to measure creatine kinase (CK).

Developing transmissible vaccines for animal infections.

Intrinsically safe designs and a staged transparent development process will be essential.

Electrically stimulated in vitro heart cell mimic of acute exercise reveals novel immediate cellular responses to exercise: Reduced contractility and metabolism, but maintained calcium cycling and increased myofilament calcium sensitivity.

Cardiac cellular responses to acute exercise remain undescribed. We present a model for mimicking acute aerobic endurance exercise to freshly isolated cardiomyocytes by evoking exercise-like contractions over prolonged periods of time with trains of electrical twitch stimulations. We then investigated immediate contractile, Ca , and metabolic responses to acute exercise in perfused freshly isolated left ventricular rat cardiomyocytes, after a matrix-design optimized protocol and induced a mimic for acute aerobic endurance exercise by trains of prolonged field twitch stimulations.

Incretin hormone responses to carbohydrate and protein/fat are preserved in adults with sulfonylurea-treated KCNJ11 neonatal diabetes.

The incretin hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), are thought to be the main drivers of insulin secretion in individuals with sulfonylurea (SU)-treated KCNJ11 permanent neonatal diabetes. The aim of this study was to assess for the first time the incretin hormone response to carbohydrate and protein/fat in adults with sulfonylurea-treated KCNJ11 permanent neonatal diabetes compared with that of controls without diabetes. Participants were given a breakfast high in carbohydrate and an isocaloric breakfast high in protein/fat on two different mornings.

James S. Jackson and the program for research on Black Americans: Contributions to psychology and the social sciences.

James S. Jackson (1944-2020) is remembered as a groundbreaking social psychologist whose career contributions in scholarship, research, and service were fundamental to the field of psychology. This article briefly outlines his career-long work and contributions.

Understanding the new trends in pedestrian injury distribution and mechanism through data linkage and modeling.

The objectives of this study were to 1) collect and analyze recent pedestrian crash cases for better understanding of the pedestrian injury distribution and mechanism, 2) use computational simulations to reconstruct pedestrian cases and estimate potential benefit of pedestrian automatic emergency braking (PedAEB) in reducing pedestrian injury risks, and 3) estimate how future pedestrian crash distribution might influence priorities for pedestrian protection. Analyses of national crash-injury dataset showed that the overall number of pedestrians in crashes as well as the serious and fatal pedestrian injuries in the U.S.

Evaluation of the predicted vs. achieved occlusal outcomes with the Invisalign® appliance: A retrospective investigation of adult patients.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between occlusal contacts, overbite, transverse expansion, and the buccolingual inclination of the teeth with reference to the predicted treatment outcomes and achieved outcomes related to the use of the Invisalign® appliance in mild-to-moderate Class I malocclusions.

Material And Methods: The occlusal contacts, overbite, the buccolingual inclination and transverse expansion of the maxillary arch of adult patients satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria were measured at the initial (pre-treatment), predicted, and achieved treatment stages using metrology software. Pearson correlation coefficients and regression equations were calculated to determine the association between the initial, predicted and achieved changes in occlusal contact against the other variables.

Occlusal contacts and treatment with the Invisalign appliance: a retrospective analysis of predicted vs achieved outcomes.

Objectives: To quantify the predicted occlusal contact outcomes compared with the clinically achieved occlusal contacts following treatment using the Invisalign aligner appliance.

Materials And Methods: The occlusal contacts of 33 adult patients presenting with a Class I mild-to-moderate malocclusion (spacing <4 mm or crowding of <6 mm) and treated using the Invisalign appliance were measured at the initial, predicted, and achieved stages of treatment by the metrology software Geomagic Control X. Assessed measurements were related to individual teeth and anterior, posterior, and overall contacts.

GLUT4 translocation and dispersal operate in multiple cell types and are negatively correlated with cell size in adipocytes.

The regulated translocation of the glucose transporter, GLUT4, to the surface of adipocytes and muscle is a key action of insulin. This is underpinned by the delivery and fusion of GLUT4-containing vesicles with the plasma membrane. Recent studies have revealed that a further action of insulin is to mediate the dispersal of GLUT4 molecules away from the site of GLUT4 vesicle fusion with the plasma membrane.

Interventions to Enhance Medication Safety in Residential Aged-care Settings: An Umbrella Review.

Aim: To conduct a systematic synthesis of existing evidence reviews on interventions to enhance medication safety in residential aged-care settings (RACS) to establish and compare their effectiveness.

Method: This umbrella review included examination of meta-analyses, scoping and systematic reviews. Four electronic databases were examined for eligible reviews.

Novel perspectives of super-high dose sulfonylurea and high-dose oral prednisolone in an infant with DEND syndrome due to V64M heterozygote KCNJ11 mutation.

Aims: To report a novel mutation associated with developmental delay, epilepsy, and neonatal diabetes-DEND Syndrome, responsive to a novel management combination.

Methods: We describe the investigation, treatment, and genetic diagnosis of a newborn diagnosed with DEND syndrome.

Results: The patient was found to be de-novo heterozygous for pathogenic KCNJ11 missense variant: c.

Run for your life: can exercise be used to effectively target GLUT4 in diabetic cardiac disease?

The global incidence, associated mortality rates and economic burden of diabetes are now such that it is considered one of the most pressing worldwide public health challenges. Considerable research is now devoted to better understanding the mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of this disease, with an ultimate aim of improving the array of available preventive and therapeutic interventions. One area of particular unmet clinical need is the significantly elevated rate of cardiomyopathy in diabetic patients, which in part contributes to cardiovascular disease being the primary cause of premature death in this population.

Long-term Follow-up of Glycemic and Neurological Outcomes in an International Series of Patients With Sulfonylurea-Treated Permanent Neonatal Diabetes.

Objective: mutations cause neonatal diabetes mellitus that can be transient (TNDM) or, less commonly, permanent (PNDM); ∼90% of individuals can be treated with oral sulfonylureas instead of insulin. Previous studies suggested that people with PNDM require lower sulfonylurea doses and have milder neurological features than those with PNDM. However, these studies were short-term and included combinations of -PNDM and -TNDM.

Community engagement to implement evidence-based practices in the HEALing communities study.

Background: The implementation of evidence-based practices to reduce opioid overdose deaths within communities remains suboptimal. Community engagement can improve the uptake and sustainability of evidence-based practices. The HEALing Communities Study (HCS) aims to reduce opioid overdose deaths through the Communities That HEAL (CTH) intervention, a community-engaged, data-driven planning process that will be implemented in 67 communities across four states.

Patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria demonstrate a prothrombotic clotting phenotype which is improved by complement inhibition with eculizumab.

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare hematological disorder, characterized by complement-mediated intravascular hemolysis and thrombosis. The increased incidence of PNH-driven thrombosis is still poorly understood, but unlike other thrombotic disorders, is thought to largely occur through complement-mediated mechanisms. Treatment with a C5 inhibitor, eculizumab, has been shown to significantly reduce the number of thromboembolic events in these patients.

Update of variants identified in the pancreatic β-cell K channel genes KCNJ11 and ABCC8 in individuals with congenital hyperinsulinism and diabetes.

The most common genetic cause of neonatal diabetes and hyperinsulinism is pathogenic variants in ABCC8 and KCNJ11. These genes encode the subunits of the β-cell ATP-sensitive potassium channel, a key component of the glucose-stimulated insulin secretion pathway. Mutations in the two genes cause dysregulated insulin secretion; inactivating mutations cause an oversecretion of insulin, leading to congenital hyperinsulinism, whereas activating mutations cause the opposing phenotype, diabetes.

Effectiveness of an Advanced Airway Training "Boot Camp" for Family Medicine Physician Trainees.

Objective: This course was designed to characterize the impact of a curriculum for training family medicine physicians in advanced airway techniques with respect to intubation performance and learner confidence.

Methods: A training course was introduced into the curriculum in a single-group pretest-posttest model at a community family medicine residency program. Training consisted of a didactic teaching session on airway management and hands-on skill session with direct laryngoscopy (DL) and video-assisted laryngoscopy (VAL) on normal and difficult airway simulators.

Cardiac SNARE Expression in Health and Disease.

SNARE proteins are integral to intracellular vesicular trafficking, which in turn is the process underlying the regulated expression of substrate transporters such as the glucose transporter GLUT4 at the cell surface of insulin target tissues. Impaired insulin stimulated GLUT4 trafficking is associated with reduced cardiac function in many disease states, most notably diabetes. Despite this, our understanding of the expression and regulation of SNARE proteins in cardiac tissue and how these may change in diabetes is limited.