Race, substance use, and evaluation for heart transplantation: Insights from a large urban medical center.

It is unknown whether racial disparities in access to heart transplantation (HT) are amplified when coupled with substance use. We examined patients evaluated for HT over 8 years at an urban transplant center. We evaluated substance use and race/ethnicity as independent and interactive predictors of HT and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.

Evolution of pretransplant cardiac risk factor burden and major adverse cardiovascular events in liver transplant recipients over time.

Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) are the leading cause of early (<1 y) complications after liver transplantation (LT). NASH, the leading indication for waitlisting for LT, is associated with high cardiac risk factor burden. The contemporary prevalence and temporal trends in pretransplant cardiac risk factor burden and post-LT MACE among LT recipients (LTRs) with and without NASH are unknown.

The Evolution of Dignity: An Intervention Model to Engage and Retain HIV-Positive Black Women in Care.

The Black community is currently battling two pandemics, one is HIV, and the other is COVID-19. Similarly, as with HIV, COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on our healthcare system's structural failings and revealed the disproportionate impact on the Black community, particularly Black women. Black women accounted for the largest proportion of new HIV diagnoses (58 %) among all women in 2018 and represented about one-quarter of new HIV diagnoses among all Black Americans.

is conserved between and psychrophilic, polar-collected fungi.

Autophagy is a conserved catabolic process by which eukaryotic cells respond to stress by targeting damaged or unneeded molecules or organelles for sequestration into specialized vesicles known as autophagosomes. Autophagosomes ultimately facilitate the digestion and recycling of their contents by fusing with the degradative organelle of the cell. Studies of the budding yeast have revealed various types of stress that can regulate autophagy, including starvation and extreme temperatures.

YML018C protein localizes to the vacuolar membrane independently of Atg27p.

The function of the budding yeast YML018C protein remains to be determined. High-throughput studies have reported that the YML018C protein localizes to the vacuolar membrane and physically interacts with the autophagy-related protein Atg27p. While this evidence suggests a potential role for this uncharacterized protein in the process of autophagy, the function of this putative interaction remains uncharacterized.

Cryopreservation and the Freeze-Thaw Stress Response in Yeast.

The ability of yeast to survive freezing and thawing is most frequently considered in the context of cryopreservation, a practical step in both industrial and research applications of these organisms. However, it also relates to an evolved ability to withstand freeze-thaw stress that is integrated with a larger network of survival responses. These responses vary between different strains and species of yeast according to the environments to which they are adapted, and the basis of this adaptation appears to be both conditioned and genetic in origin.

A Versatile Method for Depth Data Error Estimation in RGB-D Sensors.

We propose a versatile method for estimating the RMS error of depth data provided by generic 3D sensors with the capability of generating RGB and depth () data of the scene, i.e., the ones based on techniques such as structured light, time of flight and stereo.

Intravenous Drug Use Is Novel Predictor of Infectious Intracranial Aneurysms in Patients with Infective Endocarditis.

Introduction: Infectious intracranial aneurysms (IIAs) are a rare but potentially devastating complication of infective endocarditis. The clinical and radiographic findings that predispose patients to IIA remain poorly understood.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database of consecutive endocarditis patients undergoing catheter-based angiography at a single tertiary-level academic center during the period of July 2013-December 2017.

Influence of alcoholism and cholesterol on TSPO binding in brain: PET [C]PBR28 studies in humans and rodents.

Neuroinflammation appears to contribute to neurotoxicity observed with heavy alcohol consumption. To assess whether chronic alcohol results in neuroinflammation we used PET and [C]PBR28, a ligand that binds to the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO), to compare participants with an alcohol use disorder (AUD: n = 19) with healthy controls (HC: n = 17), and alcohol-dependent (n = 9) with -nondependent rats (n = 10). Because TSPO is implicated in cholesterol's transport for steroidogenesis, we investigated whether plasma cholesterol levels influenced [C]PBR28 binding.

Physical activity measured with wrist and ankle accelerometers: Age, gender, and BMI effects.

Physical activity (PA) is associated with various aspects of physical and mental health and varies by age and BMI. We aimed to compare PA measures obtained with wrist and ankle accelerometers and characterize their associations with age and BMI. We assessed PA mean and PA variability (indexed by coefficient of variation (CV)) at daytime and nighttime periods for seven consecutive days (M = 152.

Striatal Dopamine D2/D3 Receptor Availability Varies Across Smoking Status.

To assess how tobacco smoking status affects baseline dopamine D2/D3 (D2R) receptor availability and methylphenidate-induced dopamine (DA) release, we retrospectively analyzed D2R availability measures of 8 current smokers, 10 ex-smokers, and 18 nonsmokers who were scanned with positron emission tomography and [C]raclopride, after administration of an injection of placebo or 0.5 mg/kg i.v.

Dynamic brain glucose metabolism identifies anti-correlated cortical-cerebellar networks at rest.

It remains unclear whether resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rfMRI) networks are associated with underlying synchrony in energy demand, as measured by dynamic 2-deoxy-2-[F]fluoroglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). We measured absolute glucose metabolism, temporal metabolic connectivity (t-MC) and rfMRI patterns in 53 healthy participants at rest. Twenty-two rfMRI networks emerged from group independent component analysis (gICA).

Neuroimaging the Effectiveness of Substance Use Disorder Treatments.

Neuroimaging techniques to measure the function and biochemistry of the human brain such as positron emission tomography (PET), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are powerful tools for assessing neurobiological mechanisms underlying the response to treatments in substance use disorders. Here, we review the neuroimaging literature on pharmacological and behavioral treatment in substance use disorder. We focus on neural effects of medications that reduce craving (e.

Socioeconomic status is associated with striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptors in healthy volunteers but not in cocaine abusers.

Positron emission tomography (PET) studies in animals and humans have shown that social status is associated with striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor (D2/D3R) availability. That is, higher social hierarchy and higher scores on questionnaires assessing social status correlated positively with striatal D2/D3R availability in animals and humans respectively. Furthermore, subordinate monkeys were vulnerable to cocaine self-administration, suggesting that alternations in social hierarchy can change D2/D3R availability and vulnerability to cocaine use.

PET imaging for addiction medicine: From neural mechanisms to clinical considerations.

Positron emission tomography (PET) has been shown to be an effective imaging technique to study neurometabolic and neurochemical processes involved in addiction. That is, PET has been used to research neurobiological differences in substance abusers versus healthy controls and the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of abused drugs. Over the past years, the research scope has shifted to investigating neurobiological effects of abstinence and treatment, and their predictive power for relapse and other clinical outcomes.

Membrane potential shapes regulation of dopamine transporter trafficking at the plasma membrane.

The dopaminergic system is essential for cognitive processes, including reward, attention and motor control. In addition to DA release and availability of synaptic DA receptors, timing and magnitude of DA neurotransmission depend on extracellular DA-level regulation by the dopamine transporter (DAT), the membrane expression and trafficking of which are highly dynamic. Data presented here from real-time TIRF (TIRFM) and confocal microscopy coupled with surface biotinylation and electrophysiology suggest that changes in the membrane potential alone, a universal yet dynamic cellular property, rapidly alter trafficking of DAT to and from the surface membrane.