Seagrass wasting disease prevalence and lesion area increase with invertebrate grazing across the northeastern Pacific.

Disease is a key driver of community and ecosystem structure, especially when it strikes foundation species. In the widespread marine foundation species eelgrass (Zostera marina), outbreaks of wasting disease have caused large-scale meadow collapse in the past, and the causative pathogen, Labyrinthula zosterae, is commonly found in meadows globally. Research to date has mainly focused on abiotic environmental drivers of seagrass wasting disease, but there is strong evidence from other systems that biotic interactions such as herbivory can facilitate plant diseases.

Word count matters: Features of written language production in progressive apraxia of speech with and without agrammatism.

Introduction: Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder characterized by sound distortions, substitutions, deletions, and additions; slow speech rate; abnormal prosody; and/or segmentation between words and syllables. AOS can result from neurodegeneration, in which case it can be accompanied by the primary agrammatic aphasia (PAA), which when presenting together are called AOS+PAA. AOS can also be the sole manifestation of neurodegeneration, termed primary progressive AOS (PPAOS).

Anxiety and Future-Self Clarity: Can Future Thinking Influence Self-Esteem?

Possible selves reflect one's hopes and fears for their future identity. Previous research shows that high anxiety is associated with clearer feared possible selves. However, the mechanism through which clarity could maintain anxiety is relatively unexplored as are questions concerning whether clarity of possible selves could offer new methods of reducing anxiety.

Predicting Reliable Improvements in Primary Care Youth Mental Health.

Background: Amid a youth mental health crisis, community-based early intervention services have shown promising outcomes. Understanding the specific factors that predict clinical outcomes is crucial for enhancing intervention efficacy, yet these factors remain insufficiently understood.

Aim: This study examined the individual and service-related factors associated with reliable improvement for young people (n = 4565) aged 12-25 years attending a brief primary care youth talk therapy mental health service across 14 sites.

A Bi-Specific T Cell-Engaging Antibody Shows Potent Activity, Specificity, and Tumor Microenvironment Remodeling in Experimental Syngeneic and Genetically Engineered Models of GBM.

Background: Bispecific T cell-engagers (BTEs) are engineered antibodies that redirect T cells to target antigen-expressing tumors. BTEs targeting various tumor-specific antigens, like interleukin 13 receptor alpha 2 (IL13RA2) and EGFRvIII, have been developed for glioblastoma (GBM). However, limited knowledge of BTE actions derived from studies conducted in immunocompromised animal models impedes progress in the field.

IL13RA2-integrated genetically engineered mouse model allows for CAR T cells targeting pediatric high-grade gliomas.

Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGG) and pediatric diffuse midline gliomas (pDMG) are devastating diseases without durable and curative options. Although targeted immunotherapy has shown promise, the field lacks immunocompetent animal models to study these processes in detail. To achieve this, we developed a fully immunocompetent, genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) for pDMG and pHGG that incorporates the glioma-associated antigen, interleukin 13 receptor alpha 2 (IL13RA2).

Vitamin D deficiency and duration of COVID-19 symptoms in UK healthcare workers.

Objectives: Vitamin D has a role in the innate immunity against pathogens and is also involved in mechanisms for reducing inflammation. VD deficiency (VDD) may increase COVID-19 infection susceptibility, however research is limited on the association between VDD and COVID-19 symptom prevalence and duration. The study aimed to determine whether VDD is a risk factor for the presence and extended duration of COVID-19 symptoms.

Revisiting the Plasmodium falciparum druggable genome using predicted structures and data mining.

The identification of novel drug targets for the purpose of designing small molecule inhibitors is key component to modern drug discovery. In malaria parasites, discoveries of antimalarial targets have primarily occurred retroactively by investigating the mode of action of compounds found through phenotypic screens. Although this method has yielded many promising candidates, it is time- and resource-consuming and misses targets not captured by existing antimalarial compound libraries and phenotypic assay conditions.

Inhibitors of malaria parasite cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases block asexual blood-stage development and mosquito transmission.

Cyclic nucleotide-dependent phosphodiesterases (PDEs) play essential roles in regulating the malaria parasite life cycle, suggesting that they may be promising antimalarial drug targets. PDE inhibitors are used safely to treat a range of noninfectious human disorders. Here, we report three subseries of fast-acting and potent PDEβ inhibitors that block asexual blood-stage parasite development and that are also active against human clinical isolates.

Sleep Apnea Risk, Subjective Cognitive Decline, and Cognitive Performance: Findings from the Boston Latino Aging Study.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia. These relations are understudied in ethnoracially diverse groups. We examined associations among self-reported OSA risk, SCD, and cognitive performance in community-dwelling older Latinos.

JYNNEOS vaccine safety surveillance in the vaccine safety datalink during the 2022 mpox outbreak in the United States.

Background: The JYNNEOS vaccine (two doses given 28 days apart) was recommended in the United States for people at high risk of exposure to monkeypox virus during the 2022 mpox outbreak. Our objective was to assess the safety of JYNNEOS using two complementary epidemiologic methods.

Methods: This observational cohort included patients of eight large integrated healthcare organizations who received JYNNEOS.

Progression of Motor Speech Function in Speakers With Primary Progressive Apraxia of Speech.

Purpose: Speakers with primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS) have an insidious onset of motor speech planning/programming difficulties. As the disease progresses, the apraxia of speech (AOS) becomes more severe and a co-occurring dysarthria often emerges. Here, longitudinal data from speakers with phonetic- and prosodic-predominant PPAOS are used to characterize the progression of their motor speech impairment, including the development of dysarthria and mutism.

Night Shift Work and Sleep Experiences in Older Night Shift Nurses.

Background: Working at night leads to misalignment between the biological clock and the work/sleep schedule, resulting in sleepiness and impaired performance during the night shift and poor quality, shortened sleep during the day; this is greatly impaired in older individuals.

Objective: To describe night work and sleep experiences from the perspective of older (aged 50-65) nurses.

Methods: Seven virtual focus groups were formed comprising 19 older nurses who worked regular 8-hour night shifts (at least 6 consecutive hours between midnight and 6 am) to learn about their shift work and sleep experiences.

Tambjamines as Fast-Acting Multistage Antimalarials.

Well-tolerated and novel antimalarials that can combat multiple stages of the parasite life cycle are desirable but challenging to discover and develop. Herein, we report results for natural product-inspired novel tambjamine antimalarials. We show that they are potent against liver, asexual erythrocytic, and sexual erythrocytic parasite life cycle stages.

Progressive Apraxia of Speech as a Manifestation of Spinocerebellar Ataxia 2: Case Report.

Objectives: To describe a case of spinocerebellar ataxia presenting with progressive apraxia of speech (AOS).

Methods: A 54-year-old man with progressive speech changes was seen clinically and referred to our observational research program on degenerative speech and language disorders. He underwent detailed speech-language and neurologic assessments and multimodal neuroimaging studies.

Safety of Simultaneous vs Sequential mRNA COVID-19 and Inactivated Influenza Vaccines: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Limited randomized clinical trial data exist on the safety of simultaneous administration of COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

Objective: To compare the reactogenicity, safety, and changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after simultaneous vs sequential receipt of messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine and quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV4).

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted between October 8, 2021, and June 14, 2023, at 3 US sites.

Accuracy of Three Commercial Wearable Devices for Sleep Tracking in Healthy Adults.

Sleep tracking by consumers is becoming increasingly prevalent; yet, few studies have evaluated the accuracy of such devices. We sought to evaluate the accuracy of three devices (Oura Ring Gen3, Fitbit Sense 2, and Apple Watch Series 8) compared to the gold standard sleep assessment (polysomnography (PSG)). Thirty-five participants (aged 20-50 years) without a sleep disorder were enrolled in a single-night inpatient study, during which they wore the Oura Ring, Fitbit, and Apple Watch, and were monitored with PSG.

Residential food environment and dietary antioxidant consumption among pregnant women: Modifying effects of socioeconomic factors and ethnic identity.

Background: Residential food environment influences dietary patterns, however the impact of individuals' perceived social identity on their antioxidant intake, an indicator of healthy dietary patterns, remains underexplored.

Objective: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data collected in a longitudinal cohort. In the study, we aimed to investigate the interactions between the food environment and two indicators of social identity, specifically a subjective ladder measure of socioeconomic status (SES) and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) score, in relation to dietary antioxidant intake (DAI) among n = 512 Boston and NYC-resident pregnant women.

Supporting young people through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: a multi-site qualitative longitudinal study.

Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, youth have experienced substantial stress due to abrupt changes in education, finances, and social life, compounding pre-existing stressors. With youth (ages 15-26) often at critical points in development, they are vulnerable to long-term mental health challenges brought on by pandemic trauma.

Methods: To identify youth experiences throughout the pandemic and examine changes over time, we conducted semi-structured interviews among n = 141 youth in two Canadian provinces (Ontario and British Columbia) and across the country of Ireland at three time points over the course of more than one year (August 2020-October 2021).

Psychometric Evaluation of Cognitive and Positive Valence Tasks Chosen for the NIMH Research Domain Criteria Project.

The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative seeks to utilize multidimensional patterns of socio-cognitive behavior to improve understanding of mental illness. We aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a subset of RDoC tasks. Specifically, we investigated two positive valence tasks and five cognitive tasks.