Building a growing genomic repository for maternal and fetal health through the PING Consortium.

Background: Prenatally transmitted viruses can cause severe damage to the developing brain. There is unexplained variability in prenatal brain injury and postnatal neurodevelopmental outcomes, suggesting disease modifiers. Of note, prenatal Zika infection can cause a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders, including congenital Zika syndrome.

Extending the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort through 2030: Rationale and study protocol.

Early life environmental exposures, even those experienced before conception, can shape health and disease trajectories across the lifespan. Optimizing the detection of the constellation of exposure effects on a broad range of child health outcomes across development requires considerable sample size, transdisciplinary expertise, and developmentally sensitive and dimensional measurement. To address this, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort Study is an observational longitudinal pediatric cohort study.

Developing Practice Guidelines on Chest Masculinization: Designing Male Neo-nipple-Areolar Complex.

Background: Successful nipple-areolar complex (NAC) reconstruction greatly influences patient outcomes for transgender patients undergoing chest masculinization. Despite the recent rise in case volume, little is known on designing the ideal NAC that maintains its aesthetics in dynamic settings. This study aimed to examine the characteristics of male NACs and their dimensional variability to help develop guidelines on designing the neo-NAC.

Nuclear microRNA 9 mediates G-quadruplex formation and 3D genome organization during TGF-β-induced transcription.

The dynamics of three-dimensional (3D) genome organization are essential to transcriptional regulation. While enhancers regulate spatiotemporal gene expression, chromatin looping is a means for enhancer-promoter interactions yielding cell-type-specific gene expression. Further, non-canonical DNA secondary structures, such as G-quadruplexes (G4s), are related to increased gene expression.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pregnancy, Birth Experiences, and Mental Health: Voices from Women in Puerto Rico.

Objectives: The specific aims of the project are: (1) Examine the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy experiences and outcomes; (2) Examine the mental health impact of COVID-19 in pregnant women and mothers of children 12 months or younger; (3) Identify risk and protective factors among this population in Puerto Rico.

Methods: Participants were recruited from the Puerto Rico Team for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT) Superfund Program, which is composed of pregnant women and mothers from the northern karst region of Puerto Rico. The research had a mixed methods approach with a quantitative survey (n = 184) and qualitative interviews (n = 10); data collection was done in virtual mode.

Changes in exposure to environmental contaminants in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria among pregnant women in northern Puerto Rico.

Experiencing a hurricane during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of adverse birth outcomes and poor mental health. Pregnant people from marginalized communities are more susceptible to adverse effects, as they have fewer resources to overcome hardships at a time when shelter and nutrition are essential. When Hurricane Maria (HM) devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, the archipelago was already burdened with high poverty, health disparities, environmental contamination, and fragile utility infrastructure.

Extended Monitoring for Transition to Oral Corticosteroids in Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis May Be Unnecessarily Prolonging Length of Stay.

Background: There is no guideline regarding whether patients treated with intravenous corticosteroids for acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC) should be monitored in the hospital after transitioning to oral steroids. Our study aimed to: (1) compare rates of oral steroid transition failure and 30-day readmission between ASUC hospitalizations with extended inpatient monitoring compared to accelerated inpatient monitoring, and (2) identify predictors of oral steroid transition failure.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of ulcerative colitis (UC) related admissions at UCSF from 2014 to 2022 was conducted comparing rates of steroid transition failures in extended inpatient monitoring (≥ 24 h on oral steroids prior to discharge) to accelerated inpatient monitoring (< 24 h on oral steroids).

Trends in Antimicrobial Consumption in Tertiary Care Hospitals in Costa Rica from 2017 to 2021: A Comparative Analysis of Defined Daily Doses per 100 Bed Days and per 100 Discharges.

: Antimicrobial consumption (AMC) data in Latin America are scarce and usually spread out across different sources used to make AMC calculations, making it difficult to both standardize and compare regions through similar time frames. The main objective was to analyze AMC trends in Social Security tertiary care hospitals in Costa Rica in the period spanning January 2017 to December 2021, using both the defined daily dose (DDD)/100 bed days and DDD/100 discharges. : This is a retrospective observational study of antimicrobial consumption.

Named entity recognition of pharmacokinetic parameters in the scientific literature.

The development of accurate predictions for a new drug's absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion profiles in the early stages of drug development is crucial due to high candidate failure rates. The absence of comprehensive, standardised, and updated pharmacokinetic (PK) repositories limits pre-clinical predictions and often requires searching through the scientific literature for PK parameter estimates from similar compounds. While text mining offers promising advancements in automatic PK parameter extraction, accurate Named Entity Recognition (NER) of PK terms remains a bottleneck due to limited resources.

RNF20-mediated transcriptional pausing and VEGFA splicing orchestrate vessel growth.

Signal-responsive gene expression is essential for vascular development, yet the mechanisms integrating signaling inputs with transcriptional activities are largely unknown. Here we show that RNF20, the primary E3 ubiquitin ligase for histone H2B, plays a multifaceted role in sprouting angiogenesis. RNF20 mediates RNA polymerase (Pol II) promoter-proximal pausing at genes highly paused in endothelial cells, involved in VEGFA signaling, stress response, cell cycle control and mRNA splicing.

External ear malformations and cardiac and renal anomalies: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Context: External Ear Malformations (EEM) continue to be a common malformation seen in the pediatric patient population. This study aims to further elucidate the correlation between EEM and cardiac and renal anomalies.

Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis to study the incidence of cardiac and renal anomalies associated with syndromic and isolated (EEM).

Community level factors and racial inequities in delivery hospitalizations involving severe maternal morbidity in the United States, 2016-2019.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the racial and ethnic disparities in delivery hospitalizations involving severe maternal morbidity (SMM) by location of residence and community income. We used the 2016 to 2019 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample. International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification codes were used to identify delivery hospitalizations with SMM.

Review of Gender Affirming Mastectomy Surgery: Comparing Drains Versus No Drains.

Background: Gender-affirming mastectomy can improve mental health and gender expression. However, there is no consensus on routine drain usage in gender-affirming surgeries. The purpose of this study is to compare gender-affirming mastectomies with and without drains and review complications.

Association of Phenols, Parabens, and Their Mixture with Maternal Blood Pressure Measurements in the PROTECT Cohort.

Background: Phenols and parabens are two classes of high production volume chemicals that are used widely in consumer and personal care products and have been associated with reproductive harm and pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. However, studies examining their influence on maternal blood pressure and gestational hypertension are limited.

Objectives: We investigated associations between individual phenols, parabens, and their mixture on maternal blood pressure measurements, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) and hypertension during pregnancy (defined as stage 1 or 2 hypertension), among Puerto Rico PROTECT study participants.

Strategy for the management of acute postoperative pain in day surgery centres in Spain. DUCMA 2.0. project.

Introduction: Adequate treatment of acute postoperative pain is one of the quality requirements in ambulatory surgery and its suboptimal management is associated with delayed discharge, unplanned admissions and late admissions after home discharge. The aim of the present study was to learn about the organizational strategy for the management of postoperative pain in ambulatory surgery units (ASU) in Spain.

Methods: A cross-sectional, multicenter study was carried out based on an electronic survey on aspects related to the management of acute postoperative pain in different ASUs in our country.

Associations between urinary hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon biomarker concentrations and measures of timing of delivery and infant size at birth.

Preterm birth is a leading cause of neonatal mortality and presents significant public health concerns. Environmental chemical exposures during pregnancy may be partially to blame for disrupted delivery timing. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are products of incomplete combustion, exposure to which occurs via inhalation of cigarette smoke and automobile exhaust, and ingestion of charred meats.

A Novel Surgical Landmark to Identify the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve.

Background: Although several surgical landmarks have been proposed to localize the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), there is still no reliable landmark.

Aims: To validate the reliability of a novel reference point at the intersection of the inferior border of the cricopharyngeal muscle and the inferior cornu of thyroid cartilage for locating the RLN.

Study Design: Cadaver dissection study in the academic department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.

Maximizing Patient Satisfaction in Facial Feminizing Rhinoplasty.

Background: Although facial feminizing rhinoplasty can reduce gender dysphoria, there is limited evidence on approaches to maximize transgender patient satisfaction. In a retrospective cohort of transfeminine patients who underwent feminizing rhinoplasty, we compare pre- and postoperative nasal metrics and postoperative satisfaction.

Methods: Records were retrospectively reviewed to identify transfeminine patients who had feminizing rhinoplasty and cisgender females who had aesthetic rhinoplasty at least 8 weeks post-rhinoplasty.

Building a growing genomic data repository for maternal and fetal health through the PING Consortium.

Background: Prenatally transmitted viruses can cause severe damage to the developing brain. There is unexplained variability in prenatal brain injury and postnatal neurodevelopmental outcomes, suggesting disease modifiers. Discordant outcomes among dizygotic twins could be explained by genetic susceptibly or protection.