Controlling a new plasma regime.

Success of the UK's Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme requires a robust plasma control system. This system has to guide the plasma from initiation to the burning phase, maintain it there, produce the desired fusion power for the desired duration and then terminate the plasma safely. This has to be done in a challenging environment with limited sensors and without overloading plasma-facing components.

Cross-site reproducibility of human cortical organoids reveals consistent cell type composition and architecture.

While guided human cortical organoid (hCO) protocols reproducibly generate cortical cell types at one site, variability in hCO phenotypes across sites using a harmonized protocol has not yet been evaluated. To determine the cross-site reproducibility of hCO differentiation, three independent research groups assayed hCOs in multiple differentiation replicates from one induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line using a harmonized miniaturized spinning bioreactor protocol across 3 months. hCOs were mostly cortical progenitor and neuronal cell types in reproducible proportions that were consistently organized in cortical wall-like buds.

A retrospective study of sinonasal tumors in 182 dogs treated with stereotactic radiotherapy (3 × 10 Gy) (2010-2015).

Background: Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is an emerging treatment for sinonasal tumors in dogs. Reported results regarding tumor control and incidence of acute and late radiation morbidities are inconsistent.

Objectives: To determine treatment efficacy and prognostic indicators of SRT in dogs with sinonasal tumors and to quantify acute and late radiation morbidities.

Cross-site reproducibility of human cortical organoids reveals consistent cell type composition and architecture.

Background: Reproducibility of human cortical organoid (hCO) phenotypes remains a concern for modeling neurodevelopmental disorders. While guided hCO protocols reproducibly generate cortical cell types in multiple cell lines at one site, variability across sites using a harmonized protocol has not yet been evaluated. We present an hCO cross-site reproducibility study examining multiple phenotypes.

Synthesis, modeling, and biological evaluation of anti-tubulin indole-substituted furanones.

Due to the central role of tubulin in various cellular functions, it is a validated target for anti-cancer therapeutics. However, many of the current tubulin inhibitors are derived from complex natural products and suffer from multidrug resistance, low solubility, toxicity issues, and/or the lack of multi-cancer efficacy. As such, there is a continued need for the discovery and development of new anti-tubulin drugs to enter the pipeline.

VA-Delivered or VA-Purchased Care: Important Factors for Veterans Navigating Care Decisions.

Background/objective: The VA MISSION Act aimed to increase Veterans' access to care by allowing eligible Veterans to use VA-paid care from non-VA providers ("VA-purchased care"). We interviewed Veterans who were eligible for both VA-delivered and VA-purchased care to examine factors they consider when making decisions about whether to use VA-delivered or VA-purchased care.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 28 Veterans across the USA who were eligible for VA-delivered and VA-purchased care, using deductive and inductive analysis to develop themes.

MicroRNA-eQTLs in the developing human neocortex link miR-4707-3p expression to brain size.

Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) data have proven important for linking non-coding loci to protein-coding genes. But eQTL studies rarely measure microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs known to play a role in human brain development and neurogenesis. Here, we performed small-RNA sequencing across 212 mid-gestation human neocortical tissue samples, measured 907 expressed miRNAs, discovering 111 of which were novel, and identified 85 local-miRNA-eQTLs.

Cellular Genome-wide Association Study Identifies Common Genetic Variation Influencing Lithium-Induced Neural Progenitor Proliferation.

Background: Bipolar disorder is a highly heritable neuropsychiatric condition affecting more than 1% of the human population. Lithium salts are commonly prescribed as a mood stabilizer for individuals with bipolar disorder. Lithium is clinically effective in approximately half of treated individuals, and their genetic backgrounds are known to influence treatment outcomes.

Women of the Gulf War: Understanding Their Military and Health Experiences Over 30 Years.

Introduction: Women Veterans of the Persian Gulf War (GW) expanded the military roles they had filled in previous military eras, with some women engaging in direct combat for the first time. Many GW service members, including women, had unique combat exposures to hazardous agents during deployment, which might have contributed to the development of chronic health problems. This study aims to understand the experiences of women GW Veterans (GWVs) as it is related to their military service and subsequent health in order to better inform and improve their clinical care.

Patient Sense of Belonging in the Veterans Health Administration: A Qualitative Study of Appointment Attendance and Patient Engagement.

Background: Health care systems have increasingly focused on patient engagement in efforts to improve patient-centered care. Appointment attendance is an integral component of patient engagement, and missed appointments are an ongoing problem for health care systems. Virtually no studies have examined how the sense of belonging is related to patient engagement within a health care system.

Do small for gestational age infants have less severe neonatal abstinence syndrome?

Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) infants are likely to have decreased placental transfer of opioids and other substances and lower amounts of fat deposition, hence less severe neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). The goal of this study is to correlate SGA status and severity of NAS in infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of term and late-preterm infants (≥35 weeks gestation) exposed to in-utero substances, born between September 2006 and May 2021, and admitted to an inner-city NICU for medical therapy for NAS.

Balancing the benefits of patient-clinician relationships with professional boundaries in Home-based Primary Care.

In the home care setting, boundaries may be difficult to identify when behavioral changes are made to accommodate the nature of care being delivered. In this secondary qualitative study, we examined how Home-based Primary Care (HBPC) clinicians understand role and relationship boundaries with patients and how these dynamics support patient care. The data set consisted of 14 semi-structured interviews with HBPC clinicians representing multiple disciplines and field observations of 6 HBPC team meetings.

Decreased MIP-3α Production from Antigen-Activated PBMCs in Symptomatic HIV-Infected Subjects.

CD4 CCR6 T cells are highly susceptible to HIV infection, and a high cytokine producing CCR6 T cell subset is selectively lost during HIV infection. The CCR6 chemokine MIP-3α (CCL20) is produced at sites of infection in SIV animal models. Recently, we have shown that MIP-3α inhibits HIV replication.

It's like sending a message in a bottle: A qualitative study of the consequences of one-way communication technologies in hospitals.

Objective: We examine how physicians and nurses use available communication technologies and identify the implications for communication and patient care based on the theory of workarounds.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a qualitative study at 4 U.S.

Brain-trait-associated variants impact cell-type-specific gene regulation during neurogenesis.

Interpretation of the function of non-coding risk loci for neuropsychiatric disorders and brain-relevant traits via gene expression and alternative splicing quantitative trait locus (e/sQTL) analyses is generally performed in bulk post-mortem adult tissue. However, genetic risk loci are enriched in regulatory elements active during neocortical differentiation, and regulatory effects of risk variants may be masked by heterogeneity in bulk tissue. Here, we map e/sQTLs, and allele-specific expression in cultured cells representing two major developmental stages, primary human neural progenitors (n = 85) and their sorted neuronal progeny (n = 74), identifying numerous loci not detected in either bulk developing cortical wall or adult cortex.

Growth failure in infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective: To assess if infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) are smaller at birth and have decreased growth parameters between birth and discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Methods: Retrospective data analysis of term/late-preterm neonates with NAS at a single-center NICU between September 2006 and May 2018. Growth parameters (weight, length, HC) were measured at birth and discharge.

Influences of Physical Layout and Space on Patient Safety and Communication in Ambulatory Oncology Practices: A Multisite, Mixed Method Investigation.

Objective: To examine how physical layouts and space in ambulatory oncology practices influence patient safety and clinician communication.

Background: Ambulatory oncology practices face unique challenges in delivering safe care. With increasing patient volumes, these settings require additional attention to support patient safety and efficient clinical work processes.

Can Mozart Improve Weight Gain and Development of Feeding Skills in Premature Infants? A Randomized Trial.

Objective: The study aimed to assess in a prospective randomized study the effect of Mozart's music on time to regain birth weight (BW) and development of oral feeding skills in babies born between 28 and 31 weeks of gestation.

Study Design: Healthy premature infants born between 28 and 31 completed weeks of gestation were randomized within 3 days of birth to either music or no music exposure. Infants in the music group were exposed to Mozart's double piano sonata twice per day for 14 days.

Cell-type-specific effects of genetic variation on chromatin accessibility during human neuronal differentiation.

Common genetic risk for neuropsychiatric disorders is enriched in regulatory elements active during cortical neurogenesis. However, it remains poorly understood as to how these variants influence gene regulation. To model the functional impact of common genetic variation on the noncoding genome during human cortical development, we performed the assay for transposase accessible chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq) and analyzed chromatin accessibility quantitative trait loci (QTL) in cultured human neural progenitor cells and their differentiated neuronal progeny from 87 donors.

Which Factors Promote Shared Understanding Between Physicians and Nurses in Inpatient Oncology Care Settings?: A Qualitative Exploration.

Background: Effective communication between physicians and nurses is crucial to the safety of patients, especially for those with cancer, which is a complex disease requiring multidisciplinary treatment. However, little is known about the factors that contribute to effective communication, which is defined as the development of shared understanding between two or more people.

Objective: This qualitative secondary analysis was conducted to identify factors that contribute to shared understanding between physicians and nurses from video-recorded conversations that occurred between them during inpatient rounds on oncology units.

Discovery of an indole-substituted furanone with tubulin polymerization inhibition activity.

Analogs of diarylpyrrolinone lead compound 1 were prepared and tested for anti-proliferative activity in U-937 cancer cells. Alterations of 1 focused on modifying the two nitrogen atoms: a) the pyrrolinone nitrogen atom was substituted with a propyl group or replaced with an oxygen atom (furanone), and b) the substituents on the indole nitrogen were varied. These changes led to the discovery of a furanone analog 3b with sub-micromolar anti-cancer potency and tubulin polymerization inhibition activity.

Ingestion of metallic foreign bodies: A Paediatric Emergency Research in the United Kingdom and Ireland survey of current practice and hand-held metal detector use.

Aim: To describe variation in the initial management of children presenting to Emergency Departments (ED) with coins lodged in the oesophagus. To determine the usage of hand-held metal detectors (HHMDs) in EDs, including their role in clinical decision-making, and training in their use.

Methods: Online multicentre cross-sectional survey of EDs in the UK and Ireland, with results described using descriptive statistics.