Understanding dental practitioners' knowledge and practices of smokeless tobacco: South Texas Oral Health Network study.

Objective: This study, conducted by the South Texas Oral Health Network, evaluated dental practitioners' knowledge, attitudes, and practice behaviors regarding cultural forms of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use and effects, using the 5As (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange) framework.

Methods: Chi-squared tests examined associations between dental practitioners' characteristics, self-confidence, knowledge, attitudes, and practices. The 5As tobacco cessation intervention steps were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test to measure changes in the frequency of use between successive steps.

The utility and impact of digital endpoints for improving breast cancer outcomes.

Introduction: In breast cancer clinical trials utilizing digital endpoints, wearable sensors record participants' health information during activities of daily living.  These sensors are worn on the wrist or finger, placed as a skin patch or headband, or embedded on clothing. Data collected from wearable sensors form the basis of a digital endpoint, useful for determining effects of novel treatments on health outcomes, particularly quality-of-life outcomes.

Facilitators of and barriers to gastric cancer and precursor diagnosis among South Texas residents: Social determinants of health.

Background: Latinos/Hispanics are at higher risk for developing gastric cancer (GC) compared with non-Hispanic whites, and social determinants of health (SDoH) are thought to contribute.

Aims/materials And Methods: This study addressed SDoH and their interactions contributing to disparities in the testing and treatment of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection and diagnosis of GC and its known precursors, among Latinos/Hispanics relative to non-Latinos at two affiliated but independent health systems in San Antonio, Texas, using a mixed methods approach.

Results: Secondary data abstraction and analysis showed that GCs represented 2.

Outcome of pulpotomy in permanent teeth with irreversible pulpitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Treatment planning is key to clinical success. Permanent teeth diagnosed with "irreversible pulpitis" have long been implied to have an irreversibly damaged dental pulp that is beyond repair and warranting root canal treatment. However, newer clinical approaches such as pulpotomy, a minimally invasive and biologically based procedure have re-emerged to manage teeth with pulpitis.

Children's Afterschool Culinary Education Improves Eating Behaviors.

Objectives: Culinary education may be one way to improve children's eating behaviors. We formatively evaluated the effect of a hands-on afterschool 12-module, registered dietitian-led culinary education program on healthy eating behaviors in a predominately Hispanic/Latino, low-socioeconomic community.

Methods: Of 234 children participating in the program, 77% completed both pre- and post-assessment surveys ( = 180; mean age 9.

San Antonio Nathan Shock Center: your one-stop shop for aging research.

With evolving cores, enrichment and training programs, and supported research projects, the San Antonio (SA) Nathan Shock Center has for 26 years provided critical support to investigators locally, nationally, and abroad. With its existing and growing intellectual capital, the SA Nathan Shock Center provides to local and external investigators an enhanced platform to conduct horizontally integrated (lifespan, healthspan, pathology, pharmacology) transformative research in the biology of aging, and serves as a springboard for advanced educational and training activities in aging research. The SA Nathan Shock Center consists of six cores: Administrative/Program Enrichment Core, Research Development Core, Aging Animal Models and Longevity Assessment Core, Pathology Core, Analytical Pharmacology and Drug Evaluation Core, and Integrated Physiology of Aging Core.

Mobilization-based transplantation of young-donor hematopoietic stem cells extends lifespan in mice.

Mammalian aging is associated with reduced tissue regeneration and loss of physiological integrity. With age, stem cells diminish in their ability to regenerate adult tissues, likely contributing to age-related morbidity. Thus, we replaced aged hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) with young-donor HSCs using a novel mobilization-enabled hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) technology as an alternative to the highly toxic conditioning regimens used in conventional HSCT.

Growth recovery lines: a specific indicator of child abuse and neglect?

Background: Growth recovery lines are radiodense lines in long bones reported to be indicators of stress.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand the distribution, quantity and associations of growth recovery lines in children ages 0-24 months with high and low risk for child maltreatment.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children ages 0-24 months who had skeletal surveys and an assessment for maltreatment.

Genetically heterogeneous mice exhibit a female survival advantage that is age- and site-specific: Results from a large multi-site study.

The female survival advantage is a robust characteristic of human longevity. However, underlying mechanisms are not understood, and rodent models exhibiting a female advantage are lacking. Here, we report that the genetically heterogeneous (UM-HET3) mice used by the National Institute on Aging Interventions Testing Program (ITP) are such a model.

Acarbose improves health and lifespan in aging HET3 mice.

To follow-up on our previous report that acarbose (ACA), a drug that blocks postprandial glucose spikes, increases mouse lifespan, we studied ACA at three doses: 400, 1,000 (the original dose), and 2,500 ppm, using genetically heterogeneous mice at three sites. Each dose led to a significant change (by log-rank test) in both sexes, with larger effects in males, consistent with the original report. There were no significant differences among the three doses.

A randomized control trial to establish the feasibility and safety of rapamycin treatment in an older human cohort: Immunological, physical performance, and cognitive effects.

Inhibition of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway by rapamycin (RAPA), an FDA-approved immunosuppressive drug used as a clinical therapy to prevent solid organ allograft rejection, enhances longevity in mice. Importantly, RAPA was efficacious even when initiated in relatively old animals, suggesting that mTOR inhibition could potentially slow the progression of aging-associated pathologies in older humans (Harrison et al., 2009; Miller et al.

Docosahexaenoic Acid Supplementation in Pregnancy Modulates Placental Cellular Signaling and Nutrient Transport Capacity in Obese Women.

Context: Maternal obesity in pregnancy has profound impacts on maternal metabolism and promotes placental nutrient transport, which may contribute to fetal overgrowth in these pregnancies. The fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has bioactive properties that may improve outcomes in obese pregnant women by modulating placental function.

Objective: To determine the effects of DHA supplementation in obese pregnant women on maternal metabolism and placental function.

Clinical Trials Targeting Aging and Age-Related Multimorbidity.

Background: There is growing interest in identifying interventions that may increase health span by targeting biological processes underlying aging. The design of efficient and rigorous clinical trials to assess these interventions requires careful consideration of eligibility criteria, outcomes, sample size, and monitoring plans.

Methods: Experienced geriatrics researchers and clinical trialists collaborated to provide advice on clinical trial design.

A cross-sectional study of male and female C57BL/6Nia mice suggests lifespan and healthspan are not necessarily correlated.

Lifespan provides a discrete metric that is intuitively appealing and the assumption has been that healthspan is extended concomitant with lifespan. Medicine has been more successful at extending life than preserving health during aging. Interventions that extend lifespan in model organisms do not always result in a corresponding increase in healthspan, suggesting that lifespan and healthspan may be uncoupled.

Improving Initiation and Tracking of Research Projects at an Academic Health Center: A Case Study.

Research service cores at academic health centers are important in driving translational advancements. Specifically, biostatistics and research design units provide services and training in data analytics, biostatistics, and study design. However, the increasing demand and complexity of assigning appropriate personnel to time-sensitive projects strains existing resources, potentially decreasing productivity and increasing costs.

A Pilot Study of Parent Mentors for Early Childhood Obesity.

Objective. To assess the feasibility of a parent mentor model of intervention for early childhood obesity using positive deviance-based methods to inform the intervention. Methods.

Dynamic macrophage polarization-specific miRNA patterns reveal increased soluble VEGF receptor 1 by miR-125a-5p inhibition.

Dynamic, epigenetic mechanisms can regulate macrophage phenotypes following exposure to different stimulating conditions and environments. However, temporal patterns of microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) across multiple macrophage polarization phenotypes have not been defined. We determined miRNA expression in bone marrow-derived murine macrophages over multiple time points (0.

How to Tell the Truth with Statistics: The Case for Accountable Data Analyses in Team-based Science.

Data analysis is essential to translational medicine, epidemiology, and the scientific process. Although recent advances in promoting reproducibility and reporting standards have made some improvements, the data analysis process remains insufficiently documented and susceptible to avoidable errors, bias, and even fraud. Comprehensively accounting for the full analytical process requires not only records of the statistical methodology used, but also records of communications among the research team.

Health Effects of Long-Term Rapamycin Treatment: The Impact on Mouse Health of Enteric Rapamycin Treatment from Four Months of Age throughout Life.

Rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, has been shown to extend lifespan in a range of model organisms. It has been reported to extend lifespan in multiple strains of mice, administered chronically or acutely early or late in life. The ability of rapamycin to extend health (healthspan) as opposed to life is less well documented.

Temporal phenotypic features distinguish polarized macrophages in vitro.

Macrophages are important in vascular inflammation and environmental factors influence macrophage plasticity. Macrophage transitions into pro-inflammatory (M1) or anti-inflammatory (M2) states have been defined predominately by measuring cytokines in culture media (CM). However, temporal relationships between cellular and secreted cytokines have not been established.

Platelet-derived microparticles generated by neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation systems.

Current anticoagulation strategies do not eliminate thromboembolic stroke or limb loss during neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a form of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). In adults, CPB surgery generates prothrombotic platelet-derived microparticles (PMPs), submicron membrane vesicles released from activated platelets. However, information on PMP generation in neonatal ECMO systems is lacking.

Rifapentine Pharmacokinetics and Tolerability in Children and Adults Treated Once Weekly With Rifapentine and Isoniazid for Latent Tuberculosis Infection.

Background: In a phase 3, randomized clinical trial (PREVENT TB) of 8053 people with latent tuberculosis infection, 12 once-weekly doses of rifapentine and isoniazid had good efficacy and tolerability. Children received higher rifapentine milligram per kilogram doses than adults. In the present pharmacokinetic study (a component of the PREVENT TB trial), rifapentine exposure was compared between children and adults.

Pharmacokinetic interaction of rifapentine and raltegravir in healthy volunteers.

Objectives: Latent tuberculosis infection and tuberculosis disease are prevalent worldwide. However, antimycobacterial rifamycins have drug interactions with many antiretroviral drugs. We evaluated the effect of rifapentine on the pharmacokinetic properties of raltegravir.