Blockade of endothelin receptors mitigates SARS-CoV-2-induced osteoarthritis.

Joint pain and osteoarthritis can occur as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) sequelae after infection. However, little is known about the damage to articular cartilage. Here we illustrate knee joint damage after wild-type, Delta and Omicron variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in vivo.

Evaluation of potency and metabolic stability of diphyllin-derived Vacuolar-ATPase inhibitors.

Diphyllin is a naturally occurring lignan comprised of an aryl naphthalene lactone scaffold that demonstrates beneficial biological activities in disease models of cancer, obesity, and viral infection. A target of diphyllin and naturally occurring derivatives is the vacuolar ATPase (V-ATPase) complex. Although diphyllin-related natural products are active with in vitro models for viral entry, the potencies and unknown pharmacokinetic properties limit well-designed in vivo evaluations.

Niraparib maintenance therapy using an individualised starting dose in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer (NORA): final overall survival analysis of a phase 3 randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Niraparib significantly prolonged progression-free survival versus placebo in patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent ovarian cancer (PSROC), regardless of germline mutation (gm) status, in NORA. This analysis reports final data on overall survival (OS).

Methods: This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial enrolled patients across 30 centres in China between 26 September 2017 and 2 February 2019 (clinicaltrials.

Wastewater-based epidemiology for comprehensive communitywide exposome surveillance: A gradient of metals exposure.

Community wastewater surveillance is an established means to measure health threats. Exposure to toxic metals as one of the key environmental contaminants has been attracting public health attention as exposure can be related to contamination across air, water, and soil as well as associated with individual factors. This research uses Jefferson County, Kentucky, as an urban exposome case study to analyze sub-county metal concentrations in wastewater as a possible indicator of community toxicant exposure risk, and to test the feasibility of using wastewater to identify potential community areas of elevated metals exposure.

Heavy Metal(loid) Body Burden in Environmentally Exposed Children With and Without Internalizing Behavior Problems.

The prevalence of internalizing behavior disorders in children is increasing. Reasons for increasing anxiety and depression include several factors with a less studied consideration being the potential neurotoxic effects of environmental exposures. One group at risk for environmental exposures is children living near coal-burning power plants with coal ash storage facilities.

Indoor coal ash and school and social competency among children aged 6-14 years.

Background: A child's ability to succeed in social interactions and in a school setting are important for their development and growth. Exposure to environmental pollutants has been associated with poorer school performance and fewer social interaction in children. Fly ash, a waste product generated when burning coal for energy, is comprised of small glass spheres with neurotoxic heavy metal(loid)s found to be risk factors for learning and social problems in school.

Exposure to coal ash and depression in children aged 6-14 years old.

Background: When coal is burned for energy, coal ash, a hazardous waste product, is generated. Throughout the world, over 1 billion tons of coal ash is produced yearly. In the United States, over 78 million tons of coal ash was produced in 2019.

Impact of Common Reflecting and Absorbing Building Materials on THz Multipath Channels.

THz band communication has the potential to meet the high data rate demands of many current and future applications. However, before these networks are realized, extensive channel measurements are needed in order to characterize the wireless channel at these frequencies, in order to inform system design and deployment. In the current paper, we present a set of double-directional channel measurements that are conducted in several relevant indoor and outdoor scenarios.

Use of fetal tele-echo at small regional hospitals increases the rate of prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease.

Background: To improve the rate of prenatal diagnosis of Congenital heart disease (CHD) in Kentucky, four fetal tele-echocardiography sites were established at regional hospitals in Kentucky: Ashland in 2011, Paducah in 2014, Lexington in 2014, and Owensboro in 2016.

Methods: A 13-year retrospective review of medical records at Norton Children's Hospital was performed to identify patients with CHD who had cardiac surgery or intervention prior to one year of age. The rate of prenatal diagnosis prior to establishing any fetal tele-echocardiography sites was compared to the rate of prenatal diagnosis after the sites were established.

Manganese body burden in children is associated with reduced visual motor and attention skills.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential element, however, children with moderate to high Mn exposure can exhibit neurobehavioral impairments. One way Mn appears to affect brain function is through altering dopaminergic systems involved with motor and cognitive control including frontal - striatal brain systems. Based on the risk for motor and attention problems, we evaluated neurobehavioral function in 255 children at risk for Mn exposure due to living in proximity to coal ash storage sites.

Proximity to coal-fired power plants and neurobehavioral symptoms in children.

Background: Coal-fired power plants are a major source of air pollution that can impact children's health. Limited research has explored if proximity to coal-fired power plants contributes to children's neurobehavioral disorders.

Objective: This community-based study collected primary data to investigate the relationships of residential proximity to power plants and neurobehavioral problems in children.

Nail Samples of Children Living near Coal Ash Storage Facilities Suggest Fly Ash Exposure and Elevated Concentrations of Metal(loid)s.

Children who live near coal-fired power plants are exposed to coal fly ash, which is stored in landfills and surface impoundments near residential communities. Fly ash has the potential to be released as fugitive dust. Using data collected from 263 children living within 10 miles of coal ash storage facilities in Jefferson and Bullitt Counties, Kentucky, USA, we quantified the elements found in nail samples.

County-level demographic, social, economic, and lifestyle correlates of COVID-19 infection and death trajectories during the first wave of the pandemic in the United States.

Background: The US COVID-19 epidemic impacted counties differently across space and time, though large-scale transmission dynamics are unclear. The study's objective was to group counties with similar trajectories of COVID-19 cases and deaths and identify county-level correlates of the distinct trajectory groups.

Methods: Daily COVID-19 cases and deaths were obtained from 3141 US counties from January through June 2020.

Protocol for measuring indoor exposure to coal fly ash and heavy metals, and neurobehavioural symptoms in children aged 6 to 14 years old.

Introduction: Fly ash is a waste product generated from burning coal for electricity. It is comprised of spherical particles ranging in size from 0.1 µm to over 100 µm in diameter that contain trace levels of heavy metals.

Spatial Disparities in Coronavirus Incidence and Mortality in the United States: An Ecological Analysis as of May 2020.

Purpose: This ecological analysis investigates the spatial patterns of the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States in relation to socioeconomic variables that characterize US counties.

Methods: Data on confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 for 2,814 US counties were obtained from Johns Hopkins University. We used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map the spatial aspects of this pandemic and investigate the disparities between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan communities.

Biomechanics during cross-body lunging in individuals with and without painful cam and/or pincer morphology.

Background: Femoroacetabular impingement is a patho-mechanical hip condition that can lead to restrictions in hip motion, particularly in end-range hip flexion, adduction and/or internal rotation. Radiographic evidence of femoroacetabular impingement - cam and/or pincer morphology - is prevalent in the general and athletic populations. There is, however, a lack of studies that have analyzed the performance of sport-specific movements in people possessing these morphologies.

Biological intratumoral therapy for the high-grade glioma part I: intratumoral delivery and immunotoxins.

Management of high-grade gliomas remains a complex challenge. Standard of care consists of microsurgical resection, chemotherapy and radiation, but despite these aggressive multimodality therapies the overall prognosis remains poor. A major focus of ongoing translational research studies is to develop novel therapeutic strategies that can maximize tumor cell eradication while minimizing collateral side effects.

Biological intratumoral therapy for the high-grade glioma part II: vector- and cell-based therapies and radioimmunotherapy.

Management of high-grade gliomas (HGGs) remains a complex challenge with an overall poor prognosis despite aggressive multimodal treatment. New translational research has focused on maximizing tumor cell eradication through improved tumor cell targeting while minimizing collateral systemic side effects. In particular, biological intratumoral therapies have been the focus of novel translational research efforts due to their inherent potential to be both dynamically adaptive and target specific.

Prevalence of Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome among Young and Middle-aged White Adults.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) in white adults 20 to 49 years of age.

Methods: Participants were white men and women aged 20-49 years, recruited through random digit dialing from the population of Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Participants filled out a self-administered questionnaire and underwent a physical examination and radiographs of both hips.

Relationship Between Hip Morphology and Hip-Related Patient-Reported Outcomes in Young and Middle-Aged Individuals: A Population-Based Study.

Objective: Radiographic measurements of the alpha angle and the lateral center edge (LCE) angle in the hip joint are important for the diagnosis of femoroacetabular syndrome, a potential risk factor for hip osteoarthritis. Our objective was to determine whether these measurements are associated with hip-related patient-reported outcomes in young and middle-aged individuals.

Methods: A stratified random sample of white men and women ages 20-49 years, with and without hip pain, was selected using random digit dialing from the population of metro Vancouver, Canada.

Ovarian Cancer Incidence in the U.S. and Toxic Emissions from Pulp and Paper Plants: A Geospatial Analysis.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of female cancer mortality in the U.S. and accounts for five percent of all cancer deaths among women.

Femoroacetabular impingement and osteoarthritis of the hip.

Objective: To outline the clinical presentation, physical examination findings, diagnostic criteria, and management options of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI).

Sources Of Information: PubMed was searched for relevant articles regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of FAI.

Main Message: In recent years, FAI has been increasingly recognized as a potential precursor and an important contributor to hip pain in the adult population and idiopathic hip osteoarthritis later in life.

Evaluation of Neuropsychiatric Function in Phenylketonuria: Psychometric Properties of the ADHD Rating Scale-IV and Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale Inattention Subscale in Phenylketonuria.

Background: Previous qualitative research among adults and parents of children with phenylketonuria (PKU) has identified inattention as an important psychiatric aspect of this condition. The parent-reported ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD RS-IV) and the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) have been validated for measuring inattention symptoms in persons with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, their psychometric attributes for measuring PKU-related inattention have not been established.

Objective: The primary objective of this investigation was to demonstrate the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the ADHD RS-IV and ASRS inattention symptoms subscales in a randomized controlled trial of patients with PKU aged 8 years or older.