Backbone assignment of the N-terminal domain of the A subunit of the Bacillus cereus GerI germinant receptor.

The nutrient germinant receptors (GRs) in spores of Bacillus species consist of a cluster of three proteins- designated A, B, and C subunits- that play a critical role in initiating the germination of dormant spores in response to specific nutrient molecules. The Bacillus cereus GerI GR is essential for inosine-induced germination; however, the roles of the individual subunits and the mechanism by which germinant binding activates GR function remain unclear. In this study, we report the backbone chemical shift assignments of the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the A subunit of GerI (GerIA).

Perceptions of Peer and Parental Support: Feasibility of a Physical Activity Intervention for Adolescent Girls.

Physical activity (PA) has a wide range of health benefits. Children with high levels of social support are more likely to achieve adequate levels of PA. The purposes of this pilot study were to examine the impact of an after-school intervention on perceived peer and parental support among adolescent girls and to identify correlates of support to explore in future studies to increase PA.

Stage at diagnosis and cancer-specific survival for stomach, lung, colorectal, and bladder cancers among Armenians in California.

Objective: To observe stage at diagnosis and cancer-specific survival for common cancers among Armenians in California.

Methods: We used the Armenian Surname List and birthplace information in the California Cancer Registry to identify Armenians with stomach, lung, colorectal, and bladder cancers diagnosed during 1988-2019. We used multivariable logistic regression models to calculate odds of late-stage diagnoses among Armenian and non-Armenian, non-Hispanic White patients and examine the association of sociodemographic factors with late-stage diagnoses among the Armenian patient population.

Co-designing a physical activity intervention for low-income mothers of preschool-aged children with community leaders: a qualitative study.

Background: Young children from low-income families experience disparities in school readiness that impact short and long-term health. Family physical activity co-participation is an interactive activity that may promote positive health and academic outcomes. The purpose of this study is to describe the process and outcomes of engaging with community leaders to co-design the Families Moving Together intervention for low-income mothers and their preschool-aged children.

Early cholecystectomy.

In patients with acute calculous cholecystitis, early laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the first choice, including high risk patients. The ideal timing is surgery within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms, and the duration of the symptoms should not exceed 7-10 days. If surgery is contraindicated, percutaneous or endoscopic gallbladder drainage may be considered.

Physical inactivity among American single-female caregivers: An analysis of the 2020 behavioral risk factor surveillance system.

Background: Many adults in the United States do not reach the recommended levels of activity needed for health benefits. Single-female caregivers present a unique and vulnerable population that is often less active than their partnered peers or single-male caregivers.

Objective: The primary objective of this cross-sectional investigation was to identify the prevalence of physical inactivity in single-family, female-led households and determine differences in personal factors and social characteristics between physically active and not physically active single-female caregivers.

PDB NextGen Archive: centralizing access to integrated annotations and enriched structural information by the Worldwide Protein Data Bank.

The Protein Data Bank (PDB) is the global repository for public-domain experimentally determined 3D biomolecular structural information. The archival nature of the PDB presents certain challenges pertaining to updating or adding associated annotations from trusted external biodata resources. While each Worldwide PDB (wwPDB) partner has made best efforts to provide up-to-date external annotations, accessing and integrating information from disparate wwPDB data centers can be an involved process.

What is a star worth to Medicare beneficiaries? A discrete choice experiment of hospital quality ratings.

Hospital quality ratings are widely available to help Medicare beneficiaries make an informed choice about where to receive care. However, how beneficiaries' trade-off between different quality domains (clinical outcomes, patient experience, safety, efficiency) and other considerations (out-of-pocket cost, travel distance) is not well understood. We sought to study how beneficiaries make trade-offs when choosing a hypothetical hospital.

Variations in infants' physical and social environments shape spontaneous locomotion.

Independent locomotion is associated with a range of positive developmental outcomes, but unlike cognitive, linguistic, and social skills, acquiring motor skills requires infants to generate their own input for learning. We tested factors that shape infants' spontaneous locomotion by observing forty 12- to 22-month-olds (19 girls, 21 boys) during free play. Infants were recruited from the New York City area, and caregivers reported that 25 infants were White, six were Asian, four were Black, and five had multiple races; four were Hispanic or Latino.

Implementation of an audit and feedback module targeting low-value clinical practices in a provincial trauma quality assurance program: a cost-effectiveness study.

Background: Audit and Feedback (A&F) interventions based on quality indicators have been shown to lead to significant improvements in compliance with evidence-based care including de-adoption of low-value practices (LVPs). Our primary aim was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of adding a hypothetical A&F module targeting LVPs for trauma admissions to an existing quality assurance intervention targeting high-value care and risk-adjusted outcomes. A secondary aim was to assess how certain A&F characteristics might influence its cost-effectiveness.

Impact of COVID-19, cancer survivorship and patient-provider communication on mental health in the US Difference-In-Difference.

Poor mental health has been found to be more prevalent among those with cancer and is considered a public health crisis since COVID-19. This study assessed the impact of COVID-19 and cancer survivorship on mental health and investigated factors, including online patient-provider communications (OPPC; email/internet/tablet/smartphone), associated with poor mental health prior to and during the early COVID-19. Nationally representative Health Information National Trends Survey data during 2017-2020 (n = 15,871) was used.

Barriers and Facilitators of Using R for Decision Analytic Modeling in Health Technology Assessment: Focus Group Results.

Background And Objective: Decision models for health technology assessment (HTA) are largely submitted to HTA agencies using commercial software, which has known limitations. The use of the open-source programming language R has been suggested because of its efficiency, transparency, reproducibility, and ability to consider complex analyses. However, its use in HTA remains limited.

No Association Between Injury-Related Fear and Isokinetic Quadriceps Strength in Individuals With a History of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Context: Injury-related fear and quadriceps strength are independently associated with secondary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk. It is not known whether injury-related fear and quadriceps strength are associated, despite their individual predictive capabilities of secondary ACL injury. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between injury-related fear and quadriceps strength in individuals at least 1 year after ACL reconstruction (ACLR).

IHMCIF: An Extension of the PDBx/mmCIF Data Standard for Integrative Structure Determination Methods.

IHMCIF (github.com/ihmwg/IHMCIF) is a data information framework that supports archiving and disseminating macromolecular structures determined by integrative or hybrid modeling (IHM), and making them Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). IHMCIF is an extension of the Protein Data Bank Exchange/macromolecular Crystallographic Information Framework (PDBx/mmCIF) that serves as the framework for the Protein Data Bank (PDB) to archive experimentally determined atomic structures of biological macromolecules and their complexes with one another and small molecule ligands (e.

Cancer incidence among Armenians in California.

Introduction: California is home to the largest population of Armenians in the United States. The historical categorization of Armenians as 'White' or 'Some Other Race' in population databases has likely masked cancer incidence patterns in this population. This is the first study considering cancer incidence among Armenians in California.

Restraint validation of biomolecular structures determined by NMR in the Protein Data Bank.

Biomolecular structure analysis from experimental NMR studies generally relies on restraints derived from a combination of experimental and knowledge-based data. A challenge for the structural biology community has been a lack of standards for representing these restraints, preventing the establishment of uniform methods of model-vs-data structure validation against restraints and limiting interoperability between restraint-based structure modeling programs. The NEF and NMR-STAR formats provide a standardized approach for representing commonly used NMR restraints.

Perspective: use and reuse of NMR-based metabolomics data: what works and what remains challenging.

Background: The National Cancer Institute issued a Request for Information (RFI; NOT-CA-23-007) in October 2022, soliciting input on using and reusing metabolomics data. This RFI aimed to gather input on best practices for metabolomics data storage, management, and use/reuse.

Aim Of Review: The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) Interest Group within the Metabolomics Association of North America (MANA) prepared a set of recommendations regarding the deposition, archiving, use, and reuse of NMR-based and, to a lesser extent, mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics datasets.

A Novel Scoring System Predicting Red Blood Cell Transfusion Requirements in Patients Undergoing Invasive Spine Surgery.

Access to blood products is crucial for patient safety during the perioperative course. However, reduced donations and seasonally occurring blood shortages pose a significant challenge to the healthcare system, with surgeries being postponed. The German Blood Transfusion act requires that RBC packages become assigned to an individual patient, resulting in a significant reduction in the available blood products, further aggravating shortages.

Examining evidence for a relationship between human-animal interactions and common mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic literature review.

Introduction: COVID-19 lockdowns, shelter in place, closures of transportation and mental health services, and dearth of mental health providers created new barriers to obtaining support for mental health needs at a time of increased rates of anxiety and depression. During the pandemic, a record number of households owned and adopted pets, opening a potential avenue to investigate the relationship between pets and mental health. This systematic literature review examined the question: What is the evidence for a relationship between human-animal interaction and/or animal ownership and common mental disorders among adults who interacted with pets compared to adults who did not during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Methods: To address this question, four databases were searched: Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and SCOPUS for peer-reviewed literature published between 2020 and July 2023.

Robotic resection of the rectum - what are the advantages?

Introduction: Surgical treatment is the most important part of multimodal management of rectal cancer. In recent years, minimally invasive surgery has been preferred. Minimally invasive procedures include laparoscopy and more recently robotic surgery.

A Tutorial on Net Benefit Regression for Real-World Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Using Censored Data from Randomized or Observational Studies.

We illustrate the steps involved in carrying out cost-effectiveness analysis using net benefit regressions with possibly censored demo data by providing step-by-step guidance and code applied to a data set.We demonstrate the importance of these new methods by illustrating how naïve methods for handling censoring can lead to biased cost-effectiveness results.

Blood group AB is associated with reduced blood loss but also elevated cardiovascular mortality in aortocoronary bypass surgery.

Patient blood group (BG) is predictive for von-Willebrand-factor (VWF) and Factor VIII variation. The clinical impact of this ABO-effect on blood loss, cardiovascular complications and outcome has been described for several patient cohorts. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of patient BG on blood loss and outcome after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).