Sex differences in gray matter, white matter, and regional brain perfusion in young, healthy adults.

Cerebrovascular and neurological diseases exhibit sex-specific patterns in prevalence, severity, and regional specificity, some of which are associated with altered cerebral blood flow (CBF). Females often exhibit higher resting CBF, but understanding the impact of sex per se on CBF is hampered by study variability in age, comorbidities, medications, and control for menstrual cycle or hormone therapies. A majority of studies report whole brain CBF without differentiating between gray and white matter or without assessing regional CBF.

Light-dependent changes in the outer plexiform layer of the mouse retina.

The ability of the visual system to relay meaningful information over a wide range of lighting conditions is critical to functional vision, and relies on mechanisms of adaptation within the retina that adjust sensitivity and gain as ambient light changes. Photoreceptor synapses represent the first stage of image processing in the visual system, thus activity-driven changes at this site are a potentially powerful, yet under-studied means of adaptation. To gain insight into these mechanisms, the abundance and distribution of key synaptic proteins involved in photoreceptor to ON-bipolar cell transmission were compared between light-adapted mice and mice subjected to prolonged dark exposure (72 hours), by immunofluorescence confocal microscopy and immunoblotting.

Tool or Tyrant: Guiding and Guarding Generative Artificial Intelligence Use in Nursing Education.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve rapidly, its integration into nursing education is inevitable. This article presents a narrative exploring the implementation of generative AI in nursing education and offers a guide for its strategic use. The exploration begins with an examination of the broader societal impact and uses of artificial intelligence, recognizing its pervasive presence and the potential it holds.

Trophoblast glycoprotein is required for efficient synaptic vesicle exocytosis from retinal rod bipolar cells.

Introduction: Rod bipolar cells (RBCs) faithfully transmit light-driven signals from rod photoreceptors in the outer retina to third order neurons in the inner retina. Recently, significant work has focused on the role of leucine-rich repeat (LRR) proteins in synaptic development and signal transduction at RBC synapses. We previously identified trophoblast glycoprotein (TPBG) as a novel transmembrane LRR protein localized to the dendrites and axon terminals of RBCs.

Explaining the Black-White Disparity in Preterm Birth: A Consensus Statement From a Multi-Disciplinary Scientific Work Group Convened by the March of Dimes.

In 2017-2019, the March of Dimes convened a workgroup with biomedical, clinical, and epidemiologic expertise to review knowledge of the causes of the persistent Black-White disparity in preterm birth (PTB). Multiple databases were searched to identify hypothesized causes examined in peer-reviewed literature, 33 hypothesized causes were reviewed for whether they plausibly affect PTB and either occur more/less frequently and/or have a larger/smaller effect size among Black women vs. White women.

Conducting Nursing Research in the School Setting: Lessons Learned.

Conducting original research in the school setting advances our understanding of diverse, vulnerable youth with the objective of improving future outcomes through evidence-based health initiatives. School-based research may involve formal collaboration and partnership with school personnel or may be conducted through use of school facilities, site location, or access to participant recruitment. Despite the recognized benefits of school-based research, the school setting presents many unique challenges to the nurse researcher, including obtaining site access and facilitating the implementation of the research study.

Self-driving laboratory for accelerated discovery of thin-film materials.

Discovering and optimizing commercially viable materials for clean energy applications typically takes more than a decade. Self-driving laboratories that iteratively design, execute, and learn from materials science experiments in a fully autonomous loop present an opportunity to accelerate this research process. We report here a modular robotic platform driven by a model-based optimization algorithm capable of autonomously optimizing the optical and electronic properties of thin-film materials by modifying the film composition and processing conditions.

TRPM1 Autoantibodies in Melanoma Patients Without Self-Reported Visual Symptoms.

Purpose: Melanoma-associated retinopathy (MAR) is a paraneoplastic syndrome associated with cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). Visual symptoms include night blindness, photopsia, and reduced-contrast sensitivity. An abnormal ERG b-wave and the presence of anti-bipolar cell autoantibodies, including autoantibodies reacting with the ON-bipolar cell TRPM1 channel, help to confirm the diagnosis.

Getting Social: The Use of Social Media to Improve Alumni Response Rates for Assessment of Program Outcomes.

Outcome assessment has become standard in institutions of higher learning and is a requirement of State Boards of Nursing and major accrediting bodies, including all accrediting agencies for programs in nursing. Appropriate identification of student learning outcomes and program outcomes to ensure the collection of relevant and meaningful data is essential. Although much has been written about what should be included in assessment, little information exists on how to best collect the required data for evaluation.

Risk Factors for Rhabdomyolysis in the U.S. Army.

Unlabelled: The standardized mortality rate of rhabdomyolysis (RM) in Active Duty U.S. Army Soldiers is considerably higher than in the civilian population.

Physical Rehabilitation Interventions for Post-mTBI Symptoms Lasting Greater Than 2 Weeks: Systematic Review.

Background: Heightened awareness of the lasting effects of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has amplified interest in interventions that facilitate recovery from persistent post-mTBI symptoms.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature to identify potential physical rehabilitation interventions that are safe, feasible, and appropriate for physical therapists to utilize with patients with persistent mTBI-related symptoms.

Data Sources: The electronic databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science were systematically searched from database inception until June 2015.

Superion(®) InterSpinous Spacer for treatment of moderate degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis: durable three-year results of a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: This report provides the 3-year clinical outcomes from the randomized, controlled US Food and Drug Administration Investigational Device Exemption trial of the Superion(®) for the treatment of moderate degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis.

Patients And Methods: The Superion(®) was evaluated in the treatment of subjects aged 45 years or older suffering from symptoms of intermittent neurogenic claudication, secondary to a confirmed diagnosis of moderate degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis at one or two contiguous levels from L1 to L5. Patients were treated between June 2008 and December 2011 at 31 investigational sites.

Epidemiology of Ankle Sprains and the Risk of Separation From Service in U.S. Army Soldiers.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To report the incidence rate of ankle sprains in active-duty soldiers and to examine if soldiers who sustain ankle sprain injuries are more likely to leave the Army than those who do not sustain an ankle sprain.

Background: Ankle sprains are one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries in physically active people and have been identified as the most common foot or ankle injury in active-duty Army personnel, with a rate of 103 sprains per 1000 soldiers per year.

Superion interspinous process spacer for intermittent neurogenic claudication secondary to moderate lumbar spinal stenosis: two-year results from a randomized controlled FDA-IDE pivotal trial.

Study Design: Prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled, investigational device exemption noninferiority trial.

Objective: To determine 2-year outcomes in patients with intermittent neurogenic claudication secondary to moderate lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) who were treated with the Superion interspinous process spacer.

Summary Of Background Data: Interspinous spacers are a less-invasive treatment alternative compared with surgical decompression for patients with LSS unresponsive to conservative care.

Two-year clinical outcomes of a multicenter randomized controlled trial comparing two interspinous spacers for treatment of moderate lumbar spinal stenosis.

Background: Interspinous spacers are a minimally invasive surgical alternative for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) unresponsive to conservative care. The purpose of this prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled trial was to compare 2-year clinical outcomes in patients with moderate LSS treated with the Superion(®) (Experimental) or the X-Stop(®), a FDA-approved interspinous spacer (Control).

Methods: A total of 250 patients with moderate LSS unresponsive to conservative care were randomly allocated to treatment with the Experimental (n = 123) or Control (n = 127) interspinous spacer and followed through 2 years post-treatment.

A dose-reconstruction study of the 1997 Sarov criticality accident using animated dosimetry techniques.

Most computational human phantoms are static, representing a standing individual. There are, however, cases when these phantoms fail to represent accurately the detailed effects on dose that result from considering varying human posture and even whole sequences of motion. In this study, the feasibility of a dynamic and deformable phantom is demonstrated with the development of the Computational Human for Animated Dosimetry (CHAD) phantom.

Risk factors for soft tissue knee injuries in active duty U.S. Army soldiers, 2000-2005.

Background: There is a scarcity of analytic research on active duty Army (ADA) knee injuries (KI), such as soft tissue knee injuries (STKI), which are the predominant ADA KI pattern.

Purpose: To quantify the independent adjusted association of significant ADA STKI risk factors, 2000-2005.

Materials/methods: Using the Total Army Injury and Health Outcomes Database, we (1) captured absolute STKI numbers and rates (N = 83,323) and (2) developed regression models to determine significant STKI risk factors.

Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG® and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12® on health-related quality of life in college students affected by upper respiratory infections.

College students are susceptible to upper respiratory infections (URI) due to inadequate sleep, stress and close living quarters. Certain probiotic strains modulate immune function and may improve health-related quality of life (HRQL) during URI. The present study recruited apparently healthy college students and assessed the effect of probiotics on HRQL outcomes (i.

Condom use among sexually active rural high school adolescents personal, environmental, and behavioral predictors.

Adolescents who engage in unprotected intercourse are at risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI). Although adolescents in rural areas participate in levels of sexual risk taking similar to that of nonrural youth, few data are available identifying factors that influence condom use among rural adolescents. The purpose of this study is to determine the predictive value of selected personal, environmental, and behavioral factors for condom use among rural adolescents in grades 9-12.

Rates of knee injury in the U.S. Active Duty Army, 2000-2005.

We sought to summarize knee injuries (KI) in the U.S. Active Duty Army (ADA) in terms of absolute numbers, examine current rate trends, and identify ADA who were at increased risk for experiencing a KI.

Molecular ontogeny of donor-derived follicular lymphomas occurring after hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Unlabelled: The relative timing of genetic alterations that contribute to follicular lymphoma remains unknown. We analyzed a donor-recipient pair who both developed grade 2/3A follicular lymphoma 7 years after allogeneic transplantation and donor lymphocyte infusions. Both patients harbored identical BCL2/IGH rearrangements also present in 1 in 2,000 cells in the donor lymphocyte infusion, and the same V(D)J rearrangement, which underwent somatic hypermutation both before and after clonal divergence.

Measures of anxiety, sensorimotor function, and memory in male and female mGluR4⁻/⁻ mice.

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are coupled to second messenger pathways via G proteins and modulate synaptic transmission. Of the eight different types of mGluRs (mGluR1-mGluR8), mGluR4, mGluR6, mGluR7, and mGluR8 are members of group III. Group III receptors are generally located presynaptically, where they regulate neurotransmitter release.

Does a simple bedside sonographic measurement of the inferior vena cava correlate to central venous pressure?

Background: Bedside ultrasound has been suggested as a non-invasive modality to estimate central venous pressure (CVP).

Objective: Evaluate a simple bedside ultrasound technique to measure the diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) and correlate to simultaneously measured CVP. Secondary comparisons include anatomic location, probe orientation, and phase of respiration.