Desmoplakin Cardiomyopathy: Role of Inflammation and Potential Role of Disease-Modifying Therapies.

Purpose Of Review: To summarize the available data on the use of immunosuppression therapies for the management of hot phases of disease and recurrent myocarditis in patients with desmoplakin cardiomyopathy (DSP-CMP).

Recent Findings: Occurrence of myocarditis episodes has been associated with worsening of outcomes in DSP-CMP. Multiple case reports and small case series have described potential benefit in using anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive medications for the treatment of those episodes.

Flipping indirect defense: chemical cues from natural enemies mediate multitrophic interactions.

Plants and invertebrates use chemical signals and cues to construct information about their environment. It is well reviewed that chemical signals play key roles in interactions between conspecific insects, such as sex pheromones for finding mates, and that plants transmit chemical signals to recruit natural enemies that kill herbivores. However, it is also known that chemicals emitted by natural enemies can influence insect herbivore physiology and behavior.

Matrix Architecture and Mechanics Regulate Myofibril Organization, Costamere Assembly, and Contractility in Engineered Myocardial Microtissues.

The mechanical function of the myocardium is defined by cardiomyocyte contractility and the biomechanics of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Understanding this relationship remains an important unmet challenge due to limitations in existing approaches for engineering myocardial tissue. Here, they established arrays of cardiac microtissues with tunable mechanics and architecture by integrating ECM-mimetic synthetic, fiber matrices, and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs), enabling real-time contractility readouts, in-depth structural assessment, and tissue-specific computational modeling.

The Clinical Trajectory of NYHA Functional Class I Patients With Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Background: An improved understanding of the natural history in NYHA functional class I patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) is needed.

Objectives: Using a multicenter registry (SHaRe [Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry]), this study described the natural history in patients with oHCM who were classified as NYHA functional class I at the initial visit compared with patients classified as NYHA functional class II and reported baseline characteristics associated with incident clinical events.

Methods: Incident events assessed included a composite of NYHA functional class III to IV symptoms, left ventricular ejection fraction <50%, atrial fibrillation, stroke, ventricular arrhythmias, septal reduction therapy, ventricular assist device or transplantation, or death.

Quality and Safety Considerations for Adaptive Radiation Therapy: An ASTRO White Paper.

Purpose: Adaptive radiation therapy (ART) is the latest topic in a series of white papers published by the American Society for Radiation Oncology addressing quality processes and patient safety. ART widens the therapeutic index by improving the precision of radiation dose to targets, allowing for dose escalation and/or minimization of dose to normal tissue. ART is performed via offline or online methods; offline ART is the process of replanning a patient's treatment plan between fractions, whereas online ART involves plan adjustment with the patient on the treatment table.

Game-Based Learning in Neuroscience: Key Terminology, Literature Survey, and How To Guide to Create a Serious Game.

Game-based learning (GBL) has emerged as a promising approach to engage students and promote deep learning in a variety of educational settings. Neurology and neuroscience are complex fields that require an understanding of intricate neural structures and their functional roles. GBL can support the acquisition and application of such knowledge.

Identification of a colony- and dose-dependent worker aggregation pheromone in the subterranean termite Reticulitermes virginicus.

Collective behaviors of social insects are often regulated by pheromones. In subterranean termites, some workers forage for and exploit decaying wood for new food resources while forming tunnels from their nest. Colonizing new food resources requires workers to build and disinfect tunnels and chambers inside the nest and ingest decaying wood; therefore subterranean termite colonies should have mechanisms to establish and maintain groups of workers to perform these functions.

Eco-evolutionary factors contribute to chemodiversity in aboveground and belowground cucurbit herbivore-induced plant volatiles.

When attacked by insect herbivores, plants emit blends of chemical compounds known as herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). Although HIPVs are produced both aboveground and belowground, how HIPVs vary across plant tissues remains unresolved, as do the selective forces shaping interspecific HIPV emission patterns. Here, we compared foliar and root HIPVs within and among closely related plant species and evaluated if different eco-evolutionary forces, including plant domestication, coexistence histories with herbivores, or phylogenetic relatedness, explain HIPV blends.

Early recanalization after tenecteplase versus alteplase: Experience in a large stroke network.

Introduction: Previously published data are conflicting regarding the ability of tenecteplase versus alteplase to produce early recanalization of an intracranial large vessel occlusion. We compared the performance of each thrombolytic in a stroke network.

Methods: We queried our prospectively collected code stroke registry for basilar, internal carotid, or proximal middle cerebral artery occlusion patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis from 11/17/2021-9/16/2023.

Radiation Therapy for HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An ASTRO Clinical Practice Guideline.

Purpose: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is a distinct disease from other head and neck tumors. This guideline provides evidence-based recommendations on the critical decisions in its curative treatment, including both definitive and postoperative radiation therapy (RT) management.

Methods: ASTRO convened a task force to address 5 key questions on the use of RT for management of HPV-associated OPSCC.

Investigating Lipid Transporter Protein and Lipid Interactions Using Variable Temperature Electrospray Ionization, Ultraviolet Photodissociation Mass Spectrometry, and Collision Cross Section Analysis.

Gram-negative bacteria develop and exhibit resistance to antibiotics, owing to their highly asymmetric outer membrane maintained by a group of six proteins comprising the Mla (maintenance of lipid asymmetry) pathway. Here, we investigate the lipid binding preferences of one Mla protein, MlaC, which transports lipids through the periplasm. We used ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) to identify and characterize modifications of lipids endogenously bound to MlaC expressed in three different bacteria strains.

Neurological outcomes for patients meeting radiographic criteria for DEFUSE 3 and SELECT2.

Background: The DEFUSE 3 and SELECT2 thrombectomy trials included some patients with similar radiographic profiles, although the rates of good functional outcomes differed widely between the studies.

Objective: To report neurological outcomes for patients who meet CT and CT perfusion (CTP) inclusion criteria common to both DEFUSE 3 and SELECT2.

Methods: Retrospective study of thrombectomy patients, presenting between November 2016 and December 2023 to a large health system, with Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score ≥6, core infarction 50-69 mL, mismatch ratio ≥1.

FICD deficiency protects mice from hypertrophy-induced heart failure via BiP-mediated activation of the UPR and ER-phagy.

Cardiomyocytes require the HSP70 chaperone BiP to maintain proteostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) following cardiac stress. The adenylyl transferase (AMPylase) FICD is increasingly recognized to regulate BiP activity through the post-translational addition of an adenosine monophosphate moiety to BiP surface residues. However, the physiological impact of FICD-mediated BiP regulation in the context of cardiovascular health is unknown.

Aphid-Induced Volatiles and Subsequent Attraction of Natural Enemies Varies among Sorghum Cultivars.

The production of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) is a type of indirect defense used by plants to attract natural enemies and reduce herbivory by insect pests. In many crops little is known about genotypic variation in HIPV production or how this may affect natural enemy attraction. In this study, we identified and quantified HIPVs produced by 10 sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) cultivars infested with a prominent aphid pest, the sorghum aphid (Melanaphis sorghi Theobald).

Characterization of Phosphorylated Peptides by Electron-Activated and Ultraviolet Dissociation Mass Spectrometry: A Comparative Study with Collision-Induced Dissociation.

Mass-spectrometry-based methods have made significant progress in the characterization of post-translational modifications (PTMs) in peptides and proteins; however, room remains to improve fragmentation methods. Ideal MS/MS methods are expected to simultaneously provide extensive sequence information and localization of PTM sites and retain labile PTM groups. This collection of criteria is difficult to meet, and the various activation methods available today offer different capabilities.

Complex ADHD Challenging Case: When Simple Becomes Complex: Managing Clinician Bias and Navigating Challenging Family Dynamics in a 6-Year-Old Girl with ADHD and Developmental Delays.

Layla is a 6.7-year-old girl diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-predominantly hyperactive/impulsive type-delayed adaptive skills, enuresis, unspecified malnutrition, and feeding difficulties. She presented to developmental-behavioral pediatrics (DBP) in January 2022 due to caregiver concerns for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

In Vitro Assessment of Cardiac Fibroblast Activation at Physiologic Stiffness.

Cardiac fibroblasts (CF) are an essential cell type in cardiac physiology, playing diverse roles in maintaining structural integrity, extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis, and tissue repair. Under normal conditions, these cells reside in the interstitium in a quiescent state poised to sense and respond to injury by synthesizing and secreting collagen, vimentin, hyaluronan, and other ECM components. In response to mechanical and chemical stimuli, these "resident" fibroblasts can undergo a transformation through a continuum of activation states into what is commonly known as a "myofibroblast," in a process critical for injury response.

Mass Spectrometry Strategies for -Glycoproteomics.

Glycoproteomics has accelerated in recent decades owing to numerous innovations in the analytical workflow. In particular, new mass spectrometry strategies have contributed to inroads in -glycoproteomics, a field that lags behind -glycoproteomics due to several unique challenges associated with the complexity of -glycosylation. This review will focus on progress in sample preparation, enrichment strategies, and MS/MS techniques for the identification and characterization of -glycoproteins.