Validity of the E-Cigarette Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (e-WISDM) in Exclusive E-Cigarette Users: Evidence from a Laboratory Self-Administration Study.

Introduction: Prior research suggests that the e-Cigarette Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (e-WISDM) distinguishes primary (e-PDM) and secondary dependence (e-SDM), however, there is little research on these e-WISDM dimensions and prior research comprised dual users (using cigarettes and e-cigarettes) and those using older generations of e-cigarettes.

Methods: Those exclusively using contemporary e-cigarettes (N = 164) completed the e-WISDM and a laboratory self-administration session and rated pre-use expectancies and post-use experiences.

Results: Only a 1-factor model limited to the primary scales (Automaticity, Tolerance, Craving, Loss of Control) achieved good model fit.

GLS2 links glutamine metabolism and atherosclerosis by remodeling artery walls.

Metabolic dysregulation, including perturbed glutamine-glutamate homeostasis, is common among patients with cardiovascular diseases, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Using the human MESA cohort, here we show that plasma glutamine-glutamate ratio is an independent risk factor for carotid plaque progression. Mice deficient in glutaminase-2 (Gls2), the enzyme that mediates hepatic glutaminolysis, developed accelerated atherosclerosis and susceptibility to catastrophic cardiac events, while Gls2 overexpression partially protected from disease progression.

Brief Report: Low-Dose Methotrexate Does Not Affect Measures of HIV-1 Persistence in Individuals With Chronically Treated HIV-1 Infection.

Background: People with HIV-1 often have chronic inflammation leading to severe non-AIDS morbidity and mortality. The AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study A5314 sought to lower inflammation with low-dose methotrexate (LDMTX). The primary study outcomes were reported previously but here we present the impact of LDMTX on multiple measures of HIV-1 persistence.

LXR signaling pathways link cholesterol metabolism with risk for prediabetes and diabetes.

BACKGROUNDPreclinical studies suggest that cholesterol accumulation leads to insulin resistance. We previously reported that alterations in a monocyte cholesterol metabolism transcriptional network (CMTN) - suggestive of cellular cholesterol accumulation - were cross-sectionally associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here, we sought to determine whether the CMTN alterations independently predict incident prediabetes/T2D risk, and correlate with cellular cholesterol accumulation.

Economic Evaluation of Enhanced vs Standard Varenicline Treatment for Tobacco Cessation.

Importance: Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and illness in the US. Identifying cost-effective smoking cessation treatment may increase the likelihood that health systems deliver such treatment to their patients who smoke.

Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of standard vs enhanced varenicline use (extended varenicline treatment or varenicline in combination with nicotine replacement therapy) among individuals trying to quit smoking.

Discrimination, Smoking, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: A Moderated Mediation Analysis With MESA.

Background: Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaque are reliable indicators of cardiovascular disease risk, and research highlights that racial and ethnic minority individuals generally exhibit higher cIMT and carotid plaque than White individuals. At present, the mechanisms driving these disparities among different racial and ethnic and biological sex groups are poorly understood.

Methods And Results: Data came from the baseline examination of MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).

Comparative Clinicopathologic and Genomic Analysis of Hepatocellular Neoplasm, Not Otherwise Specified, and Hepatoblastoma.

Accurate diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular neoplasm, not otherwise specified (HCN-NOS), poses significant challenges. Our study aimed to investigate the clinicopathologic and genomic similarities and differences between HCN-NOS and hepatoblastoma (HB) to guide diagnostic and treatment strategies. The clinicopathologic characteristics of 16 patients with HCN-NOS and 23 patients with HB were compared.

Survival outcomes and surgical morbidity based on surgical approach to pulmonary metastasectomy in pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients with osteosarcoma.

Background: Thoracotomy is considered the standard surgical approach for the management of pulmonary metastases in osteosarcoma (OST). Several studies have identified the advantages of a thoracoscopic approach, however, the clinical significance of thoracotomy compared to thoracoscopy is yet to be evaluated in a randomized trial.

Aims: The primary aim was to determine the survival outcomes in OST patients based on surgical approach for pulmonary metastasectomy (PM) and secondary aim was to assess the post-operative morbidities of OST PM through various surgical approaches.

Female-specific risk factors of parity and menopause age and risk of carotid plaque: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.

Background: Female-specific factors of grand multiparity (≥5 births) and early menopause age are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, mechanisms are incompletely understood. Carotid plaque is a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis and associated with increased CVD risk.

Changes in carotid artery texture by ultrasound and elastin features in a murine model.

Objective: In humans, arterial grayscale ultrasound texture features independently predict adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and change with medical interventions. We performed this study to examine how grayscale ultrasound texture features and elastin fibers change in plaque-free segments of the arterial wall in a murine model prone to atherosclerosis.

Methods: A total of 10 Apoe mice ( = 5 male,  = 5 female) were imaged at 6, 16, and 24 weeks of age.

In Vivo Adaptive Bayesian Regularized Lagrangian Carotid Strain Imaging for Murine Carotid Arteries and Its Associations With Histological Findings.

Objectives: Non-invasive methods for monitoring arterial health and identifying early injury to optimize treatment for patients are desirable. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the use of an adaptive Bayesian regularized Lagrangian carotid strain imaging (ABR-LCSI) algorithm for monitoring of atherogenesis in a murine model and examine associations between the ultrasound strain measures and histology.

Methods: Ultrasound radiofrequency (RF) data were acquired from both the right and left common carotid artery (CCA) of 10 (5 male and 5 female) ApoE mice at 6, 16 and 24 wk.

Epidural Analgesia Is Associated With Reduced Inpatient Opioid Consumption and Length of Stay After Wilms Tumor Resection.

Introduction: Wilms' tumor (WT) is the most common renal malignancy in children and requires an extensive laparotomy for resection. Epidural analgesia (EA) is commonly used in postoperative pain management, but previous literature suggests it may prolong length of stay (LOS). We hypothesized that EA is associated with prolonged LOS but decreased postoperative opioid use in children undergoing WT resection.

Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Responses to Acute Use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Combustible Cigarettes in Long-Term Users.

Background: The acute cardiovascular and pulmonary effects of contemporary electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in long-term users are not known.

Research Question: What are the cardiovascular and pulmonary responses to an acute 15-min product use challenge with ENDS and combustible cigarettes in regular nicotine-containing product users compared with control participants who do not use tobacco or vape?

Study Design And Methods: Observational challenge study before and after nicotine-containing product use of 395 individuals who used ENDS exclusively (n = 164; exhaled carbon monoxide level, < 5 parts per million [ppm]; positive urine NicCheck I [Mossman Associates] results, 82%; fourth-generation ENDS), participants who smoked cigarettes exclusively (n = 117; carbon monoxide level, > 5 ppm; positive urine NicCheck I results), and control participants (n = 114; carbon monoxide level, < 5 ppm; negative urine NicCheck I results).

Results: During the 15-min product challenge, cigarette users took a median of 14.

Methods of arterial stiffness calculation and cardiovascular disease events: the multiethnic study of atherosclerosis.

Background: A wide variety of different formulae have been used to calculate local arterial stiffness with little external validation in relationship to cardiovascular events. We compared the associations of several arterial stiffness calculations in a large, multiethnic cohort.

Methods: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA) is a longitudinal study of 6814 adults without clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) at enrollment.

Intercostal Nerve Cryoablation is Associated with Reduced Opioid Use in Pediatric Oncology Patients.

Introduction: Intercostal nerve cryoablation reduces postoperative pain in adults undergoing thoracotomy and children undergoing pectus excavatum repair. We hypothesize that cryoablation is associated with decreased post-thoracotomy pain and opioid use in pediatric oncology patients.

Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort study was performed for oncology patients who underwent thoracotomy from January 1, 2017 to May 31, 2021.

Persistent Asthma Is Associated With Carotid Plaque in MESA.

Background Asthma and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease share an underlying inflammatory pathophysiology. We hypothesized that persistent asthma is associated with carotid plaque burden, a strong predictor of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events. Methods and Results The MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) enrolled adults free of known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at baseline.

Cholesterol mass efflux capacity and coronary artery calcium: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

We assessed the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-mediated cholesterol mass efflux capacity (CMEC) with coronary artery calcium (CAC) score and CAC density. CMEC was measured in 1626 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants in samples obtained between 2000 and 2002 as part of two nested case-control studies, one with cases of incident cardiovascular disease and the other with cases of carotid plaque progression by ultrasound. Cardiac CT examinations for the presence of CAC were performed at baseline and at two additional examinations.

Methotrexate Inhibits T Cell Proliferation but Not Inflammatory Cytokine Expression to Modulate Immunity in People Living With HIV.

Inflammation associated with increased risk of comorbidities persists in people living with HIV (PWH) on combination antiretroviral therapy (ART). A recent placebo-controlled trial of low-dose methotrexate (MTX) in PWH found that numbers of total CD4 and CD8 T cells decreased in the low-dose MTX arm. In this report we analyzed T cell phenotypes and additional plasma inflammatory indices in samples from the trial.

Grayscale Ultrasound Texture Features of Carotid and Brachial Arteries in People With HIV Infection Before and After Antiretroviral Therapy.

Background We aimed to investigate novel grayscale ultrasound characteristics of the carotid and brachial arteries in people with HIV infection before and after starting initial antiretroviral therapy (ART). Methods and Results We performed grayscale ultrasound image analyses of the common carotid artery (CCA) and brachial artery before and after receipt of 1 of 3 randomly allocated ART regimens. We measured arterial wall echogenicity (grayscale median), contrast (gray-level difference statistic method), and entropy.

Independent Assessment of the Children's Hepatic Tumors International Collaboration Risk Stratification for Hepatoblastoma and the Association of Tumor Histological Characteristics With Prognosis.

Importance: Hepatoblastoma is the most common pediatric liver malignant neoplasm, and accurate risk stratification is essential for guiding treatment.

Objective: To validate the Children's Hepatic Tumors International Collaboration-Hepatoblastoma Stratification (CHIC-HS) in an independent cohort of patients with hepatoblastoma and evaluate the association of pretreatment hepatoblastoma histological subtype with prognosis.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This is a single-institution retrospective cohort study of 96 pediatric patients with hepatoblastoma diagnosed and treated between June 1, 2000, and December 31, 2016, with recent therapy and independent of the CHIC-HS discovery cohort.

Optimal lifestyle behaviors and 10-year progression of arterial stiffness: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Majority of previous studies showed no association between a single health behavior and arterial stiffness, but the benefit of simultaneously having multiple healthy behaviors (optimal lifestyle) on the progression of arterial stiffness is unknown. Among 2810 individuals (age 60.0 ± 9.