Representation of Hispanic Patients in Clinical Trials for Respiratory Failure: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: Hispanic individuals comprise one-fifth of the U.S. population and Hispanic patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) experience higher odds of death compared with non-Hispanic White patients.

Three Underused Statistical Methods in Social Epidemiology: Multiple Informant Models, Fractional Regression, and Restricted Mean Survival Time.

We recommend three well-established yet underused statistical methods in social epidemiology: Multiple Informant Models (MIMs), Fractional Regression Model (FRM), and Restricted Mean Survival Time (RMST). MIMs improve how we identify critical windows of exposure over time. FRM addresses the inadequacies of ordinary least squares and logistic regression when dealing with fractional outcomes that are naturally proportions or rates, thereby accommodating data at the boundaries of the unit interval without requiring transformations.

Mammalian hydroxylation of microbiome-derived obesogen, delta-valerobetaine, to homocarnitine, a 5-carbon carnitine analog.

The recently discovered microbiome-generated obesogen, δ-valerobetaine (5-(trimethylammonio)pentanoate), is a 5-carbon structural analog of the carnitine precursor, γ-butyrobetaine. Here, we report that δ-valerobetaine is enzymatically hydroxylated by mammalian γ-butyrobetaine dioxygenase (BBOX) to form 3-hydroxy-5-(trimethylammonio)pentanoate, a 5-carbon analog of carnitine, which we term homocarnitine. Homocarnitine production by human liver extracts depends upon the required BBOX cofactors, 2-oxoglutarate, Fe, and ascorbate.

Structural dynamics and binding of Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan-extending lipid binding protein-3 to polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Intracellular lipid binding proteins (iLBPs) play crucial roles in lipid transport and cellular metabolism across the animal kingdom. Recently, a fat-to-neuron axis was described in Caenorhabditis elegans, in which lysosomal activity in the fat liberates polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that signal to neurons and extend lifespan with durable fecundity. In this study, we investigate the structure and binding mechanisms of a lifespan-extending lipid chaperone, lipid binding protein-3 (LBP-3), which shuttles dihomo-γ-linolenic (DGLA) acid from intestinal fat to neurons.

Primary Neuroendocrine Tumor of the Breast: A Case Report and Review of Current Guidelines.

Primary neuroendocrine tumor of the breast is a rare subtype of breast carcinoma that most commonly affects postmenopausal women in their sixth or seventh decade of life. We report a case of a 52-year-old female who presented to our clinic with concerns about a self-palpable mass involving her left breast that had not been detected on a routine mammogram five months prior. Upon clinical exam and diagnostic workup comprising imaging, a tissue biopsy, and immunostaining, she was found to have primary high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast with necrosis.

Associations between perceived discrimination over the life course, subjective social status, and health literacy: A racial/ethnic stratification analysis.

Objective: To analyze the relationship between perceived discrimination over the life course, social status, and limited health literacy (HL).

Methods: 5040 adults who participated in the 2023 Survey of Racism and Public Health. We applied stratified multilevel models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics.

Racial Discrimination, Religious Coping, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among African American Women and Men.

Objective: This cross-sectional study examined whether religious coping buffered the associations between racial discrimination and several modifiable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors-systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), body mass index (BMI), and cholesterol-in a sample of African American women and men.

Methods: Participant data were taken from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Life Span study (N = 815; 55.2% women; 30-64 years old).

Multi-discrimination exposure and biological aging: Results from the midlife in the United States study.

Discrimination is a social determinant of health and health disparities for which the biological mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study investigated the hypothesis that discrimination contributes to poor health outcomes by accelerating biological processes of aging. We analyzed survey and blood DNA methylation data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study (N = 1967).

Optical Modification of a Nanoporous Alumina Structure Associated with Surface Coverage by the Ionic Liquid AliquatCl.

This manuscript analyses changes in the optical parameters of a commercial alumina nanoporous structure (Anodisc or AND support) due to surface coverage by the ionic liquid (IL) AliquatCl (AlqCl). XPS measurements were performed for chemical characterization of the composite AND/AlqCl and the AND support, but XPS resolved angle analysis (from 15° to 75°) was carried out for the homogeneity estimation of the top surface of the ANDAlqCl sample. Optical characterization of both the composite AND/AlqCl and the AND support was performed by three non-destructive and non-invasive techniques: ellipsometry spectroscopy (SE), light transmittance/reflection, and photoluminescence.

FABP5-binding lipids regulate autophagy in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells.

The motor features of Parkinson's disease result from loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra with autophagy dysfunction being closely linked to this disease. While a large body of work focusing on protein effectors of autophagy has been reported, regulation of autophagy by lipids has garnered far less attention. Therefore, we sought to identify endogenous lipid molecules that act as signaling mediators of autophagy in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells, a commonly used dopaminergic neuron-like cell model.

Neighborhood Opportunity and Obesity in Early Adolescence: Differential Associations by Sex.

Purpose: Though research indicates that certain aspects of adverse neighborhood conditions may influence weight development in childhood and adolescence, it is unknown if the Child Opportunity Index (COI), a composite measure of 29 indicators of neighborhood conditions, is associated with weight outcomes in adolescence. We hypothesized that lower COI would be associated with higher overweight and obesity in cross-sectional and longitudinal modeling in a national sample of 9 year olds and 10 year olds and that this association would be different by sex.

Methods: Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 11,857), we examined the cross-sectional association between COI quintile and overweight and obesity in 9 year olds and 10 year olds.

Features and behaviours for weight loss in the Chilean cohort with obesity from the ACTION study.

In Latin America, obesity rates are among the highest in the world. Currently, people with obesity (PWO) receive suboptimal care due to several challenges and barriers. The international ACTION-IO study aimed to identify perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of PWO and healthcare providers (HCP), and to assess potential barriers to effective obesity care.

Breaking Academic Silos: Pedagogical Recommendations for Equitable Obesity Prevention Training and Research During an Age of Nutrition Polarization.

Introduction: Obesity is a preventable chronic condition and a risk factor for poor health and early mortality. Weight stigma and weight-neutral medicine are popular topics in social media that are often at odds with current medical guidelines on obesity treatment and prevention. This conflict may erode the public's trust in science, impede research progress on preventing obesity in marginalized groups, and uphold the ongoing and historical lack of diversity among nutrition trainees.

A novel approach to model cumulative stress: Area under the s-factor curve.

Objective: Using a large longitudinal sample of adults from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, the present study extended a recently developed hierarchical model to determine how best to model the accumulation of stressors, and to determine whether the rate of change in stressors or traditional composite scores of stressors are stronger predictors of health outcomes.

Method: We used factor analysis to estimate a stress-factor score and then, to operationalize the accumulation of stressors we examined five approaches to aggregating information about repeated exposures to multiple stressors. The predictive validity of these approaches was then assessed in relation to different health outcomes.

Optical and Electrochemical Properties of a Nanostructured ZnO Thin Layer Deposited on a Nanoporous Alumina Structure via Atomic Layer Deposition.

This study explores the optical and electrochemical properties of a ZnO coating layer deposited on a nanoporous alumina structure (NPAS) for potential multifunctional applications. The NPAS, synthesized through an electrochemical anodization process, displays well-defined nanochannels with a high aspect ratio (~3000). The ZnO coating, achieved via atomic layer deposition, enables the tuning of the pore diameter and porosity of the NPAS, thereby influencing both the optical and electrochemical interfacial properties.

Education, Income, Wealth, and Discrimination in Black-White Allostatic Load Disparities.

Introduction: Allostatic load (AL) is a significant marker of aging, associated with disease and mortality. Research has elucidated the impact of education and income on AL. However, the roles of wealth and discrimination in contributing to AL and shaping AL disparities remain underexplored.

Love after lockup: examining the role of marriage, social status, and financial stress among formerly incarcerated individuals.

Background: Upon reintegration into society, formerly incarcerated individuals (FIIs) experience chronic financial stress due to prolonged unemployment, strained social relationships, and financial obligations. This study examined whether marriage and perceived social status can mitigate financial stress, which is deleterious to the well-being of FIIs. We also assessed whether sociodemographic factors influenced financial stress across marital status.

The cost of doubt: assessing the association between attributional ambiguity and mental health.

Objective: To quantify the association between attributional ambiguity-the uncertainty of whether an experience is discrimination-and mental health.

Methods: Using a nationally representative sample of U.S.

Multipass wide-field phase imager.

Advances in optical imaging always look for an increase in sensitivity and resolution among other practicability aspects. Within the same scope, in this work we report a versatile interference contrast imaging technique, with high phase sensitivity and a large field-of-view of several mm. Sensitivity is increased through the use of a self-imaging non-resonant cavity, which causes photons to probe the sample in multiple rounds before being detected, where the configuration can be transmissive or reflective.

First report of Acanthamoebae spp. isolation from a volcanic mud spring in the Philippines.

Acanthamoebae spp. is considered highly adaptive. The present study aims to establish the occurrence of free-living amoebae, particularly Acanthamoebae, to exist in extreme environments such as volcanic mud springs.