Publications by authors named "DeMarco M"

Conscience is the indestructible core of one's personal identity and their sense of agency in the world. When it passes judgment against them, it generates inner conflict (i.e.

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Background: We describe the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Biomarker Core major activities from October 2004 to March 2024, including biobanking ADNI cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), plasma, and serum biofluid samples, biofluid analyses for Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers in the Biomarker Core and various non-ADNI laboratories, and continuous assessments of pre-analytics.

Results: Validated immunoassay and mass spectrometry-based assays were performed in CSF with a shift to plasma, a more accessible biofluid, as qualified assays became available. Performance comparisons across different CSF and plasma AD biomarker measurement platforms have enriched substantially the ADNI participant database enabling method performance determinations for AD pathology detection and longitudinal assessments of disease progression.

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Background & Aims: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)-related adverse events (AEs) are associated with morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditure. We aimed to assess incidences and comparisons of ERCP AEs.

Methods: We included studies performed after 2000 reporting on ERCP AEs from database inception through March 12, 2024.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Varoglutamstat is a new small molecule being tested for early Alzheimer's disease, targeting glutaminyl cyclase to potentially reduce toxic forms of amyloid-β and neuroinflammatory cytokines.
  • - The VIVA-MIND trial is structured in two phases, with phase 2A focusing on determining the safe dose and phase 2B evaluating the drug's effectiveness and long-term safety through a 72-week period.
  • - The trial's design allows for continuous safety assessments and adaptive decision-making based on cognitive function and electroencephalogram changes, aiming to confirm varoglutamstat's unique ability to tackle several aspects of Alzheimer's pathology.
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Background: Across the globe, racial and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 with increased risk of infection and burden from disease. Vaccine hesitancy has contributed to variation in vaccine uptake and compromised population-based vaccination programs in many countries. Connect, Collaborate and Tailor (CCT) is a Public Health Agency of Canada funded project to make new connections between public health, healthcare professionals and underserved communities in order to create culturally adapted communication about COVID-19 vaccines.

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The United States (US) is experiencing a maternal health crisis, with high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality. The US has the highest rates of pregnancy-related mortality among industrialized nations. Maternal mortality has more than quadrupled over the last decades.

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Background And Objectives: Maternal morbidity and mortality disproportionally affect marginalized populations in both rural and urban settings. While the workforce of family physicians (FPs) who provide maternity care is declining, an enhanced obstetrics (OB) curriculum during residency training can help prepare future FPs to provide competent pregnancy care, particularly in marginalized communities.

Methods: We developed an innovative OB curriculum-PROMOTE: Primary care obstetrics and maternal outcomes training enhancement-in an urban underserved residency program in Pennsylvania that directly addressed barriers previously known to impact maternity care practice.

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Introduction: The immune responses of kidney transplant recipients against SARS-CoV-2 remains under studied.

Methods: In this prospective pilot study, we performed comprehensive immune profiling using cellular, proteomic, and serologic assays on a cohort of 9 kidney transplant recipients and 12 non-transplant individuals diagnosed with COVID-19.

Results: Our data show that in addition to having reduced SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody levels, kidney transplant recipients exhibited significant cellular differences including a decrease in naïve-but increase in effector T cells, a high number of CD28+ CD4 effector memory T cells, and increased CD8 T memory stem cells compared with non-transplant patients.

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People living with HIV (PLWH) can exhibit impaired immune responses to vaccines. Accumulating evidence indicates that PLWH, particularly those receiving antiretroviral therapy, mount strong antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines, but fewer studies have examined cellular immune responses to the vaccinations. Here, we used an activation-induced marker (AIM) assay to quantify SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells generated by two and three doses of COVID-19 vaccines in 50 PLWH receiving antiretroviral therapy, compared to 87 control participants without HIV.

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Introduction: In the Investigating the Impact of Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostics in British Columbia (IMPACT-AD BC) study, we aimed to understand how Alzheimer's disease (AD) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker testing-used in medical care-impacted medical decision-making (medical utility), personal decision-making (personal utility), and health system economics.

Methods: The study was designed as an observational, longitudinal cohort study. A total of 149 patients were enrolled between February 2019 and July 2021.

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Introduction: We described patients' and care partners' experiences with Alzheimer's disease (AD) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker testing and result disclosure in routine care.

Methods: IMPACT-AD BC is an observational study of clinic patients who underwent AD CSF biomarker testing as part of their routine medical care ( = 142). In the personal utility arm of the study, semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with a subset of patients ( = 34), and separately with their care partners ( = 31).

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Objective: The immunogenic nature of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccines led to some initial concern that these could stimulate the HIV reservoir. We analyzed changes in plasma HIV loads (pVL) and reservoir size following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in 62 people with HIV (PWH) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), and analyzed province-wide trends in pVL before and after the mass vaccination campaign.

Design: Longitudinal observational cohort and province-wide analysis.

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Objective: There are gaps in receipt of maternal preventive services in the interconception period. Yet mother-infant dyads have frequent health care visits. Health systems have opportunities to better capitalize on existing visits to address dyad needs, but this possibility has not been fully explored.

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Introduction: While older adults generally mount weaker antibody responses to a primary COVID-19 vaccine series, T-cell responses remain less well characterized in this population. We compared SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific T-cell responses after 2- and 3-dose COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and subsequent breakthrough infection in older and younger adults.

Methods: We quantified CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells reactive to overlapping peptides spanning the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in 40 older adults (median age 79) and 50 younger health care workers (median age 39), all COVID-19 naive, using an activation-induced marker assay.

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Objective: The immunogenic nature of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines led to some initial concern that these could stimulate the HIV reservoir. We analyzed changes in plasma HIV loads (pVL) and reservoir size following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in 62 people with HIV (PWH) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), and analyzed province-wide trends in pVL before and after the mass vaccination campaign.

Design: Longitudinal observational cohort and province-wide analysis.

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Melanin is a stable, widely light-absorbing, photoactive, and biocompatible material viable for energy conversion, photocatalysis, and bioelectronic applications. To achieve multifunctional nanostructures, we synthesized melanin nanoparticles of uniform size and controlled chemical composition (dopamelanin and eumelanin) and used them with titanium dioxide to fabricate donor-acceptor bilayers. Their size enhances the surface-to-volume ratio important for any surface-mediated functionality, such as photocatalysis, sensing, and drug loading and release, while controlling their chemical composition enables to control the film's functionality and reproducibility.

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Introduction: Biomarkers of TDP-43 pathology are needed to distinguish frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology (FTLD-TDP) from phenotypically related disorders. While normal physiological TDP-43 is not a promising biomarker, low-resolution techniques have suggested truncated forms of TDP-43 may be specific to TDP-43 pathology. To advance biomarker efforts for FTLD-TDP, we employed a high-resolution structural technique to characterize TDP-43 post-translational modifications in FTLD-TDP.

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Objective: Current recommendations for febrile neutropenia (FN) include initiation of broad-spectrum antibiotics without clear indications of when or how to de-escalate or target therapy, especially in those without microbiologically defined bloodstream infections (MD-BSIs). The purpose of this study is to characterize a pediatric FN population, FN management, and identify the proportion of patients with MD-BSI.

Methods: This study was a single-center, retrospective chart review of patients admitted to the University of North Carolina Children's Hospital between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019, with a diagnosis of FN.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study evaluated the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine on children and adolescents during the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 period, focusing on its ability to protect against mild to moderate and severe cases of COVID-19.
  • The research compared data from nearly 10,000 emergency department cases and over 70,000 controls, finding that vaccine effectiveness decreased over time, especially during the Omicron variant's spread.
  • It concluded that while the vaccine offered significant protection initially, especially against hospitalizations, booster doses enhanced effectiveness, highlighting the importance of completing the vaccination schedule for children and adolescents.
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