Environmental enrichment promotes adaptive responding during tests of behavioral regulation in male heterogeneous stock rats.

Organisms must regulate their behavior flexibly in the face of environmental challenges. Failure can lead to a host of maladaptive behavioral traits associated with a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and substance use disorders. This maladaptive dysregulation of behavior is influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

The value of national accreditation program for rectal cancer: A survey of accredited programs and programs seeking accreditation.

Background: Significant variation in rectal cancer care has been demonstrated in the United States. The National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer was established in 2017 to improve the quality of rectal cancer care through standardization and emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. The aim of this study was to understand the perceived value and barriers to achieving the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer accreditation.

Adolescent exposure to sucrose increases cocaine-mediated behaviours in adulthood via Smad3.

Adolescence, a critical period of developmental period, is marked by neurobiological changes influenced by environmental factors. Here, we show how exposure to sucrose, which is ubiquitously available in modern diets, results in changes in behavioural response to cocaine as an adult. Rats were given daily access to either 10% sucrose or water during the adolescent period (PND28-42).

Viral-mediated expression of Erk2 in the nucleus accumbens regulates responses to rewarding and aversive stimuli.

Second-messenger signaling within the mesolimbic reward circuit is involved in both the long-lived effects of stress and in the underlying mechanisms that promote drug abuse liability. To determine the direct role of kinase signaling within the nucleus accumbens, specifically mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (ERK2), in mood- and drug-related behavior, we used a herpes-simplex virus to up- or down-regulate ERK2 in adult male rats. We then exposed rats to a battery of behavioral tasks including the elevated plus-maze, open field test, forced-swim test, conditioned place preference, and finally cocaine self-administration.

Operant novelty seeking predicts cue-induced reinstatement following cocaine but not water reinforcement in male rats.

Rationale: An important facet of cocaine addiction is a high propensity to relapse, with increasing research investigating factors that predispose individuals toward uncontrolled drug use and relapse. A personality trait linked to drug addiction is high sensation seeking, i.e.

Environmental enrichment promotes adaptive responding during tests of behavioral regulation in male heterogeneous stock rats.

Organisms must regulate their behavior flexibly in the face of environmental challenges. Failure can lead to a host of maladaptive behavioral traits associated with a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and substance use disorders. This maladaptive dysregulation of behavior is influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

Loss of Astrocytic µ Opioid Receptors Exacerbates Aversion Associated with Morphine Withdrawal in Mice: Role of Mitochondrial Respiration.

Astrocytes express mu/µ opioid receptors, but the function of these receptors remains poorly understood. We evaluated the effects of astrocyte-restricted knockout of µ opioid receptors on reward- and aversion-associated behaviors in mice chronically exposed to morphine. Specifically, one of the floxed alleles of the gene encoding µ opioid receptor 1 was selectively deleted from brain astrocytes in inducible conditional knockout (icKO) mice.

Reward maximization assessed using a sequential patch depletion task in a large sample of heterogeneous stock rats.

Choice behavior requires animals to evaluate both short- and long-term advantages and disadvantages of all potential alternatives. Impulsive choice is traditionally measured in laboratory tasks by utilizing delay discounting (DD), a paradigm that offers a choice between a smaller immediate reward, or a larger more delayed reward. This study tested a large sample of Heterogeneous Stock (HS) male (n = 896) and female (n = 898) rats, part of a larger genetic study, to investigate whether measures of reward maximization overlapped with traditional models of delay discounting via the patch depletion model using a Sequential Patch Depletion procedure.

Race and Remdesivir: Examination of Clinical Outcomes in a Racially and Ethnically Diverse Cohort in New York City.

Objective: To compare clinical characteristics and examine in-hospital length of stay (LOS) differences for COVID-19 patients who received remdesivir, by race or ethnicity.

Design: Retrospective descriptive analysis comparing cumulative LOS as a proxy of recovery time.

Setting: A large academic medical center serving a minoritized community in Northern Manhattan, New York City.

Reward Maximization Assessed Using a Sequential Patch Depletion Task in a Large Sample of Heterogeneous Stock Rats.

Choice behavior requires animals to evaluate both short- and long-term advantages and disadvantages of all potential alternatives. Impulsive choice is traditionally measured in laboratory tasks by utilizing delay discounting (DD), a paradigm that offers a choice between a smaller immediate reward, or a larger more delayed reward. This study tested a large sample of Heterogeneous Stock (HS) male (n = 896) and female (n = 898) rats, part of a larger genetic study, to investigate whether measures of reward maximization overlapped with traditional models of delay discounting via the patch depletion model using a Sequential Patch Depletion procedure.

Could meeting the standards of the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer in the National Cancer Database improve patient outcomes?

Aim: The National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC) was developed to improve rectal cancer patient outcomes in the United States. The NAPRC consists of a set of process and outcome measures that hospitals must meet in order to be accredited. We aimed to assess the potential of the NAPRC by determining whether achievement of the process measures correlates with improved survival.

The Evolution of Pelvic Pouch Surgery: Optimal Pouch Design for an Ileal Pouch Anal Anastomosis.

The history of pouch surgery is rooted in surgical innovation to improve quality of life in patients requiring surgical extirpation of the colon and rectum. From the early straight ileoanal anastomosis to the continent ileostomy to the modern ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA), techniques have evolved in response to pitfalls in design. Optimal IPAA design and construction have changed in response to functional outcomes.

Efficacy of high-intensity home mechanical stretch therapy for treatment of shoulder stiffness: a retrospective review.

Background: Shoulder stiffness resulting in motion loss can be caused by numerous conditions, the most common of which is adhesive capsulitis. Surgical intervention is often necessary when conservative methods fail. High-intensity stretch (HIS) treatment may be able to provide increased motion gains while avoiding the cost and complications of surgery.

EGR3 regulates opioid-related nociception and motivation in male rats.

Chronic pain can be a debilitating condition, leading to profound changes in nearly every aspect of life. However, the reliance on opioids such as oxycodone for pain management is thought to initiate dependence and addiction liability. The neurobiological intersection at which opioids relieve pain and possibly transition to addiction is poorly understood.

Effects of surgical approach on short- and long-term outcomes in early-stage rectal cancer: a multicenter, propensity score-weighted cohort study.

Background: Randomized controlled trials have been unable to demonstrate noninferiority of minimally invasive surgery for rectal cancer. The aim of this study was to assess oncologic resection success, short- and long-term morbidity, and overall survival by operative approach in a homogenous early-stage rectal cancer cohort.

Methods: This is a multicenter, propensity score-weighted cohort study utilizing deidentified data from the National Cancer Database.

Histone H3 dopaminylation in ventral tegmental area underlies heroin-induced transcriptional and behavioral plasticity in male rats.

Persistent transcriptional events in ventral tegmental area (VTA) and other reward relevant brain regions contribute to enduring behavioral adaptations that characterize substance use disorder. Recent data from our laboratory indicate that aberrant accumulation of the newly discovered histone post-translational modification (PTM), H3 dopaminylation at glutamine 5 (H3Q5dop), contributes significantly to cocaine-seeking behavior following prolonged periods of abstinence. It remained unclear, however, whether this modification is important for relapse vulnerability in the context of other drugs of abuse, such as opioids.

TAAR1 regulates drug-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking via negatively modulating CaMKIIα activity in the NAc.

Relapse remains a major challenge to the treatment of cocaine addiction. Recent studies suggested that the trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1) could be a promising target to treat cocaine addiction and relapse; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we aimed to investigate the neural mechanism underlying the role of TAAR1 in the drug priming-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior in rats, an animal model of cocaine relapse.

Interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK4) in the nucleus accumbens regulates opioid-seeking behavior in male rats.

Opioid addiction remains a severe health problem. While substantial insights underlying opioid addiction have been yielded from neuron-centric studies, the contribution of non-neuronal mechanisms to opioid-related behavioral adaptations has begun to be recognized. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a pattern recognition receptor, has been widely suggested in opioid-related behaviors.

Cocaine-induced neuron subtype mitochondrial dynamics through Egr3 transcriptional regulation.

Mitochondrial function is required for brain energy homeostasis and neuroadaptation. Recent studies demonstrate that cocaine affects mitochondrial dynamics and morphological characteristics within the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Further, mitochondria are differentially regulated by cocaine in dopamine receptor-1 containing medium spiny neurons (D1-MSNs) vs dopamine receptor-2 (D2)-MSNs.

Evaluating disparities in delivery of neoadjuvant guideline-based chemoradiation for rectal cancer: A multicenter, propensity score-weighted cohort study.

Background: Despite guideline recommendations, some patients still receive care inappropriate for their clinical stage of disease. Identification of factors that contribute to variation in guideline base care may help eradicate disparities in the treatment of early and locally advanced rectal cancer.

Methods: The American College of Surgeons National Cancer Database from 2010 to 2015 was analyzed with propensity score weighting to identify factors associated with delivery and omission of neoadjuvant guideline-based chemoradiation (GBC) for those with early and locally advanced rectal cancer.

Neuroadaptations and TGF-β signaling: emerging role in models of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Neuropsychiatric diseases are manifested by maladaptive behavioral plasticity. Despite the greater understanding of the neuroplasticity underlying behavioral adaptations, pinpointing precise cellular mediators has remained elusive. This has stymied the development of pharmacological interventions to combat these disorders both at the level of progression and relapse.

Characterization of Bacterial and Fungal Infections in Hospitalized Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Factors Associated With Health Care-Associated Infections.

Background: Patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are at increased risk of health care-associated infections (HAIs), especially with prolonged hospital stays. We sought to identify incidence, antimicrobial susceptibilities, and outcomes associated with bacterial/fungal secondary infections in a large cohort of patients with COVID-19.

Methods: We evaluated adult patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between 2 March and 31 May 2020 and hospitalized >24 hours.