Principles for the Future of Biomedical Research in the United States and Optimizing the National Institutes of Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association.

Groundbreaking achievements in science and medicine have contributed to reductions in cardiovascular disease and stroke mortality over the past 7 decades. Many of these advances were supported through investments by the National Institutes of Health, the global leader in funding biomedical research. This public investment has produced important economic returns, including supporting >400 000 jobs and roughly $93 billion in economic activity in the United States.

A multi-pathogen behavioral exposure model for young children playing in public spaces in developing communities.

Diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death among children under five in developing communities, despite active interventions to improve access to water, sanitation, and hygiene resources. Even interventions with high fidelity and compliance saw minimal improvements in health outcomes, necessitating a need for looking beyond traditionally targeted exposure pathways. This study focuses on the pathogen exposure a young child may receive while playing in the public spaces of informal settlements, where animal feces, human feces, and garbage are frequently observed.

An evaluation of a new rapid qPCR test for the detection of 2019-novel coronavirus nucleocapsid (N1) gene in wastewater in Roanoke and Salem VA sewersheds.

The COVID-19 pandemic initiated public interest in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Public and private entities responded to the need to produce timely and accurate data. LuminUltra and Hach partnered to provide a rapid, field-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) test for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater.

Thyroid hormone suppresses medulloblastoma progression through promoting terminal differentiation of tumor cells.

Hypothyroidism is commonly detected in patients with medulloblastoma (MB). However, whether thyroid hormone (TH) contributes to MB pathogenicity remains undetermined. Here, we find that TH plays a critical role in promoting tumor cell differentiation.

Metabolic Reprogramming: A Byproduct or a Driver of Cardiomyocyte Proliferation?

Defining mechanisms of cardiomyocyte proliferation should guide the understanding of endogenous cardiac regeneration and could lead to novel treatments for diseases such as myocardial infarction. In the neonatal heart, energy metabolic reprogramming (phenotypic alteration of glucose, fatty acid, and amino acid metabolism) parallels cell cycle arrest of cardiomyocytes. The metabolic reprogramming occurring shortly after birth is associated with alterations in blood oxygen levels, metabolic substrate availability, hemodynamic stress, and hormone release.

Thyroid Hormone Suppresses Medulloblastoma Progression Through Promoting Terminal Differentiation of Tumor Cells.

Hypothyroidism is commonly detected in patients with medulloblastoma (MB). A possible link between thyroid hormone (TH) signaling and MB pathogenicity has not been reported. Here, we find that TH plays a critical role in promoting tumor cell differentiation.

Protein Kinase A Is a Master Regulator of Physiological and Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy.

Background: The sympathoadrenergic system and its major effector PKA (protein kinase A) are activated to maintain cardiac output coping with physiological or pathological stressors. If and how PKA plays a role in physiological cardiac hypertrophy (PhCH) and pathological CH (PaCH) are not clear.

Methods: Transgenic mouse models expressing the PKA inhibition domain (PKAi) of PKA inhibition peptide alpha (PKIalpha)-green fluorescence protein (GFP) fusion protein (PKAi-GFP) in a cardiac-specific and inducible manner (cPKAi) were used to determine the roles of PKA in physiological CH during postnatal growth or induced by swimming, and in PaCH induced by transaortic constriction (TAC) or augmented Ca influx.

Varenicline but not cotinine increased the value of a visual stimulus reinforcer in rats: No evidence for synergy of the two compounds.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, with <7 % of smoking cessation attempts being met with success. Nicotine, the main addictive agent in cigarettes, enhances the reinforcing value of other environmental rewards. Under some circumstances, this reward enhancement maintains nicotine consumption.

Effects of maternal hypothyroidism on postnatal cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac disease responses of the progeny.

Maternal hypothyroidism (MH) could adversely affect the cardiac disease responses of the progeny. This study tested the hypothesis that MH reduces early postnatal cardiomyocyte (CM) proliferation so that the adult heart of MH progeny has a smaller number of larger cardiac myocytes, which imparts adverse cardiac disease responses following injury. Thyroidectomy (TX) was used to establish MH.

Functional LTCC-βAR Complex Needs Caveolin-3 and Is Disrupted in Heart Failure.

Background: Beta-2 adrenergic receptors (βARs) but not beta-2 adrenergic receptors (βARs) form a functional complex with L-type Ca channels (LTCCs) on the cardiomyocyte membrane. However, how microdomain localization in the plasma membrane affects the function of these complexes is unknown. We aim to study the coupling between LTCC and β adrenergic receptors in different cardiomyocyte microdomains, the distinct involvement of PKA and CAMKII (Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II) and explore how this functional complex is disrupted in heart failure.

Privacy and Security Risk Factors Related to Telehealth Services - A Systematic Review.

The objective of the study is to identify challenges and associated factors for privacy and security related to telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The systematic search strategy used the databases of PubMed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, Embase, CINAHL, and COCHRANE, with the search terms of telehealth/telemedicine, privacy, security, and confidentiality. Reviews included peer-reviewed empirical studies conducted from January 2020 to February 2022.

Systemic Hypoxemia Induces Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy and Right Ventricular Specific Induction of Proliferation.

Background: A recent study suggests that systemic hypoxemia in adult male mice can induce cardiac myocytes to proliferate. The goal of the present experiments was to confirm these results, provide new insights on the mechanisms that induce adult cardiomyocyte cell cycle reentry, and to determine if hypoxemia also induces cardiomyocyte proliferation in female mice.

Methods: EdU-containing mini pumps were implanted in 3-month-old, male and female C57BL/6 mice.

Combining three independent pathological stressors induces a heart failure with preserved ejection fraction phenotype.

Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is defined as HF with an ejection fraction (EF) ≥ 50% and elevated cardiac diastolic filling pressures. The underlying causes of HFpEF are multifactorial and not well-defined. A transgenic mouse with low levels of cardiomyocyte (CM)-specific inducible Cavβ2a expression (β2a-Tg mice) showed increased cytosolic CM Ca, and modest levels of CM hypertrophy, and fibrosis.

Prediction model for early childhood caries risk based on behavioral determinants using a machine learning algorithm.

Background: An easily accessible caries risk prediction model (CRPM) based on nonbiological predictors is lacking. Developing a CRPM for community screening is essential for children's dental health promotion by a public health approach.

Objective: This study aimed to develop and validate a caries risk prediction model (CRPM) for children using a machine learning algorithm based on dental care behavioral factors and other nonbiological factors using a 3-month multicenter cohort.

RNA-Binding Protein LIN28a Regulates New Myocyte Formation in the Heart Through Long Noncoding RNA-H19.

Background: Developmental cardiac tissue holds remarkable capacity to regenerate after injury and consists of regenerative mononuclear diploid cardiomyocytes. On maturation, mononuclear diploid cardiomyocytes become binucleated or polyploid and exit the cell cycle. Cardiomyocyte metabolism undergoes a profound shift that coincides with cessation of regeneration in the postnatal heart.

Assessing the Impact of the American Heart Association's Research Portfolio: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

A task force composed of American Heart Association (AHA) Research Committee members established processes to measure the performance of the AHA's research portfolio and evaluated key outcomes that are fundamental to the overall success of the program. This report reviews progress that the AHA research program has had in achieving its goals relevant to the research programs in the AHA's research portfolio from 2008 to 2017. Comprehensive performance metrics were identified to assess the impact of AHA funding on researchers' career progress and research outcomes.

Caries Risk Assessment and Dental Referral by Paediatric Primary Care Physicians in Sichuan Province, China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Limited information is known about dental implementation by pediatric primary care physicians (PCPs) at the primary care level in China. This study aimed to explore the current status of primary oral care implementation and related influencing factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among PCPs in Sichuan Province, China.

Sex-specific responses to slow progressive pressure overload in a large animal model of HFpEF.

Approximately 50% of all heart failure (HF) diagnoses can be classified as HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). HFpEF is more prevalent in females compared with males, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We previously showed that pressure overload (PO) in male felines induces a cardiopulmonary phenotype with essential features of human HFpEF.

HDAC Inhibition Regulates Cardiac Function by Increasing Myofilament Calcium Sensitivity and Decreasing Diastolic Tension.

We recently established a large animal model that recapitulates key clinical features of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and tested the effects of the pan-HDAC inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA). SAHA reversed and prevented the development of cardiopulmonary impairment. This study evaluated the effects of SAHA at the level of cardiomyocyte and contractile protein function to understand how it modulates cardiac function.

Noniatrogenic spinal cord ischemia: A patient level meta-analysis of 125 case reports and series.

Background: Guidelines are needed to manage spinal cord infarctions. Here, we evaluated the incidence of noniatrogenic spinal ischemia, focusing on the spinal levels involved, and the relative efficacy of different management strategies.

Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of 147 patients who sustained noniatrogenic spinal cord ischemia within the past 10 years.

UCP2 modulates cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity, acetyl-CoA, and histone acetylation in response to moderate hypoxia.

Developmental cardiac tissue is regenerative while operating under low oxygen. After birth, ambient oxygen is associated with cardiomyocyte cell cycle exit and regeneration. Likewise, cardiac metabolism undergoes a shift with cardiac maturation.