COVID-19 in the Community: Changes to Women's Mental Health, Financial Security, and Physical Activity.

Introduction: This study describes changes in the mental health, financial security, and physical activity levels of women in North Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Data were collected from women aged 20-40 years receiving primary care at 2 health centers in North Carolina during 2020-2022. Surveys (N=127) evaluated changes in mental health, financial security, and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cell therapy with hiPSC-derived RPE cells and RPCs prevents visual function loss in a rat model of retinal degeneration.

Photoreceptor loss is the principal cause of blindness in retinal degenerative diseases (RDDs). Whereas some therapies exist for early stages of RDDs, no effective treatment is currently available for later stages, and once photoreceptors are lost, the only option to rescue vision is cell transplantation. With the use of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat model of retinal degeneration, we sought to determine whether combined transplantation of human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived retinal precursor cells (RPCs) and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells was superior to RPE or RPC transplantation alone in preserving retinal from degeneration.

Comparative study of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) as a treatment for retinal dystrophies.

Retinal dystrophies (RD) are major causes of familial blindness and are characterized by progressive dysfunction of photoreceptor and/or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and compare the therapeutic effects of two pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-based therapies. We differentiated RPE from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) or human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and transplanted them into the subretinal space of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat.

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of heterotopic ossification.

Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a debilitating condition in which cartilage and bone forms in soft tissues such as muscle, tendon, and ligament causing immobility. This process is induced by inflammation associated with traumatic injury. In an extremely rare genetic disorder called fibrodysplasia ossificans progessiva (FOP), a combination of inflammation associated with minor soft tissue injuries and a hereditary genetic mutation causes massive HO that progressively worsens throughout the patients' lifetime leading to the formation of an ectopic skeleton.