Time since initiation on current vaping among adolescents and associations with adverse health outcomes.

Background: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are the most commonly used tobacco products among U.S. youth.

Chronic Lung Disease as a Risk Factor for Long COVID in Patients Diagnosed With Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often experience persistent symptoms, known as postacute sequelae of COVID-19 or long COVID, after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Chronic lung disease (CLD) has been identified in small-scale studies as a potential risk factor for long COVID.

Methods: This large-scale retrospective cohort study using the National COVID Cohort Collaborative data evaluated the link between CLD and long COVID over 6 months after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Early-onset and uncontrolled diabetes mellitus factors correlate with complications of Peyronie's disease.

Background: Peyronie's disease (PD) is a connective tissue disorder that affects the penis and is characterized by abnormal collagen structure in the penile tunica albuginea, resulting in plaque formation and penile deformity. PD's overall prevalence is estimated at 3.2% to 8.

Factors associated with intentions to quit vaping and quit attempts among Adolescents: A structural equation modeling approach.

Objectives: Previous youth tobacco research has identified multiple factors relating to intentions to quit vaping and quit attempts among current e-cigarette users in adolescents. The pathways in the complex associations with vaping cessation behaviors remain unclear.

Methods: Using data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) (grades 6-12), structural equation models (SEMs) are developed to examine the associations of social environment, vaping risk perceptions, e-cigarette marketing, vaping characteristics, and demographics with two outcome measures - intentions to quit vaping and past year quit attempts among current e-cigarette users.

Context of substance initiation among urban Native Americans: an exploratory retrospective case-control study.

Background: Addiction is a significant problem among many Native American groups but has rarely been examined in urban populations. In particular, little is known about the context in which urban Native Americans first use substances. This study compares cases (people with a history of addiction) to controls (people without a history of addiction) on demographics, substance use history, context of first substance use, and polysubstance use.

Paving the way for future gene therapies: A case study of scientific spillover from delandistrogene moxeparvovec.

Gene therapies have potential to improve outcomes of severe diseases after only a single administration. Novel therapies are continually being developed using knowledge gained from prior successes, a concept known as scientific spillover. Gene therapy advancement requires extensive development at each stage: preclinical work to create and evaluate vehicles for delivery of the therapy, design of clinical development programs, and establishment of a large-scale manufacturing process.

The Association between Video Game Time and Adolescent Mental Health: Evidence from Rural China.

As digital devices like computers become more widely available in developing countries, there is a growing need to understand how the time that adolescents spend using these devices for recreational purposes such as playing video games is linked with their mental health outcomes. We measured the amount of time that adolescents in rural China spent playing video games and the association of video game time with their mental health. We collected data from primary and junior high schools in a poor, rural province in northwest China ( = 1603 students) and used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) to measure mental health symptoms.

Tumor-Residing Batf3 Dendritic Cells Are Required for Effector T Cell Trafficking and Adoptive T Cell Therapy.

Effector T cells have the capability of recognizing and killing cancer cells. However, whether tumors can become immune resistant through exclusion of effector T cells from the tumor microenvironment is not known. By using a tumor model resembling non-T cell-inflamed human tumors, we assessed whether adoptive T cell transfer might overcome failed spontaneous priming.

Ginseng on Cancer: Potential Role in Modulating Inflammation-Mediated Angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis is a regulated process integral to many physiological and pathological situations, including carcinogenesis and tumor growth. The majority of the angiogenic processes are related to inflammation. The interplay is not only important in the case of pathogen entry but also influential in chronic inflammatory diseases, tumor growth and tissue regeneration.

Long-term effects of the multidisciplinary risk assessment and management program for patients with diabetes mellitus (RAMP-DM): a population-based cohort study.

Background: Studies on the long-term effectiveness of multidisciplinary risk-stratification based management in Chinese population were rare. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary risk assessment and management program for patients with diabetes mellitus (RAMP-DM) in reducing the risks of cardiovascular complications and all-cause mortality.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in 18,188 propensity score matched RAMP-DM participants and subjects with diabetes under usual primary care (9,094 subjects in each group).

Effects of the Multidisciplinary Risk Assessment and Management Program for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus (RAMP-DM) on biomedical outcomes, observed cardiovascular events and cardiovascular risks in primary care: a longitudinal comparative study.

Background: To assess whether the Multidisciplinary Risk Assessment and Management Program for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus (RAMP-DM) led to improvements in biomedical outcomes, observed cardiovascular events and predicted cardiovascular risks after 12-month intervention in the primary care setting.

Methods: A random sample of 1,248 people with diabetes enrolled to RAMP-DM for at least 12 months was selected and 1,248 people with diabetes under the usual primary care were matched by age, sex, and HbA1c level at baseline as the usual care group. Biomedical and cardiovascular outcomes were measured at baseline and at 12-month after the enrollment.

Effects of Patient Empowerment Programme (PEP) on clinical outcomes and health service utilization in type 2 diabetes mellitus in primary care: an observational matched cohort study.

Background: To evaluate the effects of a large population-based patient empowerment programme (PEP) on clinical outcomes and health service utilization rates in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in the primary care setting.

Research Design And Subjects: A stratified random sample of 1,141 patients with T2DM enrolled to PEP between March and September 2010 were selected from general outpatient clinics (GOPC) across Hong Kong and compared with an equal number of T2DM patients who had not participated in the PEP (non-PEP group) matched by age, sex and HbA1C level group.

Measures: Clinical outcomes of HbA1c, SBP, DBP and LDL-C levels, and health service utilization rates including numbers of visits to GOPC, specialist outpatient clinics (SOPC), emergency department (ED) and inpatient admissions, were measured at baseline and at 12-month post-recruitment.

Amniotic fluid activates the nrf2/keap1 pathway to repair an epidermal barrier defect in utero.

The loss of loricrin, a major component of the cornified envelope, results in a delay of epidermal barrier formation. Therefore, the living layers of the epidermis are aberrantly exposed to late-stage amniotic fluid, which may serve as the signal to upregulate genes that functionally compensate for the loss of loricrin. Consistent with this hypothesis, metabolomic studies revealed marked changes in amniotic fluid between E14.

Evaluation of the quality of care of a multi-disciplinary risk factor assessment and management programme (RAMP) for diabetic patients.

Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a common chronic disease associated with multiple clinical complications. Management guidelines have been established which recommend a risk-stratified approach to managing these patients in primary care. This study aims to evaluate the quality of care (QOC) and effectiveness of a multi-disciplinary risk assessment and management programme (RAMP) for type 2 diabetic patients attending government-funded primary care clinics in Hong Kong.

WNT4 is a key regulator of normal postnatal uterine development and progesterone signaling during embryo implantation and decidualization in the mouse.

WNT4, a member of the Wnt family of ligands, is critical for the development of the female reproductive tract. Analysis of Wnt4 expression in the adult uterus during pregnancy indicates that it may play a role in the regulation of endometrial stromal cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation, which is required to support the developing embryo. To investigate the role of Wnt4 in adult uterine physiology, conditional ablation of Wnt4 using the PR(cre) mouse model was accomplished.

Fuz controls the morphogenesis and differentiation of hair follicles through the formation of primary cilia.

Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling is essential in determining the polarity of cells within the plane of an epithelial sheet. Core PCP genes have been recently shown to control the global polarization of hair follicles in mice. Fuz, a homologue of the Drosophila PCP effector gene, fuzzy, is critical in ciliogenesis in vertebrates, and is required for the development of a wide range of organs in mice.

p53 prevents progression of nevi to melanoma predominantly through cell cycle regulation.

p53 is the central member of a critical tumor suppressor pathway in virtually all tumor types, where it is silenced mainly by missense mutations. In melanoma, p53 predominantly remains wild type, thus its role has been neglected. To study the effect of p53 on melanocyte function and melanomagenesis, we crossed the ‘high-p53’Mdm4+/− mouse to the well-established TP-ras0/+ murine melanoma progression model.

p63 induces key target genes required for epidermal morphogenesis.

Mice lacking p63, a single gene that encodes a group of transcription factors that either contain (TA) or lack (DeltaN) a transactivation domain, fail to develop stratified epithelia as well as epithelial appendages and limbs. DeltaNp63 isoforms are predominantly expressed during late embryonic and postnatal epidermal development, however, the function of these proteins remains elusive. Using an epidermal-specific inducible knockdown mouse model, we demonstrate that DeltaNp63 proteins are essential for maintaining basement membrane integrity and terminal differentiation of keratinocytes.

Conflicting roles for p63 in skin development and carcinogenesis.

Epidermal morphogenesis is a complex process that culminates in the formation of a barrier that protects the organism from environmental substances and dehydration. p63, a transcription factor, is essential for normal epidermal morphogenesis as demonstrated by the failure of mice lacking p63 expression to develop an epidermis. However, since two independently generated p63(-/-) mouse models displayed different phenotypes, the role of p63 in epidermal morphogenesis has remained controversial.

Lysosomal exocytosis is impaired in mucolipidosis type IV.

Mucolipidosis type IV (MLIV) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by severe neurological impairment, ophthalmologic defects, and gastric dysfunction. MLIV cells have a deficiency in the late endosomal/lysosomal (LEL) pathway that results in the buildup of lysosomal inclusions. Using a Xenopus oocyte expression system, we previously showed that mucolipin-1 (MLN1), the protein encoded by the MCOLN1 gene is a Ca2+ -permeable non-selective cation channel that is transiently modulated by elevations in intracellular Ca2+.

New locus for autosomal dominant mitral valve prolapse on chromosome 13: clinical insights from genetic studies.

Background: Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a common disorder associated with mitral regurgitation, endocarditis, heart failure, and sudden death. To date, 2 MVP loci have been described, but the defective genes have yet to be discovered. In the present study, we analyzed a large family segregating MVP, and identified a new locus, MMVP3.

Association of a genetic marker at the corticotropin-releasing hormone locus with behavioral inhibition.

Background: Behavioral inhibition to the unfamiliar (BI), a heritable temperamental profile involving an avoidant response to novel situations, may be an intermediate phenotype in the development of anxiety disorders. Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is a key mediator of the stress response through its effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and limbic brain systems. Transgenic mice overexpressing CRH exhibit BI-like behaviors, implicating this gene in the development of the phenotype.

A locus for autosomal dominant mitral valve prolapse on chromosome 11p15.4.

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a common cardiovascular abnormality in the United States, occurring in approximately 2.4% of the general population. Clinically, patients with MVP exhibit fibromyxomatous changes in one or both of the mitral leaflets that result in superior displacement of the leaflets into the left atrium.