Geospatial Clustering of 9-1-1 Responses for Pediatric Firearm Injuries Over Time.

Objectives: We evaluated spatial clustering of pediatric firearm injuries using national 9-1-1 emergency medical services (EMS) responses, locations where these events occurred, and geographic changes over time.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2022 using 9-1-1 EMS responses for children in 50 states from the National EMS Information Systems (NEMSIS). For 37 states with continuous data over the study period, we evaluated spatial changes over time.

Racialized economic segregation and youth firearm carriage: community violence as a mediator.

Firearm carriage poses a significant public health challenge, especially for youth (ages 14-24) living in predominantly Black communities that endured racial and economic segregation. Structural racism is a determinant of fatal and nonfatal firearm assaults, but the influence of structural racism on youth firearm carriage has received limited attention. Our study examines whether community violence exposure mediates the association between racialized economic segregation and youth firearm carriage.

The Extremely High Risk Category Model for Nonfatal Strangulation.

Aims: This study investigates the risk factors and prevalence of nonfatal strangulation (NFS) within the contexts of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, with a particular focus on the demographic and relational dynamics that influence its occurrence.

Design/methods: A comprehensive literature review was undertaken, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative data from existing research on NFS.

Results: The Extremely High Risk Category Conceptual Model for NFS emerged as an innovative, investigator-developed framework that synthesizes the current literature on factors associated with NFS risk.

Adaptive interventions for alcohol misuse and violent behaviors among adolescents and emerging adults in the emergency department: Outcomes from a sequential multiple assignment randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Harnessing technology for delivery of behavioral health interventions to reduce alcohol use and aggression may reduce morbidity among youth. This paper describes the outcomes from a sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial (SMART) testing interventions for youth (ages 14-20) in the emergency department (ED).

Methods: Youth (n = 400) in the ED screening positive for binge drinking and aggression received the SafERteens brief intervention (BI) and were randomly assigned to boosters: Text Messages (TM) or Health Coach (HC) (1st stage; weeks 1-4).

Genomic alterations and transcriptional phenotypes in circulating free DNA and matched metastatic tumor.

Background: Profiling circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has become a fundamental practice in cancer medicine, but the effectiveness of cfDNA at elucidating tumor-derived molecular features has not been systematically compared to standard single-lesion tumor biopsies in prospective cohorts of patients. The use of plasma instead of tissue to guide therapy is particularly attractive for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), due to the aggressive clinical course of this cancer, which makes obtaining tumor biopsies exceedingly challenging.

Methods: In this study, we analyzed a prospective cohort of 49 plasma samples obtained before, during, and after treatment from 20 patients with recurrent SCLC.

Economic burden of cardiovascular disease in the United Kingdom (UK).

Background And Aims: Direct (medical and non-medical) and indirect (production losses and informal care) costs of cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been captured in two previous United Kingdom (UK) cost-of-illness studies, but the areas of long-term care and medical device costs were neglected. We aimed to quantify the economic burden of CVD in the UK from a societal perspective between fiscal years 2019/20 to 2021/22.

Methods: Mixed-methods study in a prevalence-based retrospective review of economic costs focused on the public sector.

Females with Attractive Mates Gain Environmental Benefits That Increase Lifetime and Multigenerational Fitness.

AbstractResolving the degree to which environmental (direct) versus genetic (indirect) benefits shape female mate choice is a long-standing challenge, particularly for socially monogamous species where male environmental and genetic contributions are difficult to disentangle. This study combines long-term population monitoring with quantitative genetic analyses in a socially monogamous but sexually promiscuous Australian songbird to demonstrate that female mating preferences are driven by nongenetic environmental benefits that increase the fitness of both the female and her offspring. Male Red-backed Fairywrens () flexibly breed in either ornamented or unornamented plumage, and females consistently prefer ornamented males.

Phylodynamic analysis of a prolonged meningococcal epidemic reveals multiple introductions and pre-epidemic expansion.

Neisseria meningitidis is the causative agent of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD), a form of bacterial meningitis and septicaemia, leading to isolated cases, outbreaks, and epidemics worldwide. Between 1991 and 2008, Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) experienced a prolonged hyperendemic group B IMD outbreak caused by the NZMenB epidemic strain, belonging to clonal-complex 41/44 (cc41/44) and identified by the PorA variant P1.7-2,4 (B:4:P1.

Exploring a Patient-Centered Methodology to Identify Suitable Proxy Conditions as a Source for Utility Data, Using Alopecia Areata as a Case Example.

Objectives: In the absence of EQ-5D utility data, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends sourcing utility values from a proxy health condition, provided that data indicate that the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impact of the conditions is similar. Given that there is no standard practice for identifying proxy conditions, this study presents a patient-centered approach for selecting a proxy condition, using alopecia areata (AA) as an example.

Methods: A structured electronic search was conducted to identify conceptual models for conditions similar to AA with overlapping HRQoL domains.

Circulating Tumor DNA Dynamics and Clinical Outcome in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Undergoing Front-Line Chemotherapy.

Purpose: We tested whether circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) changes may be used to assess early response and clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) undergoing first-line systemic anticancer therapy (SACT).

Experimental Design: Eight hundred sixty-two plasma samples were collected 4-weekly from baseline (BL) until disease progression in patients with mCRC receiving first-line SACT. ctDNA was tested using tissue-agnostic next-generation sequencing panels.

Firearm Injury Risk Prediction Among Children Transported by 9-1-1 Emergency Medical Services: A Machine Learning Analysis.

Objective: Among children transported by ambulance across the United States, we used machine learning models to develop a risk prediction tool for firearm injury using basic demographic information and home ZIP code matched to publicly available data sources.

Methods: We included children and adolescents 0-17 years transported by ambulance to acute care hospitals in 47 states from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2022. We used 96 predictors, including basic demographic information and neighborhood measures matched to home ZIP code from 5 data sources: EMS records, American Community Survey, Child Opportunity Index, County Health Rankings, and Social Vulnerability Index.

Dementia advance care planning perspectives within an Alabama community: A theory guided qualitative study.

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a process that supports decision-making about end-of-life goals. Dementia ACP is recommended during the early stages of the disease to empower the individual living with dementia to express wishes for quality of life before experiencing significant cognitive decline. ACP during early dementia is rare, and hesitancy to initiate difficult and emotional conversations may be a contributing factor to delaying ACP.

Firearm possession among emergency department youth and young adults: A latent class analysis.

Introduction: Firearm injuries are a leading cause of death for youth/young-adults. We utilized latent class analysis to identify distinct motivational/behavioral patterns of firearm possession in a youth/young-adult emergency department sample to inform prevention strategies.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained from surveys conducted among youth/young-adults (age = 16-29; n = 1311) seeking emergency department treatment (7/10/2017-6/25/2018).

Tumor Heterogeneity and Cooperating Cancer Hallmarks Driven by Divergent EMT Programs.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is known to play roles in orchestrating cellular plasticity across many physiological and pathological contexts. Partial EMT, wherein cells maintain both epithelial and mesenchymal features, is gaining recognition for its functional importance in cancer in recent years. There are many factors regulating both partial and full EMT, and the precise mechanisms underlying these processes vary depending on the biological context.

Association between community violence exposure and teen parental firearm ownership: data from a nationally representative study.

Background: Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death for U.S. adolescents.

Incidental finding of leukaemia in circulating tumour DNA- the importance of a molecular tumour board.

As the use of liquid biopsies are increasing across multiple indications in cancer medicine, the detection of incidental findings on circulating tumour DNA is of increasing importance. We report the finding of leukaemia detected in a patient who underwent plasma-based circulating tumour DNA next generation screening as part of a screening liquid biopsy study. A BRAF V600E mutation detected was deemed pathogenic following discussion at a molecular tumour board, and recommendation of further investigations led to the diagnosis of an occult haematological malignancy.

Contextual Factors Influencing Firearm Deaths Occurring Among Children.

Objectives: Contextual factors that contribute to firearm injuries among children aged 0 to 10 are not well understood.

Methods: A retrospective review of the National Fatality Review-Case Reporting System was conducted for firearm deaths of children aged 0 to 10 from 2004 to 2020. Descriptive analyses characterized child and parent demographics, incident details, firearm characteristics, and firearm use.

Immunogenicity risk assessment and mitigation for engineered antibody and protein therapeutics.

Remarkable progress has been made in recent decades in engineering antibodies and other protein therapeutics, including enhancements to existing functions as well as the advent of novel molecules that confer biological activities previously unknown in nature. These protein therapeutics have brought major benefits to patients across multiple areas of medicine. One major ongoing challenge is that protein therapeutics can elicit unwanted immune responses (immunogenicity) in treated patients, including the generation of anti-drug antibodies.

Perspectives on the Dementia Public Health Exposome.

Dementia is a public health concern in the aging population with an estimated 55 million people impacted globally. Public health initiatives that focus on minimizing dementia risk factors may support efforts to reduce the incidence of dementia in at-risk populations. Exposomics considers both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for disease, including genetic changes with age and lifetime exposures to environmental, social, and behavioral risk factors.

Advancing Science to Prevent Firearm Violence in Communities: A Process for Harmonizing Studies to Develop Research Infrastructure.

The Community Firearm Violence Prevention Network (CFVP Network), funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), supports a network of research projects that develop and test interventions through collaborations with community partners to prevent firearm violence, injury, and mortality. The CFVP Network presents a unique opportunity to accelerate the science of preventing firearm injuries. The data harmonization workgroup of the CFVP Network led the process of aligning studies across the three unique inaugural network projects, with particular attention to how the CFVP Network could address current gaps in the science.

Firearm violence and associated factors among young adults presenting to emergency departments in three cities: Baseline results from Project SPARK.

Objective: Recent shifts in U.S. violence dynamics call for updated violence epidemiology among general emergency department (ED) samples of young adults.