Long-term quality of life and surgical outcome of female congenital adrenal hyperplasia patients.

Aim: To investigate the long-term quality of life and surgical outcome of female patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).

Methods: Questionnaires for health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcome (WHO-5, SF-36), lower urinary tract symptoms (ICIQ-FLUTS) and sexual outcome (ICIQ-FLUTSsex) were administered to adult CAH patients. Paediatric CAH patients and their parents were invited to complete WHO-5, PedsQL-4.

Brief Report: Depression, Substance Use, and Factors Associated With Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Adults Living With HIV in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Background: Mental health and substance use disorders are common among people living with HIV and are associated with high-risk sexual behaviors, such as unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners, but Asia-Pacific data are limited.

Methods: Adult PLHIV in care at five Asia-Pacific HIV clinics were enrolled at routine clinic visits between July 2019 and June 2020. Depression, substance use, sexual practice and socio-demographic data were collected using PHQ-9, ASSIST, and a study-specific questionnaire.

Evaluation of four machine learning methods in predicting orthodontic extraction decision from clinical examination data and analysis of feature contribution.

Introduction: The study aims to predict tooth extraction decision based on four machine learning methods and analyze the feature contribution, so as to shed light on the important basis for experts of tooth extraction planning, providing reference for orthodontic treatment planning.

Methods: This study collected clinical information of 192 patients with malocclusion diagnosis and treatment plans. This study used four machine learning strategies, including decision tree, random forest, support vector machine (SVM) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) to predict orthodontic extraction decisions on clinical examination data acquired during initial consultant containing Angle classification, skeletal classification, maxillary and mandibular crowding, overjet, overbite, upper and lower incisor inclination, vertical growth pattern, lateral facial profile.

Clonal Hematopoiesis and Clinical Outcomes in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients Given Androgen Receptor Pathway Inhibitors (Alliance A031201).

Purpose: Mutations in hematopoietic progenitor cells accumulate with age leading to clonal expansion, termed clonal hematopoiesis (CH). CH in the general population is associated with hematopoietic neoplasms and reduced overall survival (OS), predominantly through cardiovascular adverse events (CVAE). Because androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPI) used in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) are also associated with CVAEs and because CH negatively impacted survival in an advanced solid tumor cohort, we hypothesized that CH in mCRPC may be associated with increased CVAEs and inferior survival.

Exposure-Response-Based Multiattribute Clinical Utility Score Framework to Facilitate Optimal Dose Selection for Oncology Drugs.

Purpose: The advent of new therapeutic modalities highlighted deficiencies in the traditional maximum tolerated dose approach for oncology drug dose selection and prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s initiative, which suggests that sponsors take a holistic approach, including efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic data, in conjunction with integrated exposure-response (ER) analyses. However, this method comes with an inherent challenge of the collation of the multisource data. To address this issue, an ER-based clinical utility score (CUS) framework, combining benefit and risk into a single measurement, was developed.

Social, Behavioral, and Clinical Risk Factors Are Associated with Clonal Hematopoiesis.

Background: Risk factors including smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity (PA), and sleep patterns have been associated with cancer risk. Clonal hematopoiesis (CH), including mosaic chromosomal alterations and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential, is linked to increased hematopoietic cancer risk and could be used as common preclinical intermediates for the better understanding of associations of risk factors with rare hematologic malignancies.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from 478,513 UK Biobank participants without hematologic malignancies using multivariable-adjusted analyses to assess the associations between lifestyle factors and CH types.

Comparative Outcomes of Single-Stage versus Two-Stage Laparoscopic Fowler-Stephens Orchidopexy: A Systematic Review snd Meta-Analysis.

Introduction:  Intra-abdominal testis (IAT) remains a challenging and controversial subset within the management of cryptorchidism. While Fowler-Stephens orchidopexy (FSO) is still being advocated as the gold standard for the treatment of this entity, there is new and conflicting evidence on the comparative outcomes between single- or two-stage laparoscopic FSO (LFSO). The aim of the study is to investigate whether staging has benefits in children receiving LFSO.

Pattern Matters in the Aposematic Colouration of Butterflies.

Many toxic animals display bright colour patterns to warn predators about their toxicity. This sometimes leads other sympatric palatable organisms to evolve mimetic colour patterns to also evade predation. These mimics, however, are often imperfect, and it is unclear how much their colour patterns can vary away from the model before they become ineffective.

Potential prognostic indicators in dogs with advanced heart failure secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Background: Advanced heart failure (AHF) secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) in dogs has unclear predictive variables and survival time.

Methods: This retrospective study included 38 dogs with AHF and 38 with stable congestive heart failure (CHF), both due to MMVD. Predictive variables for AHF were analysed, and survival times were calculated using logistic regression and the Kaplan-Meier method.

Diagnostic Accuracy of SPECT for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Purpose: This study examines the diagnostic accuracy of brain perfusion SPECT for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Patients And Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed according to PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO: CRD42023484636). Five databases were searched for studies evaluating brain perfusion SPECT in adult patients with mTBI (GCS 13-15).

Future avenues in mushroom body research.

How does the brain translate sensory information into complex behaviors? With relatively small neuronal numbers, readable behavioral outputs, and an unparalleled genetic toolkit, the mushroom body (MB) offers an excellent model to address this question in the context of associative learning and memory. Recent technological breakthroughs, such as the freshly completed full-brain connectome, multiomics approaches, CRISPR-mediated gene editing, and machine learning techniques, led to major advancements in our understanding of the MB circuit at the molecular, structural, physiological, and functional levels. Despite significant progress in individual MB areas, the field still faces the fundamental challenge of resolving how these different levels combine and interact to ultimately control the behavior of an individual fly.

Interactive effects of participant and stimulus race on cognitive performance in youth: Insights from the ABCD study.

An extensive literature shows that race information can impact cognitive performance. Two key findings include an attentional bias to Black racial cues in U.S.

Impact of cancer therapy on clonal hematopoiesis mutations and subsequent clinical outcomes.

Exposure to cancer therapies is associated with an increased risk of clonal hematopoiesis (CH). The objective of our study was to investigate the genesis and evolution of CH after cancer therapy. In this prospective study, we undertook error-corrected duplex DNA sequencing in blood samples collected before and at 2 time points after chemoradiation in patients with esophageal or lung cancer recruited from 2013 to 2018.

Digital droplet PCR analysis of organoids generated from mouse mammary tumors demonstrates proof-of-concept capture of tumor heterogeneity.

Breast cancer metastases exhibit many different genetic alterations, including copy number amplifications (CNA). CNA are genetic alterations that are increasingly becoming relevant to breast oncology clinical practice. Here we identify CNA in metastatic breast tumor samples using publicly available datasets and characterize their expression and function using a metastatic mouse model of breast cancer.

Enhancing neonatal thoracoscopic surgical training with rabbit model.

Background: Thoracoscopy, which has an increasing role in the treatment of indexed neonatal surgical conditions, requires adequate training. To support this, the current study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of using live rabbit models in neonatal thoracoscopic skills training among paediatric surgeons.

Methods: Following didactic lectures and demonstrations, the participants were given hands-on opportunities to perform thoracoscopic procedures.

Health optimization of older people in prison.

This article examines the leadership challenges of prison healthcare, specifically focusing on the ageing inmate population. It highlights the distinct health burdens faced by this demographic, including higher disease prevalence and an accelerated ageing process. The concept of prison activities of daily living is central to addressing these challenges, emphasizing the need to tailor health assessments and care plans to the unique prisoner-environment interactions.

A comprehensive single-cell breast tumor atlas defines epithelial and immune heterogeneity and interactions predicting anti-PD-1 therapy response.

We present an integrated single-cell RNA sequencing atlas of the primary breast tumor microenvironment (TME) containing 236,363 cells from 119 biopsy samples across eight datasets. In this study, we leverage this resource for multiple analyses of immune and cancer epithelial cell heterogeneity. We define natural killer (NK) cell heterogeneity through six subsets in the breast TME.

Assessing the Role of Cortisol in Anxiety, Major Depression, and Neuroticism: A Mendelian Randomization Study Using / Variants.

Background: Previous evidence informed by the toxic stress model suggests that higher cortisol causes anxiety and major depression, but clinical success is lacking. To clarify the role of cortisol, we used Mendelian randomization to estimate its associations with anxiety, major depression, and neuroticism, leveraging the largest available genome-wide association studies including from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, the UK Biobank, and FinnGen.

Methods: After meta-analyzing 2 genome-wide association studies on morning plasma cortisol ( = 32,981), we selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at < 5 × 10 and < 0.