Incorporating Covariates into Measures of Surrogate Paradox Risk.

Clinical trials often collect intermediate or surrogate endpoints other than their true endpoint of interest. It is important that the treatment effect on the surrogate endpoint accurately predicts the treatment effect on the true endpoint. There are settings in which the proposed surrogate endpoint is positively correlated with the true endpoint, but the treatment has opposite effects on the surrogate and true endpoints, a phenomenon labeled "surrogate paradox".

Patterns of poly tobacco use among adults in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, 2013-2017: a multistate Markov transition analysis.

Background: A better understanding of sociodemographic transition patterns between single, dual and poly tobacco product use may help improve tobacco control policy interventions.

Methods: HRs of transition between never, non-current (no past 30-day use), cigarette, e-cigarette, other combustible, smokeless tobacco (SLT), dual and poly tobacco use states in adults were estimated for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education and income using a multistate model for waves 1-4 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study (2013-2017), a US-based cohort study, accounting for complex survey design.

Results: Sole cigarette and SLT use were persistent, with 77% and 78% of adults continuing use after one wave.

Associations of Demographics, Dependence, and Biomarkers With Transitions in Tobacco Product Use in a Cohort of Cigarette Users and Dual Users of Cigarettes and E-cigarettes.

Introduction: It is uncertain whether e-cigarettes facilitate smoking cessation in the real world. We aimed to understand whether and how transitions among cigarette, e-cigarette, and dual use are associated with sociodemographics, dependence measures, and biomarkers.

Aims And Methods: We followed 380 adult daily cigarette users and dual users every 2 months for up to 2 years.

Advance Care Planning and Transitions to Comfort Measures after Stroke.

Advance care planning (ACP) is recommended to align treatment with patient goals, although there has been little study of the impact of ACP on in-hospital stroke treatment. To examine the association between ACP and transitions to comfort measures after stroke. Prospective cohort study.

Family Perceptions of Quality of End-of-Life Care in Stroke.

Most end-of-life decisions after stroke are made by a surrogate decision maker, yet there has been limited study of surrogate assessment of the quality of end-of-life stroke care. To assess surrogate perceptions of quality of end-of-life care (QEOLC) in stroke and explore factors associated with quality. Cross-sectional analysis of interviewer-administered survey.

Trends in Stroke Recurrence in Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites.

Background And Purpose: Stroke incidence and mortality are declining rapidly in developed countries. Little data on ethnic-specific stroke recurrence trends exist. Fourteen-year stroke recurrence trend estimates were evaluated in Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in a population-based study.

Do apneas and hypopneas best reflect risk for poor outcomes after stroke?

Objective/background: Sleep apnea (SA) is associated with poor outcomes after stroke. The best sleep apnea-related measure to capture this relationship is currently unknown. This measure or its underlying pathophysiology could serve as a treatment target.

Clinical phenotypes of obstructive sleep apnea after ischemic stroke: a cluster analysis.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent in patients with ischemic stroke. Untreated OSA is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and OSA treatment may improve neurological recovery in stroke survivors, yet OSA in stroke patients remains poorly characterized. The goal of this study is to identify clinical phenotypes of ischemic stroke patients with OSA.

Time Trends in Race-Ethnic Differences in Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders After Stroke.

Background and Purpose- Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders are common after stroke, though there are limited data on trends over time. We investigated time trends in DNR orders in a community with a large minority population. Methods- Cases of ischemic stroke (IS) or intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) were identified from the BASIC study (Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi) from June 2007 through October 2016.

Ethnic Differences in 90-Day Poststroke Medication Adherence.

Background and Purpose- We assessed ethnic differences in medication adherence 3 months poststroke in a population-based study as an initial step in investigating the increased stroke recurrence risk in Mexican Americans compared with non-Hispanic whites. Methods- Ischemic stroke cases from 2008 to 2015 from the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi project in Texas were followed prospectively for 3 months poststroke to assess medication adherence. Medications in 5 drug classes were analyzed: statins, antiplatelets, anticoagulants, antihypertensives, and antidepressants.

Sleep-Disordered Breathing Is Associated With Recurrent Ischemic Stroke.

Background and Purpose- Limited data are available about the relationship between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and recurrent stroke and mortality, especially from population-based studies, large samples, or ethnically diverse populations. Methods- In the BASIC project (Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christ), we identified patients with ischemic stroke (2010-2015). Subjects were offered screening for SDB with the ApneaLink Plus device, from which a respiratory event index (REI) score ≥10 defined SDB.

D-cis-Diltiazem Can Produce Oxidative Stress in Healthy Depolarized Rods In Vivo.

Purpose: New perspectives are needed to understand decades of contradictory reports on the neuroprotective effects of the Cav1.2 L-type calcium channel blocker d-cis-diltiazem in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) models. Here, we address, in vivo, the following two knowledge gaps regarding d-cis-diltiazem's actions in the murine outer retina: (1) do normal mouse rods contain d-cis-diltiazem-insensitive Cav1.

Dark Rearing Does Not Prevent Rod Oxidative Stress In Vivo in Pde6brd10 Mice.

Purpose: In cyclic light-reared Pde6brd10 mice, rod cell oxidative stress contributes to the degenerative phenotype. Dark rearing Pde6brd10 mice slows but does not prevent atrophy. This suggests that outer retinal oxidative stress occurs in Pde6brd10 mice independent of light exposure, a hypothesis tested in this study.

Sodium Iodate Produces a Strain-Dependent Retinal Oxidative Stress Response Measured In Vivo Using QUEST MRI.

Purpose: We identify noninvasive biomarkers that measure the severity of oxidative stress within retina layers in sodium iodate (SI)-atrophy vulnerable (C57BL/6 [B6]) and SI-atrophy resistant (129S6/SvEvTac [S6]) mice.

Methods: At 24 hours after administering systemic SI to B6 and S6 mice we measured: (1) superoxide production in whole retina ex vivo, (2) excessive free radical production in vivo based on layer-specific 1/T1 values before and after α-lipoic acid (ALA) administration while the animal was inside the magnet (QUEnch-assiSTed MRI [QUEST MRI]), and (3) visual performance (optokinetic tracking) ± antioxidants; control mice were similarly assessed. Retinal layer spacing and thickness in vivo also were evaluated (optical coherence tomography, MRI).

imaging of prodromal hippocampus CA1 subfield oxidative stress in models of Alzheimer disease and Angelman syndrome.

Hippocampus oxidative stress is considered pathogenic in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease (AD), and in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Angelman syndrome (AS). Yet clinical benefits of antioxidant treatment for these diseases remain unclear because conventional imaging methods are unable to guide management of therapies in specific hippocampus subfields that underlie abnormal behavior. Excessive production of paramagnetic free radicals in nonhippocampus brain tissue can be measured as a greater-than-normal 1/ that is quenchable with antioxidant as measured by quench-assisted (Quest) MRI.