Changes in thoracic erector spinae regional activation during postural adjustments and functional reaching tasks after spinal cord injury.

Many individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) exhibit reduced volitional control of trunk muscles, such as impaired voluntary contractions of the erector spinae (ES), due to damage to the neural pathways regulating sensorimotor function. Studies using conventional bipolar electromyography (EMG) showed alterations in the overall, or global, activation of the trunk muscles in people with SCI. However, how activation varied across specific regions within the ES, referred to as regional activation, remains unknown.

Implementation effectiveness of 'Problem solving for better health' training in Lesotho using mixed methods and the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance (RE-AIM) framework.

Background: Healthcare resources have been concentrated in urban areas, leaving rural regions vulnerable to poorer health outcomes. The Problem Solving for Better Health (PSBH) program was implemented to enhance healthcare systems in resource-limited regions by training personnel to maximize existing resources in problem-solving. This study evaluated the implementation effectiveness of PSBH-Nursing (PSBHN), a nationally led initiative to train nurses in PSBH in Lesotho.

Cost and activity analysis for a citywide patient navigation intervention to engage underserved patients in breast cancer treatment: Findings from the Translating Research Into Practice study.

Background: Patient navigation is an evidence-based intervention for reducing delays in cancer care for underserved populations. There are limited economic evaluations of patient navigation in the US health care system and few have considered costs at various phases along the implementation spectrum. Having economic data, including costs and cost savings, can support sustainability of patient navigation programs.

Associations Between Retinal Vascular Occlusions and Dementia.

Background/objectives: Retinal vascular occlusions, such as retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and retinal artery occlusion (RAO), are associated with cognitive impairment, including dementia. Our objective was to examine the odds of dementia among patients with retinal vascular occlusion.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 474 patients with retinal vascular occlusion and 948 patients without retinal vascular occlusion (comparison group).

Emergency Care Use During Pregnancy and Severe Maternal Morbidity.

Importance: Pregnant individuals who repeatedly use emergency care during pregnancy represent a population who could be disproportionately vulnerable to harm, including severe maternal morbidity (SMM).

Objective: To explore patterns of unscheduled care visits during pregnancy and ascertain its association with SMM at the time of birth.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study used data from a statewide database that linked hospital records to births and fetal deaths occurring between October 1, 2002, and March 31, 2020, in Massachusetts.

Organizational readiness to implement bundled interventions to increase HIV linkage and retention in care and treatment: results from the Black Women First (BWF) initiative.

Background: Evidence-based and evidence-informed interventions designed to address gaps in the HIV care continuum have the potential to improve HIV care and treatment. However, inadequate organizational readiness can derail intervention uptake, prevent the integration of interventions, and contribute to suboptimal HIV treatment outcomes. This study sought to understand organizational readiness to implement bundled interventions for Black women with HIV and inform facilitators and barriers to implementation.

Return-on-Investment Analysis of an Enhanced Community Doula Program: Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Considerations.

Background: Community doulas are perinatal health workers who provide peer education, resource navigation, and support during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Evidence suggests that doulas improve the experience of care, reduce cesarean birth, and improve breastfeeding outcomes. However, people with low incomes cannot access affordable community doula support in most states due to lack of insurance reimbursement.

Nanoenabled IL-15 Superagonist via Conditionally Stabilized Protein-Protein Interactions Eradicates Solid Tumors by Precise Immunomodulation.

Protein complexes are crucial structures that control many biological processes. Harnessing these structures could be valuable for therapeutic therapy. However, their instability and short lifespans need to be addressed for effective use.

Massachusetts Medicaid ACO Program May Have Improved Care Use And Quality For Pregnant And Postpartum Enrollees.

Value-based care models, such as Medicaid accountable care organizations (ACOs), have the potential to improve access to and quality of care for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid enrollees. We leveraged a natural experiment in Massachusetts to evaluate the effects of Medicaid ACOs on quality-of-care-sensitive measures and care use across the prenatal, delivery, and postpartum periods. Using all-payer claims data on Medicaid-covered live deliveries in Massachusetts, we used a difference-in-differences approach to compare measures before (the first quarter of 2016 through the fourth quarter of 2017) and after (the third quarter of 2018 through the fourth quarter of 2020) Medicaid ACO implementation among ACO and non-ACO patients.

Master Regulators of Causal Networks in Intestinal- and Diffuse-Type Gastric Cancer and the Relation to the RNA Virus Infection Pathway.

Causal networks are important for understanding disease signaling alterations. To reveal the network pathways affected in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are related to the poor prognosis of cancer, the molecular networks and gene expression in diffuse- and intestinal-type gastric cancer (GC) were analyzed. The network pathways in GC were analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA).

Glucosylated Nanovaccines for Dendritic Cell-Targeted Antigen Delivery and Amplified Cancer Immunotherapy.

Engineering nanovaccines capable of targeting dendritic cells (DCs) is desperately required to maximize antigen cross-presentation to effector immune cells, elicit strong immune responses, and avoid adverse reactions. Here, we showed that glucose transporter 1 (Glut-1) on DCs is a reliable target for delivering antigens to DCs, and thus, a versatile antigen delivery strategy using glucosylated nanovaccines was developed for DC-targeted antigen delivery and tumor immunotherapy. The developed glucosylated ovalbumin-loaded nanovaccines highly accumulated in lymph nodes and efficiently engaged with Glut-1 on DCs to accelerate intracellular antigen delivery and promote DC maturation and antigen presentation, which elicited potent antitumor immunity to prevent and inhibit ovalbumin-expressing melanoma.

The Effect of Experimentally Induced Pain in the Cervical, Shoulder, or Orofacial Regions on Cervical Neuromuscular and Kinematic Features: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

In this systematic review, we synthesize the literature investigating the effect of experimentally induced pain in the cervical, shoulder, or orofacial regions on cervical neuromuscular and kinematic features. Databases were searched up to November 1, 2023. A total of 29 studies using hypertonic saline injection (n = 27) or glutamate injection (n = 2) as experimental pain models were included.

Long-term trends in the functional structure of estuarine fish assemblages in a subtropical estuary and its relationships with local environmental variability, man-made changes, and climatic drivers.

Climate and anthropogenic impacts are prevalent in marine and estuarine ecosystems. Rapid environmental changes have altered biological diversity and the ecological services associated with ecosystems around the world. The consequences of these impacts on estuarine ecosystems are worrying, given that estuaries are essential habitats for maintaining the diversity of species functions, as they act as sources for larger ecosystems through the recruitment and replacement of species.

Assessing the Feasibility of EMG Biofeedback to Reduce the Upper Trapezius Muscle Excitation during a Seated Row Exercise, a Non-randomized Comparative Study.

The upper trapezius muscle is often excessively excited during resistance training exercises, increasing the shoulder's liability to musculoskeletal disorders of individuals participating in overhead sports or throwing activities. Different approaches have been proposed for reducing the potentially harmful loading of the upper trapezius. None, however, has been devised to deal directly with the main culprit: the muscle excitation.

Advancing Patient Navigation for HIV: Evaluating Models of Care for Housing and Employment.

People with HIV face challenges securing housing and employment. Patient navigation is an effective intervention that can improve the receipt of these services, which have been linked to better health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess implementation of patient navigation in diverse delivery settings.

Enhanced saccharification levels of corn starch using as a strategy a novel amylolytic complex (AmyHb) from the thermophilic fungus var. in association with commercial enzyme.

Amylases represent a versatile group of catalysts that are used for the saccharification of starch because they can hydrolyze the glycosidic bonds of starch molecules to release glucose, maltose, and short-chain oligosaccharides. The amylolytic complex of the thermophilic filamentous fungus var (AmyHb) was produced, biochemically characterized, and compared with the commercial amylase Termamyl. In addition, the biotechnological application of AmyHb in starch saccharification was investigated.

Leveraging a Longitudinally Linked Dataset to Assess Recurrence of Severe Maternal Morbidity.

Objectives: Among those with a severe maternal morbidity (SMM) event and a subsequent birth, we examined how the risk of a second SMM event varied by patient characteristics and intrapartum hospital utilization.

Methods: We used a Massachusetts population-based dataset that longitudinally linked in-state births, hospital discharge records, prior and subsequent births, and non-birth-related hospital utilizations for birthing individuals and their children from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2018, representing 1,460,514 births by 907,530 birthing people. We restricted our study sample to 2,814 people who had their first SMM event associated with a singleton birth and gave birth a second time within the study period.

Triphenylphosphonium-modified catiomers enhance mRNA delivery through stabilized polyion complexation.

Nanocarriers based on cationic materials play a central role in the success of mRNA-based therapies. Traditionally, amine-bearing lipids and polymers have been successfully employed for creating mRNA-loaded nanocarriers, though they still present challenges, such as physical and biological instability, limiting both delivery efficiency and therapeutic potential. Non-amine cations could be a promising avenue in addressing these limitations.

Implementation of social needs screening for minoritized patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer: a mixed methods evaluation in a pragmatic patient navigation trial.

Background: Social needs inhibit receipt of timely medical care. Social needs screening is a vital part of comprehensive cancer care, and patient navigators are well-positioned to screen for and address social needs. This mixed methods project describes social needs screening implementation in a prospective pragmatic patient navigation intervention trial for minoritized women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

Response of Fusarium oxysporum soil isolate to amphotericin B and fluconazole at the proteomic level.

Fusarium oxysporum is a cross-kingdom pathogen that infects humans, animals, and plants. The primary concern regarding this genus revolves around its resistance profile to multiple classes of antifungals, particularly azoles. However, the resistance mechanism employed by Fusarium spp.